How do I get into movies? Any open submissions of ideas for film companies? in Men Behind the Monsters Forum

0 Points

Forum Jump

How do I get into movies? Any open submissions of ideas for film companies?

Author	Comment
madeleymade	How do I get into movies? Any open submissions of ideas for film companies?	Lead	[-]
May 24 12 1:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have ideas and I want to sell them. I want to make movies.
	Remove this ad
madeleymade		#1	[-]
May 25 12 11:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Anyone?
Tim Smyth		#2	[-]
May 25 12 12:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	There are plenty of outlets for your films today, why bother with Hollywood? Take your ideas, raise some cash, and make your movies. That is my advice. Tim
Aupperle		#3	[-]
May 25 12 1:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tim Smyth wrote: There are plenty of outlets for your films today, why bother with Hollywood? Take your ideas, raise some cash, and make your movies. That is my advice. That's right! Worked for me. El Planeta Venus? Last Edited By: Aupperle May 25 12 1:34 PM. Edited 1 times.
madeleymade		#4	[-]
May 25 12 3:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Oh, my you're the guy who made Planet of the Dinsoaurs! Cooooooooooooooooooooool! I know a few actors, and I've ideas. But I don't have A CAMERA? wHAT'S THE BEST CAMERA for a young, experimental filmmaker that's cheap and allows stop motion animation?
Tim Smyth		#5	[-]
May 25 12 8:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	First off, this thread really belongs in the independent cinema section, so hopefully one of the mods will see this and move it, so that other interested parties can find it. You might want to try making some short films first, before leaping into a feature. The best camera to use is the one that works for you, I know that is a simple answer, but it is often true, any camera that records digitally should do at first, if you end up liking filmmaking then you can always invest in a better camera. You will need a few things to make films, you will need a camera, probably a digital camcorder of some sort, that records on a card, or even to digital tape, you need a tripod, lights, a computer with an editing program, could be simple like IMovie, or complicated like Final Cut, you will need this to finish your film, if you plan to shoot on digital, even if you shoot on film you will probably edit the film digitally. As far as stop motion cameras go, no one uses cameras to capture stop motion, they really use the cameras as lenses and let the computer take and store the frames, so there are a million cameras out there that can do that for you. There are many stop motion programs out there, and you will have to choose depending on whether you are a Mac person, or a PC person. So you have a bit of research to do before commencing on your movie making career. I might want to add that your first film will probably not be too good, so don't worry about it, your next one will be better, just how the game is played. Best of luck, Tim
madeleymade		#6	[-]
May 26 12 3:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tim, are you a filmmaker?
Aupperle		#7	[-]
May 26 12 8:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	madeleymade wrote: Oh, my you're the guy who made Planet of the Dinsoaurs! Cooooooooooooooooooooool! I know a few actors, and I've ideas. But I don't have A CAMERA? wHAT'S THE BEST CAMERA for a young, experimental filmmaker that's cheap and allows stop motion animation? One correction there... I'm not the guy who made Planet of Dinosaurs but rather one of the guys who made Planet of Dinosaurs. It was a team effort from beginning to end and everyone had valuable contributions to make. James K. Shea was the moving force behind getting the film done and without him it never would have happened. His enthusiasm and confidence is what kept the entire project moving ahead. Stephen Czerkas and I were in charge of doing the visual effects but but our overall involvement extended to every part of production. Working with us on the visual effects we also had the benefit of amazing talents like Doug Beswick and Jim Danforth. One of the things I liked best about doing the work on Planet of Dinosaurs and other projects over the years was all the wonderful people who I would work with and get to know. Planet of Dinosaurs is the only feature I was actively involved with producing and I have to say that part of the job is much more difficult than doing any effects. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked in animation and visual effects my entire adult life. See: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0042138/filmoyear How many people get to do what they love and still look forward to going into work in the morning? Recently I've been assisting Phil Tippett on his stop motion project so who could ask for a better gig than that? We photographed Planet of Dinosaurs on film using 35mm Mitchell cameras as was common with most effects in those days. Today the cameras used for that work are almost all digital and they offer great advantages over the way we worked. I suggest you check out http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/ for anything you want to know about stop motion. You can post questions and check out their list of links. If you take the time to do your research you'll find answers to most all your questions but if you lack the patience to do research than I doubt yo would have the patience to film stop motion. I think that Tim covered things very well indeed and that's about all I wanted to add. Good luck and have fun. The stop motion team for Planet of Dinosaurs. L - R Jim Aupperle, Stephen Czerkas and Doug Beswick Behind Stephen you can see our 35mm Mitchell movie camera (built in 1915) We also used a Bell & Howell camera that was built in about 1919. Last Edited By: Aupperle May 26 12 9:03 PM. Edited 4 times.
madeleymade		#8	[-]
May 27 12 5:14 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Weell, yeh, you also did the terror dogs, didn't you?
