remote controlled helicopters & capped percentages

I spent a short amount of time the other day looking up rates for helicopter rides in areas around southern California, Glacier Park in Montana and Oregon, but quickly realized that the cheapest ride I could hitch was $300 for a half an hour per person. Which got me thinking, if I'm considering budgeting $300 plus for one half an hour ride then why wouldn't I spend that money on say, a heavy-duty remote controlled helicopter with a camera mount and have the flexibility to film aerial-shots at any time and more importantly, in any place. So, I've been emailing some people about which models to look at, since it needs to carry some equipment [3 lbs camcorder, wireless a/v transmitter, protective casing]. I will keep you posted on the progress of that as it unfolds. But things are looking promising.

At a party earlier this week, I was talking with Paul, who is heavily involved with the final stages of distribution for an independent film titled, Mango Kiss. And I was going over my budget plan, the money I hope to raise and the lack of money I'll have to spend, for example, on crew members. Which is slowly but surely, becoming a major concern of mine - the odds of finding people willing to commit three months of their lives to a low-budget film with no pay isn't looking too promising. My only hope is film students with no plans for their summer break, which I am looking into. But Paul suggested the possibility of 'capped percentages' as payment after the film is complete, and he said that actually, most independent films operate in that order - the only downside of course is if for some reason your films makes no money, you have a handful of angry crew members on your hands.

days go by

Seven days later: I wish I could say that I've been too knee-deep in preproduction to have any time to write or update, but that would be 60% lying... 30% exaggeration... and the last 10%... I guess would fall into the 'wishful-thinking' category.

I did however manage to get in a little homework over the past few days. I rented 'Gerry' by Gus Van Sant, I had read in the reviews that a majority of the shots were very long-winded steadicam shots, often lasting up to five minutes without cutting. I mention that because for a while now I've been debating one of the first shots of the documentary, or I guess the length of one of the first shots. And although the end of Gerry dragged a considerable amount, the opening sequence was mesmerizing, it was a very simple shot following their car down a windy desert road, and it lasted for five minutes without cutting... it just followed from forty feet behind. There is something about long [longer than usual] shots that, I believe, hypnotizes an audience, we [the mtv generation] are conditioned to almost expect certain cuts in films after so many moments or beats in the script, and because of it we often pay less attention when the pacing of the editing stays well between the lines. But drag a shot out, hold it for much longer than expected and people start to look closer at the frame and at least on a semi-conscious level, we start to ask, "what are they trying to show me?"

Lately I've been getting very exciting about the trip and it's documentary, I don't know why exactly, maybe some of the anxiety of the project is starting to wear off and I'm remembering the feeling that, "everything will be okay". As corny as it might sound... I found it always seems to hold true, if you just put your foot down and tell yourself, "this is what I want to do and it's time I stick my neck out there and do it", then, in my experience, things generally come together... sometimes a little more last minute than usual, but in the end, they work out if you have a 'stubborn-determination'. Knock on wood.

holding my breath and crossing my fingers

I know that in my last post I mentioned that 'I was keeping my fingers crossed, but I wasn't going to hold my breath', well that was before I checked my pitch's status and noticed that I had jumped from 1,700th place to 7th place overnight. Before I didn't have much of chance in hell of finishing in the top ten - but now the race is on... and I'm actually in it. I know this kind of behavior isn't healthy for production, but "I can't help it, it's fantastic".

Okay, now it's time for me to think out-loud. Just as fair warning; this might get a little on the "ramble'ish" side. A friend of mine somehow got on the subject of project:pedal with a handful of people he works with, in so many words he mentioned it was 'a documentary about me and some people riding across the country on bicycles'. And in response the said that sounded really boring. And I admit, for half a second, I almost started to worry... but then I thought of a handful of recent documentaries that gained a lot of mainstream attention. 'Supersize Me', for example, I can just see someone explaining what the film was about to their friends, "it's about some guy who eats McDonalds for a month". And I can just see their reaction, "wow... that sounds stupid... who in their right mind would sit through that?" And then there is 'Spellbound', a documentary about a spelling-bee contest. I couldn't imaging sitting through an actual spelling-bee contest not to mention watch a movie on one. Right?

Wrong - these two films got nothing but rave-reviews from all the critics and quickly moved higher and higher up the 'a-list' for theatre-worthy films. The main reason has nothing to do with their topic, their success and 'watch-ability' is all thanks to the talented storytelling of their directors and editors. After all, the cliche' holds true: it's not what you say, it's how you say it.

