Pursuing My Filmmaking Dreams

Ohio XB · 03-10-2010, 03:36 PM

Hello everyone. Those who know me know I have not been on here a while. Yeah, I miss this place, but I have been working on pursuing my dream, since I was 13 years old, of being a filmmaker. I've written one feature screenplay and am shopping it around but lately I have started production of a short film which I will be entering into film festivals. I've also been gaining friends that are filmmakers and they are helping me out, and I am making more connections in the industry as well.

What kind of film? It's a short film that is car themed of course. It even has a Chevy vs. Ford rivalry in it. The Chev is a 1971 Monte Carlo SS454 and the Ford is a 1966 Mustang with a 331 stroker. For those who know, yes, it is my wife's car.

Here is the movie poster...

It's about a guy who is being pursued by a hitman claiming he has something that belongs to him and he wants it back........but the hero has no clue what the hitman is talking about and is trying to escape. The ending includes a jaw dropping irony.

I built a site where people can follow along and actually watch this thing get made with update videos, stills, and behind the scenes videos. I have a couple other projects in the works as well and info will also be posted on those projects.

www.carburetedfilms.com

I think even the name of the website is attractive to most of the old farts, like me, here. Basically, films without major use of CGI. Tired of computer generated cars that you KNOW are computer generated? Green screen interior shots? Me too, that's why I am shooting everything LIVE.

I hope this is intriguing to the members here. I'm just another car nut like everyone else here, perhaps with a little more "nerd" factor thrown in. I've researched filmmaking all my life and now that my kids are grown it's time to do something about it.

Steve

Swordsman88 · 03-10-2010, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

Hello everyone. Those who know me know I have not been on here a while. Yeah, I miss this place, but I have been working on pursuing my dream, since I was 13 years old, of being a filmmaker. I've written one feature screenplay and am shopping it around but lately I have started production of a short film which I will be entering into film festivals. I've also been gaining friends that are filmmakers and they are helping me out, and I am making more connections in the industry as well.

What kind of film? It's a short film that is car themed of course. It even has a Chevy vs. Ford rivalry in it. The Chev is a 1971 Monte Carlo SS454 and the Ford is a 1966 Mustang with a 331 stroker. For those who know, yes, it is my wife's car.

Here is the movie poster...

It's about a guy who is being pursued by a hitman claiming he has something that belongs to him and he wants it back........but the hero has no clue what the hitman is talking about and is trying to escape. The ending includes a jaw dropping irony.

I built a site where people can follow along and actually watch this thing get made with update videos, stills, and behind the scenes videos. I have a couple other projects in the works as well and info will also be posted on those projects.

www.carburetedfilms.com

I think even the name of the website is attractive to most of the old farts, like me, here. Basically, films without major use of CGI. Tired of computer generated cars that you KNOW are computer generated? Green screen interior shots? Me too, that's why I am shooting everything LIVE.

I hope this is intriguing to the members here. I'm just another car nut like everyone else here, perhaps with a little more "nerd" factor thrown in. I've researched filmmaking all my life and now that my kids are grown it's time to do something about it.

Steve

Looks cool Steve. Great to see you back posting on here, i've missed your insights from the other side of the pacific. Good time to be launching a muscle car movie with the resurgance in those cars in the USA (quality wise i mean).

Also great to see your focus on live action. I think there is a place for good CG when well integrated but live action always looks cleaner and more believable for me. One of the best things about Aussie films has been a pretty strong dedication to live action....i know as a big mad max fan you'd appreciate that. I've been watching some locally shot films recently and the cinematography (even for the rubbish films) just craps all over alot of the big budget USA stuff....why dont' people shoot films properly any more?

Ok, enough of my rant. Will keep an eye on your production via the website but do try to keep us updated on here too.....

Geez Louise · 03-10-2010, 09:40 PM

Fantastic! It is great to see someone pursuing their dreams. Best of luck with it. I will be watching for updates too

Riksta · 04-10-2010, 12:04 AM

I look forward to seeing the end result

mik · 04-10-2010, 12:59 AM

good to see someone chaseing their dream , good luck with it Steve.

Ohio XB · 04-10-2010, 01:47 AM

Thanks everyone. As far as dreams go, I also have my dream car in my garage with my XA/XB Falcon I am building into a Mad Max Interceptor. Basically, you really have to pursue dreams. They just might come true.

Swordsman88, thanks for the accolades. Yeah, I hate when CGI is used as a crutch. I have seen some amazing use of CGI where you really can't tell that's what they've done, and those moments are fine. But when the car is CGI, people are CGI (Matrix 2 fight scene with Neo and hundreds of Agent Smiths), and other times when you can just tell this is fake, it detracts from the rest of the film. There is also some CGI that looks real good, but sometimes too perfect where something is not perfect, and that fake look creeps back in.

