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I just "worked" my very first movie. A feature we shot in Mississippi. I'm an animator at a production company and the owner was the executive producer and he asked me to come "help out" on the production. Did various things from doing some carpentry on a set piece, some graphic design on logos and posters that appeared on the set, DIT/File Managment on set, and was a set PA for the entire 15 day night shoot. Holy christ what a nightmare. 50 man crew so us 3 set PAs were basically 3rd ADs. 14 hour days to shoot a feature in 15 days ...at night (3pm to 5am). It was a fun interesting experience and most of our crew/cast was from LA or Shreveport. But dear god that many night shoots just wrecks your emotional world.
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Dec 31, 2010 01:08
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Yeah I already got the alcohol part down pat. The great thing was I got married 2 months ago and our first Christmas with each other was nearly nonexistant. I kissed her when I got in at 5 am and she did the same when she left for work at 8 am and that was all we saw of each other. She was not happy! Luckily we escaped to North Carolina for our first White Christmas this past week so I think that helped make up for it.
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Jan 1, 2011 03:31
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Speaking of breaking in to the field. I just discovered this today http://studios.amazon.com/ Huh. How did this take so long to find?
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Jan 28, 2011 23:21
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morestuff posted:The winners: Hahah I thought the same thing. HOWEVER. It is a new service and those are monthly winners not the annual winners.
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Jan 28, 2011 23:30
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NeuroticErotica posted:It's a terrible deal, that will not yield anything worthwhile. Huh? Anyway yeah so I read the terms. If you upload a script they have an automatic 18 month option on it. That excludes any prize money. If it gets made into a movie you get $200 grand. If that movie makes over $60m you get an additional $400,000. If, at the end of 18 months, they haven't made it into a movie, they have first rights to reoption one time for a period of 18 months at a cost of 10 grand. So they can get long options, but otherwise it's not like you get totally hosed. Unless you have one single property in your portfolio. It's basically for using some other property you feel comfortable on not using, to fund something else. In other words "how the industry works." BonoMan fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Jan 29, 2011 |
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Jan 29, 2011 02:19
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That DOES suck that they can split the prize money. However they do explicitly say that rights money (the $200k or $400k from a movie being actually made) does not get split at all. It goes to the originator of the script/movie. Anyway it was just something I stumbled upon and thought it was kind of cool. I mean if you are thinking of it as your sole channel into the industry and hedging all your bets on it then you're gonna get burned. It is a kind of way to at least try to win some money for future project development. time goblin posted:Anyone can edit your script without your permission and receive equal credit for it. No matter how little the change is, you will have to split any prize money you win 50/50. This actually isn't true either. quote:If you revise a script or a test movie, and your revised version wins a contest award, you could win up to 50% of the prize money, depending on how substantial your contribution was (as determined by the judging committee). BonoMan fucked around with this message at 21:44 on Jan 30, 2011 |
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Jan 30, 2011 21:41
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NeuroticErotica posted:The biggest problem with the Amazon Studios thing is that anytime you enter a script into competition they get an exclusive hold on it for 18 months. This is lovely already, but they AUTOMATICALLY enter your script into contests which it might be eligible. So essentially they hold your script for as long as they want, for nothing. Which is why I mentioned that it's not (nor is anything really) something you want to put all your chips on. And it's not something you want to give your killer script to.
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Jan 31, 2011 00:00
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NeuroticErotica posted:And if it's not something you want to give your killer script to how are they going to make a killer movie? Because it's not your killer script doesn't have to make it bad? I don't know you seem to be operating in total extremes here. I'm not unfamiliar with the business and how it works.
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Jan 31, 2011 00:45
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^^Yes you put it into words better than I could.NeuroticErotica posted:Everybody who talks about doing this talks about throwing in a script "they don't care about". If you don't care about it why should anybody else? I see what you're saying, but what I'm saying is that you should have a diversified portfolio of properties. We have lots of properties and several of those that we can afford to put up for 36 months of Amazon optioning "just in case." It doesn't mean that those scripts are bad or lovely, but that we've prioritized our properties and spread out our assets over several "opportunities." Again I'm not saying it's some savior of the writer, but if you can afford to lose (as the gamblers like to say), then you can afford to play.
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Jan 31, 2011 01:43
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Also you have subsets of producers like "Line Producer." This is usually the person that handles stuff like day to day operations. They usually manage the budget and make sure things are running smoothly (typically non creatively).
