Penguin July 13th, 2009
James Stern gave the keynote at LAFF. You can listen to the mp3 or read it at Variety.
From January through May 2008, four studio films grossed more than $100 million dollars. This year, that number is eleven. Almost triple.
Meanwhile, in the same period, the number of indies that grossed over $1 million dollars went from 16 to six. Less than half.
Make Smarter Movies
What I mean is crafting a disciplined process that results in a smarter product. Smarter process means designing movie projects with really clear target audiences in mind from the very beginning. Doing that takes coordination among all parties involved, from finance to creative to production to marketing to distribution. Having a clear target in mind determines the process and the range of budget that needs to be financed.
[...]
Patrick Goldstein of The LA Times describes the difference between “making better movies” and “making smarter movies” this way:
“The real problem with the indie business isn’t quality, but discipline. We have a generation of filmmakers who feel entitled to make personal films… and a generation of executives who’ve been willing to essentially use specialty films as a loss-leader to launch their division or win awards. If people in the indie world want to start making money again, they have to start treating their investment like a truly precious natural resource, not like Monopoly money. Discipline is not antithetical to art.”
Respect the Money
The point is, talent and money have to be on the same page. If you as a producer buy a giraffe and the director brings you a giraffe, it’s your fault if you decide you now want a zebra because market conditions have changed and zebras are in.
[...]
a good movie losing money – is the one unpardonable sin in our business. Everyone’s going to make mistakes and occasionally make bad films. But if a movie really works – but then people don’t get their money back – financiersdon’t understand. We have to make sure that, especially when we get it right, everybody gets paid.
Think Markets
Most businesses have a complete plan from the start of a project, which includes the whole chain from manufacturing through distribution.
[...]
I was blown away when I found out that the # 32 film on the all-time documentary box-office list is a little 2005 film I’d never heard of, called The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. (It’s about wild parrots living on Telegraph Hill, by the way.) Can you imagine how tiny the market sliver is of people willing to take a night out to go see this peculiar-sounding film?
Well, the filmmaker did imagine them. Rather thoughtfully, in fact. And then proceeded to use viral marketing to rally those people into the theater, by making the film an event for every bird-lover on God’s green Earth.
[...]
You can target market segments as long as you’ve created something appealing to them.
It’s a great speech. Take the time to read or listen to the entirety.
- Penguin
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Tags: Independent film, Indie, James Stern, LAFF, Speeches
Penguin July 6th, 2009
Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary is a collection of videos of documentary filmmakers who talk about the craft, ethics, and other things related to making documentaries.
Errol Morris, Werner Herzog and over 30 of today’s top documentary filmmakers provide an in-depth look at non-fiction filmmaking and the steps to making a documentary. These masters of the craft reflect upon the nature of documentary as a form of storytelling and offer insight into their approach to the ‘truth.’
Via: Kottke
-Penguin
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Tags: Documentaries, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Videos
Penguin July 3rd, 2009
The Guardian has an article by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) on the Exhaustion of Narrative.
Writers have always known there are a limited number of storylines. Christopher Booker’s Seven Basic Plots popularised the number seven, but others have argued for three, 20 and 36 basic plots – Rudyard Kipling said 69… That’s not what I mean by the “exhaustion of narrative”. What is new is the omnipresence and ubiquity of plot created by media proliferation. We are inundated by narrative. We are swimming in storylines.
[...]
What does it mean? For a storyteller, it means that’s it is increasingly difficult to get out in front of a viewer’s expectations. Almost every possible subject has not only been covered but covered exhaustively. How many hours of serial killer plot has the average viewer seen? Fifty? A hundred? He’s seen the basic plots, the permutations of those plotlines, the imitations of the permutations of those plotlines and the permutations of the imitations. How does a writer capture the imagination of a viewer seeped in serial killer plot? Make it even gorier? Done that. More perverse? Seen that. Serial killer with humour? Been there. As parody? Yawn.
[...]
The bar of originality has been raised. The media marketplace puts a premium on anything “new” or “fresh” and, at the same time, inundates its viewers with continual and competing narratives.
I’ve been wrestling with this issue of originality as I work on The Intern Project but I try not to get too caught up with it. Because it’s easy to make excuses that become barriers to the actual writing process.
You look at the latest blockbusters, Star Trek, Transformers 2. One is a great film, the other is trash. But neither of them are particularly original. But you can still make something entertaining.
This is also why it’s so important to watch a lot of films. See what’s been done already and see what’s entered the cultural narrative. Especially in the same genre that you’re writing in.
-Penguin
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Tags: Narrative, Paul Schrader, Screenwriting, Storytelling
Penguin June 29th, 2009
We just finished the first draft of the scene breakdown for The Intern Project. A scene breakdown is just a outline of every scene in the script focusing on who’s in it and what the central action is.
We had come up with the major story beats first, so we wrote up the breakdown for that. There was still a lot more stuff that we need to write to fill in all the gaps leading from beat to beat. So we just brainstormed for each episode, seeing what would be interesting or funny.
Then we started plugging the scenes that didn’t necessarily have to do with the overall plot into the scene breakdown. We were working over GoogleDocs, which made the process really hard. It was tough to see where the story was front heavy, back heavy, or just had holes.
Even though it took some time, we printed out the whole breakdown, cut it up into strips so we could move everything around physically. This was a great way to visually see how the story was progressing and what areas needed addressing.
We took notes and went back to the GoogleDoc and manually synced it to the strips. Then we went through and addressed all the notes we came up with.
