Thank You

All we are is what we put out in the world.

Through conversation, body language, long stares from across a crowded room, a smile, welled-up eyes, that moment of speechlessness when your emotions overtake you. Everything we are is in all of those moments. For me and for all of us in #506iv, it's in our writing.

I remember a conversation I had with a indie film colleague about other people's feelings on his work, on my work, on all of our work. I said a variety of things, but it boiled down to this:

"We can't control how people will react to our material. We can only control the material"

Thinking back, I wonder if that's true. After the writing, I have to promote. I write query letters and pitches. I enter contests and festivals. I submit articles for publication. I'm putting my name out there, but where I was pinning the cause of my acceptance or rejection on the subjective nature of the business, maybe I should be looking at the way I'm presenting my work. I may find more fault with myself than the subjectiveness of others. I control the way people respond to my material, by the way I present it.

He's talking about "Tomorrowland", which I love.

This class, I've been challenged to dissect my name and how it's discovered on-line. The ease that my real name is searched for in Google. The difficulty that people who don't know me can find my website. I share many of my articles and published work, but I wonder if I'm sharing it the right way.

I have to focus on my brand. I'm not the biggest fan of that term. For me, it's synonymous with being phony. Being out of touch with others. A brand isn't approachable. A brand isn't personal. But, it's what we all are. Even if we use a different term like image or reputation, it means the same thing. Perhaps, it's time to own it.

I'm faced with another choice. My writing voice. Much of my writing has been from a place of "high on the mountaintop," preaching to the people below. This was never a conscious decision. It was not my intention to place myself on a different status than my audience. It was just how I wrote many of my articles about the film business and my experiences, but my tone betrayed my intentions. I didn't know why. I didn't know how to amend that tone.

Professor Kalm challenged (yes, another one) me to be more personal in my writing. To interject more life experience in my writing. To be more honest and open, but to get to the point. (Thank you, Struck and White)  Not that I wasn't honest before, but there was always a wall. Something that stopped me from letting others see me. I'd be honest, but not enough. I'd be open, but leave out other thoughts. I would tell myself that no one wants to read it, but in reality I was too afraid to share it. So I accepted the challenge and focused on being more personal and open. I still work on it and will continue to work on it in future writing endeavors.

I chose indie film as my beat because I've lived inside indie film for so long and while I'll always enjoy discussing film, breaking down the industry and simply watching stories. I'll probably still write about indie film. But the indie film beat is not my greatest takeaway from this class.

I am a writer. I always will be a writer, but it's time I work on becoming a better writer. In my head I hear the advice I've heard countless times before. "Write. Write. Write." and "The only way to become a good writer is to keep writing." Yes. Those are great pieces of advice and I could continue to write and write, but never push myself to grow as a writer. I could keep writing, but never learn how to be a good writer.

#506iv helped me realize that I needed and wanted to work on the craft of writing. I don't know my future. I don't know where my writing or the rest of my graduate studies will take me, but I know I'm on a new path. A trajectory that will involved my writing in some form. It was probably fate that brought me to #506iv this summer session. Stephen King's memoir "On Writing"was one of our suggested readings in the syllabus and I was already 100 pages into the book. I began this class before realizing it and now it's tough for me to leave.

"I don't want to go." - The 10th Doctor (David Tennant)

IndieApp Campaign

Be original. Be creative.

Easier said than done, but let's get the basics out of the way.

Twitter
It should be every new venture's first step. Create a Twitter handle. It's one of the best ways to connect with your audience, with the world. The way you use Twitter also helps a great deal, but we're starting with the basics right now. Hopefully, we can land "@IndieApp" as our handle and once that's set we have an open connection to help gather our audience.

Facebook
We'll create an IndieApp page which will be used to primarily increase our reach to our audience. Since filmmaking is a young man and woman's game, it's worth noting the level of reach we would have on Facebook. The site has a higher demographic of older users to newer users, which isn't to say that young filmmakers aren't creating accounts. They might not be checking them as much.

Vine
It's a no-brainer that we'll be a presence on Vine, a social media platform with a focus on visual storytelling makes perfect sense for the IndieApp. "6-second stories" could be a great social media campaign on Vine. We challenge indie filmmakers to tell a story with the constraints of Vine, which could be opened up to contests and giveaways. A great tool for IndieApp.

SnapChat
Another visual social media portal that IndieApp can use to its advantage. Connecting with the young demographic that utilizes SnapChat more than other generations is a paramount to keep IndieApp relevant as the years progress. Much like Vine, SnapChat can be used as a story device for filmmakers. A documentary style of filmmaking could be a better on SnapChat.

Instagram
The visual is what Instagram is all about. Yes, the video component can be utilized much the same way that SnapChat and Vine would be, but the power of Instagram is in its photos. IndieApp would use Instagram as a behind the scenes tool from work on other indie filmmaker's projects to what goes into working on the IndieApp.

These are probably the five top social media portals, IndieApp would have a presence at the start. Obviously, there are others that we could use and promote the brand of IndieApp, but for now, we'll start slow and then grow when needed.

Be Original. Be Creative.

What to do when on these portals is the real question. Yes, IndieApp will have its own website/blog which would contain articles on the business side of independent cinema, production stories from filmmakers and other content all focused on getting films made and distributed. The five portals (Twitter, Facebook, Vine, SnapChat and Instagram) are designed to bring traffic to the IndieApp website. But how?

