Dan's world, Dan's world, party time, excellent!
Hello! Wow, it's been almost a year since I've updated this 'ere blog thingy. I think I may have even forgotten about it until recently, but unlike Furbies it never complained, blinked it's lifeless eyes at me or died. Good for you, blog. I've changed the name of it as I am freed from the Pray For Dawn shackles for good now, moving onto pastures greener than frogs swimming in lime jelly. Or something else that's just significantly green and less silly.
It's been an extraordinary year, one in which many dreams came true. Quite possibly the best year of my life. We've just released another music video and it's up there with the work I'm proudest of.
Not too shabby, huh? I had so much fun making this video, and with each set of requested changes I was actually happy to be able to work on it some more. From beginning to end, the production of this video was the perfect mix of hard work and immense fun, and I was in heaven. I think one of the reasons why it all came together so well was because we did it internally, as in Trudy and myself. It was only the two of us as a crew, and that was all we needed. The band had a great deal of input into the creative look of the video and during the editing process, but as far as the camera work, lighting and post production (effects, colour grading etc.) it all came down to 2 people.
And that is one of the biggest lessons I've learned this year. Since I've used this blog as a tool to share advice I've learned from my own experiences I think now is as good a time as any. Lesson learned: Work with others as little as humanly possible. Now, you filmmakery types may be thinking "it's not possible in our line of work!" And I realize that, to many, it's true - most people tend to adhere to one area of expertise, and when a whole crew comes together with all areas blending together into a well-oiled machine, not unlike Voltron, it all works fine. And up until this year I didn't have any issues with this method of work. Seemed like the right thing to do. That was until someone who I considered a good friend stabbed not only me, but all the cast and crew of something I was working on in our proverbial backs. We'd put in months of hard work and spent thousands of dollars on something that was suddenly pulled out from under us, leaving us with an extremely expensive showreel and a newfound lack of trust. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't know about the local independent film collective - that not all things come together as smoothly as one might think. Sometimes Voltron is missing a limb. Well, as they say, once bitten, twice shy. And I am not keen to work with anyone again for a while, unless contracts are written up and there is a solid safety net under us. And that is one thing that would have saved us - had legal agreements been written up and signed by all. I was foolish enough to think that nothing could happen, being that I thought the writer of the project (ie he who holds the script, which when removed from the equation there is no project), an old friend who I thought we could trust, would never sacrifice a friendship over a small-time movie project. I mean, c'mon. Who does that?!! At least now I realize it can happen, and with the right preventative measures it won't happen again. For now I'm happy to keep everything internal. Any scripts we want to make will be written by us. We will try to do as much as possible to save relying on anyone else, and fortunately we know enough that we can successfully achieve this. It was a hard way to learn the lesson, but at least it's learned.
Fortunately this whole experience has led to our next project. I can't say how at the moment, as another lesson I've learned is not to get people too hyped up about what you're doing until you know you can deliver. I imagine it's pretty embarrassing getting a lot of people keen to see a movie that is never going to see the light of day. So we're remaining very tight-lipped. Hopefully down the track when we've shot enough footage and it's looking good we'll be able to start the hype machine running. But for now I can say that we are definitely keeping control of the script, we are definitely not getting anyone else involved with the making of it that isn't necessary, and we will definitely enjoy the comfort of having a huge safety net to catch us if anything goes wrong. Because it's true what they say - you really can't rely on anyone but yourself. (Unless you have the most spectacularly awesome girlfriend/partner you could ever dream of, then you can probably rely on her, too.)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
My best/worst movies of 2010
Ordinarily I would write this blog over at my Myspace account, which I have done for the past few years now. But since Myspace is dead to me and I've got this shiny, new blog thingy to use I figured I'd write my movie list of 2010 here. Besides, it's movie-related and thus entirely appropriate.
This was a strange year as far as my moviegoing habits went. In recent years I'd clock up around 50-60 visits to the cinema and see movies multiple times. But since getting a girlfriend things have changed. This year I saw 29 movies, only one of which I saw twice (Scott Pilgrim). Most of this year was spent doing boyfriend/girlfriend stuff (make of that what you will), and spending a lot of time behind the camera and editing screen. Still, it was much better being constantly too busy to go to the movies all the time!
