ISSUE 40

2.99

YOUR NEW GUIDE TO INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING

SHOOTING

SCI-FI

Making a champion
Creative director Klaus Pederson
reveals his top tips and tricks

We get spaced out on

location in Lincolnshire

Rustic rampage

Behind the scenes of a very

quirky new countryside thriller

Monster machine

American filmmaker Seth Breedlove

talks about his latest horror project

Cutting edge

Budding producer James Owen

offers essential tips for audition days

The material man

Why one man took over twenty

years to make his documentary

Smart thinking

How to shoot a film with high

production values for pennies

kit to get started

SHOGUN INFERNO

COOKE PANCHRO

Filmmaker
Sean J Vincent
tackles another
crop of your
questions on
kit and much
more...

CANON XC15

SMALLHD 1303

Power play

David Tittone charts his

path into indie filmmaking

CANON EOS M5

SARAMONIC MIXMIC

PLUS: DIRECTOR INTERVIEWS / LOCATION SHOOTS / PRODUCTION ADVICE

NEWS & LATEST KIT / STUDENT PERSPECTIVE / FILMMAKING TIPS & TRICKS

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Welcome to

ISSUE 40

2.99

YOUR NEW GUIDE TO INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING

SHOOTING

Making a champion

SCI-FI

Creative director Klaus Pederson

reveals his top tips and tricks

We get spaced out on

location in Lincolnshire

ISSUE 40

Rustic rampage

Behind the scenes of a very

quirky new countryside thriller

Monster machine

Welcome to issue 40 of Digital FilmMaker. Well, its now a

couple of issues since weve been all digital and things have
settled down a bit. Im glad to say that a large proportion of
you have decided to move over from the print version and
thats great news. I think youll agree that, in terms of value,
you get quite a lot for what amounts to the price of a coffee.
Nevertheless, Im also keen to hear how your experiences
have been, both with the purchasing procedure and also the
end result once youve downloaded it. Last issue went down
a storm, thanks to us covering the world of women in film and
some healthy social promotion from our friends, including
Philip Bloom. I must say thanks again to Emma Dark, who
wrote the main feature and whose tireless efforts remain an
inspiration to us all. It can feel like a lonely world when you
spend your evenings and nights producing a labour of love like
this magazine. Emma is in the same boat, with so much of her
time given over to filmmaking and everything that comes with
it. However, I know shes not alone because everybody who
contacts us has a similar tale to tell. Filmmaking can be a hard
slog, but to repeat a phrase I hear a lot these days, if it was
easy everybody would be doing it. Issue 41 is out on the 24th of
November, so see you then.

Rob Clymo

American filmmaker Seth Breedlove

talks about his latest horror project

Cutting edge

Budding producer James Owen

offers essential tips for audition days

The material man

Why one man took over twenty

years to make his documentary

Smart thinking

How to shoot a film with high

production values for pennies

kit to get started

SHOGUN INFERNO

COOKE PANCHRO

Filmmaker
Sean J Vincent
tackles another
crop of your
questions on
kit and much
more...