YouTube
As much as Vimeo appeals to me as a filmmaker, I believe YouTube has a greater reach for us in terms of finding our audience. It's also name brand recognition for audiences outside of the indie film world. Remember, we may attract people who have thoughts of becoming indie filmmakers. They're not entrenched in this world yet, so the gamble is that they would know about YouTube first over Vimeo. A gamble we're willing to make. (Plus, who says we can't just include Vimeo in the fold later) Again, this is to start out.

Film Festivals
IndieApp needs to be on the festival circuit. That's where the indie filmmakers are, so that's where IndieApp needs to be. A team of journalists and filmmakers scouring the country, hitting festivals after festival and watching movies. Interviewing people. Creating 6-second interviews for Vine. Cutting 3-5 minute run-downs of films for our YouTube channel. Long-form articles to the website, reviewing the movies and spreading the word on some of these lesser-known indie films looking for a distribution home.

Contests and Giveaways
 - One-page writing contests and Five-page writing contests. Winners could get their scripts produced.
 - Participatory giveaways to promote audience interaction on the website.

Workshops
IndieApp has a responsibility to make sure every indie filmmaker has the tools and knowledge to further their careers as storytellers. No better way to do this than hold workshops on all different aspects of filmmaking.
 - Production - Directing, Screenwriting, cinematography, grip and electric, production design, set design, art department
 - Post-Production - Editing, Marketing, Sound Design

The promotion of knowledge is a vital part of the IndieApp. All content created by the IndieApp would be in service of providing knowledge for the indie filmmakers that would visit the website and other social media portals. Growing a community requires consistent updates on our social media portals and creative ways to bring future storytellers to the website. What has been listed above is just a start. If we remain focused on our motto, then our community will continue to grow.

Be Original. Be Creative.

"Is it real?" Marketing

With the return of the Blair Witch in theaters this September, I thought it fitting to take a look at the viral campaign that surrounded the original movie, The Blair Witch Project. For those who may not be aware or are too young to remember, way back in 1999, movie audiences were put on alert that something sinister lay deep in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland.

A year earlier, three filmmakers had gone into the woods in search of the Blair Witch, a legend that has plagued the local townsfolk, and no one had heard from them again until the footage from their cameras were found. The footage was spliced together and premiered for audiences at the Sundance Film Festival and even after it was bought by Artisan Entertainment for one million dollars, audiences around the world kept asking: "Is this real?"

That was the beauty behind the campaign. The website and the marketing campaign promoted the movie as a documentary as if saying: "These events happened! These filmmakers went missing and now we know how and why. These are their final moments."

I was 24 years old in 1999 and I was brimming with a large amount of cynicism in those days and even I had to pause and investigate the movie to see if it was real or not. It's amazing how far technology has come in 15 years when you realize that all the producers had back then was their website, television ad campaigns and print-ads. There was no Facebook, Twitter or even MySpace. There was LiveJournal and other blogging sites, but in 1999, it was nothing compared to what we do now.

Could this type of "Is it real?" campaign happen today? It would be very hard to pull off, but it would be worth it if it was successful. The Blair Witch Project was made for around $25,000, sold for one million and went on to gross almost 250 million worldwide. It also was one of the early adopters of the "Found Footage" genre which has spawned countless movies such as Chronicle, Cloverfield and the Paranormal Activity series.

Looking back, the campaign's biggest asset was the fact it came about before the internet exploded with social media portals and handheld devices ruled our lives. That's a fair argument when critiquing the campaign, but it should not overshadow the originality of the campaign. Viral marketing has always been around, in some form or another. Just take a look at the campaign for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

The Blair Witch Project took viral marketing a step further. Just like Hitchcock, the producers of the Blair Witch Project pushed boundaries by being original and creative. No matter the technology or lack thereof, being original and creative should be the first goal of every marketing campaign, including the IndieApp campaign.

Sources:

MWP Digital Media
Pajiba

90s Movie Making Memories

This past week's module got me thinking of what making movies used to be like for me. Here's a piece I wrote a while back this year about those times. Enjoy.

When you start rummaging through boxes in the basement, you know you’re going to find memories. You’re just not sure what kind of memories. Mostly good ones, I suppose.

MXLLS
​​The photo you see (recently placed on Instagram by yours truly) is a stack of HI-8 tapes with various, as they call it today, forms of content that I was part of back in the 90s. Remember the 90s. It seems so long ago and when I look at the calendar, it feels even longer.

I have different memories from all those Hi-8 tapes and they’re all enjoyable. Just a bunch of naïve 20-somethings thinking they were the next coming of Kevin Smith or Richard Linklater. And if you’ve seen any of the content on those tapes, you’d soon realize that they were not.

No. You can’t watch it.

Who could forget “Grievances Foregone”, the most pretentious title ever put to a Hi-8 tape. That is until the sequel, “Retribution” was concocted and subsequently attempted. Truthfully, I’m hazy if we even finished “Retribution” or even it was actually the sequel or first movie. I don’t have the emotional strength to watch it and find out.

No. You can’t watch it.

The rest of the titles are skit shows we used to do. Just quick comedic bits that, as I think back are probably mildly offensive on many levels. Oh, to be young.

