Wednesday, March 31, 2010

FILMMAKING: STORY - THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A MOVIE... NO!

 As an #extremeindie filmmaker - you are probably going to hear all the time during your career - story is the most important thing - well - I'm here to tell you - NO - it's not!  





Here is why:


I'm just sayin'

 Please be sure to sign up as a member and show some movie love - and - be sure to follow The Making of a Horror Film by Oklahoma Ward - a video blog covering the process of the movie - from script to distribution.

Stay creative extremeindie fans/filmmakers ;-)


I'm just sayin'

Oklahoma Ward

11 comments:

  1. several good statements in this one

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  2. ..........

    That was me with my jaw open.

    Ok, I am looking forward to the next video to elaborate on what a distributing consultant WILL do for you when you are merely starting your script. I could throw 100 questions at you now but I am going to exercise patience and wait for the next videos.

    Since you've been there before, and learned from that experience, and are taking this route I figure it's gotta be wise.

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  3. Hey - Steve - feel free to ask away - if I can get to it here and don't have it covered in a future post - I'll try and knock it out right here - and if I do have it covered in a future video I'll simply state that's gonna' be covered in more detail next week - but - here's one thing a consultant will do for ya:

    Explain simply everything that will be needed for your project to get where you - the extreme indie filmmakers - wants to be. Another words - if you walk into a consultant's office and state: I want to make a movie that is on major screens across America - your consultant will simply state - OK - here is what it takes for a non-studio made feature film to get picked up by a major studio and/or distributor: this - this - and this (and usually they will state things like - SCENARIO ONE: major talent and major awards from these three film festivals w/a huge online following/fan base with a direct tie-in with Star Wars fanboys ets - OR SCENARIO TWO: a major critically acclaimed story from a book w/film festival awards by major festivals and critics backing etc w/a no critically accepted talent based actors and on and on - the good thing is they will state multiple scenarios within your goals - BUT - within each goal - scenarios that MUST be fulfilled - or your goals for the film that YOU stated you wanted for your film - will not be met in any way shape or form. It's then up to you - the indie filmmaker - to decide if another goal may be better for your film - like - ok - well what about if I want to get the movie in art house theaters and self distribute - then your consultant will state different scenarios that you must meet.

    A good consultant causes the indie filmmaker to realistically look at where they are and what they need to achieve to get the results that the filmmaker sets for themselves and the film.

    The first thing my consultant said to me was - before we begin - what do you want do with your movie - I was like - ummmm sell it - he said OK - and as we sat in silence for a moment - I then stated - well - I would like to get it in theaters - to which he stated - where - in the US - overseas - art house - where? I was like - umm..... durrrr - we then went on to a long conversation - and I realized - just as you HAVE to film your movie KNOWING where you want your movie to be seen - (decides what format to make your movie) - it also must be in mind - WHAT do I want realistically to be done with the movie - do I want to just sell it and I don't care if it has a theater run - do I want to get major distributors to buy it - do I want to self-distribute - etc.... in conclusion:
    A GOOD consultant will tell you exactly where you stand - make you face the reality of what you actually need to get where you want to be - and that slaps a lot of filmmakers in the face with the - but I thought if I just made a good movie - it'd all be taken care of - that's just not the case.

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  4. My view is independent film making is different from the way films were made before and after many years I'm only beginning to realise this. Are they any better or any worse - I dont know, its early days yet and maybe it doesn't matter anyway. However one of things which is important and which you talk about is that if you dont have a budget to ... See Moreemploy people to carry out certain traditional film making tasks, you have to know how to do those jobs even if it is on an elementary level. Otherwise the film just wont get made and that would be a shame. The more you know about lighting, editing, graphics,distribution and everything else, the better. It will stimulate and facilitate the whole creative process in any case, even if you do have a good budget.
    If I have understood you correctly, I think you are right about distribution as being part of the story telling/creative process. Relating to your audience and having them relate to you is part of the creative process, it can help your work to be better.That doesn't mean manipulating the film the way you think an audience might like it.Its more subtle than that. By listening to other people you can often find out a lot about your own creativity, there's nothing wrong in that and you dont have to throw away your idea or feeling of how you think things should be.
    If I sound all knowledgable about this, the reality is I'm only recently starting to find out this stuff myself.
    I was looking at some of the comments which directly answer to your original post on Facebook. I think people think too much in terms of hierarchies about these things, that this part of the film making process is more important than another.Its much more fluid than that.
    The other point you make - that you can use the information you have about your audience and potential audience is very important. Before you had things like social networking sites or the Internet, you would have to rely on distributors information about an audience - they had all the information, the charts, the inside knowledge etc, they were the expert. Now as you have rightly said, potentially you can collect your own information and approach a distributor or consultant or whatever and you already have something to offer them - potential audience figures or at the very minimum some kind of interest and where it can be found. Firstly it shows that you are not helpless. Secondly it gives you some kind of independence, some valuable cards in your hand however weak it might be so that you have other options if things dont work out. Thirdly it makes sense to cooperate and work with people and share information with them which will be to your benefit and the benefit of the film. It also cuts down on the resentment people used to feel towards distributors for always having an advantage over the film maker due to their privileged access to information. Theoretically the balance is tending to shift towards the film maker a bit more and distributors are starting to be more open minded in relation to film makers. Independents should take advantage of that situation if they see the chance.

