Adam Orton

Mmmm, money.

This is just an example of me....I've never directed a large production before....Even though I consider myself a very technically oriented filmmaker, having a DP in charge of the camera, lights, and shots was absolutely priceless and allowed me to concentrate on the actors. And this is even with a small-scale 16mm production. That's just me. Some other director might like to take more control of everything...I worked on a feature last summer where the director was the camera operator, DP, and sometimes gaffer. Yeah, it was low-budget ($15,000) and everyone was doing multiple things, but I still think the director-operator-DP-gaffer hyphenate was ridiculous. Fortunately for him, he had an amazing cast and a lot of time for retakes. If they [the cast] weren't on their game, his movie would probably be terrible. (Then again, I haven't seen it yet) To add, I've noticed a lot of DP's on here have expressed frustration with directors who think they are colorists. (Maybe not necessarily even technically inclined directors). Technology and desktop power seems to be pushing this more and more.... (think Coen Bros.) Do you think it's inappropriate for directors to do this if they have a very clear idea of what they want to do with the color in post? Does this cross the line? I personally like playing with color and did it for a short film I just directed, but for a longer film that I'm planning, I'm gladly letting my DP take care of it. Even though I will be the director, and it's weird to say this, I think my DP will actually care more about the image in the end.

I agree with Hal about making your actors feel safe; this is the area I have preferred to be in--the most collaborative and creative kind of environment with which to experiment with your actors...but I'm also a firm believer in, "Do whatever the hell it takes to get it right". Kicking your actor in the groin, insulting their beliefs, coddling them, bringing them presorted M&M's...whatever helps. And I think this works the best when the actor isn't aware of your intentions. For example, if your actor knows that you are pissing them off for the sake of stirring up some passion, it loses it's potency. They think, "Oh, I get it" but they don't. Or it's still as inauthentic as before. Inversely, if you give them too many compliments to give them confidence, they'll immediately catch on to what you're doing and begin to distrust everything you say only to make them feel worse. Actors are perceptive. Anyway, excellent advice about moving out of the comfort zone. It's alerted me to the fact that sometimes I might care a little too much of what my actors think of me, and that can inhibit what I need to get them to do. But yeah, I'm still a-learnin'...

Whoa! Very interesting.

What confused me about HDV is that it uses MPEG-2, strangely. When I first heard this, I thought you could theoretically play it on SD DVD players since, like you pointed out, they only use the MPEG-2 codec (and HDV is supposed to be that.) I also believe that there are several export presets on Vegas that promise HD through its MPEG-2 codec but I could be remembering it wrong. Although now I know it obviously wouldn't work for the basic reason that regular DVD is limited to a bitrate of 9.8 Mbit/s whereas HDV is rated at 25 Mbit/s for 1080i and 19.7 Mbit/s for 720p. Maybe that was what confused Andrew. Anyway, to answer your question... (You didn't mention what HD format the camera used, so I'm just assuming it's HDV.) What I've narrowed it down to is editing power; ease of editing; distribution format; shooting environment; and cost. It's difficult to give you advice because I don't know your level of experience in regards to working with formats is. I also don't know what cameras you have to choose from...HDV versus DV is tricky enough without knowing what camera the XL1 is up against. (If you have a 3CCD DV camera with manual everything against a pocket-sized HDV, I'd probably recommend DV. However if your HDV camera has 3CCD's and is manual like the XL1 is, that changes things. Also, if you're shooting a documentary and the tiny HV20 is easier to sneak in to special areas, that's another factor as well.) If you have the CPU power; are familiar and comfortable working with HD; and you want to distribute Blu-ray and premiere your film on the big-screen, HDV is the best way to go. My opinion though. Figure out what your priorities are. Good luck!

Why thank you. It's amazing the color power that NLE's have for stuff like this.