CANON XC15

Power play

David Tittone charts his

path into indie filmmaking

CANON EOS M5

SMALLHD 1303

SARAMONIC MIXMIC

PLUS: DIRECTOR INTERVIEWS / LOCATION SHOOTS / PRODUCTION ADVICE

NEWS & LATEST KIT / STUDENT PERSPECTIVE / FILMMAKING TIPS & TRICKS

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Digital FilmMaker

Contents
ISSUE 40

10

Star gazing
8. Digital FilmMaker news

32. Cutting edge

54. Ask the filmmaker

The lowdown on the latest developments

from the world of digital video filmmaking

Budding producer James Owen is back with

another instalment of his filmmaking diary

Professional filmmaker Sean J Vincent tackles

another round of your kit and career questions

10. Star gazing

36. The material man

60. Smart thinking

Daz Scales is back with a sci-fi extravaganza

in the shape of Darkwave - Edge of the Storm

Ed Surname is the man behind this madcap

documentary project that spans twenty years

Nick Parker talks about his film Switch that

boasts high production values on a budget

18. Rustic rampage

42. Gold diggers

66. Power play

Luke Jeffrey makes his return to filmmaking

with an offbeat project about Morris dancing

Richard Wright talks about his fine series of

documentaries tracing the Canadian gold rush

Film producer David Tittone explains why he

decided to make the leap into indie movies

24. Monster machine

48. Making a champion

72. Flying high

American filmmaker Seth Breedlove talks

about his creepy horror Boggy Creek Monster

Creative director Klaus Pedersen reveals the

secrets for making a professional-level doc

Alex Secker is a filmmaker who has been busy

working on his new project Follow the Crows

18

Rustic rampage

Digital FilmMaker

24

Monster machine

32

Cutting edge

Subscribe and
save today!
Get Digital FilmMaker at
www.dfmmag.com
Turn to page

110

36

The material man

42

78

Gold diggers

Lost horizons

78. Lost horizons

99. New kit

111. Hot 40 indie films

Filmmaker James Twyman is the director of

brand new science-fiction romp Invasion Earth

We pick through a whole host of the latest

hardware from cameras through to gimbals

We pick out 40 or so of the current most

talked about and anticipated new indie films

84. The student perspective

107. Next month

Glenn Harris talks about his time spent

studying film production at Sunderland Uni

Make sure you make a note of the date when

the next action-packed issue hits the stores

91. Hardware advice

108. Back issues

We take a look at all of the latest kit plus

people who keep the industry ticking over

Complete your collection of Digital FilmMaker

magazine with this overview of whats available

92. Interview with a pro

110. Digital subscriptions

We take an inside look behind the scenes of

leading American lighting company Fiilex

Get Digital FilmMaker the easy way. Take out

a digital subscription and save money too

60

Smart thinking

66

Power play

72

Flying high
Digital FilmMaker

Digital FilmMaker

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016

News

A quickfire round-up of the latest film and video kit happenings

DIGITAL HERO
Panasonic will release its allnew LUMIX GH5 early in 2017.
Capable of recording smooth,
high-precision 4K 60p/50p and
faithful 4:2:2 10-bit 4K video,
it will also offer 6K PHOTO
functionality, which extracts
approximately 18-megapixel still
images from ultra high-quality
video with around 9 times the
pixel count of Full-HD. Its a
timely follow up to the incredibly
popular GH4, which has been
a huge hit for Panasonic and
embraced by the filmmaking
community right the way around
the globe. www.panasonic.com

RED HOT
RED has
announced the
RED EPIC-W and
new WEAPON
cameras. The
latter captures
8K Full Frame
motion at 60 frames per
second (fps) and ultra-detailed
35.4-megapixel stills. It supports
simultaneous Redcode Raw
capture with Apple ProRes or
Avid DNxHD/HR. Meanwhile,
the EPIC-W 8K camera supports
REDs commitment to putting
industry-leading cinema tools
in the hands of many. EPIC-W
captures 8K Full Frame motion at
up to 30 fps and is also capable
of simultaneous Apple ProRes or
Avid DNxHD/HR recording. Its
competitively priced at a cool
$29,500. www.red.com

Digital FilmMaker

STAR TURN

STEADY SHOT

Sony has unveiled the a99 II,

featuring a full-frame 4D Focus:
Innovative Hybrid Phase Detection
AF system with accurate 79
hybrid cross AF points enabled by
79-point dedicated and 399-point
focal-plane AF sensors and
continuous

ProMediaGear has introduced

the Katana Junior Aluminum
Gimbal Head, which has been
created to provide the ultimate
marriage between size, weight and
functionality. Its strong enough
to support any telephoto or large
lens yet is portable enough to be
backpacked. Manufactured out
of rigid T6061
aluminum
for strength
and general
durability with
a hard anodized
matte black finish,
it features a natty
independent locking pan and tilt
knobs plus an standard 3/8-16
mount. www.promediagear.com

shooting
at up to
12fps. The a99 II offers internal
4K movie recording featuring full
pixel readout, without pixel binning
and is capable of capturing high
quality footage at 100Mbps for 4K
recording. Theres a new Slow
and Quick mode plus features
designed for a professional movie
production including picture
profiles, time code and HDMI clear
output. www.sony.co.uk

APP REVAMP
Manfrotto recently announced
the launch of Digital Director
App V 2.1, new Digital Director
models compatible with iPad
Pro and iPad mini 4 and new
accessories including a semirigid case, sunhood and frames.
Features and functions include
an Intervalometer plus time
lapse set up, bracketing, highprecision control step focus,
optional continuous auto-play
and simplified workflow. Digital
Director costs 249.95.
www.manfrotto.co.uk