It's nice to see I am not the only one who has an issue with CGI. It's great for a lot of things, but should only be used where absolutely needed.

The very first season of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show back in the 1970's was done with all live driving. Season 2 they started with the studio in-car shots and rear projected backgrounds. I don't think they were even greenscreen. They lost points with me when they did that.

Steve

Swordsman88 · 04-10-2010, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

Thanks everyone. As far as dreams go, I also have my dream car in my garage with my XA/XB Falcon I am building into a Mad Max Interceptor. Basically, you really have to pursue dreams. They just might come true.

Swordsman88, thanks for the accolades. Yeah, I hate when CGI is used as a crutch. I have seen some amazing use of CGI where you really can't tell that's what they've done, and those moments are fine. But when the car is CGI, people are CGI (Matrix 2 fight scene with Neo and hundreds of Agent Smiths), and other times when you can just tell this is fake, it detracts from the rest of the film. There is also some CGI that looks real good, but sometimes too perfect where something is not perfect, and that fake look creeps back in.

It's nice to see I am not the only one who has an issue with CGI. It's great for a lot of things, but should only be used where absolutely needed.

The very first season of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show back in the 1970's was done with all live driving. Season 2 they started with the studio in-car shots and rear projected backgrounds. I don't think they were even greenscreen. They lost points with me when they did that.

Steve

Have to say the Dukes of Hazzard TV show is a bit before my time Steve (though i have seen quite a few eps over the years) but i often wondered why it had such a great rep when so much of it was obviously pretty crudely shot. I thought it was the nature of the times being a cop show but you are right some of the eps did have great live action car chases etc....

I was watching a recent aus action-style film and they had to blow up a bridge. Now while clearly using a fair whack of CGI (the bridge was real and did exist and was used for setup shots) since you can't really detonate a real bridge anymore (hey its not Bridge ove the River Kwai!) i later found out why it looked so much more 'real' than some of the hollywood type fakes. Turns out that the basis of the explosion (the live action plate as they say in the biz) was atcually a really well done miniature using numerous cameras including some fangled 'super slowmo' camera. Thing was the 'minature' was 1/5 scale...of a 150m bridge!! So they built (in great detail) and blew up a 30m scale bridge to get the shot they when worked the CGI magic on.

Looked pretty cool...though i doubt it was very cheap. Then again CGI costs reall money so maybe they did to keep within the Aussie film budget.....

Hope to see some great chase/s in your film....i can watch that Bullit scene over and over....especially the highway shoot out with the shotgun!

anto · 04-10-2010, 03:21 AM

hey, stop talking down my industry

just kidding.

Believe it or not, in alot of cases guys CG/vfx can actually be cheaper than a live action shoot and it is definately more "controlable" because its a post element which can be reviewed, changed...and changed ...and changed again, over and over...this just happend on a film I was working on, the delivery date has come and gone but the director is still tinkering..

Reality is there is good and bad cgi just like there is good and bad live action. I can almost gaurantee that alot of times you wouldnt even know you were watching something that was computer generated because it is present in just about every film nowadays,..and thats is when it is most successful .

Looking forward to the short film

Ohio XB · 04-10-2010, 02:28 PM

Anto, I know what you are saying about having seen films where you don't know there is CGI, and I am ALL FOR THAT!! That is when CGI should be used, where it cannot be distinguished from real. There is some amazing stuff being done with CGI, however, here in the US it is used too much, or where it shouldn't be, and that has had a negative impact on CGI. I don't want to take anything away from the people that do the programming because it is WAAAAYYYY outta my league, but I fault the Directors that use it without understanding where it may be limited, or using it as a crutch when something else would look much more real.

The bridge in "True Lies" that was blown up was also a minature. While I was watching the movie I could tell it was not just CGI, but I also knew they could not just blow up a bridge. After seeing the movie several times you could tell it was done in minature, but when you saw it in the theater you could not tell. It was awesome! I am sure the explosions were enhanced with CGI but you can't tell. It is just a very well done scene.

What I like about the Mad Max movies is that the cars were there. In The Fast and Furious they weren't always there, and there was way too much shifting (how many times can you jam into 3rd gear while accelerating? Once). That is my best comparison of CGI cars versus real cars. Then again........I'm old.

There is a CGI element I will have to have in a car chase scene because I cannot afford to do the real thing. It will be a very long camera shot though so it should look very good since it can't be closely scrutinized. It won't be difficult to do and I will be doing it myself with the use of several canned effects I have.