Anyway, without further ado (and by "ado" I mean "rambling"), the movies I saw in 2010 are:
Avatar
Up In The Air
Shutter Island
The Hurt Locker
Kick Ass
Date Night
Hot Tub Time Machine
Iron Man 2
The Losers
A Nightmare On Elm Street
The A-Team
Get Him To The Greek
Toy Story 3
Predators
Inception
Ghost Writer
The Expendables
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
The Kids Are All Right
Salt
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
The Other Guys
Buried
Paranormal Activity 2
Saw 3D
Jackass 3D
The Social Network
Red
Machete
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
(It just occurred to me that I didn't tell Steve that we saw Harry Potter on a whim and didn't have time to invite him at such short notice and I hope he doesn't hate me for not seeing it without him. Sorry!)
Okay, so here's my list of the best of the bunch. Now, for those new to reading my lists please take note that this is my personal list based on my own opinions. I'm not saying that these are the definitive best movies of this year and that you should like them, too, or else. I'm not saying I'm right and everyone else is wrong. I hate having to constantly explain this, but due to some people with barely any intelligence who couldn't grasp this idea and decided to kick up a fuss about it a while back I feel it's necessary.
So here goes...
10) Jackass 3D - the ultimate switch-your-brain-off-and-enjoy experience. Had a lot of laughs and loved all the 1000fps camera work (ultra, ultra slow motion). The 3D was put to incredibly good use (Trudy actually ducked and yelped a little at a wobbling dildo flying towards us. That is a sentence I never thought I would ever write in a blog!) and all-in-all it was just great fun.
9) The Hurt Locker - a raw, low-budget action thriller that had to be seen to understand why it blew Avatar away at the Oscars. And upon checking it out I was convinced they chose the right one. Very tense stuff and brilliantly written.
8) Hot Tub Time Machine - don't let the title fool ya, while it certainly had it's silliness this flick was a welcome entry into the new breed of comedy movies a la The Hangover. Really funny stuff and the greatest gag ever filmed involving soap.
7) Buried - I was quite skeptical that a movie set in a box (and yes, that's the only location in the entire flick!) could be any good, but I was happily proven wrong. Utterly extraordinary stuff. Amazing camera work and lighting and a solid script. Worth checking out for the gimmick alone. The ending had to sink in a bit before I understood how genius it was, but once I accepted it I loved the movie even more.
6) Toy Story 3 - do I even need to write why this is on my list?
5) Paranormal Activity 2 - I loved the first one immensely and I felt this was one of those rare sequels that outdid the first. It was arguably the scariest Hollywood movie I've ever seen and I'm not afraid to admit it had me trembling. Really scary stuff. And the kitchen scene was without question the biggest BOO scare I've ever had in a movie. If you've seen it you'll know what I mean.
4) Scott Pilgrim vs The World - such a unique movie, and one that made me want to make movies. I love those inspirational kind of flicks. So many great ideas and a masterclass in editing. Not a dull moment in the entire thing. Loved it.
3) Get Him To The Greek - I thought I'd only get a kick out of this movie because I'm a huge fan of Russell Brand, but it turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen this year. Hilariously funny dialogue from great characters, a really entertaining story and the best soundtrack I've heard in years. Plus we're still quoting lines from it to this day, always the sign of a great script. When the world slips you a Jeffrey, enjoy this movie.
2) The Disappearance of Alice Creed - 3 actors in the entire movie. That's right - 3! And that's all it needed. I was so engrossed by this story, with all of its twists and turns, and always kept wondering what would happen next. And it still has the single cleverest use of a title in any movie I've ever seen. (And that's a lot of movies!) I seriously cannot wait to see this movie again.
1) Kick Ass - it's quite a cliche from reviewers who mention that this movie lives up to its title, but what can I say? They're right. A very adult-oriented comic book movie that didn't hold back on the violence and a really great idea to back up the story. The cast was awesome, the action sequences a sheer delight, and there's not much more that can be said about Chloe Moretz that hasn't already been said before. But let's face it - she kinda did steal the show. Such an all-round winner.
So that's the best of the year out of the way, now onto the ones that made me suffer. To be honest I couldn't even make a list of 10 bad ones this year, so that's something. And I know I'm gonna cop flak for some of the inclusions here, but again these are my personal choices and I'm not saying they're bad movies (well, most of 'em...I challenge anyone to like #1!) but they just didn't do it for me.