Aupperle		#9	[-]
May 27 12 5:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	madeleymade wrote: Weell, yeh, you also did the terror dogs, didn't you? Weell, yeh, in a way. Like the effects for PLANET OF DINOS working on GHOSTBUSTERS was also a team effort. Randy Cook was in charge of the stop motion effects for GHOSTBUSTERS and he sculpted and animated the Terror Dogs. If you recognize Randy Cook's name perhaps it's because you watched the Academy Awards for 2004, 2003 and 2002 when he received well deserved Oscars each year for supervising all the animation for the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Then there was Mile Hoover who did the motion control camera work for the Terror Dogs. Mike later won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects on CHILDREN OF DUNE (2003). I did the lighting, blue screen and camera set ups for the Terror Dogs. Since the dogs were photographed against a blue screen one would have to give a lot of the credit to the people in the optical department at Boss Film where all the elements were put together for the final comp. Oh yes, the Terror Dog armatures were created at Doug Beswick Productions (remember? ... Doug worked with us on PLANET). Like I mentioned in an earlier post, my favorite part of working in Visual Effects is all the really cool people I get to know. Who ya gonna call? (Well, this photo shows more or less what my contribution was on the show: lighting, blue screen and basic set up.) This image is from an original 65mm frame and is for the shot of the dogs' transformation on the top of the building toward the end of GHOSTBUSTERS. Last Edited By: Aupperle May 28 12 11:21 AM. Edited 7 times.
Tim Smyth		#10	[-]
May 28 12 1:43 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey madeleymade, Yes I am an award winning filmmaker, as well as a professional stop motion animator. I guess my real point here in this conversation is that I can tell you everything you need to know, but it won't help you, as you will only be able to really learn from doing. So my added advice from last time, is to go find some friends who want to make movies, get your hands on a camcorder, and go make some films, and have fun. You have some scripts, turn them into movies, post them on you tube and we can look at them and give some pointers. So again, best of luck, looking forward to seeing what you can come up with. Tim
	Remove this ad
MovieMatt		#11	[-]
May 28 12 9:43 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tim is right. Start small (i.e. begin with short subjects under 10 minutes in length) and in order for you to work your way up to big (features). Never skip steps. For stop-motion animation, I recommend, i-stopmotion because you get good animation from it.
Aupperle		#12	[-]
May 28 12 11:34 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	MovieMatt wrote: Tim is right. Start small (i.e. begin with short subjects under 10 minutes in length) and in order for you to work your way up to big (features). Never skip steps. For stop-motion animation, I recommend, i-stopmotion because you get good animation from it. Yeah, and I second the motion (stop motion, that is). I'd even say that a short subject 10 minutes long is rather a massive undertaking, especially if you want to do the entire thing yourself. When I was in high school I made a five minute Super 8 film called "When the Nightmares Walk" with the help of my friends Fred Niblock and Rob Maine. It was a great learning experience. We ran the finished film for a gathering of other fans at Forry Ackerman's home and Forry was so kind as to print a 1/2 page write up and a couple of photos in his "Famous Monsters of Filmland". Fred Niblock's father, Victor, machined our armatures for PLANET OF DINOSAURS and if you look at the opening you'll see his screen credit there. Rob went on to do some excellent stop motion in the comedy spoof FLESH GORDON as well as working on more recent stop motion projects on some Charlie Band productions. Hey, wanna see a fantastic stop motion short? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Dee7D1u5I I love it but with all my experience I could never produce something this good! or if dinos are what you like check this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aqJyJx6Hlk and this http://vimeo.com/20440546 This will give a good overview of how some stop motion is done. http://johnclarkmatthews....ph-behind-the-scenes.php Last Edited By: Aupperle May 28 12 11:53 AM. Edited 3 times.