You can’t ever go back and sometimes your old content reminds you just how far (hopefully) you have come. For a while, amongst our friends, we were known for the Santa skit. Thankfully, that subsided. I hope.

No. You can’t watch it.

We had fun. We learned some things. No matter the size or the professional level of the production, if you’re genuine in your intent you’ll always grow as an artist.

I should also note that “Kissery” was written and directed by my friend. We all loved Misery and we knew someone that loved the band Kiss. Put your hands together and you got that fourth tape down from the top.

No. You can’t watch it. (You saw that ending coming, didn’t you?)

 

Module 11 Thought - Just One

I wanted to piggy-back on a section of the module that dealt with the visual over the written. Clearly, you've guessed by now, that I enjoy a great story. Movies have been part of my life for quite some time.

I wish I could tell you I remember seeing Star Wars in the theater, but I was 2 years-old and apparently I spent most of it in the lobby crying. I do have countless other memories associated with the movies and storytelling.

I discovered Spielberg in the mid-80s while watching "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" one night on HBO and loving it, only to find out that there was a first movie. "What?! What's it called?!"

I cheered loudly from the front rows in the theater with my cousin while watching "Total Recall". The house was packed and we all loved watching Arnie dispatch his so-called friends be the stairs as they tried to ambush him.

My first day working as an usher at the local movie theater was the opening weekend of "In the Line of Fire" and "Interview With A Vampire" and it was crazy, especially when the cos-play people showed up dressed like vampires.

Belaboring the point is that I clearly have seen quite a bit. Bad and Good. One of my favorite moments in cinema comes from the movie "L.A. Confidential". If you haven't seen it, please do. It's great.

There's a moment in the movie when one of our leads, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is telling the story of why he wanted to be a cop to fellow detective, Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey). Vincennes is an officer who prefers to moonlight as a police consultant with Hollywood. Vincennes like the easy life and is often considered less-than by many of his fellow officers.

Exley tells Vincennes the story of Rollo Tomasi who had murdered Exley's father. Exley's dad was a cop, but at the time he was off-duty when Tomasi killed him. The story is not the moment and I won't ruin the dialogue for you, if you haven't seen it.

The moment is when Exley asks Vincennes why he became a cop and Vincennes freezes. Spacey plays the moment brilliantly as he searches for the answer to the question and you realize that Vincennes has been lost this whole time. He comes back with a line: "I don't remember", but he doesn't even need to say it. We already know this.

No dialogue could've explained the backstory of Jack Vincennes better than those few seconds of Jack searching for the answer to that question. It's always the example I think of when people talk about "show, don't tell" in writing.

If you're interested in re-living the scene: See below.

Indie Film Cycle Script

I was going to copy and paste the script, but the formatting was terrible. Then I was going to offer the .pdf version, but...you can't offer any kind of downloads with blogger.

So I did some screen shots of the script and dropped them below. They are in order. Enjoy!

It's a script highlighting how the impetus to create stories all begins. For myself, it wasn't exactly like this situation. But a gradual realization that I wanted to make movies. Enjoy!

Indie Film Cycle - By Alex Faison

 

Web Series or Short Film - Inforgraphic

If you're trying to decide whether a short film or web series would fit your next production best, take a look at possible thoughts you might be having and how they relate to whether you're leaning towards a web series or a short film.

Mod 9&10 Thoughts - Crowdfunding

I have a love-hate relationship with crowdfunding. I hate having to promote myself, but I know it's necessary. I hate having to beg for money, but I know it's not really begging. In a perfect world, the door will open and someone, not my parents, will enter who believes in me and supports me financially in all my decisions.

The perfect world metaphor is overplayed, but it fits.

We used crowdfunding for my latest project: A web series about life as a 30 year-old - the time when we're supposed to be adults, but don't know how to be adults. The first season is 6 episodes, 15 pages an episode. We were in talks with a producer and that fizzled out, so we looked to crowdfunding as a source. The team behind the show was optimistic. I was not. I knew the struggles with crowdfunding from the countless stories I'd hear from fellow filmmakers.

These are productions with people, both in front of and behind the camera, that have significant credits under their name. If they couldn't wrangle enough money for their productions, then I didn't hold out hope for us. Don't misinterpret realism for defeatism. No one, including me, is a bankable talent. We just don't have enough credits at this time in any of our careers.

Our goal was the first season of the series and we asked for 50K. I knew we wouldn't get this. We weren't ready. We weren't prepared. Our perks weren't perky enough. The effort was there. What we were offering in return for funding wasn't enough. Again, my colleagues were hopeful, so we pushed forward.

One of the necessary components of crowdfunding is a consistent social media presence throughout the campaign. You need to be posting every day, multiple times a day through any and every social media portal. We did this, but when Facebook primarily consists of your friends and family and often times the two interchange with your production team, you're not reaching a whole lot of people. We did what we could on Twitter and Instagram, but still, it wasn't enough.

Out of our asking amount of 50K, we raised 2K. We used Indiegogo. They give you the option of flexible funding (for a fee). That allows you to keep anything you raise, even if you don't meet the goal. Kickstarter is all or nothing. You make your stated goal or you go home empty handed.

