And then there's sound. One of the really quick ways you can tell a low-budget film from a major studio film, other than the logo, is by the sound. We've decided that we're only going to be recording the voice on set. What that means is that all of the other sounds, from footsteps to car engines, from smart-phones buzzing to a fist slapping against skin, all that has to be recorded and synched after the fact.
Sound guy for over a decade here [1], and I am off to shoot another feature starting Saturday. This is emphatically not true. You record as much as humanly possible on set. Even if you layer and resync it afterwards, doing all that in post is crazy expensive. On your limited budget it's self-defeating. Engineering the room response of the real location in post is very time consuming compared to capturing your raw material on location.
I'm open to helping with this project (EDIT: but won't be in the Bay area or online much until after 12/18); it pains me to see someone tying their hands unnecessarily.
Ha! I doubt it, but I have the DVD in a box somewhere in the attic, I'll upload it when I get back. Edit: apparently it's on Netflix. I'm in the opening scene (in fact I have the first lines in the film), which is a good thing because it will spare you having to watch the rest of it.
I wasn't supposed to act in it; IIRC we were one actor short that day so I got drafted.
It's awful in so many ways. After I played the film for my wife she turned to me and said 'that's 2 hours of my life that I will never get back.' Good times :-)
Do you have any advice for someone looking to get involved (as an actor and/or a sound guy) with the Bay Area indie film scene? I was on a local mailing list for a couple years called "Low/No Budget films" or something but it seems to have fizzled.
Honestly, it's difficult. I have family ties here or I would have moved to LA 5 years ago; it's hard to make a living up here because there are relatively few productions and not much networking infrastructure.
You can check in with Film Arts Foundation in SF (9th street I think) who have some decent resources, but the best ways to get gigs are a) craigslist and b) lurk around the Academy of Art in SF, which is always churning out film students, and which is dominated by wannabe directors/cinematographers, which means few of the students are interested in or good at sound.
There's a couple of talent agents in SF; get some decent headshots and put them on file, plus FAF has a headshot file cabinet so you can put your face in there for free. Although I actually have a fair bit of acting training, it's never been my personal ambition and I don't consider myself all that photogenic so I've never tried to do that as my main job; it's just another thing I can do on an as-needed basis on a film set, like lighting or packing a truck. You need to be versatile to work in the indie scene.
Drop me a line near the end of the month, I like teaching.
Will do! I used to be pretty active in the sound scene (mostly live/acoustic recording) in the Bay but have been away for a couple years. I'm looking forward to returning and getting back into it. :)
Thanks for the tip. I'd love to talk more about getting good sound. Send me an email. jonathan at spiritusvult dot com. As far as it being expensive, I'll be doing all the post myself. I work cheap, for myself. ;)
This guy seems incredibly unprofessional. His writing style and grammar are totally off. I don't think I would trust his attention to detail for a movie on hacking.
I found the trailer to be a half-hearted affair. Not compelling at all. And I have a pressing question: Why this director and this project for this particular subject? He does not clarify why it should be he that makes this film. If anything, I get the impression he should be kept a mile away from the subject. I failed to see a review of his expertise or qualifications, other than being a video jock with some minor credits to his name. Not likely to get funded.
Adding in all of the computer screens in post-production to make sure you get the code right?
(1) Un-necessary (2) Expensive (3) No one really cares (4) If you know you're going to fuck it up, why not just plan and do it right the first time?
Very few people will pause a movie to read code, and those people are such a small demographic, that to make them a target audience to the point that you're willing to go off the deep end on the film budget seems absurd.
The reason I have to do it in post is because I don't have time to do it all correct before we start filming (scheduling and all). While it would be expensive, normally, I'll be doing all the post myself, so it's free. My target demographic really does care; that's why they're backing the movie in the first place.
This could be a great idea - or not. The Kickstarter pitch lost me in the first section (I did skim the rest), and the video lost me at "Plato".
