Director trying to convince me (producer) that 120 fps is a must!

cheetah78

cheetah78

Hi,

I am considering to produce a 5-minute indie short film. It is a parody of Hollywood action film cliches.

Currently, the director is trying to convince me that I need to arrange financing, so that we are able to shoot with Red One (=120 frames per second at 2K) to achieve slow motion that we can live with. I am of course doubtful whether it is really needed and terrified of the cost.

I have two questions if anyone could advise:
1. We are talking here about a relatively small-scale indie production (2 day outside shoot with a crew of less than five), but is the director still correct in that 2K & 120 fps will make a huge difference in the result?
2. What would be the alternative digital cameras (cheaper than Red One) you would recommend (capable of doing for example 60p fps at 1K)?
3. Are there some ways to achieve slow motion in post and still achieve decent results? Such as shooting 60i on basic HDV cam, de-interlacing and slowing it down to 24 fps.

Thanks for any views on this.
 
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cheetah78 said:
The director is just throwing arguments why this production cannot be made with Red and not really listening the options that I try to offer. It is not really a discussion, which might be a bad sign for the director-producer collaboration during actual production & post.
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If its bad now, wait till production starts. You'll have to open your wallet for this and that to shut him up.

You've a number of alarms going off here . . . start searching for another director (even if on the sly, just to get options). Crew members that question your choice of format don't belong on your team.

Good luck!
 
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@Nate North: Thanks for the samples and tips.

@GuerrillaAngel: I am afraid of exactly that. Film's vision is that of director's so, the only decision for me is to whether to produce this or walk-away, not really to look for another director.
 
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@Cheetah: Offer the options to the director, with the RED being an out of pocket expense for him for the difference in cast for rental (you'll need more than just that day with the camera as you NEVER drop a crew on a live set with unknown gear). Problem solved... he can pay for it and it doesn't kill you budget.
 
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knightly said:
@Cheetah: Offer the options to the director, with the RED being an out of pocket expense for him for the difference in cast for rental (you'll need more than just that day with the camera as you NEVER drop a crew on a live set with unknown gear). Problem solved... he can pay for it and it doesn't kill you budget.
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This is actually a really good idea, especially in this case. I wish I thought of it! :)

Good luck.
 
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cheetah78 said:
@Nate North: Thanks for the samples and tips.

@GuerrillaAngel: I am afraid of exactly that. Film's vision is that of director's so, the only decision for me is to whether to produce this or walk-away, not really to look for another director.
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Nate's point is pretty valid, especially since the DP has never used either camera. It ups the cost significantly, but your flexibility in frame rate is unparalleled for the cost. At the extreme end are the Phantom line of cameras, which generally rent for 2x the cost of an epic, and most houses will require you to hire a technician with it. (You'd want to anyway)

If it's the director's passion project, then it's his money by and large; additional financing always helps, but if it's his vision he's got to be willing to foot the bill if none can be found. A lot of what you will be doing is finding ways to reduce or eliminate costs on other things: donated or cheap locations, people willing to work for trade, friends that work in restaurants willing to donate a meal or two, and so on. There's pretty much no return expected on a project like this save to show it to folks when trying to fund the next project.

Knightly is also correct; you're going to want to do tests with the camera in addition to familiarizing the DP/ACs with it. Include that in your budget. Depending on how many days you are renting, you could get 1 prep day with the camera thrown in.

I'd say, rough up a few budget options and then sit down with the director to decide what is realistic. If he's unreasonable during that phase as well, it might be best to find another project to work on. Unreasonable doesn't mean "he still wants to go balls out RED and full guns blazing," just that if that's what he wants he needs to be realistic about the costs and willing/able to go there.
 
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