*ahem* My worst movies of 2010 are...
8) The Other Guys - while not necessarily a bad movie, I just don't even really remember it. And that's never a good sign of an entertaining movie. I actually remember more of the other movies on this list, but since this one did have a few laughs I'll keep it at the back.
7) Inception - here we go. *Gasp*! How could this be on the worst list of the year??!!!! Look, I recognize that it was very well-made, but I'm not going to pretend I understood it. Quite the opposite, it confused the hell out of me. And for that reason I didn't enjoy watching it. Then to find out later on that the entire story was possibly a dream made it even more frustrating. If it was all a dream, then who cares? I don't like watching a movie and having to try and figure out what the hell is actually going on. The recent South Park episode that poked fun at it perfectly summed up how I felt about it.
6) Predators - even though I worship Robert Rodriguez I still have to say this movie really didn't do it for me. It had a lot of potential, yet I just found the whole thing kinda bland. And bland isn't really what you expect from a Predator movie!
5) The A-Team - if you take away the central characters, pulled from a well-known and widely enjoyed TV show, all that's left is a very dull action movie where nothing happens that hasn't already been done before. But even with said characters involved, it was still a turkey. The Losers had a similar plot to this one but was done far, far better, and almost made my top 10 list.
4) Iron Man 2 - the epitome of disappointment. After such a cracking first film, which was up there with the most entertaining superhero movies of all time, this one just fizzled. They turned the lead character into a douchebag, didn't use the characters to their full potential (especially Black Widow) and the end fight was over in about 12 seconds. I felt really cheated after seeing this.
3) Red - I must have missed something as most people seem to really like this movie. I just couldn't get into it. I didn't like the characters, and felt the story was muddled. It really jumped around too much and made me wonder where the missing reels were. Could have easily walked out of this one.
2) A Nightmare On Elm Street - you would think I would have learned my lesson about remakes by now. I never intended to see this, but was goaded into it reluctantly (albeit with a very mild curiosity). It was even worse than I'd imagined. Anyway, lesson is now learned. I don't wanna talk about it.
1) The Kids Are All Right - this was the worst piece of cinematic excrement I had to sit through all year. Seriously, it had not one single redeeming quality about it. At least with the other ones on this list there were a few things here and there that I liked (I recall liking the opening of Nightmare On Elm St, but it went downhill after that, and Red featured a cool stunt where Bruce Willis stepped out of a spinning car) but this movie had absolutely nothing. I think the moral of the story was something about how all a lesbian needs is the right man to come along to convert her, but they weren't even hot lesbians. I'm talking about middle-aged ugly ones. At least if, say, Josie Maran and Kate Beckinsale had the lead roles we might be talking about a quality lesbian movie, but not Julianna Moore and...who was it again? Susan Sarandon, maybe? I don't know. Either way I did NOT get turned on in the same way I have with every other movie I've ever watched involving lesbians. Very disappointing.
So those are my choices for this year. Like 'em or not. And if you don't agree with my choices I promise I won't delete you from Facebook.
This was a strange year as far as my moviegoing habits went. In recent years I'd clock up around 50-60 visits to the cinema and see movies multiple times. But since getting a girlfriend things have changed. This year I saw 29 movies, only one of which I saw twice (Scott Pilgrim). Most of this year was spent doing boyfriend/girlfriend stuff (make of that what you will), and spending a lot of time behind the camera and editing screen. Still, it was much better being constantly too busy to go to the movies all the time!
Anyway, without further ado (and by "ado" I mean "rambling"), the movies I saw in 2010 are:
Avatar
Up In The Air
Shutter Island
The Hurt Locker
Kick Ass
Date Night
Hot Tub Time Machine
Iron Man 2
The Losers
A Nightmare On Elm Street
The A-Team
Get Him To The Greek
Toy Story 3
Predators
Inception
Ghost Writer
The Expendables
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
The Kids Are All Right
Salt
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
The Other Guys
Buried
Paranormal Activity 2
Saw 3D
Jackass 3D
The Social Network
Red
Machete
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
(It just occurred to me that I didn't tell Steve that we saw Harry Potter on a whim and didn't have time to invite him at such short notice and I hope he doesn't hate me for not seeing it without him. Sorry!)
