Posted by Mat on January 5, 2009
Welcome to the DOJO!
The number one problem for every indie or guerilla filmmaker out there is: “Where the heck do I find a distributor for my low budget film so people can see it?” In other words, “will I make enough money to pay off all those damn credit cards I ran up to make my film?” Yup, the age old question of what to do with that film after you’ve finished shooting and editing it.
And you thought making a film was the hard part?
Well, like a lot of you, I’ve asked myself those same questions a number of times and have even taken the dreaded path of self distribution. Over the course of following that path, I ran into a very cool little website, Caachi.com, that offers an interesting take on digital or online film distribution. You may be surprised by what I discovered.
Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on January 4, 2009
Welcome to the DOJO!
Is any one else as tired as I am from the holidays? Sheesh, I think I get more worn out from the end of the year holiday “vacation” than from any amount of work. Something about large numbers of relatives and in-laws decending upon my home just plain sucks the energy out of me. I’m ready to get back to work and get some rest!
One of the upsides of this particular holiday season is that I always wind up getting some pretty cool gadgets I might not have otherwise purchased for myself. My beloved wife seems to pay extra attention to all the gear I talk about in the final months of the year, makes a list and then goes out and picks the stuff up. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the best wife in the entire universe!
For this particular Christmas, I found a handy little item waiting for me Christmas morning, the Sony DVP-FX820 Portable DVD Player
…and more than that, I found the answer to my long standing prayers for an affordable solution to the problem of trying to focus a high definition image on my tiny Canon HV20 LCD screen (and the near impossible task of doing so with a 35mm lens adapter strapped to the front of my camera).
As any indie or guerilla filmmaker out there knows, HD (high definition for the neophytes out there) monitors are expensive as heck, which puts them out of reach for most low budget filmmakers. Unfortunately, with more and more of the industry turning to HD for production, it’s quickly becoming a requirement to have one. This is even moreso the case for those of us who have 35mm adapters, such as the Letus, Brevis, JAG35 or TwoNeil adapters, in our toolkits. The LCDs on even the larger cameras can be a pain to focus with and the tiny little LCD on the Canon HV20/HV30 is just plain brutal.
So what are guerilla and indie filmmakers to do? Well, the answer comes in the form of the Sony DVP-FX820 Portable DVD Player. Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on December 30, 2008
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I wanted to follow-up my earlier post on DVD courses for learning filmmaking with something a little different. About a year ago I was working on a low budget indie action film of my own — I’d worked on tons of them in the past as a storyboard artist and have put together an insane number of action sequences as a comic book artist, but this was the first time I was going to be directing an action flick of my own. Since I was on an incredibly low budget (anemic budget would be more accurate), I knew we weren’t going to have a big stunt team or have weeks of training for our actors. To try and avoid the crappy looking action bits that plague low budget indie and guerilla films, I wanted to do as much pre-work as I could for the fight sequences we’d be filming.
Sure, I am a rabid fan of martial arts and action movies and have hundreds (if not more) in my collection. And, sure, I’d storyboarded 30 or more action flicks over the course of my career. But, the truth is, I had no practical knowledge on putting together a fight scene on set. What was worse was, I had absolutely no idea where to start.
Luckily for me a quick Google search resulted in one of the best low buget indie filmmaking finds I’ve ever had the pleasure to discover. What I’m talking about is a down-and-dirty instructional DVD called “Fightscenes for Motion Pictures” by the Kerby Brothers (www.kbproducts.com). I’ve stolen some of the images from their website — here’s hoping they don’t get upset and come to kick my ass! Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on December 29, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
Woooo! It’s time again for a new bit of wisdom from the Film Sensei. Now that the holidays are over and the in-laws have all gone home and left the DOJO quiet and peaceful once more I can get back to the important things in life…enlightening to unlightened.
While I do make fun of my wife’s family from time to time, one of the benefits of the holidays is a chance to hang out with her cousin, Cousin Frank. You see, Cousin Frank is a wannabe indie filmmaker — and I use “wannabe” in the best possible way. He loves film and is incredibly interested in the entire filmmaking process — from low budget, indie or guerilla filmmaking all the way up to the $100 million Hollywood films. He buys DVDs just for their behind-the-scenes featurettes and is the only person I know to have scoured the internet for copies of every season of Project: Greenlight — heck, he’s probably reading this post right now!
Cousin Frank’s problem (aside from a receeding hairline he hides by shaving his head) is that he wants to take his passion to the next step but doesn’t know where to start. He works fulltime and doesn’t really have the money for film school…even if he did, he’s read far too many articles online telling him that film school is a complete waste for most people. Well, when I met with Cousin Frank at my wife’s Aunt Mary’s house on Christmas Eve he announced he was ready to make the leap and wanted to know what the best way to learn filmmaking — was it online? DVDs? Books? Workshops? All he knew was he didn’t want to waste the time or money going to film school.