We took the 2K and shot several commercials and a pilot episode. The pilot takes place prior to the events of the first season. An introduction to the characters and a chance to create a content was what crowdfunding afforded our project. To me, that's a success. We would've still been talking about making our show if we never tried crowdfunding. We may have raised only 4% of our goal, but it was 4% more than we had at the time.

Speech Transcript and Video

Here's the video.

Here's the transcript:

Indie film is excitement. Indie film is energy.        It’s filmmakers, young and old, looking to tell their story, but many lack the tools and skills needed to make their films a reality.

IndieMaker will change that.

IndieMaker is an app-based product with a website element that will create a digital landing spot for indie filmmakers. IndieMaker will feature a variety of options for the new filmmaker such as:

Videos and How-To posts on different aspects of production, such as lighting techniques, low-budget special effects, finding the perfect location and much more.

Blog posts from other filmmakers on their experiences shooting their first features and the lessons they learned.

And a chance to connect with filmmakers from across the globe.

In the beginning, these posts will be a mixture of aggregated content and IndieMaker exclusives until finally shifting to all content on the app being provided by IndieMaker’s community of filmmakers.

“A strong and enthusiastic niche audience can push a topic into mainstream consciousness with speed and force.” - Rachel Sklar.

Indie film is the niche audience of the film industry. IndieMaker is that push.

The Indie App - Executive Summary

The world of independent cinema is vast. It is filled with creative hopefuls looking to share their stories with the world, but for many of these filmmakers they lack the tools and knowledge to make it happen. Having funding is one thing, but knowing how to spend that money is a different issue. The Indie App provides tips, tricks and information for all levels of independent filmmakers to help make their productions successful.

The first steps is creation of the app and the blog, which will require a small level of funding. this can be achieved by approaching several private investors in the filmmaking world. Other like-minded filmmakers looking to give back to their community. A crowd-funding campaign would begin to not only raise a small amount of capital, but gauge the interest level of our idea.

The difference from our app/blog and others is that it will be filmmaker focused. For filmmakers, by filmmakers. A blog component will include stories from other indie filmmakers. What they have learned on and off set. Problems they have encountered and their solutions. The indie filmmaker learns by doing and now they can learn by the experience of others.

Module 8 Thoughts and Tangents

I meet countless people who tell me an "idea for a story" that they think would be great as a book, movie, TV show, etc. And my response is always. "Great. Write it."

I never read it. It never arrives. Everyone has great ideas. As the professor states, "The execution of the idea is what matters."

@xamill mentioned last week about his doubts of having an original idea and I know the professor's recent email referenced the idea of doubt. There should be no doubt, any idea we come up with has already been thought of by someone else. A large majority of films released by studios are not brand new. Remakes, reboots, re-imaginings and adaptations flood the market each year.

The reboot of Ghostbusters is this weekend. Even in the face of countless people crying about an all-female cast or how they're childhood is being ruined by Hollywood remaking classics, that didn't stop Columbia Pictures from moving forward the production. Why should we let it bother any of us?

I'm not suggesting we rip-off other people's ideas, but it shouldn't stop us from coming up with any ideas. If we were thinking about stealing ideas, I've wanted to do a reboot of Monster Squad for quite some time and I'm definitely on board with that.

The other aspect of the lecture that I wanted to comment on was the brainstorming session and the idea of a system of creativity. I always shy away from "How-To" books on writing. Stephen King's book, "On Writing", was great because it wasn't telling me how to write. It was just showing me how King does it and what he's learned. Most books lay out rules and expect you to follow them. I hate that thinking.

Creativity should be unencumbered. There should be no harness for creating an idea. The execution of that idea, however, does need a guiding hand.

When I started writing and directing, it was little skit shows with my friends. It was fun. We had a great time with it. But soon, I wanted more.

I wanted to keep doing it so we started a production company, but it's more accurate to call it a collective. There were five of us. We'd get together and plan out what we wanted to do as a production. Initially, we were all writing and directing commercials for the company. We shot five commercials. I wrote and directed three of them.

Clearly, I was the leader in the room. I was the one steering the ship, not because I demanded it, but because I was passionate about making it happen. I pushed my friends to write, to direct, to edit. I pushed myself as well. This isn't to say my friends were less-than in any regards to me. I was pushy and probably a jerk. Is that why they don't talk to me anymore? (Just a joke. We all still talk)

I don't know if any of the commercials, short films, and eventual feature we ended up putting together before disbanding the collective would've ever been completed if there wasn't a guiding hand. Even if it wasn't me. If one of my friends took control and pushed us down a certain path. Would we have made the same content? Would we still be making content together to this day? That's probably a different discussion and class for that thinking.

It's having no doubt that allows us to be creative. It's the lack of focus that promotes creativity. It's focus that leads to execution. It'll be my complete lack of reason that will get the remake of "The Monster Squad" off the ground.

Tips, Tricks and Truths...Oh My. - Indie App Elevator Pitch

The first thing I ever shot, I had no idea how to work the camera. I figured it out, obviously. But that was a VHS-C Standard-definition handheld camera. (Yes, it sounds as awful as it sounds) These days, digital cameras are amazing. The world of digital filmmaking is vast. But there's no quick, at-your-fingertips guide at the ready in case a filmmaker has a problem on set.

The Indie App (and website) is there for the modern filmmaker. Tips on how to shoot with low light. Tricks about homemade fake blood. Facts that can help the low-budget modern filmmaker survive their film shoot without breaking their checking account.

