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.