Of course. The heavy grain is supposed to signify the silver burden he carries...It's very experimental and I don't expect a lot of people to get it ;-)

Heh :-) Ok, so here's some of the stuff I did. Basically, I brought down the Gamma, then upped the Gain slightly for contrast. For color, I gave the mids a nudge 180* toward orange to add a little bit more warmth that had been washed to blue. Also, a few of them have a tiny bit of glow on the highlights to smooth things out. Until we get a REAL transfer, I'll probably just go with something like these...let me know what ya think! Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: Have fun with this one: I'm not sure what to even say about it. I've tried fixing it, but there's not much I or John has been able to do. AO

Oh, and I think you might be confusing me with John Allen. He was the DP for this film...he mentioned that he was on the phone with someone from this forum a week or two back. Maybe that was you? Thanks for the bluntness anyway. John and I are really glad to know the film shouldn't look this way :-)

Haha wow! I'm glad I'm not imagining it :-) I was worried there was something wrong with the film. Fortunately, I didn't pay for the transfer and I own the negative. The transfer is an in-house facility run by student colorists. From looking at the grey card on my monitor (shot in tungsten properly exposed) it seems they were hit and miss on most of them. Different people transferred different reels, so they are all a little inconsistent. As far as the noise, it's a 1970's realtime SD transfer machine. :-) I could have pointed my video camera at a projector and almost got the same effect :-) Unfortunately, the 500 feet of raw footage I shot for this film is going to cost 300USD to transfer at an outside lab and I don't have a lot of time before the film is due, so it'll have to wait. I'll edit it with what I have now, then replace the raw footage and export that when I get a better transfer. Also, for that last still, this was shot right when the sun was going down; so the natural outdoor color temperature was more orange. Which it's funny, because that still looks more blue than some of the other stuff I shot in the middle of the day. hmmm... But thanks for the honest advice guys; you've definitely encouraged me to pay to have a professional transfer it. And I'm sure my DP will be glad too :-)

So here are two frame grabs without the 85. I'm really pleased with how they look color-wise and my DP did a great job lighting, but I think the telecining machine at my school might be degrading the image a bit. What do you think? Is this how 16 should look on video? (this isn't super16) Also, I'm doing a 3:2 pulldown removal to get progressive images. That helps the interlace lines a lot and has overall produced better film motion (makes editing easier too), but what about the noise? Maybe I'm imagining it.

No worries, man. I'm frustrated because I'm at some weird crossroad in my life where I'm realizing that all my previous ideas and assumptions are terribly wrong. Fun times. I thought getting into film school with more life experience (and debt) than my younger peers would mean that I'm something different than the stereotypical film student.... but lately, as with the last shoot I had, things didn't feel that way at all. But anywho, thanks for all the advice. It does mean a lot.

Search the internet for LLC Articles of Organization. Simply put, they describe the general purpose of the company you are creating. This website will explain more: Article Information Some websites offer to set it up for you...the downside is is that there is a fee: Start a Small Business LLC Basically, you have to prepare a document that describes the purpose of your business. Then you have to register this with the government. The fee is around 50.00USD from what I know. Once the LLC is declared, you can open a bank account for it. Obviously the specifics entail more time to explain than is possible on here.... But the process isn't as hard as one might think. As far as adding owners, I'm not sure how the exact official process goes. A friend of mine who produced a $15,000 film gave everyone official certificates and signed a legal agreement with them establishing the percent of the company they owned as well as the amount they initially invested. He also supplies them statements, I believe. This is where the lawyer comes in....you need someone to write a document that lists out all possible outcomes of failure with the company. (I.E. "Investor is giving money to this film with the full knowledge that the film may not return any profit and that he may lose his investment. He agrees to not hold Producer financially accountable...." I just made that up. It's probably not a good idea to copy and paste that clause into your document.) This is the document your investor will sign. It also protects him...if the film makes money, this document will assure him that you won't take his money and run. If you're risky (I wouldn't recommend this), you could buy a template document on the internet and alter it to meet your needs. Again, this is risky... The gist of how it works is this (in case you didn't know): Four people contribute to the initial capital...lets say 1,000 dollars. Member A contributes 100, member B contributes 100, member C contributes 100, and member D contributes 700. If the company earns a profit of 10,000 dollars, member D suddenly owns 7,000 dollars of profit. Here's a cool part, lets say the person who formed the LLC (a director/writer/producer) owns 50% of the company yet has never contributed a cent to the initial funds...he will magically be entitled to half of the profit. And he should...he's providing the creative direction to make the movie. As long as this is spelled out on the legal agreement and the investors fully understand it, it's completely legit. You don't have to contribute money to own a percentage. Favors, labor, creative advice, etc... all forms of contribution that can be done for partial ownership of the company. For me, starting the LLC process isn't as intimidating as actually paying the investors back. I want their money to help me make my award-winning film, but I also know that I need to make something financially viable. The more likely I can do this, the more money I can get. Another strategy is to target smaller contributions but on a larger level. If I need 50 grand for a film but my idea sucks (or, like me, you don't have very many bankable elements), it would be easier to convince a person to invest 250 dollars each...except you'd have to have 200 people who would invest this amount. And another problem here is that there are more people to find and keep track of :-) Anyway, search the internet for information on the LLC stuff. Best of luck to you! (and myself, I guess) Feel free to message me with any other questions you might have. I'm glad to see someone else in our situation!