MINI MOVIES
Sony has also launched the
RX100 V featuring Fast Hybrid AF,
AF drive speed and AF tracking
sensitivity. In 4K mode, the
camera utilises full pixel readout
without pixel binning. High-quality
results are achieved through use
of the XAVC S codec. Additional
features include Picture Profile,
S-Log2 /S-Gamut, 100p HD Full
HD mode and more besides. Its
also able to record
super-slow motion
video at up to 40x
slower than
the standard
rate. www.
sony.co.uk

COMPACT AUDIO
Tascam has launched the new
DR-10L, an ultra-compact digital
recorder/lavalier microphone
combination. The included wired
lavalier microphone is affixed
via a 1/8 screw-down lock
connector, which is compatible
with most Sennheiser lavalier
mics. The DR-10L can also be
mounted to each on-camera
actor, removing the need for
inconvenient booms or wires.
www.tascam.com

NEW MEMORY
Lexar has announced a new
256GB capacity Lexar HighPerformance 633x microSDXC
UHS-I (U3) memory card.
Designed for sports camcorders,
tablets, and smartphones, the
card has read transfer speeds
up to 95MB per second and can
capture more than 36 hours of
HD video, some 67,600 photos
or 58,100 songs. The microSDXC
card comes with a USB 3.0
reader, which allows for quick and
easy file transfer from the card to
a PC or Mac computer. The card
includes a limited lifetime warranty
and a one-year limited warranty for
the USB 3.0 reader. The new card
will be available shortly priced at
246.99. www.lexar.com

STAR

GAZING

Its been a while since weve seen filmmaker

Daz Scales in these pages but now hes back
with his science-fiction extravaganza called
Darkwave Edge of the Storm

Filmmaker Daz Scales has

featured in the magazine before,
way back when after hed just
finished producing Drift. That
film was a sci-fi too, but looking
at his follow-up, Darkwave
Edge of the Storm, the
progress that has been made is
staggering to say the least. Over
the course of nearly 25 minutes,
this brand new short leaves you
slack-jawed at the production

10

Digital FilmMaker

values and the professional look

and feel of proceedings. It really
is a visual treat and all credit has
to go to Daz and his team for
making it happen. Weve worked
really hard to make a short film
with high production values and a
small budget, Daz agrees. The
challenge of every independent
filmmaker really. We recruited
the best amateur volunteers as
well as professionals who worked

incredibly hard across the whole

production.

Quality locations
And, dont think for one minute
that Daz and his crew took the
easy option and did the bulk of the
film in a cozy studio using green
screen to transport them to where
they needed to be. Nope, Daz
and Co. found awesome locations
toad lots of meat to the bone, and

the effort has transformed the

film from a low-budget, smallscale effort into a thing of, well,
big-budget proportions. Another
independent production challenge
was that we filmed entirely on
location, he grins. In a field,
where there was no power. We
had all the logistical issues of
transporting set and crew into
the middle of nowhere, filming at
the mercy of the weather and in a

Star gazing
bunker over 60 years old, which
was a challenge to say the least.
The planning and preparation
was extensive, but working with
a dedicated team made all the
difference. We aimed to produce
a film that would hopefully
extend beyond the traditional
conventions and limitation of a
low-budget short. The aim of
the film is to demonstrate more
the story, the background and
the possibilities of the Darkwave
universe, rather than just
showing we can make a one-off
film.

Making progress
There has clearly been a lot
of thought put into the project
and the results are clear to see
for themselves. Meanwhile, the
storyline continues a theme set
up with the work Daz has already
done on his earlier projects.
Edge of The Storm expands

but where does the films

concept originate and whats the
underlying theme of the project?
Okay, heres the pitch
chuckles Daz. One hundred
years from now, the Darkwave has
left mankind stranded across the
galaxy. On a distant planet, New
Earth 72, a young family is on the
run, escaping from the clutches
of the Ministry. David, Sarah, and
their young son Ben, stumble
across a burning outpost. Starving

screen for a couple of seconds.

However, I worked closely with

We aimed to
produce a film
that would extend
beyond traditional
conventions
my two VFX artists, discussing
how far we could push the limits
in terms of texturing, movement
and detail, and it soon became
clear that we could have a fully
fleshed spaceship that graphically
looked impressive, and so I
expanded the ending of the story.
We hear two voices from inside
the Phoenix (Jason and Star), and
they play an important part in the
future of the franchise...

