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My First Feature


Max Field

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Due to a lack of budget, I took the Woody Allen approach and decided to dub something in a comedic sense, having the entire project rely on editing, screenwriting, and audio mixing/directing. I finished this in just under 3 months.

 

I shipped it out to a few friends on VHS tapes for some added aesthetic. What you see on Vimeo is a rip from those tapes.

 

 

If any of you had 45 minutes of free time, It'd be a great help for me to see if people outside of my usual demographics found enjoyment out of my current output.

 

Thanks.

Edited by Macks Fiiod
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I watched a few minutes. I got to say, your dubbing skills are quite good.

 

However, I can't help but to wonder how long your video is going to stay online -- the copyright owners might not find your work amusing. Using material from a children's television series and combining it with characters that use foul language might be popular in some demographics, but I find it to be a turnoff for me.

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However, I can't help but to wonder how long your video is going to stay online -- the copyright owners might not find your work amusing.

 

In order for it to get taken down, it would need to gain enough momentum for a representative to see and report it. I'll take that as a bittersweet resolve knowing it gained enough momentum to reach that point. Youtube on the other hand automatically removes things in seconds.

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In order for it to get taken down, it would need to gain enough momentum for a representative to see and report it. I'll take that as a bittersweet resolve knowing it gained enough momentum to reach that point. Youtube on the other hand automatically removes things in seconds.

 

Hmmmmm, I think you need a course in basic film copyright. What you're doing is illegal and you can easily be sued.

 

Youtube relies on the producers of the content to send in take down notices. A job I must personally do each week, because a-holes around the globe keep uploading my movies to YouTube. YouTube does not delete the accounts of these people or punish them in anyway, they are simply allowed to flaunt copyright laws.

 

So you're on very very thin ice my friend.

 

R,

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Macks... be careful.. I got a take down order out of the blue from a clip in my showreel the I had shot ! it doesn't have to get alot of attention.. I assure you my show reel didnt :).. big companies have "Bots" that go through the internet looking for their stuff.. they are not doing it by themselves all day long..

And to make matters worse..Vimeo has a 3 strike and your out rule.. your banned for life !.. i.e. no show reel for me !! whilst this is good news for producers who,s footage is being used illegally.. its not for a DP with a 30 sec clip of their reel that they shot and the prod co gave permission to use..

I did manage to get the take down order rescinded .. but the clip that I had shot myself had to be taken off my site.. but for you the problem could be being banned from Vimeo if you get 3 take down orders.. I had no warning email or anything.. they took the clip off and I got this email telling me I had used up one strike !!

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Hmmmmm, I think you need a course in basic film copyright. What you're doing is illegal and you can easily be sued.

 

Youtube relies on the producers of the content to send in take down notices. A job I must personally do each week, because a-holes around the globe keep uploading my movies to YouTube. YouTube does not delete the accounts of these people or punish them in anyway, they are simply allowed to flaunt copyright laws.

 

So you're on very very thin ice my friend.

 

R,

 

I'm completely aware of all of this, and there will come a point where I take things like this down. The law versus the law's enforcement are two very different things though. I could show you a load of people doing exactly this who faced, at the very most, a channel getting banned. If my Vimeo gets banned I can make another, really not concerned with an account on the internet.

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I'm completely aware of all of this, and there will come a point where I take things like this down. The law versus the law's enforcement are two very different things though. I could show you a load of people doing exactly this who faced, at the very most, a channel getting banned. If my Vimeo gets banned I can make another, really not concerned with an account on the internet.

 

It's the rights holders reaching you PERSONALLY that should be a concern, and they can.

 

R,

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Just because someone else suffered only minor consequences doesn't mean you won't be hammered. You may have a fair use or transformation defence, but it could cost you tens of thousands to get as far as being able to argue it in federal court. If those properties are on the US copyright register the penalties start at $150,000 per infringement- that's $150,000 for the images, $150,000 for the music.... you get the idea, I hope.

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The sad reality is that anyone can sue anyone for anything at any time, and the winner will be the person with the most money for lawyers. The facts of the matter and the law are almost completely irrelevant.

 

I have never distributed anything I didn't own, but that doesn't really matter. If a big media company, or a producer like Richard, decided to take against me, they could do more or less anything they wanted to me and I'd be almost powerless to stop it.

 

P

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It's the rights holders reaching you PERSONALLY that should be a concern, and they can.

 

R,

 

Well put it this way, let's say you have twice the cash in your bank account right now and you see someone just throwing up a random no-profit thing goofing on Against The Wild 2 using the footage. Are you going to write a C&D/digitally remove it? Or go through with an elongated court case and thousands in legal fees?

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Well put it this way, let's say you have twice the cash in your bank account right now and you see someone just throwing up a random no-profit thing goofing on Against The Wild 2 using the footage. Are you going to write a C&D/digitally remove it? Or go through with an elongated court case and thousands in legal fees?

 

If you're are Sony and you have suits on retainer...... The answer is obvious, they would bring suit against you just for target practice.

