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British indie filmmaker looking for concepts...

You know the feeling: all prepped up and ready to go, you have the desire, the dedication needed, but no script. Bollocks!

Hey there everyone, I'm stuck for an idea but have all the equipment and personel you could ever need. If one of you has an idea that you'd like shown but lack the means, I'm your man. Write your concept below (or MSN adress for privacy) and we'll talk... can't wait :D

SHORT FILMS ONLY!!
 
Hey, i've been looking for someone to proof my short film script. Anyone up for it? Just click here to read it. Thanks in advance, and i appreciate constructive criticism!

Thanks, DigiRoots :cool:

I think you do a good job of it! I get a real sense of what you see and imagine.. that said.. I don't agree with the big emotional payoff..

Timmy, some things I can't explain but I want you to always know that your mother and I love you now, and always will.

Lets tally mom's score:
  • mom didn't come to parent conferences
  • she just told his dad to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE
  • Shes not even out looking for Timmy.

Thats a big 0 on the parental love-o-meter.

Let dad HAVE A GO at explaining why Timmy's mom is such B$#@H

not politically correct, but could be more interesting than a cheap platitude.
 
Ah don't worry about it, I was under the impression you where a proffesional indie filmmaker offering a production oppertunity. No, for a film student that array of equipment is very impressive.
As a film student myself, I would be very happy to have access to that equipment! - For my films (that I'm usually the producer of) I rent the camera from a local hire company - not having the cash to buy my own - so yeah I think we are in slightly different circles - just the other way round!
Good luck again with finding a project - I'm shooting a short next weekend, my first as a DP as well as producer - there's a scene where the lead is stood alone in a bleak field... i've got a mate with a JCB and i'm going to sit in the bucket and be lifted up for an arial shot - so i'm a bit nervous at the moment. :L
I'd love to hear how you get on & what sort of films have you shot in the past? - any features?
reguards,
SMITH
 
Ah don't worry about it, I was under the impression you where a proffesional indie filmmaker offering a production oppertunity. No, for a film student that array of equipment is very impressive.
As a film student myself, I would be very happy to have access to that equipment! - For my films (that I'm usually the producer of) I rent the camera from a local hire company - not having the cash to buy my own - so yeah I think we are in slightly different circles - just the other way round!
Good luck again with finding a project - I'm shooting a short next weekend, my first as a DP as well as producer - there's a scene where the lead is stood alone in a bleak field... i've got a mate with a JCB and i'm going to sit in the bucket and be lifted up for an arial shot - so i'm a bit nervous at the moment. :L
I'd love to hear how you get on & what sort of films have you shot in the past? - any features?
reguards,
SMITH

yeah, i guess i was a little extreme in the way i presented myself :S

- well, I'm doing my Alevels at the moment at a school that doesn't offer film or media studdies, yet has some pretty cool equipment!?!? they just use it to film Sports etc...

- I've only made two shorts so far and steered clear of features :(
(that amount of commitment scares me a little) - probably end up doing my first after film school (which i haven't started yet)

- that JCB shot sounds very cool! I'm scared just hearing about it :P - what's the film gonna be about? are you gonna post it online? and: how about you, any features?

Charles.
 
a directory of short film concepts...

Ok, I'm looking to build a wall of loads of different short film ideas from YOU to help out all the newbies who "JUST WAN'T TO GET ON AND MAKE A FILM!!"

Share if you will...
 
So, once there is a bunch of ideas can anyone take one and use it?

that's the idea yeah, It's all for newbies so we don't really wanna bog them down with rules/laws etc...

just a fast track to getting out there and actully shooting something :D

P.S: I't would be nice thsat if anyone does take an idea off this wall to:
1) credit the ideas man
2) tell all of us which one you chose (for interest's sake + so not too many duplucates are floating around youtube)
 
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Haha, I was just writing a scene last night - thought it was pretty cool... and then realized... dun dun dun - it was the most generic chase scene I'd ever seen - I'd seen it in a thousand different movies, just with different characters and locations - here, I'll summarize it for you and you can fill in the blanks.