Stylish edge
Some useful contacts helped Daz
move things along nicely once
he was into pre-production and
it is clear to see that this is a film
that benefits from having some
seasoned professionals to tweak
things along the way. I wrote the
story, directed and co-produced

Edge of the Storm along with

Nick Long from Turtle Canyon
Films, furthers Daz. The script
was written by Dominic Bright
and Sue Morris who also wrote
the script for The Drift. The film
stars Nathalie Cox (Juno Eclipse Force Unleashed), Shane Rimmer
(Scott Tracy - Thunderbirds). We
managed to recruit professionals
from around the UK as well as
local crew from the University
of Lincoln to complete the
ensemble.
So then, we know the basis
of this film is science-fiction,

and fatigued, they risk capture to

stop and search for supplies, only
to discover the terrifying cause
of the outposts destruction.
More dark secrets are revealed
before a deafening noise of an
approaching starfighter forces
them to seek escape. As the
ominous machine hovers above,
the Ministrys reason for hunting

upon the Universe set up in The

Drift, which was our feature film
completed in 2014, he explains.
Initially, Edge of The Storm was
planned to be filmed in 2013
but The Drift - with over 1400
visual effects shots to complete
- meant it was pushed back to
2015. Whilst frustrating at the
time, this worked in our favour
as it allowed us to create a more
developed story with deeper
subtext and also enhance
and better our CGI skills. The
Phoenix, for example, which is
the starfighter seen in the final
sequence of Edge of the Storm,
was only planned to be on

Digital FilmMaker

11

them is spectacularly revealed.

Bold storyline
Its a bold plot that really comes
alive thanks to those quality
production values and the idea
is one that has developed over
time. Watching the film back
today, its easy to see that there
has been much thought put into
proceedings. I drafted the story
and pushed it to Dominic Bright
to write the first draft, says the
filmmaker. After some more
developments, I handed the story
to my lead script writer Sue Morris
who tied it all together. There
were some additional scenes
with Anderson (Shane Rimmer)
and also the Phoenix at the end,
12

Digital FilmMaker

where I added some dialogue.

Most of the influences came
from the Darkwave backstory,
but specifically, much of the style
and functionality in the settings
is a combination of 80s TV and
my experiences in the Royal Air
Force. The flight dynamics of
the Phoenix were very specific.
The costumes literally all came
from my own old RAF kit! The
production was divided into
two key areas: Lincolnshire
and Pinewood Studios. My
role was primarily focused on
pre-production, which included
recruitment of crew, casting, props
and scheduling. My co-producer
Nick Long, lead on cameras,
grip and unit management as

well as some post-production

elements including grading, final
sound mix and print. I oversaw
the VFX process. One of the key
differences between this and my
previous productions was having

The production
was divided into
two key areas:
Lincolnshire and
Pinewood Studios
a unit manager and production
coordinator (Kasia Nicklin) on
location, as previously I would
have fulfilled those roles as well as
direct. This time, however, during

principal photography I was able

to fully focus on directing the cats
and worrying closely with the DP.

Effective budget
Watching this thing back you
certainly wouldnt expect it to be
a low-budget film in the traditional
sense. Darkwave has the look and
feel of something big, and really
has the potential to develop into
something even more grandiose
if the pennies stretch that far in
the future. At least thats how it
comes across. The entire film
was self-funded out of my own
pocket, furthers Daz. Production
budget was estimated at 4,500,
but was increased to 5,000
upon release (music licensing).

Star gazing
Options such as crowdfunding
were considered, but the time
and effort it would have taken to
gain a fan base, and then hope to
raise the money, was expected
to be more exhausting than going
to work and earning the money!
We shot with the Arri Amira and
a whole range of lenses. It was
a massive leap for us given that
our previous film was shot with
DSLRs and a Sony EX1. It would
also explain why Nick wouldnt let
me touch the cameras! We also
relied extensively on wireless clip
mics to capture the sound with a
live sound mixer on location; this
saved us an enormous amount of
time in post.