ryanbrennan		#13	[-]
May 28 12 1:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	madeleymade wrote: I have ideas and I want to sell them. I want to make movies. Tim's and Jim's advice is good and could help you get some attention. You can't really sell ideas unless they are in a concrete form such as a script or a film. Today, everyone has a script to sell so the market is extremely competitive. Hollywood is a land of networking so if you don't know someone who can get your script to someone it will be difficult to have it read. And even if it is read no one is going to greenlight a movie directed by an unknown unless that person has some serious connections. However, if you shoot your own film as Tim and Jim suggest, then you have an example of your ability to script and produce a picture. Your talent is on screen for anyone to see. This could help you raise financing for a more ambitious project, perhaps a feature. As Tim implies, there are many more outlets for new films than existed in the past. A filmmaker doesn't have to depend on a theatrical Hollywood studio release. Many filmmakers produce strings of films which never play movie theaters in the United States, instead playing in foreign markets and receiving cable or DVD releases here. I know of one such company here in my own area of Fort Worth/Dallas. There are many books available covering the production end of filmmaking, how to budget, where to locate equipment, etc. When I shot my (unreleased) feature I got my camera package from a local high school with a defunct film program. For free. There are other books on exhibition venues, contracts, copyright, and selling your film. I'd suggest spending some time at the library researching all of these aspects to help you focus your goal and plan a strategy. The independent filmmaker must be persistent and imaginative in order to produce a finished film. Last Edited By: ryanbrennan May 28 12 1:23 PM. Edited 1 times.
Aupperle		#14	[-]
Jun 1 12 7:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Go get the Criterion DVD of EQUINOX and watch the entire thing with all the extras three or more times. Everything you need to know about making a home movie into a finished feature film is in there. Dennis Muren (look up the name on imdb.com and check out how many Oscars the guy has) got his start making EQUINOX by filming the entire thing on a 16mm spring wound Bolex camera. Dennis' grandfather is even in the film. Frank Bonner, star of hit TV show WKRP IN CINCINNATI, got his start acting in EQUINOX. The movie is also stop motion animator David Allen's first credit. We know it can be done because Dennis went out and did it. Can you (or any of us) do the same? Also, everything that ryanbrennan said about books and lots of research, do that too. Oh yes, that part about submitting ideas to film companies... only do it if the idea is really, really good and you're interested in learning how someone with lots of money can rip you off. Last Edited By: Aupperle Jun 1 12 8:32 PM. Edited 5 times.
acker j forestman		#15	[-]
Jun 2 12 3:32 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Also, you could try making several mock 30-second commercials to show as your demo reel. I teach classes in Adobe After Effects, and have my students do 30-second animation projects with lots of visual effects, because this is a manageable length. And, a number of these students have gotten production and post-production jobs mainly by promoting their demo reels of 30-second video clips. Last Edited By: acker j forestman Jun 3 12 10:38 AM. Edited 1 times.
madeleymade	I did make some 2-d skeletall-type animations of swordfights	#16	[-]
Jun 2 12 4:10 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	But with Movie Maker, the gap between frames takes about half a second, or so, so its slow.
Tim Smyth		#17	[-]
Jun 4 12 3:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	madeleymade wrote: I have ideas and I want to sell them. I want to make movies. Hi there madeleymade, this will be my last reply since I am kind of busy making my films. You have asked three questions, one in another forum, so I will try to give the best answers to each. You have ideas, you want to sell them, ain't gonna happen, for to many reasons to list here, but one in general is your too young, and secondly you don't have an agent. Why would you want to go that route anyway, so that some big evil company can make a billion dollars on your idea while you make a fraction of what the idea is worth? You want to be the Ray Harryhausen of CGI, where can you get free software? There is only one Ray Harryhausen, so that one ain't gonna happen either. Today, in the effects business, no one person does any effect shot, it is actually split up much like cel animation is, where different specialists do their own job on the shot, and is all combined later. I would suggest not going this route unless all you want is a job in the industry, which will probably be pretty hard to come by, by the time you get out of school. "I want to make movies." Now this I can identify with, look over at the King Kong section and you will see that strangenstein has gone out and made his own short film all the while we have been typing this thread. If you want to make films, then get your hands on a camera, get some friends together, and go out and make films, it's really that simple. So it really comes down to what you want to do, and it is your choice, but as you seem to be drawn in several directions, you might want to pick just one. My last piece of advice, which I wish I received at your age is, why would you want to work for Sam Raimi when you can be Sam Raimi? Be Sam Raimi. Best of luck, looking forward to your films. Tim
