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My movie by the way of Star trek? and BSG

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RaymondLeggs

I've been having a ton of trouble getting enough plot or scenes to make a feature, for my "Raise the britannic" movie, and for some reason I keep imagining "star trek" not only because star trek's style can lend itself to any budget. (the original series was practically made with tape and tin foil) and partially Battlestar galactica, because it has a strong female character, which is what I have. That and both shows always had an interesting story arc. and cliffhanger. and plenty of action.

I have a soft spot for TNG not so much deep space nine. (My aunt used to watch mostly TNG when i was a kid) I liked Patrick Stewart's portrayal of Jean luc picard. My Main character is supposed to be, Starbuck by the way of Picard.

What if I reversed star trek, and BSG, and elements of the thing (without the creatures) and set it on a US
Navy salvage fleet, and an Polar research station? That way not only would that limit the number of sets & locations, but tighten the narritive and urge my protagonist to find the killer faster, while dealing with her own past.

when I first started writing this again I focused so much on the possibility of having a microbudget, when making an international thriller, instead of scaling it down and increasing the suspence and charachtirizations, Ironicly scaling it down this way makes for a bigger movie, that is cheaper to make.
(a lot could be shot on greenscreen with miniatures as backgrounds) Fewer locations to rent, faster way of shooting... 70% less locations more story!

First I have to start a fresh treatment, I need new secondary charchters
 
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I loved BSG. The 2009 Star Trek by J.J. Abrams was stunning.

You should state whether your aim is to sell the screenplay or self-fund the movie. I read some of your other posts and your plan seems to be self-funding - $30k or so?

I'm not sure if that's your plan for this project.

If it's to sell then Sci-Fi screenplays are an incredibly tough sell. The reason - because Sci-Fi movies are so expensive to make. Typically $40m+ and x 50% for marketing. So you're talking huge sums of money. 99.999% of prodcos will not be willing to fund a non-pros first Sci-Fi movie. If they want Sci-Fi they'll buy a script on the spec market from an established pros with solid credits.

There are the very occasional exceptions. Eg 'Orbit' by Bruce Guido (an un-credited writer) has been making waves and just sold to a prodco (Amazon Studios). Trust me - that's exceptionally rare.

If you want to make it yourself, then Sci Fi is typically one genre to stay clear of. If you set it on present day Earth then you have a chance. Set it in space, or have lots of future tech or expensive customs/sets etc and your $30k will be gone real quick. If you are highly skilled at SFX/CGI then you'll have more options.

An Aussie ITer shot a present day on-Earth Sci Fi. He posted about it a few weeks ago. It was low budget - I think under $20k, and will be shown at a few Sci Fi film festivals (I think including London) which is great. To do this - forget large Sci Fi set pieces etc, you just won't be able to afford them.

You're going to have to concentrate on a great story, interesting characters and great dialogue (visit here for tips on achieving these) - those are the keys to a great movie.

And indeed keep the number of locations low if you're self-funding.

And if this is your first movie, test shoot (including audio) everything first in your home/apartment prior to hiring people and locations. I'm near the end of my first shoot and we wasted a large number of days, and had to re-shoot some scenes - some due to bad luck, others due to inexperience. You don't want to do that with hired crew/locations that are costing $$$$$.

RaymondLeggs said:
Navy salvage fleet, and an Polar research station? That way not only would that limit the number of sets & locations
Click to expand...

Personally I don't think you'll be able to afford it. You mentioned a $30k budget.

It is highly likely your movie will produce no return. Are you realistic and understand that 99% of non-pro indie productions make zero return for their film makers. Do you understand this, and are you prepared for such a financial hit (you don't have to answer)?

I'd advise you to scale it down - as I said concentrate on a great story, interesting characters and great dialogue.
 
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Well, considering that Trek's ships and space navigation were inspired by Submarines and Naval stuff, you wouldn't really be reversing it, just making the type of film Trek would've been inspired by, if it were made back in the day.

Have you seen Down Periscope? That's a terrific film with a limited number of sets. It can be done.
 
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mussonman said:
Have you seen Down Periscope? That's a terrific film with a limited number of sets. It can be done.
Click to expand...

The catch is that Down Periscope was a fully fledged studio production with a budget ($31m in 1996) to match.

Even Cube (single location) had a budget of 365,000 (Canadian dollars).

And the OP is talking Sci-Fi. That's big $$$$$$ unless you're smart and set it on present day Earth etc.

Primer did incredibly well for a sub $20k budget but that was in 2004 and he had access to some decent (free) locations. Great achievement though.

Another Earth also made stars of their director/writers and lead talent. Huge indie Sci Fi hit. Set on Earth, present day. Their budget? $200,000 or so!!!! And virtually no Sci Fi, no fancy sets, no aliens, no spacecraft and just a few very small bits of CGI. But a great concept, decent story with a great twist.
 
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mussonman said:
Oh, I thought he was talking about a Navy movie
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You could well be right - it's not 100% clear.

OP mentioned his "Raise the britannic" movie but also lots of Sci Fi - Star Trek, BSG etc.

Given the threads title and content I assumed he was going down the Sci Fi route - ie Navy salvage fleet or Polar research station with Sci Fi elements...
 
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Either way, I think he can achieve his movie with limited sets. But good set design would be extra important if the majority of the movie is going to take place there.
 
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mussonman said:
Well, considering that Trek's ships and space navigation were inspired by Submarines and Naval stuff, you wouldn't really be reversing it, just making the type of film Trek would've been inspired by, if it were made back in the day.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what I am making. I was planning on making it like this. This seafaring feature was made for $3,000.00 although I will be shooting in HD instead of SD like they did! and the 30K may mean I can put more money into the other aspects. I'd be satisfied with 18K if thats all i could get.

http://theangrysea.com/
 
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RaymondLeggs said:
Thats exactly what I am making. I was planning on making it like this. This seafaring feature was made for $3,000.00 although I will be shooting in HD instead of SD like they did! and the 30K may mean I can put more money into the other aspects. I'd be satisfied with 18K if thats all i could get.

http://theangrysea.com/
Click to expand...

How much directing, CGI and green scene experience do you have?

Based on your posts, I think this is your first feature, even your first directing experience - correct?

I just think you're biting off a lot more than you can realistically achieve.

The Angry Sea looked good for their budget but it would have been a huge amount of work and required someone very skilled in CGI etc.

Do you work? Are you a student? I'm asking because this kind of project will require so much time.

I think you'd be much better off trying to film some shorts and getting directing, CGI and green scene experience prior to trying to tackle a feature.

And crowd-funding $30k will be very difficult unless you have industry contacts, wealthy family or friends etc. Lots of posts here on IT regarding that subject too.
 
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If you want to do this, I would 100% recommend you do a short first. Once you write your script, take a scene and turn it into a short. It does not have to tell a complete story.

You'll be able to get directing experience, film making audio/video experience, green screen and CGI experience etc.

Jumping straight into a feature like this is too much - you'll be overwhelmed. Too many mistakes will be made, time lost, $$$ lost and your cast and crew may well get pissed off and leave the project.

That's my advice.

Regardless, as I noted earlier crowd-funding your feature budget (you mentioned $30k in other threads) will be very difficult unless you have industry contacts, wealthy family or friends etc.
 
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