Profile building
Its very early to tell, but I
personally feel its the best project
I have completed, reckons Daz
when asked where he think it sits
alongside his other filmmaking
work to date. My earlier films
concentrated on spoofs and
fan films that I produced under
the production company name
Backyard Productions, which

says it all. From a young boy, my

brother and I made short films in
the backyard, though Im pleased
to say the production value has
definitely improved! The Drift was
a film I really wanted to make, to
show that we were capable of
writing, directing and producing
a feature length sci-fi film, and
thats received nearly half a million

I wanted to take
my filming to the
next level and thats
why I created a
23-minute short
views on YouTube, which I never
expected wed get. Following on
from the success of The Drift, I
wanted to take my filming to the
next level and thats why I created
a 23-minute short; I wanted the
film to be visually more cinematic
and ambitious and hopefully

Digital FilmMaker

13

has commercial value. It would be

great to have Darkwave picked up
as a series. Weve run a marketing
campaign on our Twitter site and
have trebled our followers in the
last few weeks. We have also been
on a couple of podcasts from the
USA, so we hope the film will be
well received.

Marketing machine
Daz talks with that quintessentially
British quality of understating his

Its astonishing
how hard it is to
get someone to
share something on
Facebook

demonstrate the Darkwave Universe

is commercially viable.

Moving forwards
Daz certainly seems to be doing
everything right in terms of getting
the script and production just as he
wants it and hooking himself up with
the right people into the bargain.
This does have the look and feel of
an idea that could, quite literally, run
and run. So, where will Darkwave
take him next one wonders? The
film has now been released online
for free, Daz explains, highlighting a
move that seems almost incredible
when you clap eyes on the film
for the first time. Surely this is too
good a project to just give away,
right? The aim is to get as many
people to see the film as possible, to
hopefully demonstrate the franchise

14

Digital FilmMaker

project. There are thousands of

films out there vying for attention,
but if any one deserves to get a
push it is this offering. For the
most part we will be promoting like
other filmmakers, he says. We
are focusing more on our audience
engagement then perhaps on
festivals and friends and family,
given that the audience we dont
know is bigger and, ultimately,
where we will gain commercial
success. But it is tough and will
take time. Its astonishing how
hard it is to get someone to
share something on Facebook.
Edge of the Storm has been a
full time labour of love though.
We are looking at producing a
full storyboard comic and we are
working on the next story Phoenix

Star gazing

Digital FilmMaker

15

Star gazing
already converts to its charms.
The filmmaker is also very active
establishing links with other likeminded individuals who all want
to collaborate on future offerings.
Its extremely competitive, he
says. Im in contact with other
filmmakers almost on a weekly
basis, the constant challenge
between good story telling visual
effects and exposure makes it
an extremely competitive and
active environment. It also makes
me highly motivated to push
Darkwave forward. Edge of the

Rising, which we already have a

script for, but are now developing
characters and plotlines more.
The fundamental difference
between Phoenix Rising and
Edge of the Storm is that Phoenix
Rising is being pitched as a fully
commercial production requiring
significant investment. It is hoped
that Edge of the Storm will act as
a calling card to investors. Weve
been lucky enough to receive help
from individuals established in the
industry who have helped guide
us through the processes required
to take it further. I guess now its
up to us.

Passion project
As is the case with anything, being
passionate about the subject
matter has made all the difference
and is, perhaps, the reason why
Daz has gone the extra mile
with this particular project. Ive

16

Digital FilmMaker

grown up with science-fiction

since I was a child, explains the
filmmaker. The majority of my
films have always been sciencefiction based; I especially love
science-fiction set in space and
the freedom that provides for
the writer and the imagination,
its unrivalled. Edge of the Storm
and the Darkwave Universe is
firmly influenced from sci-fi hits
such as Battlestar Galactica, Star
Trek with a touch of Star Wars.
That said, situation comedy is
something I have worked on in
the past and would like to develop
further but with a science fiction
twist. Ive often thought about
creating a comedy on sci-fi
fandom which would be cool.