Swordsman88, I do love the live action car scenes in the Dukes of Hazzard. Those were also real stunts, even if the car did not survive the landing. At least the car looked REAL!!!!!! Yes, the hokey rear projection was a typical effect of the times, and was not "as bad" then as it appears now. People now have a much higher level of sophistication of special effects so the bar is much higher.

smciner1 · 04-10-2010, 07:04 PM

I will look forward to seeing it.

Swordsman88 · 06-10-2010, 05:27 PM

Hey Steve

I was just watching an Australian movie (i think it was 2002 it came out) called 'Dirty Deeds'....imdb linky here:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280605/

Based in the 60s its got plenty of old cars in it...including Falcon cop cars! While its pretty cool in its own right as a film about us versus aus gangster relations one of the best bits is the car chase between the main aussie gangster (bryan brown) and a rival. I don't know how you'd find a copy of this movie over your way (i have one here from years ago) but its worth it to get an idea of some good live action car sequences using period cars... Pretty well shot as with most Aus movies....

May still be available via the torrent sites etc. if you get the chance....

Ohio XB · 08-10-2010, 02:15 PM

Looks like it is available in enough places here in the States. Looks pretty good! John Goodman I know, but I don't know your local actors in that film. I didn't know Goodman went down that way to do a movie. I've always liked his acting though.

Thanks for the tip.

Steve

Swordsman88 · 08-10-2010, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

Looks like it is available in enough places here in the States. Looks pretty good! John Goodman I know, but I don't know your local actors in that film. I didn't know Goodman went down that way to do a movie. I've always liked his acting though.

Thanks for the tip.

Steve

Yeah goodman is really good in it actually, but i think he generally is. The car chase in it involves a 'ute' or as you americans call it a 'pick up' but its a seriously uninspiring canary yellow number LOL. They had a great time with the scene especially the bit where the bad guy's henchman fires a shot at the main character.....that is where you can use some CGI for a nice effect....

yakcam · 08-10-2010, 08:36 PM

Congratulations on following your dream mate

I look forward to seeing it!

I was going to put my hand up for prop master/maker (it's what I do, mainly replica weapons and armour but I can do anything) but then I realised that you were in the US.

I like the poster/bill too, looks edgy.

Cheers,

Kraig

Ohio XB · 09-10-2010, 09:15 AM

Thanks Kraig.

Yeah, little bit of distance to lend a hand, but I appreciate it. I am quite handy myself. I have a collection of Star Wars replica props I made the same as the originals. I am also a Toolmaker so I have some handy skills from that. Also, growing up not having money I always found ways to make do with what I've got, and that's come in handy too.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: In today's paper there is a news article about my recent film shoot! It's cool to be in the paper for something. You can see it at my site, www.carburetedfilms.com , by clicking on the UPDATE section.

Members will get to see the full answers to all the questions the reporter had. She had to limit the article to 600 words, and I think I used that many to answer one question! The Members page will be up soon, a week or two, depending on how interrupted I am by life!

Steve

landau460 · 11-10-2010, 07:13 PM

Cant wait to see it. Good to hear another aussie havin ago. I do like all types of movies but always love a good car movie.

yakcam · 11-10-2010, 08:11 PM

Very cool getting into the paper Mate. Well done!

Quote:

Yeah, little bit of distance to lend a hand, but I appreciate it. I am quite handy myself. I have a collection of Star Wars replica props I made the same as the originals. I am also a Toolmaker so I have some handy skills from that. Also, growing up not having money I always found ways to make do with what I've got, and that's come in handy too.

Man, we must be related, I enjoy doing replica movie props too. Are you a member of the RPF? (Replica Prop Forum) I was on the staff there for 2-3 years, talk about a bunch of talented people.

Nice to know that there's another prop guy on the forum

Cheers,

Kraig

Ohio XB · 12-10-2010, 01:42 PM

Kraig, yes, I was a member of RPF. Back in 2001 I was working on, along with several other guys, Han Solo's blaster in the close-up in the Cantina scene. My username was Lucasberg and I did a screen cap from the VHS tape that became known as "The Lucasberg Cap". Several of us were working on figuring out exactly how the scope mount looked. I made a prototype of a theory I had and while it looked cool you could tell it was not acccurate. My next prototype was right on, and another member also figured it out at the same time. Anyway, I machined my scope mount, muzzle, and grill for my own replica. This is another thread though. In the meantime you can see a lot of my stuff at www.1001hobbies.info . I got tired of sending pics so I made a place for all my stuff. I am behind on loading it up though.

landau460, sorry but I am not an Aussie, just another seppo! I am also partial to car movies, especially when one of the cars in the movie I built!

Steve