Can the INDIETALK community come together?

A

Absolution_Films

The Indietalk online community is one of the best I know and like any good community when they work together they can create something special.

Even over the past year there have been indie talk collaborations on certain members personal projects.

But can the whole indietalk community come together to write, direct an produce one film in which every indietalk member that wants to be involved has their part in the project.

It would be a film that's been made worldwide by many filmmakers for a common art.

The great thing about this community is everyone has their purpose and skill.

Is this something we can do by the end of 2013? Or is it an inconcievable dream?
 
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toomanycooks.jpg


Beware of too many cooks in the kitchen!

Collaborate? Yes! But the ship needs a captain! :)
 
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I'd participate, but it would need a long period of organization. Would the community collaborate on the script? How we agree on the genre, rating, tone, etc. when we all have different tastes? We'd have to collect a list of movies everyone would agree are good or great, not to mention someone passionate enough to be in charge of the whole thing.


On an unrelated note, just in case these guys read this:


I'd like to see Helidrver's, Wheatgrinder's, and Dlevanchuk's movies. Any new info on those?
 
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Obviously this is just an idea so there are many questions to answer and problems to ponder, all of the above ones mentioned I have thought about already.

It will definitely be a hard, confusing and complicated project but that's the fun part haha

With so many tastes in different films from everyone it would be near on impossible to settle on a genre etc by just chatting about it, so would the fairest way be to pick, genre, rating, time length, amount of main characters etc out of a hat?

With regards to script writing, would it be possible to start the script... One person writes say 2 minutes of the film then passes it on for the next person to write 2 mins and so on?
 
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They've never failed through willingness on the part of the community.. they've failed through the leadership of the particular project losing interest, focus or drive. There's always gotta be someone at the top pushing the project forward (The Producer) or it'll never happen.
 
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If you think about it, it's pretty easy to make this happen.

Set up vacancies for each position that you need, have a specific person for each one.

So in regards to the script, decide how long you want it, then divide 2 minutes for each person and select which division you want the people to write.

If you wanted to go further you could have an experimental version where people in different places could film their take on a specific division of the script thus bringing it all together into one film made up of a continuation of other films put together...

Have I lost you yet? Lol
 
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Absolution_Films said:
Is this something we can do by the end of 2013? Or is it an inconcievable dream?
Click to expand...
Over the years I have been involved with about 10 of these projects.
All have failed but I still believe it is possible.

What a project like this needs is a strong leader. What usually happens
is the picture CF posted. Everyone has an idea they think is best and no
one is willing to work with people who don’t love their idea.

I have found the the person proposing the product wants everyone to
have an equal say and does not want to risk people jumping ship by
taking too much control.

The second thing - and most important - is a group of writers (who are
generally solo workers) and a group of directors (who are generally the
leader) needs to follow the passion and direction of one person. That’s
really difficult to wrangle.

Are you up to the challenge? Can you inspire writers and directors to
follow your lead?
 
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directorik said:
I have found the the person proposing the product wants everyone to
have an equal say and does not want to risk people jumping ship by
taking too much control.

The second thing - and most important - is a group of writers (who are
generally solo workers) and a group of directors (who are generally the
leader) needs to follow the passion and direction of one person. That’s
really difficult to wrangle.
Click to expand...


Right, so if you are trying to do this you need to setup a chain of command and a decision making process day 1. You can use a vote with a tiebreaker, but restrict that to functional teams.

I think you manage the second item by not just doing one. If you get to be head writer this time next time you are number two, etc.

I would think your main issue isn't genre. People aren't participating in this concept for the genre, instead it is the idea of a distributed film process. You need to come up with that structure and then wrap a story around it. Especially for the first go. This is a proof of concept.

Example:

1. Moving between multiple people having a series of phone calls that reveals the plot.
2. A cause & effect chain. A car accident in LA leads to someone being late to work, who is rude on the phone to a customer in Hong Kong....
3. Multiple pilots in individual ships- - think battle beyond the stars
4. Someone on the run keeps changing their appearance

Come up with the gimmick and then come up with a story. Find a story people like but don't love.

People are interested in collaborative works. I think Hit Record does some similar things conceptually, just not structurally.
 
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The problem with this is simple. In order to do it properly, people need to all be willing to put in a vast amount of time- if everyone doesn't make that commitment, then you'll end up with something that is a bit rubbish. It might be interesting, cos it was a community thing, but it'll be a bit rubbish and will have wasted everyone's time. This is only worth doing if the end product is going to be at the same standard to what we can create on our own and, frankly, I'm not sure if that is possible.

I really suggest that, before you take this any further, you thoroughly read through those threads I've linked to above. The Organ Lottery project was potentially fantastic and we came very close to realising it (if you search 'organ lottery' you'll be able to read several excellent scripts that were written for the project). Personally, having led that failed attempt, I don't think it is going to work. To produce a short film requires time and money (unless you're willing for it to not be of particularly high quality) and getting many different people to do input that for a community project is a very, very tough ask.

