If most films were made that cheap with that bad of picture and even worse, sound quality, and using ADR even, it would be rejected by most film festivals. However El Mariachi went big, and boosted off Robert Rodriguez's career? How is that his film was the exemption to the rules? Did the producers just have really good international connections to get it shown in theatrical releases all over the world or what?
How did El Mariachi get so big with such poor quality?
- Thread starter harmonica44
- Start date
Story...formula...formula ...formula... Look at Adam Sandler ???? all his movies are the SAME..they sell
Yeah. Since you can tackle it on that scale, I thought I would have seen a lot more El Mariachi's by today.
Yeah that's what I'm saying. But why? What do most directors working with a few thousand do wrong? Or is it just lack of people seeing them as pointed out.
Since now... or since the 1930s? Not a new genre, or a new concept at all.
As far as RR goes, he made dozens of shorts on VHS before shooting bedhead which got him awards and exposure... getting him his contacts in TX that in turn hooked him up in LA. He spent the time working on his craft before getting the contacts that got him famous. He built the relationships over time. Time and dedication/faith.
Yes, but I've seen projects that do neither and just use the camera mic.
Even so - I have a boom, blimp, support and wind muff, but all that wrapped around the mic has not kept me from doing extensive ADR, especially when my cast is talking through gas masks.
I posted in the past about shooting in a fog tent on windy days. The plastic blows around every boom mic is going to hear that. A lot of "exterior" shots are actually done in an enclosed set, but the live audio let's you hear the reflections off the walls. ADR time.
Are you going to boom your speedboat, car convertible or storm scenes? Sure for reference, but the finished dialogue will be ADR. I've created a few alien planet sets in my backyard, but the truth is, there is a main street and traffic, just 3 blocks away. More ADR.
Speaking of EL MARIACHI-style, I shot a feature, TERRARIUM, that same way. I shot with a Canon Scoopic silent 16mm camera. The camera itself was too noisy to record any sync sound. Like EL MARIACHI we shot the film take, then had the actors perform it again, just to capture the audio. It was a necessary process and the more care you take, the better it works. My sync was much better, because I edited the sound on a computer. Very few knew about the dubbing.
So it became big because he shot an action movie for $10,000, as it was worded before. But it's not an action movie really, is it? I mean we get a few takes of people being shot, and a take of a guy jumping in and out of a truck, and he lands in front of a bus. All that adds up to about 1-2 minutes of action that the most, but does that count it as an action film? That's like a "comedy" with only 1-2 minutes of gags.
Wouldn't it be great if there was an answer to this question?
We all could just do exactly the same thing and....
It's not that horror is the worst, it's just that a lot of horror movies today are poorly written. Not a bad genre, but for some reason it attracts a lot of bad scripts. Not saying that to be ignorant or close minded, I am trying to judge a lot of those movies fairly compared to what we have in other genres.
Last edited:
most misleading quote ever....
That's the biggest load of shiite I've ever heard. First off, he misquotes Orson Welles, who was actually quoting his CITIZEN KANE cinematographer Gregg Toland when he said "Everything you need to know about filmmaking can be learned in two to three days".
All of which is fine and dandy.... when you already have years and years of experience like RR did when he made his first feature film and Gregg Toland was an elder statesmen from the birth of cinema. Rodriguez is insanely talented. He already KNOWS a lot about filmmaking when he shows you what to do in his Ten Minute Film Schools. They're a joke because there are a million things he's NOT telling you in those videos or important details that slip through the cracks because he takes for granted that he already learned technique and storytelling from doing it so long.
Filmmaking is a life long endeavor to learn and grow in your art. No one stops learning. Ten minutes my ass. Ten years of learning will still be the tip of the iceberg.
That's the biggest load of shiite I've ever heard. First off, he misquotes Orson Welles, who was actually quoting his CITIZEN KANE cinematographer Gregg Toland when he said "Everything you need to know about filmmaking can be learned in two to three days".
All of which is fine and dandy.... when you already have years and years of experience like RR did when he made his first feature film and Gregg Toland was an elder statesmen from the birth of cinema. Rodriguez is insanely talented. He already KNOWS a lot about filmmaking when he shows you what to do in his Ten Minute Film Schools. They're a joke because there are a million things he's NOT telling you in those videos or important details that slip through the cracks because he takes for granted that he already learned technique and storytelling from doing it so long.
Filmmaking is a life long endeavor to learn and grow in your art. No one stops learning. Ten minutes my ass. Ten years of learning will still be the tip of the iceberg.
Of course it’s subjective, but I’d say that a lot of action movies
are poorly written. A lot of comedies are poorly written. A lot of
dramas are poorly written. So far I am not convinced that poor
writing is more prevalent in horror than in other genres.
are poorly written. A lot of comedies are poorly written. A lot of
dramas are poorly written. So far I am not convinced that poor
writing is more prevalent in horror than in other genres.
It is a bit misleading, but that's hype for you. It may be accurate to say you can learn everything you need to know about filmmaking in 10 minutes, but you certainly cannot learn everything you need to know in order to make a film.
Totally agree. In my case, 33 years making films so far, still learn something every day from all y'all.
Shouldn't the real question be "How did [enter Blockbuster here] get so big with such bad storytelling?"
So have their been any movies that were shot for a few thousand, like El Mariachi, or Paranormal Activity, where the directors hired the producer to distribute it themselves?