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Will I have enough STOCK?


Jon Bel

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Hello,

 

 

I have the intent on finally shooting my short however, I never looked into my ratio.

 

My script is 15 pages. I have only 2450 ft of stock available. 9 cans of short ends, 250 and 300 footers. It's a specific stock, Eastman exr 500t 5290, much older and can't get anymore of this kind.

 

Is this way to risky? With coverage and all? I think having actors around and running out of stock would be silly beyond. It would all have to be first takes.

 

If so, how much shorter should my script be to be safe?

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Hi

 

You might want to use your real name on this forum as its in the rules.

 

But onto the question, lots of unknowns and the shooting style, ability of actors etc will affect your shooting ratio - also the style you want for the script, if you cover it with lots of single take masters it would take less stock then an approach with lots of angles.

 

A 15 page script may average in a 15 min film - but again that depends on how its written. But if your looking at a 15 min film - on your stock thats a ratio of 4.5:1 which is very tight. Not impossible but very limiting. Personally I'd be more comfortable working at a ratio of 8:1 or 10:1, so with that amount of stock a 6 -7 min film might be more realistic - certainly give you more options.

 

But films have been made on 4.5:1 and lower ratios - but filmmakings hard enough without haveing to work to mega tight ratios.

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Thanks for the reply Phil. Very tight, guess it's a judgment call. I might have to trim out some

scenes the film can do without, as far as unity is concerned. I'm just glad I have the opportunity to shoot 35mm. Thanks for ratio info, I was thinking the same.

 

 

Hi

 

You might want to use your real name on this forum as its in the rules.

 

But onto the question, lots of unknowns and the shooting style, ability of actors etc will affect your shooting ratio - also the style you want for the script, if you cover it with lots of single take masters it would take less stock then an approach with lots of angles.

 

A 15 page script may average in a 15 min film - but again that depends on how its written. But if your looking at a 15 min film - on your stock thats a ratio of 4.5:1 which is very tight. Not impossible but very limiting. Personally I'd be more comfortable working at a ratio of 8:1 or 10:1, so with that amount of stock a 6 -7 min film might be more realistic - certainly give you more options.

 

But films have been made on 4.5:1 and lower ratios - but filmmakings hard enough without haveing to work to mega tight ratios.

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I think there's a math problem here. Are you shooting 4 perf 35mm? If so, you've got a total run time of 27min of raw stock. Slating and waste will eat into that. You've got considerably less than a 2:1 ratio for a 15 min film. Rethink the length of the project or buy some more stock. I've been getting short ends over at Reel Good Film in LA as low as .05 a ft-- don't blow the shoot for a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock.

 

Bruce Taylor

www.indi35.com

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I think there's a math problem here. Are you shooting 4 perf 35mm? If so, you've got a total run time of 27min of raw stock. Slating and waste will eat into that. You've got considerably less than a 2:1 ratio for a 15 min film. Rethink the length of the project or buy some more stock. I've been getting short ends over at Reel Good Film in LA as low as .05 a ft-- don't blow the shoot for a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock.

 

Bruce Taylor

www.indi35.com

 

Doh - I missread, just assumed we were talking 16mm for some reason - guess it was the footage length. My caculations were for 16 - sorry for the confusion

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Doh - I missread, just assumed we were talking 16mm for some reason - guess it was the footage length. My caculations were for 16 - sorry for the confusion

35mm stock codes begin with 5, 16mm with 7. So 5290 is 35mm.

Don't worry, it got me for a moment. I simply assumed no-one would try to shoot with a ratio under 2.

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I think there's a math problem here. Are you shooting 4 perf 35mm? If so, you've got a total run time of 27min of raw stock. Slating and waste will eat into that. You've got considerably less than a 2:1 ratio for a 15 min film. Rethink the length of the project or buy some more stock. I've been getting short ends over at Reel Good Film in LA as low as .05 a ft-- don't blow the shoot for a couple of hundred dollars worth of stock.

 

Bruce Taylor

www.indi35.com

Hey Bruce,

 

Is "Reel Good Film" 100% reliable? (with emphasis on 100%)

 

Thanks.

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Hello,

 

 

I have the intent on finally shooting my short however, I never looked into my ratio.

 

My script is 15 pages. I have only 2450 ft of stock available. 9 cans of short ends, 250 and 300 footers. It's a specific stock, Eastman exr 500t 5290, much older and can't get anymore of this kind.

 

Is this way to risky? With coverage and all? I think having actors around and running out of stock would be silly beyond. It would all have to be first takes.

 

If so, how much shorter should my script be to be safe?

 

Hello,

 

I don't know if you've already considered this or not, but here's one thing that can help you with the shooting ratio problem. You take a video camera with you and do rehearsals on video Even an old VHS camcorder would work here, because all you're wanting is something you can watch with your actors to evaluate their performances.

 

So you shoot the scenes over and over in video, sit back and watch them with your actors and make notes, comments, and generally give them more direction from the monitor. When you feel that they are starting to nail the performances on the video, then you go over and shoot it on film.

 

Now of course, things still happen, and takes can be blown for just whatever reasons, but I have found that this can be a real saver of film. But with all that said, I certainly DO recommend getting some more film, and increasing your shooting ratio. Also remember that everything you get on the first take increases your film budget on the back end (ie. increases your shooting ratio from say, 2:1 to 3:1 and so on). Anyway, if you haven't considered this already, I hope it helps! :)

 

J.M. King

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  • 1 month later...
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Is "Reel Good Film" 100% reliable? (with emphasis on 100%)

 

Sorry, I haven't visited this thread for awhile. My experiences with Reel Good have been 100% good... so far. They supply a lot of music video and commercial producers.

 

Rich has a good list too, I have heard good things about all of them.

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