Need help making my first indie film:

[NatalieOshea]

Hi, y'all! It's Natalie. New to the board...

So I'm joining because I'm an aspiring filmmaker trying to get her first film off the ground. Here's all the information I have about the movie I'm trying to make:

The cameras I'm going to shoot on are the, Sony CineAlta F35 (A Camera) and the Sony PMW F3 (B Camera). I don't know which lenses I want to use but I do want my film to come out with the 2:35.1 aspect ratio. I also want the footage to look something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGsNjdY6veE

For the opening credit sequence and titles I want the text to look like this: http://s12.postimage.org/4oixvv919/streetballers.png (the all-lowercase Arial/Helvetica subway-looking font against the street-like landscape)

I don't have the funding as of now but I'm planning on shooting this movie on a budget of $500,000. I won't say much as far as the plot goes except that it's going to be a basketball-themed film.

Now about the cast -- I'm planning on using first-timers but I also want actors and actresses who have acting experiences already (on TV, in other movies, in theater, etc.).

As far as releasing goes, a limited theatrical release would be nice, but I was thinking to make this movie available on DVD and on YouTube (pay-per-view YouTube), maybe on iTunes as well. I don't see it getting into theaters because there is going to be nudity in the film.

With all this being said, I'm still working like hell on the script that I can't seem to finish but I'm determined to get through this first step, the script. At the rate I'm going, I won't be surprised if finding funding ends up being easier than writing and finishing the script! I'm going to be the writer and producer and I have a friend who said she'd produce it with me. I didn't ask her yet but I'm thinking she might also be the director.

Back to mentioning funding, she keeps suggesting Kickstarter and IndieGoGo for funding. My only problem with that is if it's possible, I'd rather get funding from a source that i don't need to repay the funding. This is why I'd like to avoid investors and/or crowd-funding sites but if it's a last resort that means getting this movie off its ass then fine.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

PS! Last question! See this large white sheet thing in this image:

http://backtosaloland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/filming-a-movie.jpg

What's that called? I'd like to use that as well as I was told it's some kind of lighting thingy

 

[Sweetie]

Cropping to 2.35:1 without shooting with the camera measured out to it in the first place can cause problems. I tried cropping a 16:9 movie I shot to 2.35:1 and most of it looked good, but in one shot, the characters heads were cut off too much and all you only see the bottom half of their heads. Best to shoot with the camera tailored to 2.35:1 to begin with, or at least get good at giving the shots some room, knowing you will crop later.

That is true if you're simply telling your software to automatically crop off the top and bottom.

 

[ASD1978]

if you haven't seen it already, checkout http://nofilmschool.com/2011/09/how-i-raised-125000-on-kickstarter/ - info about a kickstarter funded basketball movie

 

[NatalieOshea]

That's the point; you tell your DP cinematographer "I want this type of look" and let her/him worry about the technical aspects. I may be "only" a sound guy, but even I know that the "look" is more about the lighting and the camera settings (saturation, etc.) and post (color correction) than the camera itself.

And just to reinforce my previous comment, you still haven't mentioned about how you want you film to sound. Like 99.99% of the others out there I can hear you going "HUH???" But the sound of your film is an equal partner. Start thinking about it NOW.

All right...

I want the movie to sound... professional! I don't want the audio to sound like crap. I want it to sound smooth. I want the guys to hold up good mics when dialogue and sound is being made, etc.

$500,000 is nigh on impossible to crowdfund.

Did you mean "not"?

If anything this will be the other way around. I don't see this getting to YouTube with nudity but a theatrical distribution is probably only slightly less likely with nudity as opposed to without

Shadowboxer is available on pay-per-view YouTube and there is plenty of nudity it in.

Cropping to 2.35:1 without shooting with the camera measured out to it in the first place can cause problems. I tried cropping a 16:9 movie I shot to 2.35:1 and most of it looked good, but in one shot, the characters heads were cut off too much and all you only see the bottom half of their heads. Best to shoot with the camera tailored to 2.35:1 to begin with, or at least get good at giving the shots some room, knowing you will crop later.

That sounds like a better idea, actually. I don't want anyone's faces being cropped out. I'll consider that.

Natalie O'Shea

 

[Sweetie]

Did you mean "not"?

Put in perspective, $2000 to $5000 is what you usually see on kickstarter/indiegogo to be funded, and more often than not, their campaign doesn't get fully funded. While $500k is possible, it'll come down to your plan and perfect execution to whether you have a real chance or not. I suspect that only a few professional executive producers would be able to achieve your goal (with your expectations) from a standing start in short time. It'll take a lot of coordinated work to make it happen. I suggest to get a great PR team and a great marketing team who believe in your project.

 

[AudioPostExpert]

All right... I want the movie to sound... professional! I don't want the audio to sound like crap. I want it to sound smooth. I want the guys to hold up good mics when dialogue and sound is being made, etc.

The sound of a film has very little to do with the mics being held up, about 90% of the sound you hear in a commercial film is not recorded during filming. The first question about your quote is what "sound is being made"? This is a question which needs asking during the writing of the script and needs practical planning well before you start shooting! The sound of your film will hugely affect what the audience sees and feels when they watch your film.

If all you're thinking about is using sound to support your images then in fact you'll only be making half a film, this is what Alcove was trying to explain to you. Maybe this would be a good place to start understanding how sound is actually employed in modern film making: The Principles of Sound Design

G

 

[NatalieOshea]

The sound of a film has very little to do with the mics being held up, about 90% of the sound you hear in a commercial film is not recorded during filming. The first question about your quote is what "sound is being made"? This is a question which needs asking during the writing of the script and needs practical planning well before you start shooting! The sound of your film will hugely affect what the audience sees and feels when they watch your film.

If all you're thinking about is using sound to support your images then in fact you'll only be making half a film, this is what Alcove was trying to explain to you. Maybe this would be a good place to start understanding how sound is actually employed in modern film making: The Principles of Sound Design

G

OH! *giggles* Right.

I'd like to have some music in my flim... to make it... sound nice for lack of a better term. I like the music used in the film Crossover, which happens to be a basketball-themed film.

 

[MileCreations]

Shadowboxer is available on pay-per-view YouTube and there is plenty of nudity it in.

That sounds like a better idea, actually. I don't want anyone's faces being cropped out. I'll consider that.

Natalie O'Shea

Pay-per-view YouTube? Not sure what you mean by that unless youre talking about the rental service? Which I would say is different as it has a proper rating system and it's not altogether public.

No ones face is going to be cropped if you plan for it when you shoot, faces only get cut off when you are careless or if you don't have a crop mark on the camera. Which if you're shooting RED or anything I believe that can be inputted. Ether way if the dp knows the final output then he/she will know what to do

Cropping to 2.35:1 without shooting with the camera measured out to it in the first place can cause problems. I tried cropping a 16:9 movie I shot to 2.35:1 and most of it looked good, but in one shot, the characters heads were cut off too much and all you only see the bottom half of their heads. Best to shoot with the camera tailored to 2.35:1 to begin with, or at least get good at giving the shots some room, knowing you will crop later.

This is called planning when you shoot

 

[harmonica44]

Oh ya for sure. I was just messing around with cropping, not planning on using the 2.35:1 seriously for any projects so far.