Okay, so here's my list of the best of the bunch. Now, for those new to reading my lists please take note that this is my personal list based on my own opinions. I'm not saying that these are the definitive best movies of this year and that you should like them, too, or else. I'm not saying I'm right and everyone else is wrong. I hate having to constantly explain this, but due to some people with barely any intelligence who couldn't grasp this idea and decided to kick up a fuss about it a while back I feel it's necessary.
So here goes...
10) Jackass 3D - the ultimate switch-your-brain-off-and-enjoy experience. Had a lot of laughs and loved all the 1000fps camera work (ultra, ultra slow motion). The 3D was put to incredibly good use (Trudy actually ducked and yelped a little at a wobbling dildo flying towards us. That is a sentence I never thought I would ever write in a blog!) and all-in-all it was just great fun.
9) The Hurt Locker - a raw, low-budget action thriller that had to be seen to understand why it blew Avatar away at the Oscars. And upon checking it out I was convinced they chose the right one. Very tense stuff and brilliantly written.
8) Hot Tub Time Machine - don't let the title fool ya, while it certainly had it's silliness this flick was a welcome entry into the new breed of comedy movies a la The Hangover. Really funny stuff and the greatest gag ever filmed involving soap.
7) Buried - I was quite skeptical that a movie set in a box (and yes, that's the only location in the entire flick!) could be any good, but I was happily proven wrong. Utterly extraordinary stuff. Amazing camera work and lighting and a solid script. Worth checking out for the gimmick alone. The ending had to sink in a bit before I understood how genius it was, but once I accepted it I loved the movie even more.
6) Toy Story 3 - do I even need to write why this is on my list?
5) Paranormal Activity 2 - I loved the first one immensely and I felt this was one of those rare sequels that outdid the first. It was arguably the scariest Hollywood movie I've ever seen and I'm not afraid to admit it had me trembling. Really scary stuff. And the kitchen scene was without question the biggest BOO scare I've ever had in a movie. If you've seen it you'll know what I mean.
4) Scott Pilgrim vs The World - such a unique movie, and one that made me want to make movies. I love those inspirational kind of flicks. So many great ideas and a masterclass in editing. Not a dull moment in the entire thing. Loved it.
3) Get Him To The Greek - I thought I'd only get a kick out of this movie because I'm a huge fan of Russell Brand, but it turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen this year. Hilariously funny dialogue from great characters, a really entertaining story and the best soundtrack I've heard in years. Plus we're still quoting lines from it to this day, always the sign of a great script. When the world slips you a Jeffrey, enjoy this movie.
2) The Disappearance of Alice Creed - 3 actors in the entire movie. That's right - 3! And that's all it needed. I was so engrossed by this story, with all of its twists and turns, and always kept wondering what would happen next. And it still has the single cleverest use of a title in any movie I've ever seen. (And that's a lot of movies!) I seriously cannot wait to see this movie again.
1) Kick Ass - it's quite a cliche from reviewers who mention that this movie lives up to its title, but what can I say? They're right. A very adult-oriented comic book movie that didn't hold back on the violence and a really great idea to back up the story. The cast was awesome, the action sequences a sheer delight, and there's not much more that can be said about Chloe Moretz that hasn't already been said before. But let's face it - she kinda did steal the show. Such an all-round winner.
So that's the best of the year out of the way, now onto the ones that made me suffer. To be honest I couldn't even make a list of 10 bad ones this year, so that's something. And I know I'm gonna cop flak for some of the inclusions here, but again these are my personal choices and I'm not saying they're bad movies (well, most of 'em...I challenge anyone to like #1!) but they just didn't do it for me.
*ahem* My worst movies of 2010 are...
8) The Other Guys - while not necessarily a bad movie, I just don't even really remember it. And that's never a good sign of an entertaining movie. I actually remember more of the other movies on this list, but since this one did have a few laughs I'll keep it at the back.
7) Inception - here we go. *Gasp*! How could this be on the worst list of the year??!!!! Look, I recognize that it was very well-made, but I'm not going to pretend I understood it. Quite the opposite, it confused the hell out of me. And for that reason I didn't enjoy watching it. Then to find out later on that the entire story was possibly a dream made it even more frustrating. If it was all a dream, then who cares? I don't like watching a movie and having to try and figure out what the hell is actually going on. The recent South Park episode that poked fun at it perfectly summed up how I felt about it.
