Michael LaVoie

Absolutely you can usually tell by the script. If it's bad, I imagine a better version of the story, then create a playlist of music that evokes those same sorts of themes and have it on my phone. During the shooting I'll listen to that rather than dialogue and it will keep me focused on what the movie could be rather than what it is.

An experienced A.D. will not deal with a director that won't listen to reason or logic or who is destroying their own production. They'll walk. Getting a real A.D. on a shitshow is a miracle and the A.D.'s know it more than anyone. So when a director is not appreciating or resisting the help, it's considered to be just hysterically ignorant. Which many wannabe filmmakers are.

I'd look into a few of these http://kinoflo.com/Products%20Button/LED/Celeb%20400%20DMX/Celeb400_DMX.html

If only Ricky Gervais were hosting to remind everyone. His bit about that 6 minutes into the last golden globes was epic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iIwciJuWzc

Smoking cigarettes is one thing. It's the hash oil and THC inhalers that bother me. It's kind of like drinking on the job. Same with edibles. Maybe you're very high functioning when you're high. Just don't let me know you're doing that. It's the same when crew show up on set and tell me they just came off a show where they worked 14 hours. Yeah? I really don't want to know that you're double dipping. Cause now I have to put you on a do not call list for future work. I can't have set techs that are exhausted when they start a job. It's just a safety concern. Same with crew that are drunk or high. I know it's the film industry and plenty of people use weed daily so I don't judge, I just don't want to know. Nicotine just usually leads to people getting grumpy cause they need to smoke. That's the worst. Then they have a cigarette and calm down. So it's not a big deal as long as you don't take those folks too personally when they get cranky. You have to just ignore them and realize it's the nicotine that's making them crabby.

On some sets both the director and dp may be treated as "for hires" like anyone else so in that case, if they decide to sink the ship either due to incompetence or poor planning, organization etc. becoming a yes man and a partner in that effort may lead to both of you being fired. If they are running the production into the ground, definitely have a word with the 1st A.D. and UPM. Though I would expect these folks to be well aware of it if you are consistently not making your day and the reasons are obvious.

I second Satsuki's advice. If you are in real houses and you are moving throughout the house, prelight ahead of yourself. While you're shooting a scene, have enough units that you can send two swing to the next room to light that up so when you arrive you are ready to rock. Think about two packages. The one you are using and the one you are sending ahead of yourself. Of course, if you're building rooms on a stage, this may not apply if you've built the whole floor of the house and can light it all up at once.

Arri L10-C Pulls 400 watts but is equivalent to a 2K. If you mean, afford to rent. But get it from ArriRental or you'll be gouged as I've recently learned.

Check out The Intern. It's family friendly, funny and looks great.

In this trial shoot, as well as in the final film, I'd stick as closely to what the director looking for. Personal instincts are great but I would put those on hold till you have the gig and even then it's a balancing act. Director has authority and you can only suggest things you think might work well and hope he's open to them.

It's $150 from Arri Rental in NY. I'm finding that getting them direct from Arri is the only cost efficient source for them. The trouble is that Arri rents them all out to big long running shows. So they're never in house. I managed to secure 4 units total. Two L10's and two L7's. 4Wall did have the L5's but at twice the Arri price. It's just not the right time for LED fresnels I guess unless you're shooting OTNB or something like that. But I'm eager to see how these 4 Arri units hold up. I also picked up a bunch of cheap LED battery powered panels. So I can see how the really cheap stuff measures up to Arri's best. Will be an interesting experiment. Of course we got some Kino's and tungsten just as a backup in case but my goal is to light the whole thing with LED's and natural light if possible. We'll see.

4Wall looks like they handle more stage lighting. Was hoping for an Eastern Effects, Handheld Films, Xeno Lights type of place that could also send out a taco cart or combination carts in a sprinter van type of thing with everything. I'd hate to do a separate checkout just for the units. Ever work with these guys? http://www.lighthouselights.com/ They don't have any LED fresnels on their site but I thought I'd check tomorrow to verify.

The Arri I mentioned is supposedly equivalent to a 2K. It draws only 400 watts. As a replacement for a 575 that's not horrible even if it's not equivalent in output. As a replacement for tungsten, it's fantastic. I'm also in small residential locations and I'm not throwing the light that far. I should mention that. So my hope was to put a package together that was mostly LED. For a number of reasons. 1. I really haven't used them much and want to put them to the test. 2. I'm in a historic landmark location and I want super light, very cool, small units that don't draw a lot of power on the generator. 3. We're on a budget. But I want to stick with trusted brands. Just seems like nobody has found the right fair market value for rentals. It's as if nobody wants them to take off.

Got a question for everyone familiar with NYC rental houses. I'm putting a feature together and we're budgeting for a small 1 ton type package. Does anyone know of any rental houses in the NY, NJ area that have already embraced LED fresnels and that are not charging a FORTUNE for them? Some places have Arri L10DT at like $275 pday! Why? Brand new it's $5,400 I can get an Arri 575 watt HMI for $200pd and the HMI costs $10,000 new and it's way brighter. This is the challenge. LED's are less money new than HMI's but they're renting for more than HMI's. They cost a lot less, they should rent for a lot less. Period. Does anyone know of a rental house that operates on this basic principle with LED fresnels? There has to be a rental house out there that is charging a day rate that makes sense in that regard. That is not gouging people for a product just because it's new. So if anyone knows of a good one in NYC, I'd love to get a recommendation. Thanks again for any recommendations.