Quick. Easy to use. Available on all smart phones. The Indie App is essential for every filmmaker looking to find a less expensive way to create their masterpiece.

Indie Blog - Elevator Pitch

Planning a film shoot? Looking for a location? Setting up a scene? These questions are always followed by other questions, concerns, worries and the inevitable...unseen problems. The ones you don't think about. But you're not alone. You have decades of people before you who have experienced what you're experiencing. Filmmaking. Indie filmmaking. Low-budget, no-time, not-enough-people filmmaking.

What do you do? Where do you find the answers to your questions? Where do you seek out a soothing voice to calm your worries?

The Indie Blog is there for you. Filmmakers from around the world share their first-production experiences. Some funny, some serious, but all poignant. Read about the missteps and successes. The choices other filmmakers made that could help you in your future endeavor of telling your story.

Remember. We're all in this together. Let those who've been in your shoes help you.

Everyone Wants to Be a Director

One of the first things I learned when being a indie filmmaker was that everyone on your set wants to be in charge. Everyone thinks they can do a better job than you. Everyone wants to be a director. It is hyperbole and no, not everyone is conniving behind your back while you're setting up a shot. But they all have opinions.

Every director is different. They all have different philosophies on directing and shockingly, some directors have no idea what they're doing. The way I direct is simple. Whatever is the best choice in service of the story. Going into productions, there are conversations about the look of a movie and that's in service of the story. If I'm shooting a film noir, I'm not going to suddenly have a scene lit like we're in a romantic-comedy.

Even if I've pre-determined my scene, shot selection and style ahead of time, I shouldn't be closed off to the opportunity for a better choice. I don't have all the right answers. No one does. Not even Hitchcock.

As much as I'm open to that. As much as I try to take care of my crew, that phrase always surfaces "Everyone wants to be a director," because there's always one person who thinks I'm doing it wrong.

My first short film was called "The Thing in the Cellar". It was based on a campfire story I heard many times as a cub scout. We shot over one weekend at my house. I paid no one. I couldn't and we were in our early twenties, so everyone was there because we all wanted to make movies. The short required a creature for the ending and since homemade CGI was not an option and I love practical effects, we opted for a creature to be made for us by a local artist.

I knew this person, let's call him Jim, through my best friend. Jim was going to make us a creature that would be "awesome" and he'd design this contraption to pour blood from its mouth when it took a bite out of our lead actor. Of course, this was going to cost money. And I was good with that. This was for the last shot of the movie and it was a reveal, so if there was a time to pay, this was it. Jim said he needed $450 and I agreed.

What I got was a hand-puppet. Now, I'm not saying some kind of effort and hard work went into this hand puppet, but not $450. The promised blood contraption was a plastic squeeze bottle and a tube. On screen, it looked like a hand puppet and that squeeze bottle and tube delayed the shot for an hour because it wasn't performing as it was meant to do. You know, pour blood out of a mouth. We had to take the bottle and tube and place it under our actor's shirt instead.

There was nothing I could do. I paid for it. It was all we had, so we shot it. Hey, live and learn. The production ends. I thank everyone and a week goes by. The puppet is at my house. I paid $450 for it, so it was mine.

But wait...

Two things happened next. I'm talking with one of my other friends, Kevin, and he tells me a story about the shoot. While I was in my basement setting up a shot, Jim was outside complaining about me. I wasn't choosing the right shots, I didn't know how to direct the actors, I should be getting different angles. Jim. The only one making money from this short. Complaining.

Everyone wants to be a director.

The 2nd thing that happened was that Jim called my best friend and asked for the puppet back, since he put so much hard work into it. $450 of work? I'd like to suggest that I took the high road here and handed it over without incident, but again, I was in my early twenties. The puppet may have gotten kicked around my lawn a few times.

$450 worth of kicks.

My Publishing Plan

My article deals with the decision most modern filmmakers are faced with these days in this digital landscape - Do I shoot a web series or a short film?

Each has their own advantages and disadvantages, but I'll leave that for the article.

My publishing plan would be for an on-line source. Most people thinking about creating a web series are working in the digital field, so they would find this article easier on-line.

Some publications I would approach could be:

Filmmaker Magazine - This site is a bit high-brow, so I would have to tailor the article a bit. Maybe leave out the familiarity-like way I write. A bit more formal, perhaps. (not like that last sentence)

IndieWire or IndieSlate - I grouped these two publications together because they are basically the same type of magazine. Their articles seem to be more towards indie film (feature), but that doesn't mean their readers are not dealing with the same questions my article would address.

IndieFilmNYC - Full disclosure. I know the editor and have written for this site before. So there's a good chance I could get the article on the site. I'm really not bragging because the article needs work, but the subject matter falls right in line with what IndieFilmNYC is trying to do.

There are countless other e-zines I could approach. This topic is one, I know, filmmakers think about constantly and it would be extremely useful with their decision on which way to turn - web series or short film. But something else happened as I wrote this article. I imagined it not as just an article, but a series of them. I grouped different aspects of creating the content in the article, but I could easily branch off from there and create articles for each topic.

Not sure how to pitch a series to an e-zine since it's not just one piece being published. How would you pitch that to a publication that you've never written for before?

