â„–7834[Quote]
Yeah. I made a feature film.
A festival was supposed to tell me if they were accepting it yesterday but they just haven't. So I'm depressed now.
â„–7843[Quote]
When I got high with my bros we liked to make silly videos,one of my friends has started in local TV show about made up drama
â„–7852[Quote]
>>7834What's the plot and what did you shoot it on?
â„–7873[Quote]
>>>7834 (You)
>What's the plot
It's a revenge crime thriller. Think Leon the Professional but without the pedo raisin, crossed with Reservoir Dogs but without Tarantino's meme dialogue.
>and what did you shoot it on?
Camera wise? A lumix s5ii. It was super low-budget but also it doesn't look low budget (maybe I'm deluded, but the feedback I've gotten agrees with that at least)
â„–7879[Quote]
>>7867A tiny one in London. But it has live screenings for features and lasts for a few days. A lot of film festivals are either scams, short film festivals or just gatekept to hell.
Finding a half decent real festival that you actually have a chance of getting into with a blind submission is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's kind of pathetic how badly I want to get into this no-name festival but if I don't, I'm kind of fucked since the film needs to premiere somewhere properly so that the cast can see it and stop being disappointed in me
â„–7895[Quote]
>>7873How large was the cast?
â„–7919[Quote]
>>7873>Think X and Y but without the things that made them unique and interestingsounds like tryhard garbage, not to mention you couldn't describe it on its own
â„–8062[Quote]
>>7895About 15 total.
>>7919It's pretty commonplace to describe a film in terms of films that it's similar to. It helps others understand the vibe without giving too much away. I also don't want to dox myself. But by all means, continue being a faggot
â„–8063[Quote]
>>8062>About 15 totalWhere did you source them out from?
â„–8066[Quote]
>>7879how long have you been making films? did you go to film school?
â„–8090[Quote]
>>8063Without getting too specific, I used an online casting platform. There are a few in the uk and I got a good deal with this particular one which let me post castings for free. I probably won't use them again though because they've started being way too intrusive
>>8066>making filmsI started making no-budget shorts with my friends about a decade ago.
>film schoollmao no
Maybe I should have. I didn't have the patience/money. Plus I didn't want to learn how to make generic slop and get pushed into the system that requires conformity and bending the knee. I just wanted to make kino.
For the price of film school, you can just make your own films. You'll learn the practical side and you won't have to deal with film school fags
â„–8093[Quote]
>>8090Did you have to pay your cast or were they all willing to work for credit alone? How was the experience?
â„–8126[Quote]
>>8090yeah i hear a lot of conflicting info on film school and im trying to figure if its something i need to do but the fact youve been able to crate a feature film and submit it to a festival without school is pretty cool, it seems time is better spent on just going out and shooting
â„–8144[Quote]
>>8093I paid them. Not loads but slightly above nmw. If you don't pay, it's harder to get good actors and you can guarantee that actors you get will be unreliable.
I loved it. Being on set was incredible. I try and be quite chill and only work with people who seem chill. So occasionally I might be more of a dick because of stress/whatever but it was mostly just good vibes. And nothing compares to seeing your vision come to life in the way you intended.
>>8126The film industry is in a very dire situation at the moment. "Breaking in" as an outsider is near impossible and I would need pages to explain why fully.
If you want to make kino, do what I did. If you want to make money, go to film school and focus on something other than directing (producing is probably your best bet).
If you have your heart set on directing, then be prepared to spend your entire career in tv/commercials. The sliver of hope is that the industry is in such turmoil that everything will probably be completely different in 5 years time.
â„–8162[Quote]
>>8144so did you just have to teach yourself how to do everything over the years? any tips on how to get started?
â„–8179[Quote]
>>8144How did you build up financing for your film? Do you also wagecuck in a 9-5 or do you have wealthy parents or something?
â„–8198[Quote]
>>8162>so did you just have to teach yourself how to do everything over the years?Yeah actually.
>any tips on how to get started?Buy a cheap camera and mess around with it (use your phone if you're scared but I'd recommend buying a 2nd hand camera for 200 bucks even if it's raisintier quality just so that you get the experience with focusing and codecs etc, as well as the financial commitment). Take a scene from a film you really like (start with something simple like a conversation) and try and recreate it as best you can.