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Jan 31, 2011 01:56
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Crackpipe posted:Everything seemed to die off after early October. That's why I gave up on NYC for the time being. My friends there are working at video stores and poo poo like that. I don't know how they survive (parents?) but it just wasn't worth it anymore. Where do you live?
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Jan 31, 2011 20:48
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Nerd Of Prey posted:Pretty much, yeah. I feel like my question got answered pretty well, actually, but the personal insults were not necessary. Tate Taylor, the director for the upcoming film The Help, wasn't a big time anything really, but he was friends with the author of the book. When he realized it was going to be big, he immediately bought the film rights with the attached clause that he had to direct it. It was a very very smart business move.
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Mar 14, 2011 22:11
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Peacebone posted:I'm applying for a position as a feature film office production assistant and one of things they mentioned was to know how to make sides, and receipt procedure...could anyone give any information about what those might mean? Sides are script segments pertinent to that days' scenes. They're usually small (half sized) and have retarded ordering scenarios 54,55,55a,55aZ,65,72aa Your job will involve printing those out and collating them properly. Receipt procedure can vary depending on job. VVVV So much better of a response than mine! BonoMan fucked around with this message at 14:55 on May 18, 2011 |
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May 7, 2011 19:59
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Golden Bee posted:Writing a webseries to get my SAG card. I came from a very DIY background (tv journalism) where one or two people can research, interview, light, shoot, VO, star and edit. I've been on a range of film shoots (from 700+ person spectacles to 4 guys in the woods). Sound guy. Sound guy. Sound guy. Then for lighting depends on the shoot. And are you buying or renting? Bounce cards and a joker kit works well for small shoots.... And some kinos with diffusion. And a shiny board.
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Sep 25, 2011 16:29
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WebDog posted:Oh and don't forget the gravy The gravy would be a couple of 1200 hmi's!
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Sep 25, 2011 16:45
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CeltX on PC exports to PDF perfectly.
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Oct 20, 2011 14:47
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We have a license of Final Draft at work but I've never used it. I use CeltX Plus on my personal machine. What's the main differences?
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Feb 4, 2012 20:15
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therattle posted:We have only ever received scripts in Final Draft, PDF, or, occasionally, Word. Right, but CeltX exports in PDF, so I'm trying to figure out what's so much better about FD to warrant the price.
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Feb 6, 2012 15:14
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A lot has been said, but if I had to boil it down to two distilled factors it would be: 1.) for the love of God have good sound. This is more important than a good picture. 2.) feed your crew well (pizza and subway sandwich platters is unacceptable). This is more important than good housing.
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Aug 24, 2012 19:28
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I think that's because it's a lack of priority for amateur producers on low budget stuff. Hell I'm in Mississippi and it's still considered unacceptable. Doesn't mean people don't do it, they do (and I imagine scaled up to the size of New York then that means even more people do it). But it's amazing the impact a decent meal can have on morale for a crew. We were out in the Delta a few weeks ago in the middle of a corn field in July heat and everyone was working for low pay. I took everyone somewhere air conditioned and fed them a $5 plate lunch from a local deli counter that was miles above pizza or subs and that second half of the day was markedly improved from the last film I worked on (where it was pizza and subs).
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Aug 24, 2012 19:57
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NeuroticErotica posted:It helps to treat people better than the lowest you possibly can. Absolutely. People come back to work for me because I don't lowball them and treat them with a bit of decency and, if I can, I try to throw in a little extra here and there if I find it in the budget (for instance - saving money on those deli lunches allowed me to redistribute that savings back to the crew and bump their pay a tad). Obviously I'm not giving away millions or anything, that'd be financially irresponsible, but the extra 300 going back to the crew buys you a wealth of goodwill. I've been on several productions lately where the producer tried to lowball everyone and feed everyone as cheap as possible. The crew did the work alright, but they also won't work for that producer anymore. So suddenly that little bit of ill will puts him in some ridiculous spots for upcoming productions. He essentially can't find a decent crew.
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Aug 24, 2012 23:25
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echoplex posted:Please don't feed crew lovely carbs/starchy foods. A constipated crew is an unhappy crew. Probably TMI, but I swear to god I've gotten constipated on like...90% of the shoots I've been on and so have most people I know. I think it's a combination of lovely diet and lots of stress combined with often limited bathroom facilities.
