New project - EXCITED !!

IndieBudget

IndieBudget

Ok.. Im as excited and jazzed up as I can be at the old age of 50 right now. Im filming a short on Dec 9th thru the 12th. Im aiming for a 10 minute thriller. I have the "script" in my head and on a dry erase board behind me. Im auditioning 3 more people today and will get serious about getting the script banged out in the next week w/ storyboarding and figger out the camera moves I want to set the mood in the following week AND mebbe a week for "adjustments" and what not.

I've got the core talent all being experienced and most I have worked with or they have worked with others who I have and get along with. I will have one armed standoff/encounter and two killings to do in this project. This is not a splatter or a gore fest, but will have the killings to add to the story if you will.

The most dodgy of shooting days will be the last. I have a hair salon at my disposal and will have 4 actresses and mebbe 20 extras to deal with. I hope to get mebbe 3 1/2 minutes of material that day so I will need to get a good nights rest the night before.

This will be my most ambitious effort so far. I really want to focus on style, lighting, mood and camera work to make this a powerful short film. I have done some shorts, a horrid feature and now I want to focus on quality and style.

This is what I live for right now. Being creative and having people help me get the job done. this is a no-budget short. I'll make pizzas for the talent to eat and have some sodas available and that is it. I expect to have a small crew assist me as I am usually a one man film crew anyways ( with all the results one could expect ).

The working title is "Please Don't Leave Me alone", a story about a young lady who who has mental problems and was abused as a kid. The story has a bizarre twist at the end and Im challenging myself and the talent to bring it out !!
 
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Ok....39 hrs to go till shooting...Im drunk.. sort of OK yes, I should have spent the night working on storyboarding. Spent alot of time this day and evening working on the story w/ the talent and a musician bud on the whole picture. I spent an hour with one of the main characters on the phone today cuz it was enjoyable... ( damn she is sooooo lovely... mebbe she will be my next ex-wife ) <<< prolly not. but I can dream.

Mental masturbation was the order of the day... tomorrow I will work on getting storyboarding for first days shoot, have 40% done so far. Most camera work is in my head.

I will get food ready for longest day of shooting, have to go to the bank and run 1 errand. get to bed early tomorrow night. I prolly will stay up all night.

I will set up a room for the film tomorrow. I will work on props ( minimal ) arranged for a gansta lookin friend for a dope deal, and got another friend to show up and bring a mean gun for the dope scene, only real gun in the whole shebang.. I have it in my head.... Have all the talent agreed to be in character for the shoot the whole time in production. have 20 girls hopefully ready for the final scene. Gonna ride the bus w/ Willie before sleep and dream for the night... waddaya think my odds are ??? I'm excited...









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So how goes the shoot? You're probably run ragged by now, huh? :)

I was slammed last couple of days at work, but I'd love to make it out over the weekend. I hope all is well so far.

:cheers:
 
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DUUUUDE ... Im FRIED ! still 2 days of production.. Im a 1 man crew, had 2 folks lined up to help w/ grip & sound, but no shows.

Got a Taste of Charley for Y'all !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CSBlM8g2b0
 
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IndieBudget said:
YA ! i know like herding cats !! most have "some" experience and I will have all hands on deck for that one. I have a speech in my mind that goes " my voice is the MOST important voice here today". We'll see how it goes. Hopefully it will be the last day of production and It will go smoothly.
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I would pick one or two of the extras who seem reliable and make them 'head extras.' Then you can tell them what everyone needs to do and let them handle it.
 
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Here is a ROUGH, ROUGH mix of a dream scene after the lead kills her neighbor and slips totally into her psychosis.

I'll prolly bring in the guy in the background beating out the rhythm, remix the drums, add ambient funk and more voices, the scene will blend back into reality where the lead gets arrested for the killing


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L2b2A4nWlQ
 
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Hey I really like this so far. Almost experimental how it looks and sounds. It will be interesting to see how the pieces come together. Are you going to cut down the psychosis scene a little bit? It seems kind of long right now. Top notch quality, can't wait to see more.:)
 
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Lovin it..

just ideas here..
the psychosis bit could have some more dramatic shifts.. A few frames of PAINFUL clarity followed by confusion and more OUT OF SEQUENCE clear images will really drive home the crazy.. as well as let you CLEARLY convey information, if the ONLY point of the sequence is to show shes off her rocker, then never mind, but you could, if you wanted to, give some cool clues or misdirection for those viewers that are REALLY paying attention.. .. also, intelligible voices that are JUST out of reach of understanding say crazy to me. ...on the voices lots of low level rabble, with a small CLEAR voice coming through will add some dimension
 
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Looking really good IB, you're doing a great job.

