What kinds of films do YOU want to make?

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

I just want to make a living, but that seems far more difficult than making drivelly action movies.

 

Phil

[Algis Kemezys]

If I could make a picture like David Lean....one that would be memorable then I certainly would feel acomplished. Generally speaking I like sci-fic . Also like David Lynch's style. Now include areas as nice as Sin City but none of that rampant violence and I'd be more than excited.

[Oli Soravia]

But, what are they? What films influenced you into film making and what kind of films would you like to make?

 

Some of my favorites:

 

- seven (photography, directing and screenplay)

 

- vanilla sky (screenplay and directing)

 

- magnolia (screenplay and directing)

 

- last samurai (directing, screenplay and photography)

 

- once upon a time in america (all)

[Mungai Kiroga]

Everyone here has a passion for film, but usually only certain types of film. Their dream is to make those specific types films.

 

But, what are they? What films influenced you into film making and what kind of films would you like to make?

 

 

Jambo:D ( hi ), every one. I think the best kinds of films are those with a tangible story. I love thrillers, stories that make you think as they play on, only to dissapoint you with some shocking turn. Some of you will not agree, but a good story beats special effects any time. I also have a thing against capitalising on sex and violence.

Since I am Kenyan, I hope to bring some of the African beauty to the silver screen.The landscape, the wildlife, the people and the life!! I also have a crazy love for music videos, I think I always will.

Speaking of favourites, I loved tears of the sun (probbly because it was shot in Africa). I loved the last scene, after they had been rescued. I think they brought out the emotions wonderfully, the joy of the rescue and the pain of losing friends.

[Jonathan Spear]

Rhesa,

 

That's an excellent idea. Tears of the Sun was awesome. From pictures I've seen and documentaries, Africa is a gorgeous (and often overlooked) country. If we saw more of your country the world would be a better place.

 

-Jonathan

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Africa isn't a country, it's a subcontinent.

 

Kenya is a country.

 

:)

 

Phil

[Jonathan Spear]

Hi,

 

Africa isn't a country, it's a subcontinent.

 

Kenya is a country.

 

:)

 

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

--

 

:rolleyes:

 

Heh...

 

I'm an idiot.

 

"Thanks" Phil.

 

B)

[Mungai Kiroga]

Phil is right (somewhat), Africa is a continent, Kenya is a country in the Eastern parts of it. Just give me a few more months (or years) people, I promise that you will be seeing more of my continent.

Her is a little hint to all of us hopeful directors, Africa is still untapped as a source of ideas. Some of you should seriously consider it in your future works...

[Nate Downes]

I just was reminded of the movie which rekindled my love of filmmaking:

 

Ronin

 

Something about it just drew me in, after I'd given up the ghost, so to speak, on filmmaking. It was so tight, so well crafted, I was in awe. And the thing is, it was done in such a way so as to be within the reach of an independent to make a film of that magnitude.

[Mike Lary]

I just was reminded of the movie which rekindled my love of filmmaking:

 

Ronin

 

Something about it just drew me in, after I'd given up the ghost, so to speak, on filmmaking.  It was so tight, so well crafted, I was in awe.  And the thing is, it was done in such a way so as to be within the reach of an independent to make a film of that magnitude.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I really enjoy that film. The car chase scene is mesmerizing, probably due in large part to the fact that it was filmed at actual speeds and with no CG. The way they shot the chase, timing the cars to be synchronous with existing traffic lights on real streets, is much more impressive to me and more effective than building a mile long freeway as a set and then creating artificial collisions and the illusion of speed. The sound is fantastic, most noticeable during the chase scene and in the gun battle preceding it. It reminds me a bit of Heat in that sense. Visually, it's beautiful as well, and the pacing is great.

 

What color was the boat house, anyway? :D

[Sam Javor]

I want to make a "vision of the future" mixed with some influence from hollywood roman epics like Sparticus and Cleopatra...as an indie I want to do this as 3D motion capture and be an animation every scifi geek knows ... like akira... just distinctly american.

 

 

i choose 3D animation as it is an inexpensive format that can be competitive with majors if proper care is taken... otherwise I would only do it as 35mm and it would be increadably expensive.

[Landon D. Parks]

"i choose 3D animation as it is an inexpensive format that can be competitive with majors if proper care is taken... "

Then why dont Indie Animated films look as good as Pixar films? 2 reasons: Time and Money. Pixar spends years making a single film, so does Dreamworks, ect. Money: Pixar spends $100 million, sometimes even more on a single animated movie.

 

They put that money somewhere, mostly in the hands of very experianced animators that require $40-$60/hour...

 

I always thought that Indie animations could compete on the "Major" scale, but they have things we dont, like special designed software, ect.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

You're not the John Allardice who used to write for a lot of UK computing magazines, are you?

 

Phil

[Sam Javor]

I will admit having an army of coders would help a little :)

 

Phil, was that question directed towards me? if so, no... and if not... no.

 

edit-----

there... got the signature thing going now...

Edited September 7, 2005 by zekthedeadcow

[Nate Downes]

American 3D won't be taken as seriously as Japanese animation till we make it as serious as Japanese animation. They deal with tough subjects, hard realities, and frankly some gross matter, something the American 3D guys just seem afraid of doing. A typical Japanese Anime will astonish you on so many levels.

[John Allardice]

Hi,

 

You're not the John Allardice who used to write for a lot of UK computing magazines, are you?

 

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you mean mags like Amiga Format, about ten years ago, then yeah...guilty as charged.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Hey, it's John Allardice, from Amiga Format!

 

Exactly how many ex Amiga-mag people are now working at DD, out of interest? I got the impression that the LA effects industry was more or less indundated with you guys. What on earth was it, the universal availability of Imagine that everyone trained on?