It will teach you how to use your camera, basics of lighting, basics of sound and basics of editing.
Or write a low-effort 2-minute short film where you're not worried about cliches or originality and just try and make it.
The best way to learn is by doing imo. It's 100x easier to come up with excuses as to why you can't do something than to just try and do it. The hardest step is the first etc etc.
>>8179I have a part time job. I've been working for years without much to spend it on except gear and stuff. And my parents still support me (housing, food). I can't really keep this up for much longer though. I won a real award for the first time recently but that doesn't pay the bills. I'm trying to decide whether or not to film again this winter or just throw in the towel.
If I throw in the towel then my dreams are dead. If I make another then that's another year+ commitment where I'm earning barely any money for potentially no return (and depleting what's left of my savings). And because this current film is still in its festival stage, I can't even make a decent prediction for what sort of financial return I might be looking at when it comes to distribution.
At some point I need to grow up. But also, those that make it only do so by never giving up.
â„–8228[Quote]
>>8198>At some point I need to grow up. How old are you?
>But also, those that make it only do so by never giving up.Good point.
â„–10378[Quote]
Why haven't you made YOUR movie yet, /tv/? What are you waiting for?
â„–10404[Quote]
I made two raisinty experimental films with friends and using my phone as a camera. Both are on YouTube and got rekt in several countries because of the music I used in a DJing sequence.
â„–10411[Quote]
Yes, pretty small time actor and voiceactor in germany.
â„–10460[Quote]
>>7826 (OP)yeah, i'm making a 3D animated movie right now and i directed people on how to do the voice acting.
â„–10466[Quote]
my friends used to film a lot of small time movies after they went to art high school and specialized in film. THey didn't wanna use me much but the few times they did I took it very seriously and learned all my lines, ended up feeling like I gave them more commitment that most other actors they got but they underappreciated my efforts
â„–10606[Quote]
>>7826 (OP)I was an extra in a student film because I was bored and thought it would be fun. I actually got to be two extras in different camera angles. It was fun to do but the final cut was kind of bad.
â„–12976[Quote]
Did stupid little short films shot on iphone with my friends in the summers while in middle school and early high school. When I moved to Los Angeles I did some extras work and PA work. Pretty good pay for just standing around, but it's boring as fuck.
â„–13113[Quote]
>>12976>Pretty good pay for just standing around, but it's boring as fuck.Back when I worked in film smart phones weren't a thing but I imagine it's infinitely more tolerable today sitting around for hours on end waiting if you have a smart phone in your pocket. There is so much waiting involved in film production. It's mind numbing.
â„–16069[Quote]
My friend made a short film for a film festival and I stood in the background of a scene. Sat through all the shorts and at the festival and can safely say that 99% of short films are worthless.
â„–16075[Quote]
>>16069>99% of short films are worthlessIt would be that at absolute minimum although I will say the sheer volume of absolute dograisin short films really does make a well-made one instantly stand out.
â„–16674[Quote]
>>16069It depends where you go but largely, yes, the festival scene is dire. There are some great shorts and low budget features that you'll only see there, there are also a countless number of pretentious wanks
â„–16736[Quote]
>>16674>the festival scene is direI don't remember it being so bad just 10-15 years ago or am I just remembering through rose-coloured glasses?
â„–16740[Quote]
>>16736You probably attended relatively better festivals. But yes, the scene has also changed drastically in the last ten years. Covid especially accelerated its decline.
â„–17486[Quote]
>>>16069
>pretentious wanks
That's the worst part of short films at fests. When I went to these, I enjoyed the high school film fests more because the majority were trying to be funny or amusing. Once they get into college or film school and watch pretentious art films, it's like they all try to mimic it and be all deep and serious. It's like they lose all soul and humor. Pretentious Tryhards ruin everything.
â„–18702[Quote]
>>7834I'm sort of invested in this now. Did the festival ever respond with a yes or no or did they just ghost you. It's been days. And can't you just put the feature on a streamer? There's like 500 streamers minimum now.
