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Personal View Feature Film Collaborative project
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  • @B3Guy @RRRR That actually ties in nicely to a concept I'd leaned into but not developed.

    The piece is called "19 Days and 1 Sheet". It's a fragmented series of memories of an unseen protagonist, that's only seen through a solid color sheet (hadn't decided on black or white, yet) as he "recalls" moments from "his" life (mostly waking or readying for sleep) spanning times across the world.

    The piece could be easily unified through the use of the sheet and different actors could be used since their faces would not be seen. Even certain filming differences could play with the theme of the subjectivity of the recollections and questions about the reliability of the narrator.

    Here are some of the visuals I'd brainstormed so far.

    Vignette 1) Standing by a city apartment window in the late evening/early night we get a sense of an older city and a man struggling to admit his own age to himself. The city evokes "Paris" but could be any European city.

    Vignette 2) He sits on the log, starring out the sun setting. There is no wind and he seems not to notice the people walking by, as he fixates completely on the single point that is the sun, almost oblivious to even the water itself.

    Vignette 3) He is chased down the staircase [lets avoid hurting any actors on this one] to the sound of men yelling after him.

    Vignette 4) He sits next to a man playing guitar, beneath a bridge, as no one is there to hear him.


    Anyway, there were a few others, but I mention it since the concept seems closely related to what you described.

    But I think the project would be best with 1 writer and 1 master script but several directors choosing parts of that script.

    And the script should be completed before any shooting begins. That's a pet peeve of mine - I've edited novels and short stories in English and Swedish for various writers, been the editor in chief for various small newsletter and magazines and coming from a family of writers, I hate movies with "optional" scripts. :)
  • Anyway, I'm happy to assist on any project I can budget time for (a little tricky lately) if it helps get awareness for the site, provided it isn't a horror, crime or supernatural pic.

    Oh, and no dead rats @lenuisible ;)

    Even if I'm not involved, I'm wishing you guys lots of luck with this. I think Nick @DriftWood has done a great thing getting the ball rolling here and I hope that you guys keep the momentum going.
  • Yes, script first. But before a script, brainstorming. I was hoping for something fairly narrative, especially as the tendency among DSLR shooters seems to be "slice of life", which is a pretty one-trick pony.

    I'd personally be quite tickled to do something with suspense. I also have a big soft spot in my heart for films with a couple really good twists at the end.

    Perhaps we could capture some of the non-camera side of Personal-View. I'd say that at the least there's a fairly universal understanding that much of the world is in trouble one way or another. We could amplify those fears to create a near-future dystopia. Assume everything that could go wrong does go wrong, and its ten years later or something like that.
  • @thepalalias why don´t you try to organize your idea on a storyline (5-10lines with the main characters, main plots, main locations), or be more precise about the innovative workflow but , i´m mean, i could edit your post (for the comments) and place it up there, but i prefer you do it so, perhaps you could develop even further your idea, so please:
    storyline:
    workflow:
    5-10lines each
    please :)
  • @B3guy, you are right, brainstorming first, perhaps, if anyone wants to update the first post, please write:

    basic for the idea:
    -the idea

    idea for the workflow:
    -the idea

    idea for storyline
    -soryline

    5-10 lines each

    (this is to be more organized, and also having all the main ideas closely together may bring up some new ones)
  • @Lolo I'm not entirely sure I follow - you want me to type a new post like my earlier one, except so that each section is 5-10 lines and fits under one of the specified headings?

    I'd be glad to oblige, but I'm not entirely sure I follow the 3 categories. "Workflow" is straightforward enough, but how are you delineating between "idea" and "story" in the same length? Isn't the "idea" usually just a much shorter version of the story?
  • nope, i´m mean by basic for the idea:

    i´m mean what are the restrictions in therms of production that we must follow in order to everyone in the community can participate on the shooting, so being those restrictions part of the production, those lines must be taken in consideration for the storyline to be developed

    :p i´m changing the basic for the idea to restrictions on production for the storyline to be less confusing
  • A crazy idea I've just had: The protagonist travels around the world posessing the bodies of other people (that would explain the different locations and the character being portrayed by more than one actor). He or she might be looking for something or maybe he (or she) forgot who he (or she) really is and he's trying to remember or trying to go back to the original body.
  • I agree, ideas on the table everyone!

    I was thinking that it would be nice if the concept entailed both something particular and something generic which ties it all together. If I elaborate, the particular could be a sheet of paper (although this would have to be made particular - by it's colour, a print or something else - as described by palalias), it could be the lead or whatever one comes up with. The generic could be coffee, a certain type of clothing, work, cars, food - take your pick but the point about both the generic and the particular "Common" is introducing some kind of meaning - the main point, the antagonist or simply introducing a different theoretical dimension to what the story does. The particular and the generic can also be in conflict with each other.. it's all up to what you come up with as an idea for a script.