Well, I had more to write about but I have to get ready for my day-job. On a closing note, I would like to update the status of proj:pedal - I have jumped from 7th, down to 29th, back up to 3rd, where I am currently holding steady. "The suspense is terrible... I hope it last".

thursday

Some of you might have already taken notice at the recently added adventure cycling association' link under the side-menu's 'special thanks'. The other morning I sent out a mass email to their associated staff and in response, they showed interest in the project but were unable to financially sponsor the film because of public funding, but they did offer a handful of their cycling-maps. Which I thought was incredibly nice of them.

On a whim last night I decided to enter Visa's "ideas happen' contest. Apparently last year, one of the recipients of the $25,000 prize was a first-time film director. So I figured, "what could it possibly hurt?" If any of you out there reading this want to help 'project pedal' in any way, shape or form, but don't have access to giant piles of money and / or film equipment currently collecting dust; then this is the perfect opportunity to help out your friendly neighborhood filmmaker. All you have to do is click your mouse twice... once here, and then vote by hitting the "I'm feelin' it" link... unless you're just really not feelin' it, in which case I would want you to vote honestly, not because of outside influences. The way it works is, from what I understand, online votes decide who makes the top ten list in each of the three categories [self-expression / community / entrepreneur], and then from there Visa picks twelve winners total from the thirty top-ten'ers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm not going to hold my breath - if I don't get the $25,000 then the film is [financially] right where I thought it would be, and if, by some grace of God, I am selected, then that would be a huge weight of my shoulders [and then some].

Anyways, I had mentioned in my last post that I was attending an ifp orientation, and I was looking forward to sharing that on the site and possibly becoming a member. But, due to my running behind schedule, on top of five-o'clock traffic down Magnolia, and the fact that their offices are in Beverly Hills not Hollywood [like I had assumed for some reason], I didn't make it to the meeting. Which is frustrating because it looks as though they only hold one once a month, granted you can sign-up at any time, but I was exciting about getting a sneak peak at the perks. Oh well, these things happen.

One quick thing before I go, I just watched the trailer for a documentary film titled, 'Tarnation', I looks interesting, definitely a different approach to story-telling. I could be jumping to conclusions, but I have the feeling I'm really going to enjoy this film.

God bless the internet

So much to write about, so little time. Unfortunately this post is probably going to run on the short side - I've got an ifp orientation at 6:30 I need to catch. I haven't signed up for membership just yet... at first, when I read about the number of events and screenings members can get into free of charge, there was no reason for me not to get involved. But recently I've been having a lot of success with craig's list in getting applicants for the open crew positions - and I'm starting to weight my options. To be honest, I'm actually really pleased and surprised at the response, despite the very possible lack of pay, people have been showing a strong interest in all areas of the production. It's exciting.

Speaking of things going well... almost too well: project pedal received it's first monetary investment. "Sam, if you're reading this, I want to thank you very much for your generosity and your confidence in the film. It really does mean a lot to me - thank you". The experience was actually very strange, at first I was excited, and then I was in slight disbelieve that people were beginning to take notice of the project, and then those emotions were followed by a short panic attack, where I realized I had just crossed the point of no return. It was a good feeling.

Where did the time go? I have so many other topics to touch base on - but they will have to wait, hopefully this meeting won't run too long. Not only do I have more to share, I really need to respond to today's emails regarding crew positions...

love at first sight

I read through my earlier script drafts last night... I think my getting caught up in this website for a month was actually a blessing in disguise, it gave me time to step away from the work I had been obsessing over for too long, last night the drafts felt fresh and new, I was able to look at them from a different point of view.

I was very happy with 85% of what I read [a few drafts / notes just made me wonder "where the hell I was going with that one..."], I'm excited to see where the script will go from here -- I just realized I really need to upload a few versions on the site soon -- the scripts are generally loose, they allow for a lot of adaptation, for the most part I'm taking what [normal every day] events I know will happen along the way, and trying to find interesting ways to capture and then utilize them in the film. The plan is, just before we set off, to make a massive shot list from all the top versions of the scripts, and then hide away the actual scripts, relying only on the shot list -- so that day by day we are allowing things to happen naturally, but we are better prepared and aware of interesting ways in which to capture those events.

