How's everyone doing?
 

It's been over a week--are any of you shooting yet? :)

I'm not. :(

I with a lot of friends am currently neck deep in preparing to shoot a tragicomical post-apocalypse short film. It has more than 20 actors and extras and my head is going crazy. We'll be shooting in the 18th and 19th of April.

I will try to shoot something for DVC after that, or possibly we'll shoot something in the night between 18th and 19th. The core team will be camping out at the location, so we may use it for DVC too.

Haven't started shooting, but it's going extremely well. I've been up all night trying to stage this damn script--my sleep schedule has been destroyed every single time I've participated in a DVC, without exception--only to have a revelation about half an hour ago that drastically simplified everything; that being my remembering something I learned from Dave Trottier's Screenwriter's Bible, to start every scene as close to the end of the scene as possible. Made the blocking a snap, the dialog more varied and interesting, shortened the runtime to a nice, manageable number, cured all sorts of problems at the same time (a sign you're on the right track, according to said book, which I've found to be reliable). I'm thinking of posting a zip of the various versions of the script once the competition is said and done. I'm not the only one curious to see how these ideas develop through revisions, am I?

This is my most ambitious plan to date, and it's all coming together with suspicious providence. I even managed to avoid jury duty; did my phone message standby thing for a week, never got called, and I'm off the hook 'til 2015, so April is still on track to become a month of Martens movie making miracles. Or mayhem. These things are a little of both, as we all well know.

Ambitious is right--for both of you! Wow.

Robert, thanks for the early morning entertainment and education. I am wanting to know more about starting every scene as close to the end of the scene as possible. For me that's a little much for pre-coffee analysis but it's interesting.

Ha ha! Let's hope the providence continues...

well i've decided to stop doing this due to the lack of actors/actresses and the ones i do have aren't very committed at all. Pffff

Tax time,,, After 15th....

I'd have to dig through the book to be sure, but I don't think there's much more to it than that. There was some sort of explanation, given far better than I ever could, but I can't recall it at the moment. The example I'd give is the scene I was working on; without giving anything away, the character in question enters a room, looks around, and goes to work doing something. Prior drafts had him going through the whole process, dragging things out longer than they needed to be. Once I remembered that writing tip I lopped off everything at the start. The scene now opens with the character doing what he's there to do, avoiding the (comparatively) slow, plodding exploration at the start. The editing convention of using a cut to go from the end of one shot at one point in time to the beginning of another some time later is as old as editing itself, so it's no problem to lose as much of the scene as I need to.

The whole thing has tightened up, it's much snappier now. Simpler production in the form of fewer setups, and the benefit of faster storytelling. Faster isn't what everyone wants all of the time, no, but in my case I wanted to get to the point and be done with it. I get antsy watching other peoples' rambling stories on Youtube too, I don't want to put my viewers through the same thing.

If I may be a cheap shill for a moment, I'd highly recommend the book, it's available on Amazon. Got it unexpected as a birthday gift a couple years ago, and it's improved my writing tremendously. Clears up the whole process, it all makes much more sense now.

That book looks pretty good, Robert. Thanks for the link. :)

Been there, Andrew! It can be discouraging, all right, but sometimes the story doesn't hit people right, they just aren't motivated in general--there are all kinds of reasons that can turn around with the right (oh brother, I hate to say the word) stimulus.

If it's not going to turn around you could do like lots of folks here have done and make it a one-man show--write yourself into a story. We've seen some darn good films done that way so you may want to think it over.

Hate to see you throw in the towel too quickly; on the other hand, if you want to shoot a story with scenery and/or wildlife you may want to sign up for the UWOL Challenge--no humans necessary for that! At least it'll get you shooting.

Well I almost killed myself doing a stunt in my film. lol

Other then that, I am tired of my food prop. Once this film is over, if I see another (insert food prop) again I'll puke.

Oh and I NEVER exaggerate...

Well...nothing yet.

I've been working on a short promotional video for a guy running for an elected office of a not for profit group...

Plus, I just happen to find a deal on a motor I needed for a car that's been down and out for a bit...so my free time is taken up with an engine swap...
Poor timing, but it needs to be done while I have the borrowed hoist...

So this may be a 48 hour challenge after all...

Bob T.

scouting problems
 

Got a food based script, but it is set in a bar, and it turns out to be a little difficult getting a bar location as they stay open for business long, long hours. So we went on a bar scouting mission, and you can't just ask to use someone's bar without being a patron, and so... a bottle of Tylenol later I have delegated the bar scouting mission to someone with a stronger constitution. Shooting will begin as soon as we get a really cool location.

I can't decide
 

I still have a couple of ideas but I think the more simple one may win.....

I'm glad to hear that given the longer time allotment people are getting more ambitious this time out - I know I've raised my own bar a bit and it's making things a lot more complicated, but in a fairly good way.

My biggest goal was to get myself out from in front of the camera so I can get some practice actually directing actors as well as making sure I get what I want out of a shot. So far I've only got one of my parts cast but it's just the person I wanted so I'm pretty happy about that.

Nothing's in the can yet but I'm feeling good that this week I can start checking shots off my list. It doesn't leave as much time in post as I was hoping for (I'm really gunning to have some music this time around) but I'm still confident I can pull it off in time.

Good luck, folks!

[tough love=on]

Stop making excuses and act in it yourself! That's what I did for my first two DVC films just to make a point that excuses are only for yourself to feel better about not getting off your butt to do it.

Get a tripod to do the camera work for you and shoot something about how much you love pizza, or about an orange that escaped your grasp and made a dash for the door. Seriously. Do it. Or don't. But don't blame anyone but yourself.

[/tough love]

not on schedule but rolling along!