    Just to clarify, I mean this as a conceptual condition for the script / story.
  • @lolo Ah, well if I understand you correctly, here's my contribution to that, assuming that you mean restriction as needed to realize the concept I specified.

    Restrictions:
    - Protagonist should remain completely covered by the sheet at all times so they can be portrayed by many different actors.
    - Protagonist should not speak in any of the productions so that a single actor can provide a unifying voiceover in post-production.
    - Production teams have the option of either recording with a pre-determined, inexpensive setup (with chosen settings to ensure tested consistency) or leaving the audio blank so that the voiceover and score can run through the scene.
    - Each director should mention their preferred lenses before they pick a section, so that movement from softer to sharper (or from other "subjective" to "neutral" lenses) can be used as a deliberate part of the film's construction, rather than seeming to flit about from shot to shot.
    - A patch should be chosen before production (I vote something from @Driftwood as thanks for the collaboration video that got the ball rolling) and we can choose which framerates we'd prefer.

    As for frame rate, should it be 24P for standard motion and 50P for slow-motion to ensure maximum still frame image quality? Or should it be 24P and 60P to get a more pronounced slow-mo effect?
  • I like the duality idea by @RRRR and I think each of the writers should try to explore it.
  • If the script so requires it would make sense if directors choose from the available sections with location in mind. (it doesn't make sense for someone in the countryside to try and shoot a cityscape f.i. and vice versa)
  • @RRRR Yes, I completely agree.

    Also, if we could get a list of directors (with their locations) as the script is still in progress, it could help to limit the script options appropriately.
  • so @RRRR your idea of the particular/generic goes to "thepalalias proyect"?
    @thepalalias hahah please suggest another title hahahha
  • "Reality Unveiled"
  • That is if you didn't like my earlier one "19 Days and 1 Sheet" or some variation of "X Days and 1 Sheet". :)
  • Dang, that was fast @lolo. :)
  • @thepalalias I think you lift some very valid technical points - although some of them are also dependant on the script.
    For instance, voice over could be a good way to handle sound if the protagonist is supposed to be perceived as exactly the same troughout the film - yet that wouldn't make sense if the protagonist can be different, from section to section..
    From a conceptual point of view, it maybe should have the aber of "if the script so requires" for now? More like a possible guideline than a restriction.
  • @lolo : maybe it was more a guideline than a "rule".. so perhaps there should be a section for that? All the technical issues to take into account..

    Maybe later we can make an "assets" list - where people can make notes of their location, equipment and such..? For script development purposes if necessary. It could also be helpful for project management.
  • Workflow:
    - Each director sends their original (ungraded) MTS files to the editor after they complete their shoot. This gives the editor more time to prepare the files, rather than having to wait for everyone to finish.
    - Sequence for the editing is specified in script. Each director specifies additional considerations for the editor when they submit their material. Each editor has a great deal of autonomy within each sequence.
    - In order to remain free, files can be transferred through DropBox (or someone else can suggest a better service, with the condition being "semi-permanent low-price storage with privacy"). DropBox starts at 2GB free.
    - After the editor finishes, he hands off the final cut to the color timer/grader.
    - At some point, somebody gets named the custodian of the project so that each person (the editor, the grader, etc.) knows who to go to if there are any problems or questions.
  • @RRRR I agree - several of them are script dependent. A script that explored "role" vs "identity" (which would be different than the ones suggested so far) could make good use of having different voices, with the similarity springing more from the situations instead.

    Sorry, that wasn't the clearest but basically, a different script idea could use a different unifying element.

    "If the script so requires" sounds fine.

    Also a more comprehensive "assets list" seems more useful than the less extensive one I proposed. I'm behind that.
  • @thepalalias yeah, exactly..

    The assets list could be private between project participants only - some might not want to list all their belongings publicly. ;)
  • @RRRR hahahahhahah sure, but perhaps a more generic one could be listed, instead of XXX mic model branded in XX city, someone can say directional mic on urban argentina or whatever
  • This is a f*cking brilliant idea. 'Aye' for one will gladly contribute to it. I will gladly paypal towards a group cloud server or global dropbox. We'd need a 50Gb cloud at least.
    I will offer some ideas to contribute to this over the next few days for sure.
    This could lead to something quite amazing. Count me in. :-)
  • so @driftwood what you are sayng is for

    WORKFLOW:
    1) Preproduction
    Paypal? for crowd funding? Aye for the ones that can donate some money?

    and also

    ASSETS LIST
    1)driftwood team on europe?