I never was blown away by 3D until I got a projector. With a 7.1 audio system, it's a nice addition. On a TV, meh.

I'd focus more on surviving the future rather than saving for it. With the way things are going, retirement is going to look a lot like this:

I think everyone looks at crazy situations like Blue Ruin which was a case of someone begging borrowing and risking everything including allowing his wife to empty her retirement fund all for a movie with no stars and no guaranteed distribution. They ran up 6 figures of debt and Sundance said no. By some miracle it was viewed by someone at Cannes and accepted. Then picked up for worldwide distribution. That's what everyone who self finances hopes for. Having seen Blue Ruin, I will admit it's an awesome flick. Would I risk it all to make that? Yeeesh. I don't know. It's definitely a crazy gamble. There are safer bets. 2 examples that fit most definitions of "indie" would be Like Crazy and Your Sisters Sister. Both have respectable names and both were made for under $300k and both grossed over 10 million when you add in the VOD revenue. The PNA costs on both films were half a million. Well over the cost of the films. So it's fair to say that the investment is really the marketing of the movie. Not the actual movie. And the only way to market it is to have some kind of on camera talent that has a draw and fan base. If you lonewolf it and make a Blue Ruin. You are relying entirely on the strength of the script and director and hoping that your unknown and unseen actors can really bring it. It's a HUUUUGE risk. But it's what our original poster seems interested in.

There's a UK based company now that offers digital renting similar to Google Play or an I-tunes store but with a Netflix style UI. The main selling point is they have all of the "extras" that are on the bluray disks and DVD's. https://www.wearecolony.com I wish Netflix had thought of this. Would have been a great addition to their site. Along with different audio to hear commentary tracks. Is anyone using Colony?

If they are willing to pay for HMI's get them. You can always warm them with CTO gels but cooling off tungsten with CTB will cause you to lose a lot of level.

Someone here recommended this book that I've read a few times now. It's incredibly detailed on the process. You need to read it a few times and even then, it's daunting. It's probably going to have an updated version soon but the latest isn't that old and still applies. The total opposite of those "Rebel Without a Crew" type of guides. https://www.amazon.com/Producers-Business-Handbook-Balanced-Producer/dp/0240814630

You employ a business / legal VP to draft offer letters. Someone with a track record and working relationship with agents. Or you book a casting director who is eager to push people destined to become names and you get them while they're breaking in. Either way. But you pay outright for both of these people to become involved.

You mentioned "balance" at the end of your post. That is the most important thing to consider when making a film. Balancing the creative pursuit with the business of filmmaking. If you can line up a distribution deal before you shoot I'd go for the project you are most passionate about. But definitely align yourself with an experienced producer and an accredited investor. Do a business plan for the film, get script coverage, do a proper breakdown of the script by an experienced line producer and get a realistic projection of the budget. Also, put some faces people will recognize in the film. Without that, selling it is damn near impossible. There's always the exception, just don't bank on being that. If you go with a cast of unknowns, get them from a casting director who is invested in pushing their careers forward. This way, by the time your film comes out, they might already be announced in something bigger. Then you've got names in your film before they were even names. For an indie film, you need to use a firm like this if you want anyone to actually see the film http://sawyerentertainment.com/ Oh, and think of festivals as nothing more than a party circuit to celebrate the film's completion. Don't think of them as a path to selling or distributing the film. If you do you'll be greatly disappointed. Good luck.

If you are really new to this, you may forget the importance of the direction of the light and where it's coming from. Firelight is often coming from the ground. So you want to make sure you have grip gear to properly and safely rig that light or bounce card etc. on or near the ground. A pidgeon plate bolted to a pancake is a good method. You can also rig right to a duckbill clamp and bag that although I think it's better to use a pidgeon plate. Given the distance you mentioned, the light will seem less low the further away the subject gets so you may be okay in this instance with a coleman stand but it will be below the eyeline in most cases. I have no idea if your fire is on a distant hill. In which case key it at traditional height. Just keep that direction of the fire and where it is in relation to the subject in mind. If the film terms (pidgeon plate, etc.) don't make sense google any of these terms and you'll get images of what I'm talking about.

Schedule a day with the director and A.D., scripty, standins (if the actors are unavailable) and art director and block out the scenes. Know where everyone is going to be in the actual location and what they'll be doing there. Then everyone will be on the same page about everything. Art will know what areas of the location to dress, The A.D. will know how many setups are involved and you and the director will be in sync on what you're doing because you've seen it play out with the stand ins. There's no better prep than this. It's not always possible but if it is, go for it. Use a still camera and then board the shots together and you'll know the whole thing. Scripty can also assemble and organize a shotlist for you based on what you and the director come up with.

A 25 day schedule is very generous for a budget of $30K. I would suggest cutting the schedule in half or double the budget. Do 2 weeks, breakneck weeks but you'll be able to afford at least a splinter crew (assuming they're friends who do you a solid.) Even at 12 days, you can maaaaybe do it if you really go through the shotlist and cut absolutely every nonessential insert and cutaway, establishing shot etc. Just get the main business with the main talent. Leave everything else to pickups or a 2nd Unit to do later on. Also, as many oners as possible. Eliminate nonessential coverage. Keep the lighting package very tiny and schedule day for day, night for night as much as possible. Do not allow the schedule to reverse that as it always takes more time, crew and gear. In my experience. No. Are there rare exceptions to everything? Of course. Everyone hopes to be that. Seems like a very expensive lottery ticket imho.