Bigger picture
In the meantime Daz, like
everyone else, has his work
cut out raising the profile of
this latest project, but there are

Storm has been released online

for free to gain maximum audience
as possible. So, in terms making
money, signed off investment for
future productions would be the
aim. Darkwave is my future in
filmmaking and storytelling. For
now, its the only thing I want to
do! Darkwave as a concept has
been developed since 2009 and,
having made spoofs and parodies
in the past, I really want to focus
on this franchise to give it the best
possible chance of it obtaining a
commercial future. n

RUSTIC
Luke Jeffery makes his return to
the low-budget filmmaking front
with his quirky new thriller that
documents the dark underbelly of
Morris dancing

Theres something inherently cinematic about

Morris dancing, reckons filmmaker Luke Jeffrey,
commenting on the olde world pastime that
involves strange hats, weird footwear and lots of
sticks. Throw in a few beards and tankards and youve
got something that could only be witnessed here in
Blighty. There are the uniforms, jangling bells, music
and the dance routines yet its often dismissed as
being a bit silly.With Hells Bells I wanted to present
Morris dancing in a completely different light, to make
it seem dangerous and subversive. I liked the idea
that Morris dancing might be an elaborate cover story
for a sinister secret society. The film follows Rosie
Dean, a young woman who seems to have been
brainwashed by Morris dancers. The story starts with
her being kidnapped by her parents and an expert
cult deprogrammer, who theyve hired to stage an
intervention.

Weird vibes
Hells Bells is, therefore, a psychological thriller about
the dark side of Morris dancing. Fair enough. The film
was made as part of Creative England and the BFI Net.
Works iShorts scheme, and was shot on location in
Devon earlier this year with local cast and crew. The
film is only twelve minutes long but we approached
it like a much larger project, reckons Luke. We
had over a hundred extras involved and shot in eight
different locations. Shorts often seem quite empty, and
we wanted this to look like it was part of a feature film.

18

Digital FilmMaker

Rustic rampage

RAMPAGE
Even though we had around 8,000 of funding, the film
was completely home grown. We tried to spend the
money wisely and make the most of the resources we
had available. In fact, the bulk of the dialogue scenes
were shot in my parents living room!

Perfect cocktail
For Luke, making the film is the culmination of many
previous projects and a desire to push the creativity
envelope a little more than he had done previously.
Ive been making films for as long as I can remember,
he says. When I was growing up I spent all of my
free time shooting films with my friends. We didnt
storyboard, or write shot lists, we just went out and
did it. I studied film at university and, after I graduated,
I made a short called Seeing Red. The film received a
lot of positive attention and helped me to secure the
funding for Hells Bells. It also screened at Glastonbury
earlier this year which was pretty cool!
Mind you, recruiting cast and crew for such an
offbeat idea must have presented him with some
interesting challenges. Nevertheless, Luke had no
problems getting a complete team together it seems.
Charlie Coldfield played the part of cult deprogrammer
Howard Webb and helped to produce the film, he
says of the enthusiasm that was brought to the project
by the curious new team members. Jocelyn ChandlerHawkins also produced the film, and Ben Tallamy was
1st AD. Ross Gill, who shot my last film, returned as
Director of Photography, and Sarah Vigars acted as
Art Director, dressing all the sets and sourcing all the
props and costumes that we used in the film. Jimi
Stewart was our sound recordist and worked closely
alongside the films composer and sound designer,
Ben Hudson. We had a couple of camera assistants,
Nick Loven and Jacob Brandon, and my parents did

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19

doing a traditional Morris dance, but then

he adds in a few of his own moves at the
end to spice things up! Other characters in
the film include a fire-breathing fool, played
by Matthew Lawrenson, and a Green Man,
complete with antlers and bells in his beard,
played by Phil Kingslan-John.

Outside chance

the catering. We were also lucky enough

to get the support of the Dartington Morris
Men who appear in the film and also
provided us with a lot of the props and
costumes that we used.

Right moves
As it turned out, the people Luke got on
board were ideally suited to the film, not
least of which is the main instigator of the
Morris mayhem that unfolds during the
movie. Magda Cassidy played the part of
lead Morris dancer Rosie Dean, chortles
the filmmaker. Wed worked with her
before and knew she was a talented singer,
so we decided to rewrite the ending of the
film to feature a song. Singing is a huge part
of the Morris dancing tradition, so it seemed
like a natural way to finish the film. Magda
recorded her part of the song and then we
got the Dartington Morris Men to sing the
chorus. Her parents were played by Richard
Feltham and her real life mum, actress
Marie Cassidy. We also had Josh Fedrick, a
former West End Billy Elliot, playing the part
of a Morris dancer and we recorded a dance
routine with him in a local pub. He starts out

