budget How much to do these?

Hello everyone,

First, the good news - some of my students have passed their bar exams and will be staying on as lawyers in my firm, even as the next group of students take their place. I have at least one more goal in Canada, for which I've got no results despite years of trying, and I've given myself five years to accomplish it - if nothing happens by then, I may retire; if something does happen, I may continue for 10 - 20 years, to finish my journey.

With this in mind, believe it or not, I'm thinking of filming some short scenes, just to get it out of my system. I've been typing about this for over 15 years, so I want to see if I really want to be a filmmaker after I retire from law. If not, I can still talk about it, for the time I'm around, and read and write books.

I'm therefore wondering if the experts can give their thoughts on this. I have the following scenes that have been buzzing around in my head.

Leisure Man

Years ago, I started a thread about people eating while talking to others, which is rude, because the others are not eating with him. Members of this forum hae suggested that is a sign of power, to show that those others have to organize their schedule around the person having his meal. From this, I have taken a character from the William Holden movie, "The Counterfeit Spy" where the British spymaster is eating breakfast and is a bit pompous.

Leisure Man would be a spy master, and there would be three scenes of him eating breakfast, dinner, and at a sauna/spa. In each scene, this pompous ass would be talking to others, and, when all three scenes are viewed, the audience would see he's talking on both sides of his mouth (contradictory statements). This would indicate hgw spooks use deception and falsehood to the outside world, though he is a dedicated professional. A few years ago, when I was at the AFM, I did a scene with someone who worked in the industry, and I found that to be an emotionally-powerful experience, so I would like to go through that again. I'm thinking of casting the proverbial British nobility or a Boston Brahman for Leisure Man.


Creator

This would be a conversation where a ship's captain would meet and talk to a representative of a highly advanced alien species. Again, I discussed this years ago, where he would be transported to a white space - which the alien says is null space - and discuss the nature of creation as well as the nature of God. In a different scene, that captain would have a further encounter with that alien, when they meet at a garden planet, which was paradise.


Enemy General (EG)

I haven't fleshed out this character. There would be at least one scene, where EG would be at the end of the war, sending out orders with his adjutant for their troops to hold the line. A soldier from the other side would then step into the scene, salute and apologize, saying that EG was now a prisoner. EG and the adjutant look around to see that they're surrounded, so they raise their hands. This is taken from a real scene in WW2, when a German general was captured even as he was directing the defensive forces.

In a follow up scene, the EG would realize they've been captured by juniors, so he keeps complaining as to how they're not fully trained. This is taken from an episode in Young Indiana Jones, where Indy and his colleague capture General von Lettow-Vorbeck, who rants and raves at them.



I am willing to pay standard rates for these read throughs. I'm also wondering, since these are just rehearsals, if one actor can play all of them, to be more cost efficient. I've never done this before, so I would welcome ideas and price quotes. Thank you very much.
 
Solution
@directorik, I should apologize, not you, because I'm confusing the two. I'm thinking of short scenes with little or no props - like the improvs at the theatre that would be filmed.

I understand an actor would be $150 - $250 per day. What about a crew to shoot, say, two or three actors rehearsing for one day, and, if it becomes two days, would it be double or less than double.
A day rate is just that. No discounts for more days.

Figure the crew rates at between $100/day to $500/day. It depends (have
I used that before?) on their crew position. And how many you need for a
shoot like this depends on several factors - something I have written about
often. What you want to do could cost $2,500 or $7,500. It could also be...
If he tries to play the French and American unions off against each other, that might be legitimate ... 🤔

Then again, with a couple of cameras in the room, he'd have no trouble getting 13 year's worth of footage of people talking to, at and across each other, no props or script needed. :mad:
 
You've obviously never eaten a good meal with any French people! ⏳
Actually, I have. I studied law in Montreal, which is a part of French-speaking Canada, and I knew many French citizens who immigrated to my vicinity and started restaurants. As I write this, I'm thinking of someone who did that in Ottawa, the capital of Canada where I trained to be a lawyer, and he asked me to wear a suit and tie when I attended his restaurant - come on, mon ami, let's have some class.

Anyway, like I said, I'm making progress - before, I was just talking about filming; now, I'm talking about filming and eating. 😁
 
Now you all know why I haven't done any filming.

I've been giving you a hard time lately - my feeble attempt at challenging you to produce something.
I'm going to stop with that, because if I keep it up I'm going to feel like a troll.

I just need to say one more thing and get this off my chest.

You have a bonafide, lifetime professional director telling you exactly what steps to take to move forward.
To watch you balk and immediately throw his advice in the trash, saying you're going to film a "read-through" instead is nothing short of comical.

"You will not experience anything like filmmaking." did not penetrate even 1cm into your skull.

Filming a read through after 15 years is honestly pretty fucking funny, it has the absurdity of a mad-tv character.

Okay there I got it out of my system. Last you'll hear from me about this for at least 6 months.

:deadhorse::deadhorse::deadhorse:

p.s. fill out this form and observe how much time you have left on earth, you're no spring chicken.

Rotisserie Chicken Food GIF
 
@directorik, I sent you an email and suggested we talk. Let's break the project into small pieces - I would like 3 actors for the day, who can read scripts from at least two different stories; I will also need a professional camera man. That's the first step. If I come to LA on February, can you please provide that, as well as am empty stage or conference room? Yes or no?
 
You have a bonafide, lifetime professional director telling you exactly what steps to take to move forward.
To watch you balk and immediately throw his advice in the trash, saying you're going to film a "read-through" instead is nothing short of comical.

One other thing.

The famous philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, said



I have learned NOT to laugh at others, no matter how idiotic they may sound; I take all in information with a limited skepticism. and I make my decision as to what is true or not true. Perhaps you should do the same - that is the respectful approach, if nothing else.
 
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Perhaps you should do the same - that is the respectful approach, if nothing else.

You want respect for doing nothing for 15 years? 😆 😆 😆 no. that's not how respect works.
I can either take you seriously and be frustrated or I can accept you're not a serious person and laugh at how absurd you are.

I choose to laugh. Life is more fun with laughter.
 
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You want respect for doing nothing for 15 years? 😆 😆 😆 no. that's not how respect works.
I can either take you seriously and be frustrated or I can accept you're not a serious person and laugh at how absurd you are.

I choose to laugh. Life is more fun with laughter.
I don't have to earn your respect; in this day and age, I'm entitled to it, because there are lines people better not cross. But think as you see fit.

Perhaps I should sit back, wait another 15 years, and see what happens - are you tempting me?
 
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