Showing posts with label no-budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no-budget. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The General Specific
Something I haven't mentioned to this point is a feature we're working on right now as well (a small group of us). We're really shooting for no money at all. A lot of people are really chipping in as they can to lend a hand and it's been a great experience. It's definitely a project that people are being a part of because the love it. Written by Jason Heinrich and Brian Stevens. Jason is directing and Brian is the lead. We'll be releasing in February.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Almost there...
We picked up shooting again last night for the final scenes of the video. Very fun stuff but we ran over by a good 2 hours. We really went for some solid performances and tweaked the lighting out to get what we needed. The last scene has to rock as its the payoff of course!
Today we cranked out a number of scenes which leaves us with one final scene tomorrow. Overall it was a great day, but everyone is definitely ready to wrap. We again flipped up locations last minute again which was a very good thing as we were able to use two friendly studios, Spindle and Element, which helped out a lot in having a location to prep in each place. It helped enough that we finished the day almost 2 hours ahead of schedule.
The last scene was a lot of fun to shoot and one everybody was really looking forward to working on. In the scene, John stumbles back out into the main streets and is extremely dehidrated. As he stumbles along, a jogger is passing by and offers him a bottle of water from his fanny pack. RC Nelson played the part with all he had and nailed it. It should get quite a few laughs.
I do want to take a minute and talk about the importance of having a great make-up and wardrobe stylist. Even if you are no-budget - which this is - find someone who has at least a little experience here. It will take your production value up immensely. I'll admit that a year ago it's something I would not have bothered with when doing something on no-budget. But when you have someone like Erica Stewart who is willing to lend a hand as a friend and turn out quality, its amazing how much that shows up on screen.
She has stuck by John and I on all these videos and they wouldn't be half of what they are without her hard work. Town Folk is the best example. We pulled it off on about $3500 which is hardly anything and out of that only a 3rd of it was her budget. She used every bit of ingenuity and planning to pull off those costumes. She did the same for Jamboree and now as you can see for less than $100, she's done some super work - that's she's been able to repeat it day after day.
(Thanks to Robin Oatts for the behind-the-scenes photos)
Today we cranked out a number of scenes which leaves us with one final scene tomorrow. Overall it was a great day, but everyone is definitely ready to wrap. We again flipped up locations last minute again which was a very good thing as we were able to use two friendly studios, Spindle and Element, which helped out a lot in having a location to prep in each place. It helped enough that we finished the day almost 2 hours ahead of schedule.
The last scene was a lot of fun to shoot and one everybody was really looking forward to working on. In the scene, John stumbles back out into the main streets and is extremely dehidrated. As he stumbles along, a jogger is passing by and offers him a bottle of water from his fanny pack. RC Nelson played the part with all he had and nailed it. It should get quite a few laughs.
I do want to take a minute and talk about the importance of having a great make-up and wardrobe stylist. Even if you are no-budget - which this is - find someone who has at least a little experience here. It will take your production value up immensely. I'll admit that a year ago it's something I would not have bothered with when doing something on no-budget. But when you have someone like Erica Stewart who is willing to lend a hand as a friend and turn out quality, its amazing how much that shows up on screen.
She has stuck by John and I on all these videos and they wouldn't be half of what they are without her hard work. Town Folk is the best example. We pulled it off on about $3500 which is hardly anything and out of that only a 3rd of it was her budget. She used every bit of ingenuity and planning to pull off those costumes. She did the same for Jamboree and now as you can see for less than $100, she's done some super work - that's she's been able to repeat it day after day.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
First Two Days Done
So we finished the first two days of production and it has been both fun and tough. We're trying to keep things to half days but its a lot to manage when its basically myself, Erica doing make-up and Rebecca PAing.
Thursday we started off right away finding out our location for the gas station fell through because of corporate clearances not coming in. We were already using a bathroom to double as a gas station restroom at a local coffee shop so we changed up last minute and used the shop as well as where John walks in. It worked well. Plenty of natural light, very happy to help and the owner even played the part needed. She did great! It was definitely a fairly large change but we rolled with it.
Yesterday we shot the major fight scene at the end. In it we had John getting hit by a car and our bad guy getting out and continuing to beat the living crap out of him. First thing when we met up, John had the idea of adding a sidekick for the bad guy. Our guy was available and willing to do it last minute and it was well worth it! He's going to be a fantastic addition to the story. We choreographed the fight sequence for about an hour and John and Patrick had it down. Quite a relief. We blocked out the shots outside and got going.
I guess we were doing a pretty decent job because about midway through the shoot, two cop cars showed up on a call a guy had just punched out a big man and took off running. These two were awesome. As soon as they learned our first of the 4 videos was on iTunes they had their iPhones out and were buying the single and video - pretty cool!