6) Predators - even though I worship Robert Rodriguez I still have to say this movie really didn't do it for me. It had a lot of potential, yet I just found the whole thing kinda bland. And bland isn't really what you expect from a Predator movie!
5) The A-Team - if you take away the central characters, pulled from a well-known and widely enjoyed TV show, all that's left is a very dull action movie where nothing happens that hasn't already been done before. But even with said characters involved, it was still a turkey. The Losers had a similar plot to this one but was done far, far better, and almost made my top 10 list.
4) Iron Man 2 - the epitome of disappointment. After such a cracking first film, which was up there with the most entertaining superhero movies of all time, this one just fizzled. They turned the lead character into a douchebag, didn't use the characters to their full potential (especially Black Widow) and the end fight was over in about 12 seconds. I felt really cheated after seeing this.
3) Red - I must have missed something as most people seem to really like this movie. I just couldn't get into it. I didn't like the characters, and felt the story was muddled. It really jumped around too much and made me wonder where the missing reels were. Could have easily walked out of this one.
2) A Nightmare On Elm Street - you would think I would have learned my lesson about remakes by now. I never intended to see this, but was goaded into it reluctantly (albeit with a very mild curiosity). It was even worse than I'd imagined. Anyway, lesson is now learned. I don't wanna talk about it.
1) The Kids Are All Right - this was the worst piece of cinematic excrement I had to sit through all year. Seriously, it had not one single redeeming quality about it. At least with the other ones on this list there were a few things here and there that I liked (I recall liking the opening of Nightmare On Elm St, but it went downhill after that, and Red featured a cool stunt where Bruce Willis stepped out of a spinning car) but this movie had absolutely nothing. I think the moral of the story was something about how all a lesbian needs is the right man to come along to convert her, but they weren't even hot lesbians. I'm talking about middle-aged ugly ones. At least if, say, Josie Maran and Kate Beckinsale had the lead roles we might be talking about a quality lesbian movie, but not Julianna Moore and...who was it again? Susan Sarandon, maybe? I don't know. Either way I did NOT get turned on in the same way I have with every other movie I've ever watched involving lesbians. Very disappointing.
So those are my choices for this year. Like 'em or not. And if you don't agree with my choices I promise I won't delete you from Facebook.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The peril of breaking the rules
While far from a master at what I do, I would like to think I’ve been making movies for long enough that I could have a few crumbs of knowledge gathered from my experiences and mistakes to pass onto others. One of those crumbs, particularly pertaining to low-budget independent filmmaking, is that one should always include things in a script that you already have access to. I’ve almost always done this - if there’s a certain location I can use, certain props or costumes, I’ll write a story around them. Sometimes these things will even be the foundation for which the script is written on. Anyone who was lucky (an adjective open for debate) to see my short ‘Spanking Monkey, Hidden Fist’ may not realize that the whole thing stemmed from the fact that I had various martial arts clothing and weaponry at my disposal, so I thought I’d make a goofy action movie. Quite often I’m thinking of things and places and how I can fit them into a movie. Or people. Careful - if I’m talking to you face-to-face I may just be wondering if you can act and thinking of a role for you.
You may have noted I said that I‘ve “almost always” done this. Earlier this year I wanted to enter Tropfest, of which this year’s theme was dice. I came up with a rather depressing horror story involving a witch and a knight, quickly banged out the script and instantly fell in love with it. It was one of the best scripts I’d ever written, if I do say so myself, and I couldn’t wait to start making it. Trudy and I went location scouting and found a couple of absolutely perfect spots to shoot it. The witch, I figured, wouldn’t be too hard to do. I knew of a great make-up artist and was after a fairly simple costume. But the knight was something I didn’t really think about. And I really should have. It turns out that suits of armour are neither cheap nor in abundance. I was kinda screwed.
