A dance scene.

[Aspiring Mogul]

I was browsing youtube and came across this scene, so it inspired me to adapt for one of my budding stories. It's the end of the interstellar war, and everyone is celebrating. For some reason, the current fashion is retro-style, so they're into the 1930's and 1940's big bands.

I wrote this draft, and I felt good doing it. Writing is truly my creative passion.

Adapted from Swing Dance (1943) with Ms Jean Veloz.



The soldiers, male and female are gathered at the dance hall to celebrate the end of the war. Many are in uniform, but some, obviously the partners of those in uniform, are in civvies. At the far end is the symphony. One male soldier, in green army uniform, is seated, playing “L’il Marlene”, on his harmonica.



Then the band suddenly strikes out Glen Miller’s “In the mood”. A male, in army uniform, comes out and starts dancing. Then a female, in civilian skirt, comes out and joins him. They do some swing dance moves, while everyone watches, then the female twirls the first male to the side. A second male, in space fleet uniform, joins her, and the twirl, even as the first male dances at the side.



The second male then twirls the first female to the side, and, while she and the first male dance and watch, a second female comes up to the second male, and both take centre stage.



Then everyone turns to their partners, and they start holding hands and dancing – some couples are male and female, while others are male and male or female and female.

Out of curiosity, how much would it cost to film a short like this?

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Happy new year, everyone.

I just finished "12 O'Clock High", and it's a good movie, about the trauma that the characters go through. I'm inspired by the scenes of people talking in the rooms, but I won't be able to afford the bomber scenes, unless I get funding from the bigger investors. That said, it was an enjoyable movie, so thanks.

 

[mlesemann]

hire a bunch of actors to talk to each other for two hours?

Depends on the actors.

You can probably get decent local actors (you're in Vancouver, yes?) for a few hundred dollars each.

And if you're talking about shooting scenes in multiple rooms, you're not talking about two hours.
You'll need multiple takes, multiple angles, and time to set up the lighting for each room.
Again, depends on the length of each scene and how you, the director, & the dp want to shoot them.

And in terms of where to shoot something like that? Figure out exactly what you need and look for a local place to rent for a few days.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Alcove Audio, yes, Patton said you cannot run an army without profanity, and he was definitely anti-Soviet. But I don't think he would have been insulting to a fellow officer at a formal dinner, because he loved the military way of life, and that meant respect for all officers, even enemy ones.

You're right, he would not have done something like that at a formal dinner, but he may have snubbed a Soviet officer at one of those formally informal military/diplomatic meetings. The film just exaggerates for dramatic effect.

I'm watching 12 O'clock high, which I may finish at .... midnight. Anyway, I like the idea of them talking in various rooms. My concern, however, is that, to renovate a soundstage into various rooms could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, so I'm wondering if I could use something that is already available.

One thing about the military, everything is standardized. As an example, you can set up one officers quarters and redress the same room for each officer.

Let's not get into the issue of bombers crash-landing, because that would be way beyond my budget.

The one big-budget stunt for the film. All of the bombing mission at the end of the film is actual combat footage from the US Air Force and the Luftwaffe.

I love how simple shooting the flying inserts are. Rear-screen projection for sky and other planes.

Even though only shot three years after the WWII they had a hard time finding enough B-17s for the runway scenes.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Alcove, good point about Patton. That film, actually did do a lot of scenes for dramatic effect.

12 O'clock High was shot for $6 million in those days, which comes to $70 million today, and it had only one big special effect.

 

[Alcove Audio]

12 O'clock High was shot for $6 million in those days, which comes to $70 million today, and it had only one big special effect.

Think about how many well-known actors were in that film; that's probably where a lot of the budget went, just like today. I wish I could remember the film, but it was shot back at the turn of the millennium for about $100 million. If you took out the salaries of the "names" and the costs of taking care of them it went down to about $40 million.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

I agree, Alcove, but, even without the name actors, the cost would still be prohibitively high. I'm not going to pay for a bomber crashing into the airfield. Out of curiosity, how much would a cameo by a name actor cost?