Ha! It seems I'll have a better chance than I thought! :-) With my circumstances, I'd say it does. (Also, keep in mind a distinction: I'm not claiming to be the next Spielberg. If I do, please tear me apart. But it is rude to presume someone's level of devotion...especially when all they know of them are letters on a web page.) Anywho, it's not really my intent to convince anyone here of my dedication...and for all I know this subjective, opinionated advice might be on to something. So I'll shut up. But, like my pal Mr. Allen's comments go, it would be nice if people here could help educate me in regards to what my question actually pertains to without trying to make me feel dumb. If my question of how to obtain funding for a film is just downright offensive to any of you for any reason, then I am truly sorry. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to my thread!

Oh, I just have to get serious about it? Wow, I should have been trying that all along. What with the 50+ grand I've put into my film education and all...I'm glad to know I wasn't 'serious' before. Seriously, if you have no real constructive advice, why waste the time to post on this thread? (I apologize if I'm misinterpreting your tone.) Also, the cross-posting was never intentional. I did it because a friend asked a question that made me look like as if I was completely clueless (or "juvenile", as you call it) to the LLC legal process -- so I had to address it. I would hope my prospective producer would choose a writer/director based on the script, director reel, and experience... not some comments on a forum.

Nice! Yeah, we're looking for a real producer as well. Do you have any advice there?

I might not have told you this earlier but I actually have some legal advice I'm planning on discussing this with. But thanks for asking for me anyway :-) You just keep hitting up your family for some cash :-)

What I'm thinking we're going to do is open an LLC then allow people to contribute in exchange for a percentage of ownership. We'd be asking for investments in the area of 500-1000 dollars each...nothing that might get us into too much trouble from any single person. And we'd ask people we already know who we have good relationships with. I've actually got some experience and help with the legal part of all this...my father-in-law owns a successful LLC that does its business primarily on the internet. Aside from the challenges of making a kick-butt independent film, what are some DIY marketing strategies? Or, should we just rely on the hope that its going to be good movie? I mean, theoretically, if any movie is good enough, the audience will find it, right? I suppose this is just to reassure investors or something. I'm just curious what all of your opinions are. Anyway, thanks for the advice so far. I'm definitely going to check out that book! Maybe go to the strip club too :-)

You're singing.

Wow, thanks a lot!

So I have a killer, feature length script that I believe can be done for a relatively low amount of money ($20-30k). I plan on shooting in a state that isn't very familiar with the film business, and I want to do this as an cheap independent feature shot on digital with non-union crew and actors. Obviously this would be treated as an investment opportunity, but most investors I'd be dealing with are more familiar with stocks and bonds...not movies. How do I convince them I can return a profit? How do I return a profit? (have fun answering that one) Where do I find investors who are interested in independent film? Most of the experience I've had has been financed through school, my relatives, or on my own, so I'm really in the dark about this. I guess this post is more of a "how to break into the indie biz" question more than anything, but any advice you guys have to help would be great. (My problem is probably that I just need a really good producer. So how do I do that :-) )

And actually, I hate you :P

I take that back then. It was terrible ;-)

Fourth. Well, the shooting went marvelous, despite having the very worst happen. Our lead lady got drunk and was punched in the face at a Halloween party the night before so we had to find a replacement within three hours. We pulled it off, got about 80% of the shots done, and somehow stayed under our film budget. So all in all, things were OK. I can't say whether the movie will work as a narrative, but I can say that it will look absolutely beautiful...thanks to the wonderful work of John Allen. Yeah...the stress was pretty intense at some points, but like some of you said, it's crew that matters. I began calming down at points because everyone knew what they were doing and they did it well. I think I'm beginning to realize that I was stressed before because I wasn't trusting enough...now things are changing. I probably won't soon get over the whole nerves thing, but I'm sure it'll get better. Thanks for all the comments, guys!

Yikes, I forgot all about that :-) This April I had my first feature screen at a local festival. It wasn't like a big deal or anything, but I was so nervous I had to get up and leave.