I spent several months perusing eBay and various online stores trying to find cheap armour, and while I did find some great looking stuff none of it fell into the category of anywhere near cheap. Individual limb pieces cost hundreds of dollars, and even then they all had that brand new look. Not what I was after. I didn’t know what to do! Here was this great story that I wanted to tell but because I’d broken my golden rule I was hindered from doing so. I had no trouble getting a medieval axe and some bone dice for props, but that armour was just too much. I even began contemplating changing the character from a knight to something else. At one point he was almost going to be a WWII Nazi! Then one day Trudy and I were at a place called the Tender Center - which is kinda like a shop full of second-hand goods that people can bid on. Almost like a real-world eBay. Lo and behold, hanging from a rope was the most awesome armour I had come across yet! Several pieces, all the ones we needed, with glorious dents and strategically fashioned rust. Cutting a long story short, we wound up getting the lot for $135. I was far, far beyond happy. It was the start of the knight costume and the main hurdle overcome in bringing the movie to life. Since then I’ve accumulated some really great bits n’ pieces for the costume (seriously, I cannot wait for everyone to see the sword we got!) and the movie is inching ever so close to commencement. But that was all thanks to a really lucky break. Had we not been at the right place at the right time I’d still be thinking of creative ways to change the character yet always being saddened by having to compromise one of the key themes to the movie.
When I read the script to Pray For Dawn I almost fell off my chair. There were locations I would never have dreamed of trying to secure. There were fantastical monsters and creatures. There were special effects galore and scenes set in torrential rain. When I took on the responsibility of directing this film I almost had a panic attack, thinking of all the movies I’d made with that safety net of having everything already available. But when we started hearing from so many talented people who could get these things done I began to relax a little. This is going to be a big step for me, going into something where almost everything needs to be created specifically for the story to be told. But hey, this is what it’s all about, right? This is why movies cost money.
Still, if there’s anything at all in my wardrobe or box of props that can be used you can be damn sure it’s gonna end up on screen. So don't be too surprised if you see a random knight stroll past in a scene.
You may have noted I said that I‘ve “almost always” done this. Earlier this year I wanted to enter Tropfest, of which this year’s theme was dice. I came up with a rather depressing horror story involving a witch and a knight, quickly banged out the script and instantly fell in love with it. It was one of the best scripts I’d ever written, if I do say so myself, and I couldn’t wait to start making it. Trudy and I went location scouting and found a couple of absolutely perfect spots to shoot it. The witch, I figured, wouldn’t be too hard to do. I knew of a great make-up artist and was after a fairly simple costume. But the knight was something I didn’t really think about. And I really should have. It turns out that suits of armour are neither cheap nor in abundance. I was kinda screwed.
I spent several months perusing eBay and various online stores trying to find cheap armour, and while I did find some great looking stuff none of it fell into the category of anywhere near cheap. Individual limb pieces cost hundreds of dollars, and even then they all had that brand new look. Not what I was after. I didn’t know what to do! Here was this great story that I wanted to tell but because I’d broken my golden rule I was hindered from doing so. I had no trouble getting a medieval axe and some bone dice for props, but that armour was just too much. I even began contemplating changing the character from a knight to something else. At one point he was almost going to be a WWII Nazi! Then one day Trudy and I were at a place called the Tender Center - which is kinda like a shop full of second-hand goods that people can bid on. Almost like a real-world eBay. Lo and behold, hanging from a rope was the most awesome armour I had come across yet! Several pieces, all the ones we needed, with glorious dents and strategically fashioned rust. Cutting a long story short, we wound up getting the lot for $135. I was far, far beyond happy. It was the start of the knight costume and the main hurdle overcome in bringing the movie to life. Since then I’ve accumulated some really great bits n’ pieces for the costume (seriously, I cannot wait for everyone to see the sword we got!) and the movie is inching ever so close to commencement. But that was all thanks to a really lucky break. Had we not been at the right place at the right time I’d still be thinking of creative ways to change the character yet always being saddened by having to compromise one of the key themes to the movie.
When I read the script to Pray For Dawn I almost fell off my chair. There were locations I would never have dreamed of trying to secure. There were fantastical monsters and creatures. There were special effects galore and scenes set in torrential rain. When I took on the responsibility of directing this film I almost had a panic attack, thinking of all the movies I’d made with that safety net of having everything already available. But when we started hearing from so many talented people who could get these things done I began to relax a little. This is going to be a big step for me, going into something where almost everything needs to be created specifically for the story to be told. But hey, this is what it’s all about, right? This is why movies cost money.