â„–21746[Quote]
>>7826 (OP)I once helped a friend re-write the script for his short film because he was horrible at communicating. Does that count? Never even bothered to watch the completed thing because he refused to put it on YouTube and had it password protected on Vimeo. People that use Vimeo over YouTube are insufferable.
â„–21777[Quote]
>>18702I'd also like to know.
â„–21778[Quote]
>>21746>he refused to put it on YouTube and had it password protected on VimeoIt's obviously not good if he's doing that.
â„–22158[Quote]
>>18702>>20906>>21777Yes!
So the notification was delayed a few days. And then they didn't inform for another day past the official date which had me spiralling in thoughts of negativity. But they accepted my film!
It's pretty fucking scary that my microbudget film will show next to films with budgets more than 10x as big. I won't say what the festival is because I'm paranoid but it's a mid-sized one in a large city that's been rising in relevance over the last few years so it's a pretty huge deal for me.
>And can't you just put the feature on a streamer?Yes and no. No (good) streamer works directly with filmmakers. You have to have a middleman. Additionally, without decent advertising/support, you're making a very very tiny amount of money from streaming once you get your film on there.
But the whole thing is underscored by distributors who are trying to scam you. There's more money to be made from scamming indie filmmakers than there is from curating decent films so it's a proper minefield.
â„–22199[Quote]
>>22158>There's more money to be made from scamming indie filmmakers than there is from curating decent filmsThis seems dubious.
â„–22285[Quote]
>>22199So when I say indie filmmakers, I mean outside the system with budgets of less than 100k.
The quality of films at that level is incredibly inconsistent. And it suffers from a huge problem of oversaturation as barriers to entry become smaller and smaller.
To make money from a film you need to get people to watch it. Either you sell/rent it to them, or you sell ads to show them while watching. Most people don't watch films of this budget though. Ask yourself when the last time you watched a film with no notable actors that was made for that little money without a large marketing campaign (if it got nominated for an oscar or spammed on /tv/, it had a large marketing campaign) (also horror is a huge outlier as a genre in general and is the reason why a lot of microbudget filmmakers make horror films so what I'm saying doesn't apply to horror films).
For smaller distributors, they've been used to curating films from this sea of raisin and making a quick buck off small views. Whether they promote it with other films, or just add it to pad out their catalogue, they specialise in figuring out how to make money from this side of the industry. But a few years ago things changed. It's hard to say exactly when as it wasn't a sudden thing. One company did it and then others followed. But roughly right before and after covid was the turning point.
Curating from this pile is difficult. It requires watching hours of absolute garbage and then coming up with marketing plans for the few films that are less garbage. However, a lot of these filmmakers are desperate and poor. They don't read contracts properly and don't have much legal power if you break the contract anyway. So the distributors realised that they can just steal people's films and not pay money for them or report the sales, knowing that the filmmaker has basically no recourse. If they're "above board", they can charge money for subtitles and marketing that they won't let the filmmaker do directly. They can come up with a thousand different ways to screw you over with zero consequence because the people they're dealing with are the dregs outside the system in the first place.
â„–22807[Quote]
>>22285Congratulations on your movie and the festival. Thanks for the insight and update. Have you tried FilmHub? They get your movie on Freevee, Pluto, Tubi, Amazon Prime and a few other streamer's sites and only take 15% of the revenue with no upfront cost. Tubi, for example, splits the ad revenue 50/50 with you and FilmHub gets 15% of your 50%. I've had a decent run with them. Tubi, Freevee and Pluto are like the 4, 6 and 7th largest streamers. So it's really hard to do better as an indie. They don't help with marketing campaigns though, so thats a negative. But they don't ask for much in the first place. Not sure if they work with foreign films, if you are not American.
â„–22809[Quote]
Does amateur porn count?
â„–22839[Quote]
>>22807Thanks man.
Filmhub used to be great
In the last 2 years they've descended into the same predatory crap as the other distributors.
>not accepting self-produced subtitles and charging an arm and a leg to do it themselves>charging you for all the stuff that used to be free (like basic customer service)>putting films on their youtube channel without asking the filmmakers>no longer letting filmmakers choose platforms to avoid in general>glitchy financials page that doesn't properly display anymore