Is FrameForge worth buying for storyboarding?

[Ryan Elder]

Yeah the car shoot out is tough to write around though, cause I am setting it in a setting where the police have guns, so the villains will have to bring equal firepower, if they are to get away temporarily until the end.

I could take breaks for sure, if that's better. The shoots I've worked on before shot all their days in a row, more often, but is there a reason for that as oppose to taking breaks?

[Brian Drysdale]

It really depends how complex your film is and how many people you've got in the production office arranging stuff and fire fighting the issues that come up. It's generally not a good idea to shoot for more than 6 days in a row, because the crew needs rest and to do domestic stuff.

On a low budget film it also depends on people's availability, if they've got other jobs they may only be available at the weekends.

This was done that way:

Following (1998) - Trailer - YouTube

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

Oh was my thread before taken down? I didn't notice it was taken down before. Sorry if I was out of line before, or now. I apologize and mean no disrespect.

And no I am not trying to re-invent the wheel, am I?

You don't need to apologize to me, this is another example of a lack of understanding, judgement, whatever word you want to use.

A key problem is you don't film what you know and you don't comprehend the proper scope and purpose of your movie. You are not filming a major motion picture and yet that's your primary source of your ideas. In this example seems like you are trying to recreate your version of the movie Seven. You should be writing an original script, that takes into account your limited budget, and it should be based on things you know.

Take for example the movie Clerks. It is limited in scope and scale and is based on a subject, setting, topic, and situation Kevin Smith knows. His film has inspired many small independent film makers.

And before you can jump to the wrong conclusion. I'm not suggesting you remake Clerks or do a comedy. I'm suggestion you read about the making of that film to understand a good approach for a young film maker such as yourself.

[Josh Bass]

But not the part where he maxed out like ten credit cards he didnt plan on paying off.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

But not the part where he maxed out like ten credit cards he didnt plan on paying off.

LOL. Yeah even that should be an eye opener to Ryan the cost to make a proper film that is so small and limited in scope and scale with no special effects, car chases, or gun fights.

All of this should be common sense.

[Josh Bass]

To be fair things were a little different in 1994 (I think that was Clerks’s release year). That guy had to shoot on frikkin film and even if he could edit digitally it wouldnt have been on a $300 piece of software back then.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay thanks! As for shooting an original script, I thought the script was original, or at least I wasn't trying to rip any movies off.

When I said the Seven look, I was just inspired by the look, not the script so much. Should I come up with my own original look though for a DP or should I show them other movie references to get an idea?

[Brian Drysdale]

You can use whatever visual references you like, paintings and photographs are good as well. One DP has a file full of visual images and they ask the director which ones describe their film. The images they select can cover a range, but it's a starting point for discussions.

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks. Do you think it's bad of me to not film what I know, as mentioned before?

[Paul R Johnson]

Sorry Ryan - I don't know what you mean?

[Josh Bass]

He means should he stick with subject matter he knows

[Ryan Elder]

Yeah that's what I meant to ask. It's just that the subject matters that I know I think are probably quite boring for movie entertainment so I thought I would direct a story with subject matter that goes beyond that.

[Josh Bass]

If youve had a difficult or traumatic experience in your own life that would be something familiar and personal to you

[Ryan Elder]

Yeah I've had a couple of those, but I'm not really comfortable writing about that, compared to a story, that is not based of any personal experiences.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

It doesn't have to be traumatic. I've watched many interesting documentary shorts on PBS Independent Lens.

So for you clearly your life revolves around film making and trying to break into the industry. One approach is to do a video diary of your journey over a year period trying to make an independent film. It could include interviews of your friends and family about their feelings. Clearly this would also resonate with film festival judges who most likely understand the trials and tribulations. It would also give outsiders a glimpse of that world. Yes it would be hard and you'd have to be brave enough to reveal the good and bad times of your life. This has potential to be powerful, unique and engaging.

Another variation is to create a fictional story based on people you've met in and around indie film making. The underlying theme of both is the struggle of making it in film. There are probably infinite variations or perspective that could be taken.

You can make a thriller but its been done a million times before better than you could do. In my opinion film festival movies are different from mainstream movies and trying to emulate a big motion picture isn't playing to your strengths. There is a risk reward ratio. Things that are safe are not going to stand out. Reminds me of art school that students would often latch on to the first idea that popped into their head, or have very shallow one dimensional thoughts. Spend the time and truly explore and develop good ideas don't recycle popular culture garbage that is feed to you on a daily basis.