What I told Cousin Frank was: there is no universal way for someone to learn filmmaking. For some people books work, while for others book-learning doesn’t. Same for DVDs or online courses. But, I did agree that film school really wasn’t the best place to learn — the best place is to get out and work on some sets and then to put together your own indie or guerilla films. However, if he wanted to learn the how tos of filmmaking, then one of the absolute best courses I’ve had the pleasure to come across is the Digital Cinema Filmmaking DVD course by Rush Hamden (also called the Digital Filmmaker’s Training Course DVDs). Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on December 26, 2008
Welcome to the Dojo!
It was another fantastic holiday season here at the Sensei household, filled with fun,with friends and with family. It was also filled, surprisingly enough, with some indie / guerilla filmmaking questions from a most unexpected of places: my in-laws!
Now, it’s not surprising to have various members of my wife’s family want to talk to me about making movies or ideas for films (heck, her father gives me hour long movie pitches at every dinner we go to with them!). The unusual part was to have one of her relatives come up to me while attending the yearly Christmas party at Aunt Mary’s house and start to fire off some very specific questions on indie filmmaking equipment in general and guerilla lighting equipment in specifc. Cousin Frank, you see, was very interested in what it takes for someone with limited funds to put together a low budget lighting kit — one that won’t break after a couple of uses and will still hold up to the rigors of independent filmmaking!
As somone whose career has spanned ultra high budget films all the way down to $5000 features shot over a week, I not only understand the necessity of a good lighting kits but also the need of an indie or guerilla filmmaker to put something reliable together on a low cost. While the big boys have fantastic equipment from Arri, Mole, Lowell and Kinoflow, that same equipment is oft-times way out of budget range for a low budget filmmaker. Cousin Frank wanted to know if there were any alternatives out there for him outside of working with Home Depot work lights. Was there a way for him to get some “real lights” (his words) for under $1000, for under $500 or for less?
The answer I gave Cousin Frank was a resounding “Yes.” Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on November 26, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
Yes, I know, it’s been way too long since my last post on here. And, yes, I know I haven’t finished my Top 10 Essential Equipment for Filmmakers list. Things have gotten a bit hectic here over the past couple of months and I have been neglecting my responsibilities as the Film Sensei. I am hoping to make up for things and get back to posting and shooting videos for this site here in the next week or two.
An interesting thing has happened here since I put up my initial post on the TwoNeil DIY35mmPRO 35mm Adapter (the TwoNeil to most people): I have been getting a ton of traffic and half a ton of questions about the thing. It looks like there are a lot of you out there with a Canon HV20 or its newer counterpart, the Canon HV30, who are on a budget and looking for a low cost alternative to high priced 35mm adapter rigs.
Now, before I get to today’s reader email, I do want to point out a couple of things. First off, these DIY static adapters (and even vibrating/rotating ones) are no replacement for the higher end units like the Brevis or Letus (or Redrock or one of about 10 other ones out on the market now). Anyone expecting to get the same results from a $200 homemade unit that they would from a $1500 manufactured one is going to be sorely disappointed. They are two completely different things and can’t really be compared. However, for what it is, the TwoNeil 35mm adapter can produce some very spectacular results if you know what you are doing.
Second, the TwoNeil 35mm Adapter is based on a design which is readily available online (and even TwoNeil points that out) for free. If you have the technical ability and the patience, you can save a few bucks by building one yourself. That being said, if you’re like me, building one can be a scary thing to consider. I would rather spend a few extra bucks and have an expert put one together for me. Not only does that guarantee the unit will be put together properly, but it also gives you someone to ask questions about its operation and design. For me the slight extra cost of purchasing an assembled TwoNeil adapter versus building one myself was completely worth it. As I mention below, the unit I received (and the help I received) from TwoNeil was easily worth the money I spent. Even with the long lead time (TwoNeil is a one-man shop) and the often slow email response time, I have absolutely no complaints about the TwoNeil 35mm Adapter and feel that it can give an experience user results far beyond the price I paid for it.
Anyone who asks me about the TwoNeil DIY35mmPRO 35mm Adapter gets the same response, “Every lowbudget filmmaker should absolutely have one of these babies in their arsenal of guerilla filmmaking tools…at its low price there is no excuse not to.” Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on August 4, 2008
If you are just starting out as an indie or guerilla filmmaker and you are completely baffled as to where to get started in regards to equipment and gear, you are not alone. We’ve all been there. Don’t let the guys on the various indie / DIY/ DV filmmaking forums try to convince you other wise, no one starts out knowing everything about shooting an indie film. However, the information on what is the best equipment can be a bit difficult to come by.
If you do frequent the indie filmmaking message boards and communities, then you know that even attempting to ask a basic question will get you flamed, harassed and mocked. For some reason the majority of people on those boards are more interested in being complete dicks than in really helping…not everyone, but most. Aside from the insult responses you’ll get, the main bit of “help” offered by forum members will usually be along the lines of a very sarcastic post containing some variation of the phrase “search the archives for your answer.” Well, we all know that searching a particularly active forum can be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. What this does is leave the majority of newbie indie or guerilla filmmakers scratching their heads on where to get started. None of us has an unlimited amount of cash to throw around and for a new filmmaker finding the right equipment for the right price is an absolute MUST…throwing away $500 on the wrong piece of gear can sometimes make or break someone.