Aupperle		#18	[-]
Jun 4 12 3:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Somehow I'm reminded of what Gene Warren Sr. told me when I was first starting out in the stop mo game... "Anyone who can be talked out of a career in animation should be." ...which is really not unlike... Just found this wonderful advice from the late Mr. Ray Bradbury "The first year I made nothing, the second year I made nothing, the third year I made 10 dollars, the fourth year I made 40 dollars. I remember these. I got these indelibly stamped in there. The fifth year I made 80. The sixth year I made 200. The seventh year I made 800. Eighth year, 1,200. Ninth year, 2,000. Tenth year, 4,000. Eleventh year, 8,000 ..." "Just get a part-time job! Anything that's half way decent! An usher in a theater ... unless you're a mad man, you can't make do in the art fields! You've gotta be inspired and mad and excited and love it more than anything else in the world!" "It has to be this kind of BY GOD I'VE GOTTA DO IT! I'VE SIMPLY GOTTA DO IT! If you're not this excited, you can't win!" Both my parents told me to not even try for a job in visual effects animation. I'm personally very glad I followed the path Mr. Bradbury describes in the above quote. Of course, he's not saying you will definitely win if you are "inspired and mad and excited and love it more than anything else in the world" but rather that you can't win without all that. I'm also reminded of Gene Kelly doing "Gotta Dance" in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Last Edited By: Aupperle Jun 6 12 2:24 PM. Edited 14 times.
Tim Smyth		#19	[-]
Jun 11 12 5:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Aupperle wrote: Yeah, and I second the motion (stop motion, that is). I'd even say that a short subject 10 minutes long is rather a massive undertaking, especially if you want to do the entire thing yourself. When I was in high school I made a five minute Super 8 film called "When the Nightmares Walk" with the help of my friends Fred Niblock and Rob Maine. It was a great learning experience. We ran the finished film for a gathering of other fans at Forry Ackerman's home and Forry was so kind as to print a 1/2 page write up and a couple of photos in his "Famous Monsters of Filmland". Sorry Jim, I am a little skeptical about this story, Forry printing a piece on your amateur film? Maybe if you had some proof, then I would believe such a fantasy, but until then it is just too hard to swallow. Awesome pictures by the way, looks like a fantastic effort, very exciting stuff. It's a little late, but congratulations on getting your film written up in FM. How is the last sentence in the article supposed to end? Tim
Aupperle		#20	[-]
Jun 11 12 5:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tim Smyth wrote: Aupperle wrote: Yeah, and I second the motion (stop motion, that is). I'd even say that a short subject 10 minutes long is rather a massive undertaking, especially if you want to do the entire thing yourself. When I was in high school I made a five minute Super 8 film called "When the Nightmares Walk" with the help of my friends Fred Niblock and Rob Maine. It was a great learning experience. We ran the finished film for a gathering of other fans at Forry Ackerman's home and Forry was so kind as to print a 1/2 page write up and a couple of photos in his "Famous Monsters of Filmland". Sorry Jim, I am a little skeptical about this story, Forry printing a piece on your amateur film? Maybe if you had some proof, then I would believe such a fantasy, but until then it is just too hard to swallow. Awesome pictures by the way, looks like a fantastic effort, very exciting stuff. It's a little late, but congratulations on getting your film written up in FM. How is the last sentence in the article supposed to end? Hi Tim, That's a real kick to see again after all these years. I know I have a copy of that page (think it was about FM #70) but haven't seen it in awhile. The last sentence should have been "...by a giant version of himself." Our hero, played by Fred Niblock, steps on himself in the last scene. Thanks for digging that old article out of the vault. WHEN THE NIGHTMARES WALK was is Super 8 but our next epic, THE GREAT AMERICAN DINOSAUR was filmed in 16mm and even contained front projected backgrounds. It was just a hop and a skip from there to being hired to work on FLESH GORDON. See what ya have to look forward to when you work real hard and follow your dream (ha ha). I should point out that the puppets we see in the two photos were all made by Rob Maine. I did the cyclops but my puppet didn't look so good. The background of the mountain is a printed photo mural that I purchased in the same store that Dennis Muren got his for EQUINOX and used in the shot where the ape smacks the man into a tree (Dennis the one who told me where to look for those photo backgrounds). Jim Last Edited By: Aupperle Jun 11 12 6:02 PM. Edited 2 times.
	Remove this ad