This was the first time I’ve done a scene breakdown before and thought it was a great way to think through the entire script. Invariably, we started moving into some expanded scene breakdown territory with some of the more complicated scenes.
Now we’re going to go through and work on the expanded scene breakdown. This should take a few days, then we can finally get started on the script. We gave ourselves a deadline of July 7th, but I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to make it. It’s a lot of work between here and there.
I’ll keep you posted.
- Penguin
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Tags: Projects, The Intern Project
Penguin June 13th, 2009
Saw this list over at Deadline Hollywood Daily:
1. Change the title of your indie film to begin with an “A” or a number to get higher placement on iTunes.
7. Genre always makes a difference. Forget costume dramas and spoofs.
10. Financiers basically want a return on their investment. “I encourage indie producers to understand their film’s audience as much as they can. Understand what you mean when you pitch project. I want to support a film, but I care about capital and return on that capital. I just want to get my money back,” explained banker Hallren.
16. Build a fan base for an indie film before it’s even made.
24. Before an indie film gets to the marketplace, producers must know who the audience is for the film, counseled Dennis Rice, Founder of Visio’ Entertainment. “If you can’t market your film, you shouldn’t make it. If there’s no audience, you can’t get a return on investment.”
34. There is opportunity for indie producers as long as they don’t get hung up on a 35mm theatrical film release. Ira Deutchman, CEO of Emerging Pictures, explained: “With digital, we can begin to play around with release patterns.”
What I find really interesting about the list, is the emphasis on reaching the audience. From scripting to final distribution, it’s all about:
- What audience am I going for?
- What are they expecting?
- How do I let them know this film exists?
- How do I get this film in front of them?
All these become easier and overlapping when you involve social media.
- Penguin
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Tags: Audience, Filmmaking, Tips
Penguin December 9th, 2008
I added a whole bunch of documents to the Resources page. It was formerly the “Software” page, but I expanded it to hold a bunch of really useful stuff.
Some highlights:
General Documents
Filmmaking Resources
Screenwriting Resources
-Penguin
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Tags: Budgets, Downloads, Filmmaking, Forms, Release forms, Resources, Screenplays, Screenwriting, Software, Storyboards, Templates
Penguin November 13th, 2008
The news is finally in and RED has changed the game. With the new announcement of both RED Scarlet and RED Epic, RED has made many a geek filmmaker giddy with joy.
Here’s a quick rundown of the announcement.
Scarlet
Scarlet 2/3″ 3K 120 fps $2,500
Scarlet S35 5K 30 fps $7,000
Scarlet FF35 6k 30 fps $12,000
Epic
Epic S35 5K 100 fps $28,000
Epic FF35 6K 100 fps $35,000
Epic 645 9K (think IMAX) 50 fps $45,000
Epic 617 28K 25 fps $55,000
That’s right, 28K!
The hottest thing about all these, is that they’re swappable. What that means is if you have a Scarlet S35 package, but need some high speed shooting, you can rent an Epic S35 and drop it into the rest of your kit, saving you tons of money.
Needless to say, I want a Scarlet S35.
Oh, and all these cameras can double as DSLRs too. One solution for all your image capture needs.
-Penguin
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Tags: Cameras, Epic, Hardware, RED, Scarlet
Penguin November 10th, 2008
Last night, I finished Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. I found this nifty tip on his blog.
The following can be used to help organize your logline or just focus your idea before you begin writing.
On the verge of a STASIS=DEATH moment, a FLAWED PROTAGONIST has a CATALYST and BREAKS INTO TWO with the B STORY; but when the MIDPOINT happens, he/she must learn the THEME STATED, before the ALL IS LOST, to defeat (or stop) the FLAWED ANTAGONIST (from getting away with his/her plan).
-Penguin
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Tags: Loglines, Screenwriting, Structure
Penguin November 9th, 2008
This page lists 36 plots for RPGs, but they’re just as applicable to film.
- Supplication – Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority
- Deliverance – Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer
- Revenge – Avenger, Criminal
- Vengeance by Family upon Family – Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative
- Pursuit – Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer
- Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune – Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person
- Disaster – Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger
- Revolt – Tyrant, Conspirator(s)
- Daring Enterprise – Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary
- Abduction – Abductor, Abducted, Guardian
- Enigma – Interrogator, Seeker, Problem
- Obtaining – Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator
- Familial Hatred – Two Family Members who hate each other
- Familial Rivalry – Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object
- Murderous Adultery – Two Adulterers, the Betrayed
- Madness – Madman, Victim
- Fatal Imprudence – Imprudent person, Victim or lost object
- Involuntary Crimes of Love – Lover, Beloved, Revealer
- Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman – Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer
- Self Sacrifice for an Ideal – Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed
- Self Sacrifice for Kindred – Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed
- All Sacrificed for Passion – Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed
- Sacrifice of Loved Ones – Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice
- Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior – Superior, Inferior, Object
- Adultery – Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers
- Crimes of Love – Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution
- Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One – Discoverer, Guilty One
- Obstacles to Love – Two Lovers, Obstacle
- An Enemy Loved – Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater
- Ambition – An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary
- Conflict with a God – Mortal, Immortal
- Mistaken Jealousy – Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake
- Faulty Judgment – Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person
- Remorse – Culprit, Victim, Interrogator
- Recovery of a Lost One – Seeker, One Found
- Loss of Loved Ones – Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner
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Tags: Film, Plot, Structure, Writing
