Wish us luck

sikandtwisted films

sikandtwisted films

We got a call from the president of commerse in old fort NC, He owns one of those "scare trails" , He asked us to come down there and film a full length feature film. He had a generic plot for the film lots of blood and gore . He is furnishing us cabins and all the props ,blood ,and other special effects , and even several volunteers to help us out. The only draw back is we have to shoot it in one weekend. We are looking for any words of advice , and all the prayers we can get.
 
If you have only one weekend you will have to shoot as if it were a play - you won't have time for lots of set-ups or retakes - and you'll have to do an incredible amount of preproduction.

Here's a four leaf clover for luck...

four_leaf_clover.jpg
 
Dude, 20 days is a relatively fast shoot for a feature. 2? Listen to Alcove. Shoot it like it's a play. Rehearse it to death (no pun intended), in advance. You mentioned all the things this guy is furnishing you with, but you left out screenplay. That's just kind of important.

I'm sorry I gotta always be the party-pooper, but dude, you're biting off way more than you can chew, for such a short amount of time. I don't see any scenario in which this project can be any sort of success, unless you consider learning lessons the hard way a success.
 
If you're only shooting for a weekend, you need to shoot it with at least two cameras. You simply won't have time to get coverage any other way. I might even try three cameras, though then you start running into issues of being in each others shots. I can't say I'm envious of your predicament.
 
Been there with great success... Everything above is good advice. Start early. Plan lighting and electrical needs, all locations in advance. Take lots of wide shoots (for later green/blue screen backdrops). Get lots of ambient sound! Use 3 or more cameras (I used as many as 5 cameras on tripods partially hidden). Hopefully you will be able to shoot close-ups after the fact. Always plan on as many cutaway shots as possible, comes in handy if you need 'edit' breaks for re-doing the dialogue later. Better to over shoot then undershoot... hope this helps.
 
I thank you all for all of the good advice , I have 3 good cameras ,I am running just the video feeds in to a mixer . I am running the audio seperate ,so when we switch cameras the audio will remain the same. I am useing a Tascam condencer mic with windscreen ran into a tascam 24 track mixer/recorder . I have used this set up before shooting music video's . I have some 500 watt halogen lights with some extra filters. My crew and I have been filming together for about a year and a half ,we are all good friends ,and work well together. We are optimistic that we can accomplish it , expecialy with all the good advice I am getting here. You guy's are killer.
 
Best of luck. I hope you have some rehearsal time. I'd shoot and record everything on such a crunched schedule. Sometimes rehearsal footage can help for filler footage if shot on location.
 
Will do, and for those of you who are in or around North Carolina, We will be having a Halloween party on Hanes Mall Blvd Oct 30th in Winston-Salem ,We will get some film shot there to tie into our feature. Every one is invited ,We will have live bands ,and also a costume contest. Keep it killer
 
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