What I’m going to be doing over the next week is going over a list of the top 10 must-have essential pieces of equipment for any indie or guerilla filmmaker looking to get started. This is the basic equipment you’ll need to go out there and put together a professional looking piece of film together. This list isn’t going to include anything on editing because that is a list unto itself. Right now we’re sticking with the essential equipment for any beginning filmmaker or someone looking to start their own guerilla production studio. And away we go! Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on July 16, 2008
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As an indie filmmaker I am a firm believer in the power of digital cinema and filmmaking. I’ve owned and been using various forms of DV cameras since I shot “Bite Me, Fanboy” back in 2001. However, like almost every indie or guerilla filmmaker on the planet, I still love the look of a project shot on film. There is just something ingrained into my being that will also respond to the look of a 35mm or, as a fan of 1970s exploitation films, 16mm film. To me, video almost never looks quite right.
The rise of digital cameras with the ability to shoot at 24p (24 progressive frames per second) has helped the look of digital video, but there was still something missing. Truthfully, the main thing missing from most DV (or HD or HDV or whatever your preferred digital filmmaking format is) is creative color correction and post processing, but that’s not what I’m going to talk about today. What is missing on consumer and “prosumer” digital camcorders is the power of a great lens. Sure, a lot of the higher end digital video cameras have some very good lenses on them these days. However, they still don’t quite hold a candle to a professional 35mm camera lens.
In specific, what most dv cameras lack is the ability to change your focal length and the ability to get a great shallow depth of field. For those of you out there who aren’t sure of what the term “depth of field” means or why you’d want a shallow one, I’ll explain…for those of you who already know, I give you permission to go ahead and skip past the rest of this paragraph. Your “depth of field” is basically referring to what is in focus on screen (or in your camera). A deep depth of field means more is in focus (or everything in some cases) and a shallow depth of field means a small portion is in focus with everything else blurred out to varying degrees. You’ll notice in most films (but not all), when a character is in close-up, the background is blurred out. That statement over simplifies things, but this post is a product review and not a treatise on DOF (depth of field). All you need to know is film lenses allow you to obtain a very shallow DOF, which allows you as the director to control what your viewers see on screen and is an important part of film storytelling. If you want to know more, Google the damn phrase and leave me alone. 
Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on July 9, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
It’s another exciting week here in Southern California. And by “exciting” I mean “really freakin’ hot!” Earlier this summer I promised my beloved wife I would refrain from using our airconditioner as much as possible. It was an easy promise to make back in early May when the weather was a balmy 75 degrees. Now that it is early July and it’s hotter than Mila Kunis, I’m very much regretting that promise.
In an attempt to stave off my upcoming heat stroke, I’ve decided to start documenting the development of my next low, low, low, low, (you get the idea) low budget film. It’s a horror flick (or, perhaps, comedy-horror is a better classification) called “The Hog” (WGA #1184043), which I originally wrote a few years ago. I had been given the task of writing the sequel to a terrible little movie called “Tail Sting” — the sequel was called “Tail Sting 2″ at the time, however it was eventually released as “Stinger” in most of the world. Unfortunately for everyone involved, I really hadn’t done a whole hell of a lot of screenplay writing at that point. I had come up with the story for “Bite Me, Fanboy” and then co-wrote its screenplay, done extensive re-writing on the “Judge Dredd” screenplay for Shoreline Entertainment and written a bunch of comic books, but that was the extent of my writing experience.
Heck, I went to art school and was thankful I could even read at all! The thought of sitting down and writing out 120 pages of text for a screenplay was a bit daunting. In an effort to become more familiar and, hopefully, more skilled with the process, I decided to bang out a low budget horror screenplay in advance of doing “Tail Sting 2.” Full Story →
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Posted by Mat on July 1, 2008
Welcome to the DOJO!
Like any red-blooded, American, male indie filmmaker, I have fevered dreams of putting together a bad-ass action flick with a ton of martial arts and…most important…Guns. However, like a lot of you, I have been completely baffled as to how to pull it off safely and on a budget. Anyone who has done any sort of research in regards to obtaining prop guns for a film has come across the standard options. Let’s take a quick look at those options:
Real guns loaded with Blank Rounds. This is the choice for most big budget flicks. What looks better than a real gun? The problem for an indie or guerilla filmmaker is the added expense of hiring an armorer to manage the guns, as well as the high cost of both real guns and the blank ammo. And let’s not forget the biggest problem with real guns firing blank load ammunition: safety! With a semi-experienced crew, short shooting schedule and microscopic budget, safety can be a major issue when it comes to prop guns on an indie film shoot. What does this mean? Well, it means real guns with blank ammo isn’t an option for for most of us.
To tell the truth, I’m not sure I’d use real guns as props even if I had a budget to support it. In this age of digital filmmaking, do we really need the safety hazzards and risk? I’m way too paranoid. Full Story →
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