We wrapped up with the effects shot for the scene where John gets hit from behind. I shot 3 plates. First was a clean plate with no car and no Johnny. The 2nd with the car driving through and slamming on its breaks. The 3rd plate, I setup the greenscreen in the same spot and had John walk past and jump. I'll be able to composite those 3 together and give it a seriously nasty look!
Take a look at the following video, I think the day was a hit
Here's a quick test of the results.
Thursday we started off right away finding out our location for the gas station fell through because of corporate clearances not coming in. We were already using a bathroom to double as a gas station restroom at a local coffee shop so we changed up last minute and used the shop as well as where John walks in. It worked well. Plenty of natural light, very happy to help and the owner even played the part needed. She did great! It was definitely a fairly large change but we rolled with it.
Yesterday we shot the major fight scene at the end. In it we had John getting hit by a car and our bad guy getting out and continuing to beat the living crap out of him. First thing when we met up, John had the idea of adding a sidekick for the bad guy. Our guy was available and willing to do it last minute and it was well worth it! He's going to be a fantastic addition to the story. We choreographed the fight sequence for about an hour and John and Patrick had it down. Quite a relief. We blocked out the shots outside and got going.
I guess we were doing a pretty decent job because about midway through the shoot, two cop cars showed up on a call a guy had just punched out a big man and took off running. These two were awesome. As soon as they learned our first of the 4 videos was on iTunes they had their iPhones out and were buying the single and video - pretty cool!
We wrapped up with the effects shot for the scene where John gets hit from behind. I shot 3 plates. First was a clean plate with no car and no Johnny. The 2nd with the car driving through and slamming on its breaks. The 3rd plate, I setup the greenscreen in the same spot and had John walk past and jump. I'll be able to composite those 3 together and give it a seriously nasty look!
Take a look at the following video, I think the day was a hit
Quick Test Hit from Jeremy Hughes on Vimeo.
Here's a quick test of the results.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I'm "Confident" Production Starts Tomorrow
We kick off tomorrow with production on Confident finally. As I said in a previous post, things have definitely switched up a bit. The budget is gone and we're shooting a pretty aggressive video with less people and no money. I'm stoked! Here's why:
Its getting back to the roots of what makes this all fun. I have always liked to operate small and have the ability to change up slightly. There isn't as much stress in terms of making sure cast and crew are all onboard and in the same direction. There's a little bit of "just wing it" mentality there that is nice every now and then.
Like I said before though, we're definitely prepared where we need to be. Number one, again, is a clean, buttoned up script and detailed boards. Solve your problems before you ever pick up the camera, heck, before you ever drop cash on a single prop - KNOW THE STORY. Figure out the shots that best tell it and move it along. Get away from the idea of in a scene you need a "Wide, medium, close-up" - that's lazy. You can make your life a whole lot easier in post by shooting what you KNOW you need and want. The stray shot will come along and when it does it stands out but dont be searching for them on production days, you'll just piss everyone else off.
With the approach this time though, we do have some issues still up in the air which will be fun to solve. Dates have not completely settled down - no money, work around other's schedules. Locations are still a little in flux as well. We have the majority locked down but several of the big moment's scenes are still not locked. Part of the fun, right? My point here is, as long as you can move the story along just as well, be willing to flip up on a location. We need a flower shop that will put a small stand of flowers outside. Nothing yet. I'm looking at alternatives here though such as using a cart of our own and filling it - not too bad but we may have to buy flowers then. Just be flexible on many issues but keep true to the story and you'll be fine.
Production photos hopefully coming within a couple days.
Its getting back to the roots of what makes this all fun. I have always liked to operate small and have the ability to change up slightly. There isn't as much stress in terms of making sure cast and crew are all onboard and in the same direction. There's a little bit of "just wing it" mentality there that is nice every now and then.
Like I said before though, we're definitely prepared where we need to be. Number one, again, is a clean, buttoned up script and detailed boards. Solve your problems before you ever pick up the camera, heck, before you ever drop cash on a single prop - KNOW THE STORY. Figure out the shots that best tell it and move it along. Get away from the idea of in a scene you need a "Wide, medium, close-up" - that's lazy. You can make your life a whole lot easier in post by shooting what you KNOW you need and want. The stray shot will come along and when it does it stands out but dont be searching for them on production days, you'll just piss everyone else off.
With the approach this time though, we do have some issues still up in the air which will be fun to solve. Dates have not completely settled down - no money, work around other's schedules. Locations are still a little in flux as well. We have the majority locked down but several of the big moment's scenes are still not locked. Part of the fun, right? My point here is, as long as you can move the story along just as well, be willing to flip up on a location. We need a flower shop that will put a small stand of flowers outside. Nothing yet. I'm looking at alternatives here though such as using a cart of our own and filling it - not too bad but we may have to buy flowers then. Just be flexible on many issues but keep true to the story and you'll be fine.
Production photos hopefully coming within a couple days.
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