Full marks have to go to Luke for attempting

something so leftfield and it manages to
draw on his growing experience, while also
tapping into his interest in all manner of film
genres. I started writing the film last year,
he says. The idea started out as a script for
a feature film, but when I heard about the
iShorts scheme I decided to adapt the story,
reusing some of the characters and ideas.
Id like to clarify that this is entirely fictional. I
spent a lot of time with local Morris dancers
while I was researching the film, and theyre
all very nice, ordinary, respectable people.
Nothing suspicious to report! I like to mix
and match genres though. Hells Bells

borrows from psychological thrillers, folk

horror, westerns... Theres also a strong
Wicker Man influence. When I mention
Morris dancing to people they automatically
assume that Im making a comedy. Ive
spent a lot of time explaining that we arent
going for laughs. I think theres something
quite chilling about taking an absurd
premise and treating it in a very serious
manner.

Big ideas
While the film might initially be perceived
as a bit of wry British fun, Luke obviously
hopes that Hells Bells will do well
commercially. He does, however, realise
that there is always a risk involved when
attempting offbeat stuff although has the
support and backing of the right people to
make it work. Ive always been attracted

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Digital FilmMaker

Rustic rampage

to larger-than-life films surreal

stuff, he grins. Im a big fan of
filmmakers like Nicolas Roeg,
Terry Gilliam and Francis Ford
Coppola. Theres a dreamlike
quality to all of their films, which
I really enjoy. Charlie Coldfield
produced the film along with
Jocelyn Chandler-Hawkins. Its
nice working with people you can
trust. I like to be closely involved
with all aspects of the production,
and when youre working with
friends the roles can be a lot more
fluid. Normally the producers are
trying to simplify everything and
scale things down, but with this
project they were coming up with
ways to make things even more
elaborate!

Penny pinching
And then, of course, there was
the budget, which was boosted
further thanks to the extra help

they got. We received 5,000

from Creative England and the BFI
Net.Work as part of their iShorts
scheme, adds the filmmaker.
We also raised an additional
2,405 via crowdfunding, and I

Filmmaking is
supposed to be
fun, and if you keep
people happy then
things go smoothly
put some of my own money in
to the project as well. When I do
a budget, my first priority is to
pay the cast and crew. After that
the bulk of the money goes on
catering and expenses. I find it
really frustrating when I hear about
filmmakers spending thousands
on a camera and getting everyone
to work for free and bring their

own packed lunches. On my

shoots we have barbecues at
lunch, and ice cream breaks in the
middle of the afternoon. We also
managed to get sponsorship from
a local brewery Red Rock who
produced a custom Hells Bells
beer for the shoot. Filmmaking is
supposed to be fun, and if you
keep people happy then things go
a lot more smoothly.

Kit considerations
At this point, and on the subject of
cameras, Director of Photography
Ross Gill chimes in Instead
of spending large amounts on
camera kit we decided to use
equipment we already owned and
were comfortable working with.
We shot the film with a Sony A7s
- a tiny camera with a powerful
sensor and great, natural colour
and image aesthetics. It was small
enough that we could mount it on

a gimbal for our opening scene,

but it could also be rigged with a
cage for shoulder mounting, and a
matte box so we could use Black
Pro Mist filters to soften the slight
digital edge.
The overall effect is one that sits
very nicely alongside Lukes fairly
eclectic mix of output so far. My
previous short film Seeing Red
was set in the 1960s, and tells
the story of a photographer who
is prescribed LSD by his optician
in a misguided attempt to cure
his colour-blindness, says Luke,
by way of explanation. There
are actually a lot of similarities
between the two films. I think I
have a fairly consistent filmmaking
style and weve tried to give Hells
Bells a similar vintage look. Quite
a few of the cast and crew from
Seeing Red returned for Hells
Bells too. In fact, some of the parts
were written specifically for them.

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21

I recently finished editing the film,

so weve just got the sound design
and grade left to do. I really enjoy
this part of the process because
you finally get to see things
coming together.