Character 1 - Running from something, looks back sees nothing, continues running, hides, sees nothing. Gets up and runs some more

Character 2 - chasing character 1

End - Character 2 catches character 1 - insert line, "bwahahahah, now I've got you!" or, "I'd have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids" or, "tag, you're it!"

Anyway, its a fun strictly visual suspenseful shoot idea - it can be as long or short as you'd like. Try it out, and then post it - I sorta want to try it out myself, and I'd like to see what others come up with.
 
:L
Cool - I wish my college had that equipment - i'm currently doing A-levels in Film studies, English Literature, English Language and Politics.
+ I'm producing a feature - it's getting there now - rough cut all sorted -working on the final cut, just some colour correction and then the score left to do after that... It's been almost a year since we started pre-production so i'm glad it's almost finished, we shot over three months in the summer so it was a pretty big committment & to be honest there where times when i didn't think we'd pull it off - especiallly seen as we were working with an ensamble cast of ten, working for no pay in the middle of their summer holidays!

are any of your shorts on the internet?

+ We havn't decided what we will do with the short yet - depends how it turns out - we might put it on vimeo or somthing + trailer for my feature will be ready soon so I'll send you a link - you can join the facebook group if you like & i'll put the link to the trailer in a message to all members when it's ready. - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=277025876419&ref=share#/group.php?gid=60593367453&ref=ts

SMITH
 
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:L
Cool - I wish my college had that equipment - i'm currently doing A-levels in Film studies, English Literature, English Language and Politics.
+ I'm producing a feature - it's getting there now - rough cut all sorted -working on the final cut, just some colour correction and then the score left to do after that... It's been almost a year since we started pre-production so i'm glad it's almost finished, we shot over three months in the summer so it was a pretty big committment & to be honest there where times when i didn't think we'd pull it off - especiallly seen as we were working with an ensamble cast of ten, working for no pay in the middle of their summer holidays!

are any of your shorts on the internet?

+ We havn't decided what we will do with the short yet - depends how it turns out - we might put it on vimeo or somthing + trailer for my feature will be ready soon so I'll send you a link - you can join the facebook group if you like & i'll put the link to the trailer in a message to all members when it's ready. - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=277025876419&ref=share#/group.php?gid=60593367453&ref=ts

SMITH

Wow man, thats so exciting! I'm genuinely very happy for you, I joined the group - the poster alone looks amazing! - I'll be eagerly awaiting that trailer

How did you do it!?!
(I know that's a stupidly ambiguous question but it's the only way i can think of phrasing it... "how did you get started on the feature? did you propose a film, they came to you? you went to them? storyboard it all,, plan it to a T? .... u kno, everything :S")
I really want to make one now lol.

Yeah, my short is online, don't expect to love it though: (simple 3 camera set up using just one camera + some pretty budget lapel mics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioac6F7Z5OA

(I had to compress it about 7 times so as u would expect... VERY por quality)

have you made any shorts before? are they online?

Charles.
 
I'd go with something involving a moment where the dad just stops for a second, lets the horror of what he's seeing overwhelm him and then leap into the rest of the dialog. Or you could shoot for a quicker reaction than that.

The idea is to think of an emotion that best expresses what a person is thinking when they say "Oh no" in the way your character is saying it. Complete, immediate disbelief might be what you're looking for. Describe that.
 
The old man is so surprised at deaths comments, that he has a heart attack... but death is too busy laughing and he cant reap the old mans soul..

The old man, opens one eye.. still waiting for Death .... his soul gets up, leaving his body on the ground.. following after death...

OLD MAN
Hey, Now what?

Genuinely the greatest idea in the world
 
Glad you like the look of it, poster photo was taken by yours truly :)

How: it's a long story but i've just finished my last exam and i've got the time so here goes...