 

[indietalk]

You're asking for the piece of string meme.

Mara's film had a Paul Sorvino cameo. I'm not asking her to post how, I'm letting you know it is possible.

 

[Alcove Audio]

I agree, Alcove, but, even without the name actors, the cost would still be prohibitively high. I'm not going to pay for a bomber crashing into the airfield. Out of curiosity, how much would a cameo by a name actor cost?

Why would you want a B-17 bomber crash in your sci-fi film?

Here's someone from our own IndieTalk community who can do your sci-fi action scenes.

I have no idea how much a "name" would cost; I guess it depends upon the name and how big the cameo is. Sometimes your big name is just luck. When Pixar recruited Tim Allen and Tom Hanks for "Toy Story," "Home Improvement" hadn't broken yet, "Sleepless in Seattle" had not yet been released, and "Philidelphia" was still in production, so both actors were relatively affordable. By the time "Toy Story" was released, Allen was a big TV star, and Hanks had a big hit with "Sleepless," an Oscar from "Philidelphia" and a second win with "Forrest Gump." (I think that they just added zeroes when they negotiated salary for the subsequent "Toy Story" films.)

Don't worry about big names, focus on your pre-production. If you do it right, and your project gets some legs and creates industry buzz, it is possible to attract some influential names.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

Alcove and Indietalk, I know that actors' fees can range widely, but I was just asking.

I am at least two years from preproduction, and I definitely want the Covid shutdown to end before I do anything significant. I have also started a new thread on my magnum opus.

 

[indietalk]

Alcove and Indietalk, I know that actors' fees can range widely, but I was just asking.

And I was just answering

 

[Nate North]

Happy new year, everyone.

I just finished "12 O'Clock High", and it's a good movie, about the trauma that the characters go through. I'm inspired by the scenes of people talking in the rooms, but I won't be able to afford the bomber scenes, unless I get funding from the bigger investors. That said, it was an enjoyable movie, so thanks.

You could afford the bomber scene, but only if you knew exactly what you were doing. No one is filming live plane scenes anymore, for a lot of solid reasons. There are ways that you could pull this off for a reasonable cost, but as mentioned in the other thread, you would have to approach that kind of thing the right way. There's more than one way to skin a cat. You can cut the cost of a viz scene by 95% by simply having the action take place in the bokeh with a character in focus. Just as an example. You might enjoy the film "The Aviator" which has a significant plotline about filming live airplanes.

 

[Nate North]

Why would you want a B-17 bomber crash in your sci-fi film?

Here's someone from our own IndieTalk community who can do your sci-fi action scenes.




I have no idea how much a "name" would cost; I guess it depends upon the name and how big the cameo is. Sometimes your big name is just luck. When Pixar recruited Tim Allen and Tom Hanks for "Toy Story," "Home Improvement" hadn't broken yet, "Sleepless in Seattle" had not yet been released, and "Philidelphia" was still in production, so both actors were relatively affordable. By the time "Toy Story" was released, Allen was a big TV star, and Hanks had a big hit with "Sleepless," an Oscar from "Philidelphia" and a second win with "Forrest Gump." (I think that they just added zeroes when they negotiated salary for the subsequent "Toy Story" films.)

Don't worry about big names, focus on your pre-production. If you do it right, and your project gets some legs and creates industry buzz, it is possible to attract some influential names.

Thanks for the referral. I can indeed pull of something like that. It's not super easy, but it's cents on the dollar vs the real thing obviously.