Still, if there’s anything at all in my wardrobe or box of props that can be used you can be damn sure it’s gonna end up on screen. So don't be too surprised if you see a random knight stroll past in a scene.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Out with the not-so-old
I did something today that I never dreamed I would do. I put my camera on eBay. Banished to a realm of cyberspace along with everyone else's junk and useless stuff that nobody wants anymore. My poor camera. But there is a perfectly rational explanation as to why I did this, so hear me out.
Not that long ago, JM (producer of Pray For Dawn, actor extraordinaire and close personal friend) had a role in a local feature film called Bad Behaviour. One day he called me up and told me to guess what they were shooting it on, and after going through a list of various cameras I gave up. "A Canon 5D," he said. Okay, great. What the heck is that? I looked up this camera online expecting it to be some gargantuan machine that looked like, well...y'know, what they shoot major Hollywood movies on. Instead I could only find pictures of a DSLR camera, the kind you see slung around tourists' necks. I thought there had been an error in communication until I read further and discovered that these new cameras were a cheap way to shoot really good movies, so I immediately became interested. I learned that the quality from these cameras was almost on par with 35mm film, and that really got me interested. I mean, I loved my camera (Sony HVR-A1P) and had built it up with all sorts of gizmos to make it into a really decent tool, but the more I read about these DSLRs I couldn't help but be more and more curious. Then the turning point for me was when Robert Rodriguez, my role model supreme, used a Canon 7D to shoot a music video. I've modeled much of the way I approach filmmaking from his methods, and now that he was embracing DSLR technology I seriously started weighing up the pros and cons.
Taking the plunge (and at the behest of several people wanting me to shoot movies for them!) I purchased a Canon 7D for myself. It was a little scary, being that I was used to the standard format of video cameras, but I was ready to tackle something new. I went to eBay - the source of 90% of all my equipment - and found a great deal on a brand new 7D. A few button clicks later it was done. And it's one of the best decisions I ever made! This camera is just brilliant. I've quickly fallen in complete love with it. While my A1P is a great camera, and has been there through my first commercial, first music video and a short film that caught the attention of a few big industry people, it just couldn't compare to what I was shooting with the Canon. I no longer needed an adapter to achieve depth of field. Or a monitor to see what I was shooting with said adapter. The resolution was better, and the new camera was MUCH better in low-light conditions. Plus a lot of the gadgets, bits n' bobs I had bought for the Sony fit the Canon perfectly. I figured I could at least keep the Sony for whenever I needed 2 cameras (which is often) until I had an epiphany.
Looking again on eBay I found out I could get over 2 grand for the Sony, yet another 7D would only cost me just over $1600 (only needed the body as I already have 4 lenses now.) I spent several days thinking of any single reason why keeping the Sony made sense, but aside from pure sentimentality I couldn't come up with anything. So today I took the photos, wrote up the listing and offered my beloved camera to the world. It's a week-long auction, so I have 7 days to reminisce the fun we've shared, the great work it's done (it even shot Paul Hogan - something I bet the ATO would love to do) and ready myself to post it to what I hope will be a loving owner.
Still, when I think about the twin 7Ds I'll soon have at my disposal, how fast I can shoot movies with a 2-camera set-up, and how much faster it'll be to capture footage (just download a memory card instead of having to record the footage in real time) I can't get too upset. And the speed at which technology moves these days I'll probably be offering my Canons to the highest bidder in a year's time anyway!
Hopefully I can include in the auction listing that they were the cameras that shot the worldwide smash hit horror film, Pray For Dawn.
Not that long ago, JM (producer of Pray For Dawn, actor extraordinaire and close personal friend) had a role in a local feature film called Bad Behaviour. One day he called me up and told me to guess what they were shooting it on, and after going through a list of various cameras I gave up. "A Canon 5D," he said. Okay, great. What the heck is that? I looked up this camera online expecting it to be some gargantuan machine that looked like, well...y'know, what they shoot major Hollywood movies on. Instead I could only find pictures of a DSLR camera, the kind you see slung around tourists' necks. I thought there had been an error in communication until I read further and discovered that these new cameras were a cheap way to shoot really good movies, so I immediately became interested. I learned that the quality from these cameras was almost on par with 35mm film, and that really got me interested. I mean, I loved my camera (Sony HVR-A1P) and had built it up with all sorts of gizmos to make it into a really decent tool, but the more I read about these DSLRs I couldn't help but be more and more curious. Then the turning point for me was when Robert Rodriguez, my role model supreme, used a Canon 7D to shoot a music video. I've modeled much of the way I approach filmmaking from his methods, and now that he was embracing DSLR technology I seriously started weighing up the pros and cons.
