I’m not, though I do have a couple of projects I could do if I could get a crew together. No, this thread is about… something. It’s another one of my ‘This is how I’m feeling right now’ threads.
I watched La Strada yesterday. I started watching The Bicycle Thief, but I had to accomplish some tasks. Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless is on the shelf (as well as Alphaville), and it’s one of my favourites. I love the way those films were shot. I love the black-and-white. I love the filmmaking process.
One of my projects is designed to be shot on black-and-white 16 mm (super-16) film. It’s more Godard than Fellini. (Actually, it’s probably more Jarmusch than Godard.) It would be personally fulfilling to make. Would it sell? Not a chance. A new coworker is 24 and, while she and I have similar tastes in film, she admits that she likes films that move fast and have a lot of special make-up effects. Nothing wrong with that, and I like that too; but the film I have in mind is the opposite of that. Today’s general audience just wouldn’t go for it.
It’s a shame, really (‘reely’?) that most people don’t appreciate the beauty and artistry of the films I mentioned. Those films are now left to students and snobs. I wish people could see them as I see them.
Oh, for a small crew and a small cast! For a simple story and stark locations! (And a budget and some free time would be nice, too.)
The school where I teach has a new cinema department and is full of students like you.
The good news is there is a small niche market for these kinds of films - and some can be made on a shoestring budget if you have the basic equipment and lots of friends willing to work for free.
There are also lots of film festivals that would be possible to contact and see if they would be interested in screening your film. This is how many people get their start.
So, some basic knowledge, some basic equipment and true dedication - you too could make a film. Lots of good films have been made for less than the price of a new Toyota. (Of course, more money always helps…)
I’ve worked on a few low-budget films (and was an extra on a big-budget film). Three of them even made it to IMDb. I have the knowledge and experience. I have cameras, many lights, a skateboard dolly I built myself that I’d match against any factory-made one, a doorway dolly, a C-stand, gobos, reflectors, scrims, gels, DAT recorder, microphone, sandbags, various grip gear, even a hostess tray for car shots. Everything I need for a small-unit production.
Except for a crew. And I hate writing scripts, so the super-16 B&W project isn’t completely written yet. A friend’s wife made an excellent producer on an aborted project. I have little time nowadays, but I could find it. By being careful, I could even come up with enough money. Cinema is a collaborative art though, and I need some collaborators! (I tells ya, it’s getting to the point where I’m tempted to just grab the Arri and shoot anything even if I can’t use it!)
ETA: Watching those old, simply-made films always puts me into this mood.
Wow, you really have a lot already together.
I guess the next step is finding your crew and collaborators.
Normally, finding people to help with a movie is never a problem - just spread the word.
Get that friend the producer to come up with some good timelines, list of help you need and get a good script.
BTW, for script ideas, there is the great short story project we do here on the SDMB - read through some past entries to see if there is anything that grabs you and contact the writer to see if they would like to expand on that story!
If I were still in L.A. I’d agree with you. Part of the reason the last film (on which I was DP) fell apart was that people up here just weren’t dedicated. Maybe they thought it would be glamourous and were disillusioned when they found out what it’s really like. I think they liked the idea of working on a film, but liked partying the night before a shooting day or boffing their SOs better.
Friend Producer and her husband (Writer/Director of the previous project) are in Arizona now. The guy on whose films I’ve worked since high school is in Peru. No Dramalogue up here.
I have an idea for the B&W project. It’s made of seven stand-alone vignettes that have linear links between them. (This allows production to be spread out, and eases the time and money pressures.) I have one segment completely written. Another is partially written, and the whole story is laid out. I have two concepts. As much as I’d like to be the auteur, I have to face the fact that I’m not a writer. I can see what I want, but I have trouble telling a story. Well, I could tell it. i just can’t seem to invent it.
My weaselly excuses: I work full-time, I commute five hours a day, three days a week, the roomie has become an SO, I’ve gone back to school, my cohorts are scattered hither and yon, blahblahblahblahblah. In reality I’m suffering from inertia. ‘An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.’
The first thing I need to do is kick myself in the bum finish the freakin’ script. Once that’s done, I can figure out the logistics.
Well, Eraserhead took 7 years or something, and I finally watched Bob Le Flambeur a couple of weeks ago, and that took 2 or 3 years, so relax…just make sure you don’t veer off into Tommy Weiseau-land (then again, why not?).
Seriously, I guess I fit into the snob category, but there’s so little Hollywood product I’m interested in, especially what’s come out on DVD the last 6 or 9 months, I’ve been watching almost nothing but old French and Italian stuff from the 60’s & 70’s.