Self-Evaluation

The subject of independent film is one I know well. I cut my teeth on indie film in the late 80s/early 90s when it was all the rage, before the studios gobbled up the indie houses and gentrified the entire indie film scene. I discovered a love of cinema with Richard Linklater ("Slacker", "Dazed and Confused"), Kevin Smith ("Clerks", "Chasing Amy"), Quentin Tarantino ("Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction"), Robert Rodriquez ("El Mariachi", "Desperado"), Steven Soderbergh ("Sex, Lies and Videotape"),  John Dahl ("Red Rock West", "The Last Seduction"). I could go on and on. I've watched so much.

That love of indie film evolved into a desire to create my own stories. I've written countless scripts, short and feature length, and I've directed a small fraction of those stories. I've worked with wonderful people and not-so-wonderful people. I've rode the roller-coaster of indie productions and lived to tell the tale. Throughout this time, I was always the one leading the charge. Out of all my friends and fellow filmmakers, I was the voice that urged us all forward. This isn't a boastful statement, merely an accurate account of my experiences in indie film.

The one aspect I've always felt I missed out on was having a mentor. Someone to guide me through the pitfalls. Someone to help me find my way to the career I desired. Someone to push me. Someone to feed my passion. Someone to feed the right wolf.

I chose indie film because I've learned a few things along the way and maybe my articles and thoughts could serve as a mentorship tool for those young filmmakers looking to tell stories. Perhaps I can fill the void that was in my early life for others.

The articles I've written have touched upon different aspects of indie film from story creation (Do Not Manufacture Story) to the technical with How to Paint a Green Screen. But it's not limited to just making indie movies. I like the idea of shaping the way people watch movies.

The audience approaches a new movie with a sense of "been there, done that." We're not surprised anymore by storylines, plot points or style. That doesn't mean these things don't exist on an elite level. It's important to understand why a movie doesn't work or why it does work. Sure, this is a subjective field and not everything pleases everyone, but there are multiple reasons why movies don't work. I explored this with Stop Blaming Actors which explains that bad acting doesn't necessarily mean we're watching a bad actor.

My voice is pretty strong in this field, but it still needs strengthening and focus. I've always written articles in the past about indie film, but they were for my personal blog. I've never been paid to write these articles. The second half of #506iv intrigues me. Perhaps I've experienced some of the information heading our way, but understanding it and using to my advantage is probably where I'm lacking. I've never been very good at pitch meetings. I have great difficulty with boiling down a script to three lines. The creation of a story or article is one thing. It's the mechanics of the business that I have difficulty navigating. Can't wait to start.

Do Not Manufacture Story

Typically, I shy away from lists or steps that lay out the perfect way to make a movie, tell a story, write a paper, etc. Those lists have merit, but I'm the type of person who will adhere to the list and not try to find my own way. I need to find my own way when telling a story. It's more rewarding for me that way. Then I read How to Make the Perfect Sundance Film and I immediately disagreed with its premise.

To be fair, I do agree with the ideas that the author, Ted Hope, is suggesting. As story points, yes, they work. And if they're executed well, they will bring in that audience and create a connection between the story and the viewer. So yes. If you follow those steps, and do the well, you will manufacture a good movie.

And that's my problem.

These are steps to manufacture a movie designed for the purpose to get yourself into a film festival. Is that why we make movies? To get into Sundance? We are in the business of telling stories. Yes, we can absolutely follow this instruction booklet and put together the pieces of a script together. An erector set screenplay. We can construct our story, but it's lacking heart. No matter the genre, our goal is tell our story. To share with the world a piece of our inner thoughts and feelings. This is what all filmmakers do. (Of course, on TV right now is Beverly Hills Ninja and I have no idea what people were thinking when they made that one. Moving on...)

Once we put the destination of our script ahead of the journey and its creation, we are failing our story. We are trading in our sincerity for a dream of rubbing elbows with fellow filmmakers and influential producers. And we will always lose with that trade.

Of course, I'd love to get into festivals! Of course, I'd love to see my work alongside other professionals! But that will NEVER happen if I'm more concerned with how to get my story there rather than how I'm going to tell my story.

For my last production, my vision was more along the lines of a slight homage to the comedies of Billy Wilder or Preston Sturges. Watch The Front Page. That's the one I keep thinking about. I didn't write the short because I thought the Winnipeg Comedy Festival was looking for dialogue-heavy comedies for their 2015 Winter Fest. I did it because it was a story I wanted to tell. I wrote a comedy with the influences of Wilder and Sturges in mind.  If the short gained attention, it would be for the work and effort put in by the cast and crew and not because I followed the ten step program designed to gain me an elusive entry into a festival.

Tell your story. Make your movie. Focus on that. True success is determined by your effectiveness in storytelling. Not how many festivals you get into.

One small note: The author of the article, Ted Hope, is someone I follow. He's got great insight into storytelling, filmmaking, producing, marketing. All of it. Everything indie, he knows. If you're one who is interested in that field, devour his writings and teachings. He is very wise and has been there and back again.

Feed Your Cast and Crew

"The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Ignoring the chauvinistic undertones of that idiom, the takeaway is that a good meal pleases everyone. Your production cannot survive without a cast and crew that is fed well. Many of these people are working for little or no pay. That comes with an expectation of a decent meal for lunch and dinner. They should expect this. You should, too.