 

Oh, and say hi to Chad Collier, who'll have no idea who I am until you say "blue alien woman".

 

Phil

[Nate Downes]

If you mean mags like Amiga Format, about ten years ago, then yeah...guilty as charged.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I thought I recognized that name!

 

Kept up with the mess, I mean the Amiga community? 8)

[John Allardice]

Hi,

 

Hey, it's John Allardice, from Amiga Format!

 

Exactly how many ex Amiga-mag people are now working at DD, out of interest? I got the impression that the LA effects industry was more or less indundated with you guys. What on earth was it, the universal availability of Imagine that everyone trained on?

 

Oh, and say hi to Chad Collier, who'll have no idea who I am until you say "blue alien woman".

 

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Actually I've just moved on from DD now, but there's still a couple of of ex-amiga brits there, Cris Blyth & Rory McLeish, we all worked together at 'Team 17' in the UK, doing intro's for stuff like 'Worms' and 'Alien Breed' and each, with a few years in between, migrated over to LA...all to DD.

The DD thing was because we all used Lightwave...still the staple of the DD commercial division.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Well, good for you.

 

Please excuse my offtopicness, but it's a source of constant grief - how did you wangle the work permit? Get the employer to claim specialist knowledge?

 

Phil

[Landon D. Parks]

Now Now guys, act your age! ;-)

[John Allardice]

Hi,

 

Well, good for you.

 

Please excuse my offtopicness, but it's a source of constant grief - how did you wangle the work permit? Get the employer to claim specialist knowledge?

 

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

well, having had (by the time I first moved over)14 years experience in first practical, then digital FX, I qualified for an H1-b, the visa you'd need to get up to 6 years over here.

After two consecutive H1 visas: 1 ok year with Digital Domain, 5 GREAT years with Foundation Imaging. I'd garnered enough material to move to an O1 visa( Alien of extraordinay ability: Arts, Motion Picture or Television), this is permanently renewable, I'm on my second one now, but I'm still gonna go the whole hog, Green Card, Citizenship, anyway.

...and BTW, when you're working for guys like Fincher and Romanek, you NEED specialist knowledge. Its not just a case of the employer 'claiming' it so you can 'wangle' your way in.

 

J

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Well yes. The reason I ask is that I constantly come across people in both the UK and US on specialist-knowledge visas whose degree of specialism seems somewhat suspect. I mean, Java programmers? I have yet to find a case of this sort of immigration law not being bent into a circle because someone was someone's best mate's aunt's third cousin...

 

What did Fincher want?

 

Phil

[Salvador M. Rodrigues]

I've never really understood why or how someone can sit through 2 hours of ungodly amounts of blood & gore, decapitations, necrophelia, and all of that other 'wonderful' stuff people actually do to each other in real life anyways.

 

Kill Bill is completely void of timelesness. It's so far away from being a "good" movie in any shape or form that ultimately, in my opinion, U&Q wrote 120 minutes of purely glorified human terror. What's more, there's no point or resolve to the "story" besides revenge, which happens to be one of the most primitively inferior aspects of human nature.

 

Hi everyone,

 

What I think lots of people missed from Kill Bill is not the story or all the gore and action sequences. Those shots actually made me laugh,the way the blood gushed all over. For me what made Kill Bill a kick ass movie is all the styling used in the movie,from the black and white shooting to the manga sequence of Oren Ishi, its a sort of a retro 70's pop art style and I think Robert Richardson pulls it off completely . The scene where Uma is fighting the 100 bad guys, the lights go off and theres a soft blue light on the background making all the characters into silhouette style in a reflected floor is simply amazing. Then the scene right after, she battles it off with Lucy Liu in a typical chinese garden, except it is snowing and the contrast of the red blood stains on the white soft snow and.. ahh, everything is simply so beautifull that I get goosebumps everytime I see it.

 

Technically, if you consider some of the shots Quentin uses, they are simply brilliant. There is a clear influence from all the Sergio Leone films, such as the church scene when the camera dollies outside and all the characters are framed within the frame of the window, or the long steadicam/crane shot inside Oren's hanging out place, that goes on and on and on. Great coordination of moving people around there.

 

And of course, the characters and dialogue are Tarantinesque style and they simply add a whole new dimension to the pleasure of viewing. That is what I like about Quentin's style, he takes all his influences, adds a drop of his own techniques, mixes everything up and what we see is a whole new style of cinema.

 

My influences are definitely the shooting style of Sergio Leone mixed with the mysteries of David Lynch, with the art feel of Quentin,the suspense from Hitchcock/Shyamalan and the sound of Morricone/Williams.

 

But then again, I think everyone one of us would love to do a Star Wars, and looking back that's the only movie I must of seen a hundred times! :)

Edited September 10, 2005 by Sá Rodrigues

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Hi everyone,

 

What I think lots of people missed from Kill Bill is not the story or all the gore and action sequences. Those shots actually made me laugh,the way the blood gushed all over. For me what made Kill Bill a kick ass movie is all the styling used in the movie,from the black and white shooting to the manga sequence of Oren Ishi, its a sort of a retro 70's pop art style and I think Robert Richardson pulls it off completely . The scene where Uma is fighting the 100 bad guys, the lights go off and theres a soft blue light  on the background making all the characters into silhouette style in a reflected floor is simply amazing. Then the scene right after, she battles it off with Lucy Liu in a typical chinese garden, except it is snowing and the contrast of the red blood stains on the white soft snow and.. ahh, everything is simply so beautifull that I get goosebumps everytime I see it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Storyline is 10 times more important than cinematography.