I would have thought that Kickstarter respondents would be likely to embrace the idea of a movie depicting what a hacker really is, but along with that we need a great story, a great plot. Perhaps that was in the video.
Honestly, there's a lot of potential for a great story within that theme. The video was entertaining even if the reference to plato was a little cliched. I'm backing it.
Having directed in the festival scene for a while, I respect the amount of energy and passion it takes to realize this kind of project. I think the concept looks great, and I'd like to offer two friendly suggestions concerning your pitch.
First, as others here have pointed out, you should define and limit the scope of "hacking," as it relates to your story. Maybe consider how your movie will complement (or intentionally contradict) the growing role of cyber-security in current news and events. You seem to have a firm grasp of the abstract concepts that you want to explore, which is great. That said, prospective investors will be more likely to donate if they sense that your project has a concrete lead linked to real, specific issues. (I'm not saying you need to have it all figured out now; your plot can still evolve as you do more research and writing.)
Second, the adage "Show, Don't Tell" came to mind as I was watching the pitch video. Rather than telling how you're going to make the movie — i.e. who's operating the camera, writing and acting — you might consider diving into the topics that your film will explore. (To be fair, you did that a little with the Plato reference, but I'm thinking of something more immediate and less abstract.) By leisurely introducing the characters in this way, you may lose donors with short attention spans.
Anyhow, that's just my take. I took some time offer feedback because I think the project as a whole looks amazing. I look forward to hearing about production and seeing the finished product.
Thanks for that. I'd love to talk more about your festival experiences, as it's one route I'm debating on. Send me an email: jonathan at spiritusvult dot com. Thanks.
I see it as an existential test. If you ping localhost, and it doesn't answer, is anything at all real anymore? ARE we living in a DREAM?? IISS ITt 4LL MANOFACTURED TROoTH????
They seem to be on the right track as far as threat aspect. Unfortunately, the fundraising probably won't make it in time.
The truth about a "hacker" is not the scripts they run or, the code they bash on the keyboard.
It is the lifestyle & the methodology that drives every thought the enters their minds. They think by scale, from the smallest fundamental interaction of electrons and strings, to the largest interaction between information networks(such as the multiverse itself) too the human brains great quantum-electrochemical neural exchange.
Some, even possess the ability to bring into existence new forms of conscious entities such as artificial intelligence.
Hackers as a collective whole, have a choice, and a responsibility.
When the world goes flat, we make sure the Earth still has reason to spin around.
You're very right about hackers. It's a mindset. I just found this project a few days ago, but I think Jonathan Schiefer gets this basic notion. Here's an interview that shows this quite clearly.
http://youtu.be/o9iS0Khm7XA
His reason for making this film is to show how empowering the hacker way of thinking is, that great things are possible with the right mindset
I think he did pick the right word. At first the "hacking" vs "cracking" term thing came to my mind too. However, seeing him talk about hacking being about seeing the world in a certain way, finding something you want to change and then doing it without the need to ask permission.
This film does involve cracking, but these characters from what I can see are true hackers as well. In the Bitchan interview, she may be a phreeker, but she's also definitely a maker.
Root kit which can monitor your email and social networks.
Oh no! Are you telling me that someone can read my plain text emails or check my facebook for what I publicly post there!?
I really wish the script would be made available to potential backers. If I liked the writing I might be inclined to contribute to the project.
What would be the downside of publishing the script for a film that is trying to get social funding like this? The script is copyrighted, registered with script guild, etc. is there something to worry about?
Sound guy for over a decade here [1], and I am off to shoot another feature starting Saturday. This is emphatically not true. You record as much as humanly possible on set. Even if you layer and resync it afterwards, doing all that in post is crazy expensive. On your limited budget it's self-defeating. Engineering the room response of the real location in post is very time consuming compared to capturing your raw material on location.
I'm open to helping with this project (EDIT: but won't be in the Bay area or online much until after 12/18); it pains me to see someone tying their hands unnecessarily.
1. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1961377/