It's not enough to provide food for your cast and crew. You need to feed them well. This is how I felt from my first production in the early 90s. The Thing in the Cellar. It was adaptation of a story I was told as a cub scout every time we went camping. The shoot was one weekend. It was a great learning experience. It's also where my addiction to coffee first began.

Before I knew what a good meal meant, we would run out to Subway, the local pizza place or Dunkin Donuts for a variety of times. Anything the cast and crew wanted, we made a list and someone went and got it for them. No questions asked. I've asked people to give up their weekend to help me and I would return that favor any way that I could.

Personally, I don't eat when I'm on set. It's not because I don't want to, but rather I don't remember to eat. Too many thoughts run through my mind: The shot we're working on, the next scene on our schedule, tomorrow's first scene, the amount of coverage we need, the location fee, why are the cops here, etc. It's a seemingly never ending thought trail that does not include any worries on how my people will eat. That's the first problem I solve in pre-production.

The first day of pre-production should have time devoted to craft services. How will you feed your people? What will you feed them? When will you feed them? You may not have the answers yet, but asking the questions should be a day-one event.

Feed your cast and crew. Feed them well.

Indie Crew App - Community Based

The three biggest challenges with Independent Cinema are raising money, having time and getting people for your crew. In this digital movie age, filmmakers can tell their stories from anywhere in the world. If you're lucky enough to raise the money and block out a few weeks of time for the production then their only other obstacle is finding crew members.

The Indie Crew App can help.

Indie Crew (IC) is a social sharing app designed for people interested in working on film and television productions. The app will develop a community of filmmakers in your home state and help seek out local people for productions. The difference between IC and other apps/websites like Stage 32 or Mandy.com is that IC is solely local community based. Each state will have their own database of crew members to choose from. If a production spans across multiple states, IC provides the freedom to select crew members from those locations. This will save productions the added crew cost of travel and living expense.

IC awards active members by offering incentives for productions. Claim prizes such as free catering for a production, discounts at rental houses, access to casting offices and audition spaces. IC members are encouraged to write recommendations for other members. These will appear on members profile pages and provide insight for future employers.

As mentioned, the app has a secondary purpose of creating a film community. Filmmaking is a collaborative craft. It requires a large group of people to buy into the same idea: To tell a great story. It takes a village to make a movie. IC is a tool to help build that village. 

There is no charge to registering with IC. Simply create a profile, browse the app and build a film community.

The C-47

C-47

A C-47 is an essential tool on most film and television sets. Its uses are numerous. It is often regarded by film and television professionals as the most important piece of equipment on set. Also known as 47s, CP47s, bullets, ammo, pegs. [1]

Design

In the late 19th century, David M. Smith developed the design of the C-47 to be two interlocking wooden prongs in between a wedged spring. The lever action this created added to the C-47's gripping strength.

First C-47 used in early 1900s

Years later, this design was improved by Solon E. Moore who created a coiled fulcrum which wrapped around the wooden prongs, holding them together and thus increasing the rate of strength.

Today, C-47s are manufactured with stainless steel coils that prevent rust and decay, a key attribute when used outdoors.

Origin

There are many disputed origin stories about the C-47, but the one that is confirmed by all to be untrue is of famous director George Méliés fashioning the first C-47 from a block of wood while filming "A Trip to the Moon" in 1902.

According to lore, Méliés whittled the entire time of production and created the C-47 at the exact time it was needed to fasten a drop cloth along the back of the set. The story has been refuted by many who knew Méliés personally.

Other rumors are below:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain

During World War II, the C-47 Skytrain was a versatile and essential aircraft used for troop transport. The C-47 was rumored to be named after the Skytrain to honor it's versatility during the war and make the comparison with the C-47's versatility on set. [2]

Patent Number

C-47 from set of "The Village" (2004)

C-47 is often thought of as the patent number that was used when the first C-47 was created by David M. Smith. Smith applied for the patent in 1854 after creating the C-47. There has been no such patent found. [3]

Hollywood

In an effort to provide as many C-47s on a set, it was common practice for productions to find mundane, yet important sounding names for essential tools on a film set. This practice would fool studios into allowing the bulk purchase of these items. The C-47 was given this name for this very purpose. [4]

Uses

Set Design

C-47s are used to keep cloth backdrops from falling. They help fasten fabricated works of art on the walls during period dramas. They are used by set designers to clip notes on sets warning crews of a "hot set."

Grip and Electric

C-47s in action

Members of the crew that are known as G&E often will have a stash of C-47s attached to their clothing ready at a moment's notice. Uses for G&E include: electrical cords that need to be kept out o sight, blackout paper on windows, filters and gels on lights.

Film Editing

Film editors, using a linear editing machine (or flatbed editor) for editing film, will use C-47s to hang strips of film from above to keep track of splices and cuts during the process of editing.

Other Uses

Laundry Drying

The C-47 has been adapted by people for home use as well. People will hang their wet clothes on a piece or rope. which is suspended between two fixed points, known as a clothesline.

Resources

1. ^ "It's a C-47" http://www.scoutingny.com/. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
2. ^ "It's a C-47" http://www.scoutingny.com/. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
3. ^ "It's a C-47" http://www.scoutingny.com/. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
4. ^ "It's a C-47" http://www.scoutingny.com/. Retrieved 2014-07-15.