I would say that recognizable names are a huge benefit to filmmakers working to get noticed. I would however warn that picking has been actors out of the discount bin is a highly transparent practice, and is not especially effective. Spotting talent in an up and comer with a low price tag is more effective. My advice for hiring actors is to focus heavily on their actual quality. Acting is apparently really hard to get right, I usually agree with Mara, but I have to say in this instance that filling a film with local theater people has not been effective in general across the films I've seen take this tac. No offense intended. I'm not saying that there aren't talented people out there, but all I can say is, watch a few dozen films made with no name actors in lead roles, and just be honest with yourself about how engaged you feel. It's more complex than I'm making it sound, but basically charisma, character, personality, and the ability to convey that on screen seems far more rare a thing than logic would dictate.

All that said, a great director can get a performance out of a 10 year old. Kubrick used Jack in the Shining, and obviously no substitute would have been the same, but at the same time I can't remember any actors name from "Barry Lyndon" and yet the quality was still there.

 

[mlesemann]

filling a film with local theater people has not been effective in general across the films I've seen take this tac.

What I meant wasn't theater people but, if my impression that he lives in Vancouver, BC is correct, using indie film actors. Given the large number of movies shot in Vancouver, there should be plenty of solid, experienced film actors available, much as there are in NYC.

 

[Nate North]

I totally get that. It is definitely a different proposition hiring local actors from NYC vs hiring local actors from Sandusky, Ohio.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada, but my mentor lives in Florida. I'm supposed to talk to him again, but I'm not doing anything until the Covid shutdown is lifted - I'm anti-vax, so I will bide my time.

In terms of talking only, if it can't be done right, then I'll just do something cheap on Youtube and print out my story for others to read. As I've said, I've got everything else I want in my life, so I should be content with what I have. IOW, either I become a mogul or I crash, as in all or nothing.

 

[Alcove Audio]

I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada, but my mentor lives in Florida. I'm supposed to talk to him again, but I'm not doing anything until the Covid shutdown is lifted - I'm anti-vax, so I will bide my time.

How many decades can you wait??????????

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

How many decades can you wait??????????

As many as necessary, and, if need be, forever.

 

[sfoster]

Sfoster, a documentary would be a great idea. That said, the dialogue between the two generals would not be long, perhaps 5 minutes per scene. A good example would be "Same Time Next Year", a 1978 film with Alan Alda that was a social commentary.

A film from 44 years ago.. hmm.
I've just got to say if i were a producer investing money i would take a pass on this project.

It sounds more like the artistic ambitions of an individual than a sound investment.
What i mean by that is -- if you went to a film market and did research on what is going to sell and what sort of movie distributors what to buy, i seriously doubt you would come to the conclusion that a movie with just people talking about the past is the right business choice.

 

[Aspiring Mogul]

A film from 44 years ago.. hmm.
I've just got to say if i were a producer investing money i would take a pass on this project.

It sounds more like the artistic ambitions of an individual than a sound investment.
What i mean by that is -- if you went to a film market and did research on what is going to sell and what sort of movie distributors what to buy, i seriously doubt you would come to the conclusion that a movie with just people talking about the past is the right business choice.

Which is why I'm taking my time. The odds of getting funding for a tent pole sci-fi movie would be slim, and the odds of getting a movie of people talking would be slim; even if the funding was provided, the odds of making big would also be slim. So why would I want to rush?

 

[sfoster]

Which is why I'm taking my time. The odds of getting funding for a tent pole sci-fi movie would be slim, and the odds of getting a movie of people talking would be slim; even if the funding was provided, the odds of making big would also be slim. So why would I want to rush?

Idk what rushing has to do with anything. I'm just pointing out you are acting like an aspiring artist instead of an apsiring mogul.
You have an idea that you came up with and you like it and want to create it. But creating things is what artists do.

how will you convince distributors to buy it? what is the trailer going to look like and how will audiences react to that trailer?
In the kings speech there were obstacles to overcome and huge events that happened throughout the film and a lot of character growth and development. How much character growth and development occurs throughout your film, and if it is none at all how will you possibly convince a talented actor to take interest in the role?

Here is food for thought about making a movie vs selling a movie, it's like he is saying a distributor is everything