September 2008 Archives
If there's one thing I have learned over the last few years working at
Sigma then it's that you have to remain flexible. Too often you can
make a decision and have it robbed from you for reasons you could never
predict - although the schedule is frequently the perpetrator.
The very exciting part of having our first chunk of funding in place means that we now have tentative shoot dates and casting and crewing to start pulling together.
At one point it looked like we had all the HoD's (heads of department) in place. However, the nature of the project is that even though we are a funded operation we still can't pay high fees and we will be in production for a short period of time. The upshot of this is if people get jobs that will take them up to Christmas or just pay a lot more money then economics take priority.
We are forever planning and re-planning and changing and alternating and reconfiguring and swapping things about. I expect things will chop and change some more before we shoot. I suppose if there are people out there in a similar situation to mine then you should be aware that things are rarely set in stone before the camera rolls.
Tomorrow we have our first casting day. It's for the part of Tommy. The male lead in the film. This is very exciting. We have a bunch of guys coming into read for the role all of whom look like interesting options for the part. I love the idea that tomorrow I will be able to see some life coming to the script for the first time. I hope the schedule doesn't get in the way of anything that feels right tomorrow.
The very exciting part of having our first chunk of funding in place means that we now have tentative shoot dates and casting and crewing to start pulling together.
At one point it looked like we had all the HoD's (heads of department) in place. However, the nature of the project is that even though we are a funded operation we still can't pay high fees and we will be in production for a short period of time. The upshot of this is if people get jobs that will take them up to Christmas or just pay a lot more money then economics take priority.
We are forever planning and re-planning and changing and alternating and reconfiguring and swapping things about. I expect things will chop and change some more before we shoot. I suppose if there are people out there in a similar situation to mine then you should be aware that things are rarely set in stone before the camera rolls.
Tomorrow we have our first casting day. It's for the part of Tommy. The male lead in the film. This is very exciting. We have a bunch of guys coming into read for the role all of whom look like interesting options for the part. I love the idea that tomorrow I will be able to see some life coming to the script for the first time. I hope the schedule doesn't get in the way of anything that feels right tomorrow.
The current intention is to shoot I Love Luci
on 16mm film. This is for a number of reasons. I am very keen to
shoot on film for the quality of image. To get a
comparative image digitallly the camera we would have to use is very
big
and we have a number of tight locations and a lot of handheld work on
this film so 16mm will save on space and
get the best image. Secondary to this is the amount of light we will
need. It seems strange to me but we need more light to shoot on HD
than we would to shoot on film now that the stocks are so good (for the
uninitiated: stock is the term for the film that goes in the camera and you get all sorts of makes and speeds, mainly Kodak and Fujifilm).
BTW, if you are thinking of shooting something on film you should try and buddy up to the reps for Kodak and Fuji to see if you can get a good deal on your stock. If you have absolutely no money and you still want to shoot on film then try going to production companies that shoot on film and asking for some of their shorts ends.
So we're thinking of shooting a standard 16mm gate with anamorphic
lenses. This will give us that classic 2.39 or Techniscope image. As I understand it though, anamorphic lenses are expensive and light hungry. Yesterday our exec producer, Gillian Berrie, asked why we weren't thinking of shooting on 35 and I explained that I didn't think there was a camera small enough for us to use that would fit all the criteria we need for an 'A' camera.
So I've had a very fun day looking at all the options for 35, having
previously discounted it as not possible because of the size of the
camera. However, after a little research into new cameras that are
about I have found two cameras that are perfect for the job and could
in fact save us quite a substantial amount of money for another reason
that isn't available to 16mm. If we shoot 2-perf on 35 we would half
the amount of stock we need because it's a far more efficient use of
the negative. I think this is a technique we used on Hallam Foe,
but I didn't go into much detail about it on the blog because I didn't
have time to research it properly. Another benefit to this is that a
mag lasts twice as long so you would get about 9 minutes out of a 400'
roll, this is lighter for the camera operator too and roughly equal to
the time you get out of a roll of 16mm.
The upshot of all this reading and looking into different cameras is that I have found a way of potentially saving us money that could be well used somewhere else as well as improving the versatility of our camera department. If it checks out well in the money department for post-production as well as the shoot then we are quids in and would only have to clear it with our financiers to get the go ahead. We'll see what happens.
BTW, if you are thinking of shooting something on film you should try and buddy up to the reps for Kodak and Fuji to see if you can get a good deal on your stock. If you have absolutely no money and you still want to shoot on film then try going to production companies that shoot on film and asking for some of their shorts ends.
So we're thinking of shooting a standard 16mm gate with anamorphic
lenses. This will give us that classic 2.39 or Techniscope image. As I understand it though, anamorphic lenses are expensive and light hungry. Yesterday our exec producer, Gillian Berrie, asked why we weren't thinking of shooting on 35 and I explained that I didn't think there was a camera small enough for us to use that would fit all the criteria we need for an 'A' camera.
So I've had a very fun day looking at all the options for 35, having
previously discounted it as not possible because of the size of the
camera. However, after a little research into new cameras that are
about I have found two cameras that are perfect for the job and could
in fact save us quite a substantial amount of money for another reason
that isn't available to 16mm. If we shoot 2-perf on 35 we would half
the amount of stock we need because it's a far more efficient use of
the negative. I think this is a technique we used on Hallam Foe,
but I didn't go into much detail about it on the blog because I didn't
have time to research it properly. Another benefit to this is that a
mag lasts twice as long so you would get about 9 minutes out of a 400'
roll, this is lighter for the camera operator too and roughly equal to
the time you get out of a roll of 16mm.The upshot of all this reading and looking into different cameras is that I have found a way of potentially saving us money that could be well used somewhere else as well as improving the versatility of our camera department. If it checks out well in the money department for post-production as well as the shoot then we are quids in and would only have to clear it with our financiers to get the go ahead. We'll see what happens.
Today is a pretty special day. We (Brian and I) made a significant leap towards making our film.We got the good word from our major funder that we would be able to secure the finance we need from them. I am speaking in mildly coded terms because this is the first step in funding and it won't be made public (i.e. announced to the press) until we have closed finance. That said, this is the foot up we need and our hope is that the rest of the metaphoric dominoes will fall well for us over the coming weeks.
This is the starting point for I Love Luci so it's eyes down now for the next few months and fingers, toes and all other appendages crossed that we can put together a great little film over the days and weeks to come.
Thank you to all that have supported us thus far, it means a lot.
Stay tuned for the ups and downs.