March last year I get moved to top set maths (I was in yr 11 at this point), I was made to sit by a guy I hardly knew & whom i percieved to be arrogant & cocky from our limited encounters; however we start talking and found we had two things in common: an extreme dislike for maths and a love of film... a few lessons went by and I mentioned that I was inerested in writing screenplays... then he revealed that he'd already written most of one and just needed to finish it off. Over the next few weeks we talked about screen writing, I showed him my few pages of script, he showed me some of his "project" and after a while he mentioned he'd like to make his screenplay and asked me to come onboard as producer whilst he directs and another friend of his does the camerawork.
Obviously I agreed and so we set about doing the pre-production:

Rewrites

Casting sessions - advertised in local drama clubs/classes, we had about 20 people audition and we cast from those.

Printed 12, 72 page scripts from my home printer - that was one hell of a day I can tell you.

Held a table reading for all the cast to rehurse lines/ get to know each other.

Production sceduling - taking into account everyone's holidays (absolute nightmare)

Then we had a photo shoot for a montage wall that the stalker has in his bedroom. - as my first love is stills photography that was my job - you can see the shots on the group page + this day was pretty hilarious to be honest - we had all had a huge end-of-GCSEs party the previous night and most of us turned up still drunk - I didn't trust myself to ride my bike so I did the 1hr trek :S .

Then we commenced filming mid-July - we used pretty low budget equipment: a canon HD handheld model, RODE video mic - which we bought an adapter for so that it could be mounted onto a painters pole instead of paying £200 for the boom pole that does the exact same thing, some 500w worklights, a nice crutch-leg tripod off ebay, a homemade go-cart dolly, some step ladders, a white sheet on a portable clothes rail as and some shiny car windshield sun covers as reflecters, a HD monitor and a mac book pro with final cut on. - oh and a smoke machine we borrowed off a mate for a night shoot.

After many ups and downs and some nightmare production challanges - e.g. late night calls from cast members "I'm on holiday so I can't film this week, sorry I forgot" things like that, we finally wrapped mid-september and now we are well into editing and hope to be finished around March ish

So in the end: A in maths, feature almost made... but the director's still cocky and arrogant :P J/K

...Phew - I realise I may have waffled on somewhat there... but I suppose that must have answered your question?

Liked your short by the way - nicely filmed & good example of ellipsis used to hook the viewer (and fustrate them to hell) - what was it? - I really want to know, although I expect you don't actually have an answer to that?

+ next weekend will be my first short but hire company has just pulled out of letting us use the camera so now we're using a mini-dv JVC which is no where near as good, but it should be okay - seen as it's a 2minute short... somthing always goes wrong.

Hows the inspiration for the short coming along?

SMITH
 
I'd go with something involving a moment where the dad just stops for a second, lets the horror of what he's seeing overwhelm him and then leap into the rest of the dialog. Or you could shoot for a quicker reaction than that.

Would it be better if the dad pauses then runs to the window and looks out, (camera shot from outside window) and maybe he yells timmy and it echos or he gets emotional in disbelief? would either of those work?
 
Would it be better if the dad pauses then runs to the window and looks out, (camera shot from outside window) and maybe he yells timmy and it echos or he gets emotional in disbelief? would either of those work?

Hey,
Im not saying you're wrong or anything like that, I jsut would quite like to know whether writing camera directions: "camera shot from outside window", is the right thing to do?

As a director: I'd rather read a script that was pure story, character and emotion,, I wouldn't like to be told what to do. also it gives me the impression that you wrote that part of the story to include one image you had in mind.
Just speculating though, you do what you want.
 
Hey,
Im not saying you're wrong or anything like that, I jsut would quite like to know whether writing camera directions: "camera shot from outside window", is the right thing to do?

As a director: I'd rather read a script that was pure story, character and emotion,, I wouldn't like to be told what to do. also it gives me the impression that you wrote that part of the story to include one image you had in mind.
Just speculating though, you do what you want.

That is so true! I will totally fix that! I've been updating my script on my computer with all these great tips. Thanks!
 
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