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If you're are Sony and you have suits on retainer...... The answer is obvious, they would bring suit against you just for target practice.

See that's what I would assume too. However the internet has sprawled things out to the point where huge offenders aren't getting slammed with lawsuits like you would expect. If it WERE to happen, Youtube for instance would be a VERY different place than what it is right now.

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Legal issues aside (and Richard is absolutely right with the scenarios he brings up,) what exactly are you trying to sell yourself as with this?...

 

Joke writer, ADR director, and sound designer. I've done shorter things like this (as portfolio pieces) in the past and catch a decent amount of employment.

 

I feel like people are assuming I'm trying to get this a distribution deal for some reason..

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Joke writer, ADR director, and sound designer. I've done shorter things like this (as portfolio pieces) in the past and catch a decent amount of employment.

 

 

To be blunt, if I were advertising for a sound designer and you sent me this, I would quickly move on to the next person simply due to a lack of originality. I don't even know which voice is yours. One? All? Sound is an integral part of media and you should just concentrate on recording, right now. Location, studio, whatever. But make it yours.

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Well put it this way, let's say you have twice the cash in your bank account right now and you see someone just throwing up a random no-profit thing goofing on Against The Wild 2 using the footage. Are you going to write a C&D/digitally remove it? Or go through with an elongated court case and thousands in legal fees?

 

All of the above. No such thing as "random no-profit thing."

 

R,

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Legal issues aside (and Richard is absolutely right with the scenarios he brings up,) what exactly are you trying to sell yourself as with this?...

 

I'm afraid I have to agree with Bill on this, I fail to see how this markets you as a creative person with any skill?

 

R,

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I'm afraid I have to agree with Bill on this, I fail to see how this markets you as a creative person with any skill?

 

R,

Think we're jumping into firm subjectivity here. I've built a fanbase with projects like this going into that, people with clout to employ have found these very entertaining and pulled the trigger on me. On the flip side I could show "Against The Wild" to that same fanbase/circle and they'd say the same thing you're claiming about my cut: "uncreative, boring, etc".

 

I personally don't claim this about your work but I simply ask that you acknowledge there have been many new audiences emerging since you decided on your target audience years ago.

 

Comedy/video/film is always evolving, you've considered that it might evolve into something that isn't your cup of tea, right?

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On the flip side I could show "Against The Wild" to that same fanbase/circle and they'd say the same thing you're claiming about my cut: "uncreative, boring, etc".

 

The flip side is.....I created Against The Wild, it's my work. All you've done here is rip off the work of others, and tried to pass it off as your own. It's not just illegal, it's not at all in keeping with what this community is about.

 

R,

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The flip side is.....I created Against The Wild, it's my work.  All you've done here is rip off the work of others, and tried to pass it off as your own.  It's not just illegal, it's not at all in keeping with what this community is about.

 

R,

Well if you also claim that Woody Allen's first feature was also just a "rip off" then we just have to agree we come from two very different places. I know many communities that hold his film as a clever improvement to whatever he was editing/dubbing over.

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If any of you had 45 minutes of free time, It'd be a great help for me to see if people outside of my usual demographics found enjoyment out of my current output.

 

Respectfully, this is what you put in your original post. Now that people have given less-than-favorable opinions, shouldn't that be helpful to you in some way? Or were you simply hoping to expand your fan-base, here?

 

If you make money doing this kind of thing, more power to you. But it's just not my kind of entertainment.

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Respectfully, this is what you put in your original post. Now that people have given less-than-favorable opinions, shouldn't that be helpful to you in some way? Or were you simply hoping to expand your fan-base, here?

 

If you make money doing this kind of thing, more power to you. But it's just not my kind of entertainment.

Fair enough. Was just trying to get the "why's" and lines of Richard's opinions since I know he has also produced features. I'm not gonna freak out over him not appreciating it but wouldn't you say it's worth poking around to hear out someone of his experiences? I can't sit there and expect him, or anyone here, to teach me things straight up. Sometimes we gotta tussle for it.

 

And again, I don't make money doing these things, these only make connections which lead to jobs not working with copyrighted material.

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Well I thought it was funny.

Thanks, man. Primary job completed. If you don't mind my asking; what era did you grow up in?

I've gathered demographics from people who don't produce, but research in people who actually work in a similar field helps me to know where I stand.

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Well if you also claim that Woody Allen's first feature was also just a "rip off" then we just have to agree we come from two very different places. I know many communities that hold his film as a clever improvement to whatever he was editing/dubbing over.

 

"In Woody Allen's directorial debut, he took the Japanese action film Key of Keys (1965) and re-dubbed it, changing the plot to make it revolve around a secret egg salad recipe."

 

I don't see how what you're doing is the same thing? First off the co-director on What's Up Tiger Lilly was Senkichi Taniguchi, who was the director of the Japanese version, Key of Keys. So clearly this was a full collaboration between Allen and Taniguchi.

 

Allen didn't just rip off someone else's movie and do whatever he felt like with it.

 

R,

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