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  5. All pretty much right on the nose C' - it is as if - for extreme indie films - we have in fact become our own studio - not by choice - but because it's what has to be done. There will always be Hollywood and the "old" way of doing things. It works for them well - they will never change - and not sure they should. Then one has Independent Films - which I think is way different than Extreme Independent Films. Independent films will always be - but where they differ is such - My Big Fat Greek Wedding was an Indie - but backed by Tom Hanks wife - MOON was Indie but backed by major money - now with this onslaught of people having access to equipment for next to nothing - we have literally thousands of people that have no industry connections whatsoever - making movies - trying to connect to an audience and find a platform to showcase their work - and at first all they had was the same film festivals that pitted them up against Hollywood backed stars and Independent films back by heavyweights within the industry - Extreme Indies don't stand a chance - especially if you add in the fact that even Hollywood backed Indies and Indies winning film festivals are not being bought up by distributors - and I see the industries side - why gamble all the money it takes to promote a film - and bank it on an Extreme Indie that comes with no built in audience - as a Hollywood film with actors and an Indie with critical acclaim etc does. It's a financial gamble either way of course - but the odds are always better with a movie with backing be it studio/money/ star power etc - tie-ins. So - where does that leave s - the Extreme Indie Filmmaker - out in the yard holding our DVD lol- and so it's either show the movie to your uncle and sell a few hundred copies out of pocket - OR - take control and build ones own audience and work with platforms that are popping up everywhere - it's in the begging stage I feel - changing daily - hourly even - tech moves fast these days - but jumping on the train and building an audience is one thing that will help no matter what platform an Extreme Indie FIlmmaker can/or wants to be a part of.....

    .......continued in next comment!

    I'm just sayin'

    Oklahoma Ward

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  6. continued from above comment........

    In fact I would almost go as far as saying - it's the one single thing they HAVE to do - besides making sure the film stands up to scrutiny and the talking can be heard on screen lol ;-) I tried all the usual paths on my first feature film - buying into the fantasy of - hey I made movie - it's good - I'll get it picked up - and then slam - I ran into a wall - and believe you me - if I know nothing else about me much - I do know that I work my ass off - and I thought to myself - why am I not getting this film where it needs to be - after a year of spending a lot of money and time and getting nowhere -learning things such as my film was up against MOON for one category in a film festival - and hell - that's a no brainer on what film the film festival is going to take - they have to make money and survive and gain an audience - I understand - anyway - I finally got to sit down with a credible distribution consultant - Peter Broderick - who in about 15 minutes showed me all the mistakes I had made - where I went wrong and what needed to happen - which would take about 12 to 16 months to correct - and it all had to do with implementing a plan of P&R and action on the distribution path - it takes a ton of work and planning - that should have started with day 1 of the script - anyway - what he and I decided to do is something I will talk about in future videos - but I can share this - if one is making an Extreme Indie Movie - and is not working on building an audience for the release of the film - it's going nowhere. One main reason - every other movie that one is competing with - Hollywood and backed Indies - ARE doing this - and when that audience person walks up to decide which movie to rent/watch/talk about - they are gonna move/buy/interact/talk about/watch - the movie they have been following for the last 8 months - not the one that they have heard nothing about whatsoever - and it really is that simple in a way.

    I'm just sayin'

    Oklahoma Ward

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  7. Wait - I thought the actors were the most important part of the movie... it's all about us - right? ;) lol

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  8. Well - lol - Nikki - truth is - while there is a lot of truth in what is stated in the video above - there is no doubt some tongue in cheek there - and - without-a-doubt - actors - by name recognition alone can and do carry huge weight - for an actor with a name can absolutely garner immediate attention and distribution and finances - no matter how bad the story or movie is - how many of us rented a movie late at night going - well - it has so and so in it - how bad can it be - then we find out - it's just plain horrible ;-/

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  9. Well you answered a pretty good chunk of wondering with that response about the Distribution Consultant. Thank you. I'll wait for the videos for the rest.

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  10. Well, I still think a good story is always an asset to a movie or tv or whatever. I realize some movies that have scared me or kept me intrigued have not always had the great story too but certainly would be nice to have both. There was an old movie I would put in the bottom category as far as name actors, Great story, fantastic movie sets, and so on. The movie scared me to death. Maybe it was a primeval fear it aroused but believe me, it worked. It was based loosely on a true period in Africa when drought and food shortage caused lions to become extra aggressive to humans living in the area. A household family living out in the wilds was surrounded by a large group of lions, which began to systematically pick off the humans and eat them. The 3 or 4 people left were barricaded in one room together and realized they must fight to get to the family car parked outside and drive away to survive. Their solution was to tie bed springs and mattresses together and sandwich themselves as a group and walk to the car among the very hungry lions. Terrifying!! Reminded me of the same feeling caused in movie with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin where they are being stalked by one huge bear in the Alaskan wilds and can't escape him. Hopkins says to Baldwin, the only way we can survive is to kill the bear (no guns of course) or we will be killed and eaten by him. I just wanted to say, if I was Baldwin, "But I don't want to fight and kill a big bear with my bare hands!!!". Then there is the old original, Night of the Walking Dead. Lets face it, that was no multi multi megabucks big name movie and look at the results! Not only was it scary as the devil, but it set off many serials and remakes that, believe it or not, were even scary to watch!! Sometimes there are small movies made that create a mood and a feeling to the viewer that is great. They probably weren't even really popular but something in them worked. Alec Guiness starred in a little movie where he played a vacuum cleaner salesman raising a daughter in South America. He needs money and is approached to become an information spy for Britain. He does for the extra money but doesn't do any spying, just draws elaborate blown up sketches of parts of the vacuum cleaners which fools Big Ben completely. Ernie Kovaks plays the villian, Chief of Police, after the daughter. When someone gets killed, Alec realizes his game of foolery has gone out of bounds and so on. But something in that movie was wonderful. The mood set, the feeling of being there, maybe Guiness's great talent, but whatever, I loved that movie. Well, back to the drawing board. Keep working on your movie and get it going!!

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