You're Never Alone

One of the misconceptions of independent cinema is the idea that independent means you do it on your own. It does feel like that at times, but you're never really alone in your endeavors.

As a writer, I am alone in front of that computer screen. I'm there with my notes, my thoughts and that keyboard trying to fashion a story together. I may ask for feedback from trusted sources, but no one is writing the story for me.

But after that screenplay is written, I cannot continue without the help. When I step back and look at the actual act of creating a short film, I'm always amazed at the willingness of so many people to help create my vision. The passion of others to make something I've written into a reality is as surprising as it is powerful.

I should've recognized this earlier in my indie career.

In mid-2002, myself and a few of my friends had already formed a small production company. The idea, not a new on, was to work on short films and support each other through the process. We did a variety of commercials for the production company, which all participated in, but the majority of the short films were written and directed by me and I was done with short films. I wanted to do a feature.

We had a meeting. I stated my intention. And I added an escape hatch for my friends, because I didn't want to impose my desire to shoot a feature. I offered the chance for my friends to not be involved in the feature. I knew it would cost money and time, and I didn't want my friends to feel like I was demanded that from them.

I wanted all of us to be independent in our work. I didn't want the production company to be just about me. To my own career detriment, I cared too much of the success of my friends. I wanted them to be as passionate as I was. Looking back, knowing what I know now, of courser they would say yes.

We were in it together. We did shot that feature in the summer of 2003. It was a great experience. We had some disagreements and it was a challenge to finish, but finish we did. I couldn't have done it without them.

I'm never alone when I make a movie.

How-To: Paint Your Own Green Screen

This post is an old one from a few years ago, while I needed to shoot season 2 of a web series, which I'll change the name of. I'm keeping the original posts as well as adding my How-To points.

Prologue: The Failed Attempt

Pre-production is rolling along for Season Two of Scenes. Props are being located and obtained. The cast and crew are falling into place. I have a new location for the shoot, but it's not a studio. I have to build it out. Which means I need to create the green screen. Lucky for me, I have a giant wall to work with. So I decide to go the paper green screen route. Our plan was to tape over the duct tape with Chroma Key tape, but we had not yet purchased it. The problem was the upper right corner peeled off and everything came down. Granted, it wasn't exactly the flattest surface, so it probably was already a failed option.

1. Get Your Supplies

You Will Need: Ladder, Paint Rollers, Painter's Tape, Plastic Drop Cloth, Sheet Rock Putty, Putty Knife, Chroma Key Paint

What to do. Time to paint the wall. I hop onto Amazon.com and find some Chroma Key Paint. $50 a can? (Price went up!) After cursing to myself, I click "purchase". Then I realize I need to get this paint to me ASAP. Overnight, please. (I cursed aloud when I saw the shipping fee) Nothing I could do about. Purchase!

Wednesday comes around. 12pm. I begin.

2. Spackle and Tape

Notice the bordered paint tape. The first thing I did was spackle a ton of holes in the wall and then sandpaper those bad boys flat. Then came the primer. After 15-20 minutes waiting for the primer to dry, because I'm impatient, I taped the box on the wall. I wasn't real confident about painting the entire wall, so I created a giant box. And I didn't want to mess with painting to the floor, so there will be some space on that bottom. Honestly, it won't be a big deal come shoot time.

3. Paint

Simple enough. You will need to fill in the painted box that you have already created with your painter's tape. Look at those rolling strokes. It's a work of art. This location is actually a space used by a local theater group, but before that it was used by an artist in the area. While working on this, someone asked me if I was creating a canvas. In way, I guess I was.

4. Paint Again: The 2nd Coat

You may have noticed that I did not use a primer coat. You can, if you'd like. I chose not to here because the wall was already a white color and the chroma key paint is so bright and solid, I didn't think I needed a primer coat.

First coat (above). Look at those wet blotches! Awesome. I wasn't freaking out, but I did want it to dry fast because I needed to see a closer to a finished product.

5. Paint Again: The 3rd Coat

Second coat. I sent this pic to a few people, to which I received one response of "It needs another coat." This, of course, I figured but I was hesitant to tap into the second can of Chroma Key Paint. So far, we've been on one can. But I knew that second can was calling my name. At this point, I talked fantasy football with a friend of mine on the phone and then I grabbed a late, late lunch.

Looking back, if I did a primer coat then maybe a third coat wouldn't have been needed. Then again, doing a primer would've made the 2nd coat of chroma key paint a third coat of painting the surface anyway. I'd rather have three coats of chroma key paint. then 2 coats and a one coat of primer.

6. Shoot Your Content

Done! Look at that neat green screen box! So pretty. I didn't have much faith in my painting abilities and as my wife can attest to, I was a bit frantic in making sure I was able to get this done correctly. But I'm proud of it. We have our location. We have our cast. We have our crew. We have our equipment. We're ready to rock and roll on Season Two.

We still have some other things that need to get done. Notably those windows on the right will be blocked out and those lights won't be on. We'll have our own, of course. A green screen needs to have an even light spread in order to have an even image projected on its background in post-production. But we're good to go otherwise.

I was told I might have to paint this back over white, but let's hope I don't. I was thinking I'd drop a black circle in the lower left corner and a white circle in the upper right corner. Attach a golf club to the wall and call the whole thing an installation. A work of art that will never be removed!