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Aug 25, 2012 03:15
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Wolfsheim posted:Hey dudes, I posted awhile back (in this thread? I'm not sure) about a friend of mine who directed an independent feature film and was trying to get it sold. Recently he was talking to the incredibly generically titled 'Film Marketing Services' about an opportunity wherein they would sell his film. Their website is the kind of thing I could conjure up in HTML in about half an hour, which puts me off, but I know law firms that have just as lovely site design so maybe I shouldn't judge. Still, their recent sales page is some obviously low-budget stuff I've never heard of, but then, I guess so is the movie my buddy is trying to sell. So he's going to pay someone to not have a real incentive to sell the film? I'll tell you what...I'll undercut them. He can give me $2000 and I'll try to sell it. And by "try to sell it" I mean let it rot in my basement for a few years. But hey if someone discovers it in the future and considers it the future of modern cinema I get my 20% cut! All semi-joking aside, that website is a huge loving warning bell. Stay away.
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Sep 28, 2012 07:15
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Hey my 8 year old niece over there on her 3DS has some ideas. You don't mind do you?
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Aug 21, 2013 20:52
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Well I'm here in Mississippi if any of you chumps wanna come join. James Franco is gearing up for his second Faulkner adaption in a few days. And if it was anything like the last one... you can essentially just walk on set and start working!
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Aug 22, 2013 00:55
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tanglewood1420 posted:The joke about sound is that on a big budget feature film set you have three hundred people worrying what it looks like and three guys worrying about what it sounds like. It's quite funny how important sound is to film, yet how overlooked it is on set - often by people who should really know better like even the director. Good sound is second to only good story/acting!
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Sep 10, 2013 14:19
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AccountSupervisor posted:Just thought Id chime in here I don't have any specific questions, but what's your biggest headache and what's your biggest high of working there? I work at a production facility in Mississippi that merged with our ad agency so now we're a "full service" ad agency, but those of us that stared on the production side still work with a lot of films that come through (Franco is doing his second Faulkner film at the moment) since we still have all of our G&E package. It'd be fun to compare and contrast the differences between the market sizes.
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Sep 12, 2013 00:27
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Surreal Windmill posted:
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Sep 17, 2013 05:41
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I'm 1st AD'ing pickups on a feature this weekend and we were out in a field doing a tech scout next to a railroad and someone said "we need to check the train schedule" and someone else said "first rule is never trust the train schedule." http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-crew-member-killed-in-georgia-train-accident-1201114468/ 
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Feb 21, 2014 07:18
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Steadiman posted:Just heard about this awful accident this morning, really bummed out now. Such an awful, and pointless, accident. The tiny degrees of separation in this industry are frightening. Be careful man, and remember that as a first you have a lot of power (and responsibility) to stop people doing stupid things! Use that power liberally and don't be afraid to piss off production if it's for safety. It's just a movie, a movie is never worth getting killed, or even injured, over. Let people know that they can always come to you if they're not confident (sometimes people are just too scared for their jobs to say something when production crosses a line!). Good luck! Thanks! Will do. It's only my second or 3rd time really 1st AD'ing so I still have a lot to learn about the role! Incidentally I've actually directed way more stuff than 1st AD'ing and have worked with this crew a ton before so they're used to me being an ornery rear end in a top hat  !
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Feb 21, 2014 18:53
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Oh shi- finally my knees are saved! http://vimeo.com/107176410
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Oct 21, 2014 21:42
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Slim Killington posted:This is awesome, but all I can think of is how the "traditional" way that takes a few minutes and some labor takes around $1 of tape and the new way takes 10 seconds and $14 of tape. That's a shitload of tape to use. We always do full coverage of the cord (without it the cord can still be a trip hazard) anyway so it uses the same amount for us.
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Oct 22, 2014 01:11
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Oh hey by the way, if anybody is looking to tap into the next "emerging market" in Hollywood South, Mississippi is about to loving explode. Lots of jobs popping up down here!
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Oct 25, 2014 02:16
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As someone who didn't attend film school, I would say it's not a waste of time if not for anything other than the contacts. I know a lot of folks who went to film school and have done at least moderately well because they made tons of great contacts. I mean you have to be talented, but networking is a fundamental part of being successful and you absolutely get a leg up in that area by going to film school.
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Jun 9, 2015 18:59
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Slim Killington posted:We're not staying in one place, we were in LA for the first day. I'm staying and working out of Fullerton. It's kind of the opposite in my *anecdotal* experience. It's less about the students making contacts with the professors and more about how the students form their own little network that stick together long after school and continue to bring each other in on jobs.
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Jun 9, 2015 21:04
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