EDIT: I just re-read some of those threads and we actually came up with some great ideas for how to do this. If you are going to try again, Absolution, then I recommend you look at these ideas which we came up with and then voted over in a poll, as they could all work for this sort of thing:

The Organ Lottery 'In a world that is starved of usable organs, [X Number] people across the world wait with baited breath to see whether they have been selected as one of the lucky few to receive a transplant. The build up and fall out of this momentous wait will change all their lives, for better or worse.'

The Cure 'The world has fallen victim to a terrible plague and, with time running out, only 1000 people worldwide can be vaccinated in time. Across the world [X Number] people wait to find out whether luck is on their side, or whether they must accept their fate.'

The Uterine Plague 'A uterine plague has swept the globe rending all women unable to conceive. Twenty years on and civilisation is on the point of collapse with the population plummeting and disease and disorder rife across the globe. Through this setting tales of desperation and hope emerge.'

Survivors 'Finding unity in the voice of a far off radio broadcast small bands of survivors struggle against a zombie plague and its victims to reach a rumored refuge.'

The Geriatrics 'Abandoned by the country they love, and without family to help them, five elderly strangers seek the support they need and the revenge they crave.'

Going Viral 'A debilitating flesh eating infection threatens to destroy the last remnants of the human race as people all over the globe struggle to survive and regain control of the planet.'
 
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Hey Guys,

Thanks Nick for your links.... i feel a bit stupid now that such a similiar idea has already been talked about at length.

In saying that.... I really really like "The Cure" idea and although it seems to have hit a dead end in the past... i would really like to talk to you further about possibly rejuvinating it.

You had some great ideas!

If its something that can work.. I think it would give great exposure to everyone involved... I know nothing similar apart from "Britain in a day" etc
 
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I personally like the pilots in spaceships idea. It gives everyone a chance to be in the film, it's a good plot, and all it would take from most of us is a green screen and a predetermined costume.
 
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These were some excellent ideas, I was into it for a while..

I think that traditional top down or "waterfall" approach will fail. Particularly in a all volunteer situation. In my mind a project that would work would allow for remote units to be 100% autonomous. Each remote unit would be responsible for delivery of a finished product. Story, script, production, post, etc. They would have to deliver output to a certain specification. That specification might include running time maximum, resolution, and plot interface ties. By that last bit I mean that the overall project has an typical plot arch, with "stubs" for undefined events. For example. A master plot might call for "the survivors in Kansas to cross a river dramatically and result in only one surviving teenage boy" the remote units job would be to write a script that does this, perhaps its a boat, perhaps they chose an old rail bridge, it doesn't matter to the big plot, but in the end of that sub plot everyone but one teenage boy dies. .. i could go on..
 
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Iv not seen that movie. But I just read the wiki plot outline, looks fantastic! Though, I think the lead is eventually in every room, which might not fit a truly distributed movie effort. If I recall in the discussion we had before.. The Cure had a TV personality that connected all the groups thorough a TV show and Survivors had the radio announcer... neither of which needed to be PHYSICALLY present at the remote locations.. just a TV \ or Radio..

I think any story with multiple groups in disperse locations, be it separate rooms or separate nations, could be made to fit. I think nailing the "interface" between the main plot and the sub plot is where the magic would happen. If you got that right.. it would work.
 
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There are several movies put there that are a collections of short films
all with a similar theme. What would make a group project stand out
would be one story with each “segment” written by a different writer
then each segment directed by a different director all under the direction
of one person who could motivate and push and, yes, control, the group.

I’m afraid that could never happen. I wish it could.

wheatgrinder said:
I think that traditional top down or "waterfall" approach will fail. Particularly in a all volunteer situation. In my mind a project that would work would allow for remote units to be 100% autonomous.
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Exactly the problem. Some people will gladly work towards the goal of one
“director” but most will want more control. The person in charge would
need to make a decision early on on exactly what the project will be and
make that very clear. People who don’t like that project can create their
own. And I believe most filmmakers would never want to get on board with
that.

I've seen the 100% autonomous method fail many times. I've never seen
anyone even try a different method.
 
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We need a small group of producers that decide what the screenplay is and how they will go about shooting and editing. One of the people in this group should be the head director. The team will then choose people for specific jobs. (i.e. Lead editor, Lead sound artist)
 
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One person writes a story that can be shot all over the world. Okay
two or three people come up with this for those who don’t like to
write on their own. A standard, three act story an audience could
relate to. Let’s say an international man hunt for a terrorist.

That story is broken down into segments: Act one is two segments,
Act two is three segments, Act three is two segments for a total of
seven segments each six to fifteen minutes. Each a part of the whole.

One hell of a challenge.

Then seven writers take on one segment written in order. So each
writer would know what has lead up to their segment. Each writer
would work closely with the director of that segment so nothing
would be written that couldn’t be filmed. The final script would be
very episodic - kind of like a season of “24” or “Lost”.

Then seven directors make their segment using their own crew and
their own equipment.
 
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