Hey team,
Here’s a wrap-up of some of my indie filmmaking thoughts and endeavors for July. My aim is for these to be helpful to your film production process.
Shot a Short Film
Over the past few months, I’ve been developing -- writing, collaborating, & producing-- a short film titled “Ghost Tours”. It’s a dramedy about an estranged couple teaming up to guide historical tours of San Diego. I was blessed to direct it this month and work with an awesome cast and crew.
I’ll be talking about the production on my social media accounts (primarily on Twitter Highlights), but for now, here’s the main thing as it pertains to your creative endeavors: Think about what you want to improve from your last project and prioritize that element. Simultaneously, ask your collaborators what areas of growth they want to explore.
By having these goals as your guiding light, your project will be successful to you and your team, regardless of how it is received by audiences.
Convening in the Metaverse
You’re already engaged in Metaverse activities -- Zoom meetings with digital backgrounds, digital filters of you on IG, and any group text chats on your phone. Now, think about the next step: A digital representation of you attending a meeting in a shared virtual space. That’s a Metaverse Convention!
The one I attended and had a booth at was NFTopia. It was a gathering of NFT enthusiasts getting together to talk about NFT technology and showcase the cool art and utility people are creating with the blockchain tech. Here’s a link to a Twitch-streamed interview I did at my virtual booth, if you wanna see what it is: Interview.
My booth and reason for attending was to network with other filmmakers and communally explore the possibilities of using NFTs for film funding, marketing, and audience development.
So, what’s this NFT & Metaverse stuff got to do with your art? It’s this: New opportunities are on the horizon. As we move into the Metaverse, we’ll “need” art there too. So, think about what you could offer -- videos, photos, art, etc. We’ll want stuff there just like we enjoy physical things in our real homes. It’s not logical, but it’s us.
IMAX Effort
I had the opportunity to see “Oppenheimer” on 70mm film in a true IMAX theater. The screen was 90' wide by 65' high, which is roughly six and a half stories tall. Seeing a film in this environment is something quite special and comes at a cost. My filmmaking buddies and I traveled seventy miles and paid about $30 each for tickets. The experience was great and I’d do it again. However… this movie would have been just as good on a traditional screen.
It's an excellent film with the best talent in Hollywood. An A+ production with high-level artists that are pros at making creative decisions. Nonetheless, the scope of the story is small: A guy talking to people in rooms. Eventually a bomb blows up, but it’s not an action movie. It’s an impressive character drama that can be enjoyed in any format.
That got me thinking: What are difficult things -- like shooting on IMAX film -- that we as indie filmmakers do that perhaps don’t add much to the viewer’s enjoyment of the film?
That’s it for now!
If you enjoyed this… feel free to share it.
To Making Stuff,
Brandon
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