Taking the plunge (and at the behest of several people wanting me to shoot movies for them!) I purchased a Canon 7D for myself. It was a little scary, being that I was used to the standard format of video cameras, but I was ready to tackle something new. I went to eBay - the source of 90% of all my equipment - and found a great deal on a brand new 7D. A few button clicks later it was done. And it's one of the best decisions I ever made! This camera is just brilliant. I've quickly fallen in complete love with it. While my A1P is a great camera, and has been there through my first commercial, first music video and a short film that caught the attention of a few big industry people, it just couldn't compare to what I was shooting with the Canon. I no longer needed an adapter to achieve depth of field. Or a monitor to see what I was shooting with said adapter. The resolution was better, and the new camera was MUCH better in low-light conditions. Plus a lot of the gadgets, bits n' bobs I had bought for the Sony fit the Canon perfectly. I figured I could at least keep the Sony for whenever I needed 2 cameras (which is often) until I had an epiphany.
Looking again on eBay I found out I could get over 2 grand for the Sony, yet another 7D would only cost me just over $1600 (only needed the body as I already have 4 lenses now.) I spent several days thinking of any single reason why keeping the Sony made sense, but aside from pure sentimentality I couldn't come up with anything. So today I took the photos, wrote up the listing and offered my beloved camera to the world. It's a week-long auction, so I have 7 days to reminisce the fun we've shared, the great work it's done (it even shot Paul Hogan - something I bet the ATO would love to do) and ready myself to post it to what I hope will be a loving owner.
Still, when I think about the twin 7Ds I'll soon have at my disposal, how fast I can shoot movies with a 2-camera set-up, and how much faster it'll be to capture footage (just download a memory card instead of having to record the footage in real time) I can't get too upset. And the speed at which technology moves these days I'll probably be offering my Canons to the highest bidder in a year's time anyway!
Hopefully I can include in the auction listing that they were the cameras that shot the worldwide smash hit horror film, Pray For Dawn.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Greetings!
Probably not the most original title for a blog, but I guess that's not important. I want to say hi to all the Pray For Dawn fans and followers, and to let everyone know that I'll be keeping this blog updated whenever I can as a means of communication from my own side of the story. Stephen seems to have the Facebook page pretty well under control so I thought I'd use this as a way to post my own goings-on and whatnot. With now over 600 people following the progress of the movie I figured a few of you might be interested.
At this point in time the most exciting thing happening is the prospect of getting a second Canon 7D camera! I've been SO happy with the first one and the footage is absolutely amazing, so I'm looking into selling my Sony HVR-A1P that's been my weapon of choice for the past year and getting another Canon instead. This way we can shoot Pray For Dawn with an A and B camera and get it done twice as fast.
Other great news is that my old friend and collaborator, Jean-Marc Manning, has joined the team as a producer. I've always leaned more towards the creative side of things and he's got a keen sense for the business end, so his knowledge and expertise will be invaluable for this project. And we always did want to make a feature together, so now thanks to Stephen it's all happening!
Alright, I'll leave this for now. If you've read this much I applaud you and hope you'll be interested enough to check back again soon!
Dan
At this point in time the most exciting thing happening is the prospect of getting a second Canon 7D camera! I've been SO happy with the first one and the footage is absolutely amazing, so I'm looking into selling my Sony HVR-A1P that's been my weapon of choice for the past year and getting another Canon instead. This way we can shoot Pray For Dawn with an A and B camera and get it done twice as fast.
Other great news is that my old friend and collaborator, Jean-Marc Manning, has joined the team as a producer. I've always leaned more towards the creative side of things and he's got a keen sense for the business end, so his knowledge and expertise will be invaluable for this project. And we always did want to make a feature together, so now thanks to Stephen it's all happening!
Alright, I'll leave this for now. If you've read this much I applaud you and hope you'll be interested enough to check back again soon!
Dan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)