This morning, Amanda was curious as to how much high-definition camcorders cost. The only consumer based HD-camcorder I knew of was JVC's model, which I wasn't impressed with, and I said that anything else was getting into the 'industrial-price-range', and there was no way I was squeezing that into my $8,000 budget. But she really wanted to know, so I googled: "HD camcorders", and at the top of the results was this link: "Sony Announces High Definition 1080i HDR-FX1; First 3 CCD HDV Camcorder". I was head over heals before I even followed the link, then I saw the price [only $3,600 out of the box]... and I knew I was in for the long haul. It doesn't shoot 24p, but I never use 24p anyways, many people complain they can't get a "cine-look" from the camera but I think 'depth-of-field' has a whole hell of a lot more to do with film-look then frames per second and whether or not the image is progressive or interlaced.

Well, the night is young and there is much to do... goodnight, world.

"not the me I was..."

Two nights ago Amanda and I caught a midnight showing of 'the motorcycle diaries' at the bridge. It was incredibly inspiring -- for myself especially because of the similarities between what I was watching on screen, and what I've been envisioning for so many months. What I loved most about the film was it so perfectly captured the 'one' thing that changed the young Che the most: people's suffering. The further and further from home he traveled the more indigenous people he meet along the way, who were being forced from their lives and homes.

I've been thinking about that a lot lately, trying to put my finger on what one element from my first bike trip changed me the most? And how to apply it to the documentary - how will I be able to choose those moments [afterwards during post]? Over the course of ninety-some days and thousands upon thousands of miles, filled with so many subtle experiences, which will tell the best story?

entry two

I'm sitting alone in the living room... listening to 'spaces between days [pt.4]' by six parts seven - the laptop sitting on the diner table to my right, my "proj:pedal folder" on the footstool to my left. I just spent the last hour flipping through every last page of my notes, script drafts, and [the most depressing of them all] the budget outlines.

Some of you might be curious as to "what scripting can be done for a documentary revolving around a cross-country-bike-trip that isn't scheduled to begin for another eight months"? Well, honestly, not a whole hell of a lot. At least nothing too continuous, most of what is written at the moment resembles random scenes I'm still trying to piece together - scenes that probably won't find their place until post.

Sadly enough, despite all the [far more important] things I need to be catching up on, I can't stop thinking about the fact that [realistically] I'm going to be [financially] strong armed into filming with miniDV. How's that for being productive, eh? And it's not that I want to shoot on 35mm... I'm not at all interested in "film", and don't imagine I ever will be. The problem started when Amanda and I went to watch 'open water', only a few minutes into the movie, Amanda leaned over and asked, "what's wrong with the picture"? As if to imply that the projector was all funky. I whispered back, "it's digital... ya' know... miniDV, they used the kinda' camera I have". I knew what Amanda was really asking was, "is the documentary going to look like that"? For the rest of the movie I couldn't stop fantasizing about the crystal-clear-picture-perfect image quality I'd seen in documentaries like 'step into liquid'. But everyone has to start somewhere.

Speaking of which: I've got to get back to work. Goodnight world.

drawing back the red curtains

Some of you out there have stumbled onto this site prematurely as a result of my forgetfulness [temporarily leaving it listed in my profile], but in any case, whether you're new to the site or not; I would like to welcome you to the official grand opening of proj:pedal's website / blog.

I've spent a great deal of time and energy in the past month giving the site some depth by putting as much of the film's progress [as possible] here on the blog for you to follow, by exploring the drop menu(s) to the right you can view a [mock] teaser trailer, budget drafts, script rewrites, storyboards, the bike route, and much more...

Now that the site is up and running I actually have a lot to catch up on, I've fallen quite behind in my preproduction schedule. As of this moment the film has a long [and rough] road ahead of it: the budget drafts are still underdeveloped, the script is very fragmented, the storyboards are becoming a long list of "things-to-do"... but things aren't half as bad -- make that a quarter as bad as they may sound, I'm actually quite happy with the material I have on paper so far, and I'm keeping in mind that "nothing worth doing is ever easy".

So stay tuned, and you'll have front row seats to the long and painful process of independent filmmaking... before this ends I'll have been turned down, shut out, knocked out of the race, dragged through the mud, riding on the edge of disaster, against all odds, between a rock and hard place... and that's just preproduction. Strangely enough... I wouldn't want it any other way.

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note: all post following below are meant to be viewed individually, you can navigate to these post / pages by using the drop menu(s) to the right.

You may view the following post as 'archived' but could experience problems due to multiple embedded video links.