Plans for production

REW

REW

Hello everybody,

First, I want to say that I am happy that I found this forum, and I am fanatically reading it for the last months. It seems that it has a lot of people that know their crafts, and I learned a lot from the discussions here.

I am 38 years old, living in Middle East, without any formal training or expertise in film making. Nevertheless, I started about a year ago thinking about making a full length feature film, and being an autodidact, I learned by myself a lot of things about film making.

I assembled a group of interested people and non-professional actors. We have no budget whatsoever. I plan to get a decent DSLR camera with a few good lenses, about 2 good microphones and some decent recorder, the rest of the equipment I plan to build it all by myself. And, being a relative good cook, I plan to feed the crew also by myself. We are in the writing/planning stage.

I have a few questions

I know I am aiming very high, but if the movie is to be considered to nomination as 'foreign film' at festivals, is HD on a DSLR camera the way to go, or the minimal technical specs are higher than that?

I plan to make it a hilarious comedy (mainly situation humor), but the main story will be a very serious and dramatic one. Also, from the 3 act structure (beginning, conflict, resolution) I plan to omit the resolution stage, to left it open to interpretation. Has anything like that been done before, or it seems an impossible task?

I have a gazillion more questions, but being in a very early stage of this, I'll stop now.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
REW said:
I have a few questions

I know I am aiming very high, but if the movie is to be considered to nomination as 'foreign film' at festivals, is HD on a DSLR camera the way to go, or the minimal technical specs are higher than that?
Click to expand...
To qualify as a "foreign film" at a festival all that is required is
that the film not be made in the country hosting the festival.
No specific technical specs are needed. You can shoot SD or even
on VHS and still be considered as a "foreign film".

REW said:
I plan to make it a hilarious comedy (mainly situation humor), but the main story will be a very serious and dramatic one. Also, from the 3 act structure (beginning, conflict, resolution) I plan to omit the resolution stage, to left it open to interpretation. Has anything like that been done before, or it seems an impossible task?
Click to expand...

Many movies have left the ending open to interpretation. If you
handle it correctly it won't be an impossible task.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey, welcome to the forum

Haifa (Carmel center) is my favorite city\neighborhood to stay in when my company sends me to Israel.

Many festivals project in SD so HD is still not a requirement. Many a film will be filmed on HDSLR so your good to go. A good story, good acting and good technical work is all that you need to worry about...

You could sign up for an "withoutabox" filmmaker membership (its free) and just look at some of the submission criteria...


As a general piece of advice, Id suggest your group get together and make a VERY short film, with what ever equipment you have or can burrow.

Run the entire "movie making" process, Start to Finish, to get a sense of how it REALLY works, and what equipment you REALLY need.
You will then know much more about what you need to do for your big feature.

VERY SHORT means less than 5 mins.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks for the answers.

What about the genre question? Do you guys know any examples of movies that are basically a comedy, but talk about a serious and not so funny issue?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Clerks
The Big Lebowski
Raising Arizona
The Hangover
Greenberg
Idiocracy
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Groundhog Day
I Love You, Phillip Morris
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Pinapple Express
The Jerk
Tropic Thunder
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Knocked Up
Rushmore
Annie Hall
This is Spinal Tap
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Directorik you say the hangover talks about not so funny issues ? I obviously didn't get that bit, although I did watch the film with a cooler full of beer with a few mates.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
IS THIS YOUR FIRST SCRIPT?

Do yourself a favor. Get some second opinions from PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT. Even if you have to pay script consultants. If you're going to spend money on this, spend it in the right place first.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sam K said:
Directorik you say the hangover talks about not so funny issues ? I obviously didn't get that bit, although I did watch the film with a cooler full of beer with a few mates.
Click to expand...
I think one thing that can make a comedy good is when
there is an underlying theme of seriousness. Not to say
that just flat out slapstick or gags can't make a very funny
movie - just that the added themes can make a very funny
comedy all the more relatable.

I think the themes of responsibility and tolerance in "The
Hangover" were handled well - and in several places quite
seriously.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey man. I'm just a few steps ahead of you, in the same process. Having made my first feature, on a nothing budget, with a DSLR, I'd like to echo the advise given on your screenplay. Let others review it. People who are experienced at this. Ask for complete honesty, and listen. And give yourself plenty of time for rewrites. If I could go back and change only one thing, I would have wanted more time for the screenplay. I was working with a self-imposed deadline for finishing the film, and it's a deadline that is very meaningful to me personally, but it didn't allow enough time for proper rewrites and reviews. A solid script needs to be priority #1.

In addition to that, I agree with wheatgrinder. While you take the proper time to nail the script, you can practice your filmmaking skills by making a bunch of shorts.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top