This is all the more impressive if you're still working as a one man crew and I'll be really interested to see the final result. How much have you got in the can?
 
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NickClapper said:
Looking really good IB, you're doing a great job.
This is all the more impressive if you're still working as a one man crew and I'll be really interested to see the final result. How much have you got in the can?
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NC .. Im guessing I have mebbe 60% in the can.. never satisfied. Im improvising on some stuff, but still thinking it's gonna be decent. Im disappointed in all of my previous stuff. Thanxx !
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Lovin it..

just ideas here..
the psychosis bit could have some more dramatic shifts.. A few frames of PAINFUL clarity followed by confusion and more OUT OF SEQUENCE clear images will really drive home the crazy.n
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YES, Im seeing that too. The dream / dance scene will follow her killing someone and will have her featured more prominently and will have a voice coming in at the end w/ her being handcuffed and read her Miranda rights. Im re-editing it and wanting to add punch. It needs it.
 
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jrsmithson said:
Hey I really like this so far. Almost experimental how it looks and sounds. It will be interesting to see how the pieces come together. Are you going to cut down the psychosis scene a little bit? It seems kind of long right now. Top notch quality, can't wait to see more.:)
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YES, Im cutting the psychosis scene and Im going to brighten it up visually and have flashes of "reality" mixed in. the dream / psychosis scene is following a murder and will be a part of the climax of the short film
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ah, it seems that private messages aren't working right now..it doesn't seem like my message went through to you..but anyways, yeah, I'm in spring, currently visiting home. been animating for about six years now, still looking for creative opportunity.
 
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OK fine, time for an update.:director:. Im working thru my footage of the Short film get Charley and Im thinking... why don't I turn this puppy into a feature ? Ya know what ?

Im doing it ! :clap:

I have learned a bit in this endeavor and I think I have something that will be worth a watch.. not award winning, but worthy of a watch. I see some areas I have missed the mark and some that are decent and Im pleased with the results. Sound is an issue but not overwhelmingly so, but I wish I had better resources in that department. The movie will be a surreal dreamy environment where distorted voices in some scenes will be used for effect. My shortcomings in capturing dialog will be helpful in areas... In others, might have to reshoot or do ADR. However, it will get done! the sound is not total crap, but still needs help in my ear.

I have been slaving away on adding to the story. The trick was to do this w/ limited resources and limit the time for production. I hope I have come up w/ some creative solutions. Part of the new scenes will involve the lead doing a simple web diary / youtube approach in the story to add to it.

We will be shooting some more scenes this weekend ( Jan 8 & 9th ) and the next weekend ( 15th & 16th ) . I will then have to do 2 more scenes after where my lead kills 2 guys and then onto pickups & ADR then comes post and viola ! a movie ! Im thinking I can do post in 2 weeks ... Just kidding... that will take as long as it needs to, months Im sure
 
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Zensteve, I asked myself the same question was I doing the right thing and why.

Im doing it for a few reasons. The story as a short was more a feature in my thoughts, I had some issues keeping it a short. I feel the story would be better told as a feature.

Im pleased working with the talent that I would like to work more w/ them. I thought about the short version of the story and I thought I could add some more by merging concepts & ideas from other movies I have been watching and make a feature work I feel. Will this get a standing ovation at Sundance... no. Will I learn and grow from doing this ? Yes. Im doing it mainly because I love doing this, I love learning from this. Mebbe I will need to do 2-3 more films before I "get it right" Im not getting any younger.


Honestly, I was given advise from someone in this board not to even make a short from the script, but Im hard headed. :blush:
 
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IndieBudget said:
....

Honestly, I was given advise from someone in this board not to even make a short from the script, but Im hard headed. :blush:
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That wasn't me. I could've made this concept into an excellent short. :D

No wonder you've been quiet lately. That's a huge undertaking. But it does look like you have access to some great talent, so Godspeed.

:cheers:
 
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