Subtle changes
As is the case with any filmmaking
project, some aspects of the
project evolved whilst it was in
production, which goes to show
that no matter how much preproduction you enter into, tweaks
will be needed along the way.
There are some big differences
between the original script and
the finished film, reckons Luke.
And for me thats part of the fun.
A van suddenly became a vintage
sailboat, and a line of dialogue
got turned into a song. I suppose
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Digital FilmMaker

I have a fairly relaxed attitude to

directing a film. I spend a lot of
time talking to the cast and crew
during pre-production, so I dont
feel the need to micromanage
everything on set. If you have
the right combination of people,
and everyone is comfortable,
then the results are a lot more
interesting. It gives people a
chance to experiment. Ive never
storyboarded, and writing shot
lists seems very counterintuitive.
I like to set up a scenario, and
then I figure out the best way to
document it. We might decide in
advance how we want the lighting,
or what lenses well be using, but
after that I try to keep things fairly
fluid. To be honest, most of the
best ideas happen on set. Often
someone in the cast and crew will

come up with something thats

better than anything I could have
thought of in advance.

Fresh outlook
Lukes alternative outlook and
inventive subject matter already
looks to be securing him plenty
of interest too, judging from
the feedback he has gained so
far. Weve already had a lot
of interest in the film, reckons
the filmmaker. And I think itll
go down well at festivals. Its
something a bit different. The
crowdfunding campaign really
seemed to capture peoples
imaginations, and we had Morris
dancers from around the world
donating to the film. I didnt even
realise there were Morris dancers
in other countries, but we had

people from the US, Canada and

Australia backing the project. We
even got a mention in Metro! Ive
been fairly focused on Hells Bells,
but once its finished then Im
planning to go back to the feature
script. There isnt really much
room for character development
in a 12-minute film, so itd be nice
to work on something a bit longer.
The feature is a fairly contained
story - seven characters, one
central location. I think its
achievable on a modest budget. I
try to reverse engineer my scripts
for the resources that are available
to me, rather than writing big
budget blockbusters.

Valuable experience
Added further weight to Lukes
credentials is the fact that he has

Rustic rampage

been working with youngsters who

got the chance to experience film
production first hand. I recently
worked on a Summer Film School
project in Exeter as the resident
filmmaker, he says. We had over
20 kids and 3 days to shoot a film.
It was all based on their ideas
and ended up as a weird postapocalyptic western, ending in a
Bollywood dance routine. Outside
of filmmaking I also do a lot of
theatre work, which is good fun.
Its also a brilliant way to meet new
actors and practice telling longer
stories. Theres a great filmmaking
scene in the South West too.
Everyone is very supportive and
there are always lots of projects
going on. Even though its only a
short film, there are eight different
locations that feature in Hells
Bells. We shot a dance sequence
in a community pub called The
Tally Ho in Littlehempston. I

wanted a traditional looking

country pub with lots of character,
so it was absolutely perfect. There
were over thirty extras inside, all
dressed as villagers and Morris

Even though its

only a short film,
there are eight
different locations
featured
dancers, it looks really authentic!
We also shot a fight sequence
at Poltimore House - a derelict
building near Exeter, which is a
really unique location.

Location magic
The power of a captivating location
is something that Luke has really
exploited during Hells Bells, and
its what really adds that extra

something special to the final

outcome. The films opening fete
scene was shot in a nearby village,
on a field by the river Teign,
agrees the filmmaker. The locals
provided us with gypsy caravans,
a classic car, bunting, table cloths,
and straw bales to dress the
location. Then they all turned up
in their own costumes for the final
day of the shoot. We were also
offered the use of a 1956 boat
with a red sail, which we used for
a scene in the film! I spent a lot
of time making connections and
meeting with local people. There
was a real sense of community
spirit and people were really
supportive of the project. We were
able to get a lot of production
value on screen for relatively little
money. If youre motivated by
money then filmmaking isnt for
you. The problem with short films
is that other than film festivals,

nowhere really shows them, and

nobody really watches them. The
next step is to make a feature.
Thats always been the aim. Short
films are good practice, but youre
never going to earn a living from
them.

Moving on
Thats exactly where Luke sees
his career progressing, with a
fully-fledged feature lying not too
far off on the horizon. From the
sound of it we will be seeing much
more from him very soon. Hells
Bells only scratches the surface
really, adds the filmmaker. Weve
got the feature all planned out and
weve got a core crew in place
to make it, we just need to sort
out the funding. Theres a wealth
of Morris dancing material just
waiting to be used. Im hoping that
Hells Bells will leave audiences
wanting more! n

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23

Monster
Machine
Seth Breedlove is an American filmmaker
who likes his movie projects to be horrorbased and packed full with plenty of
surprises along the way as is the case with
his latest venture Boggy Creek Monster

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Digital FilmMaker

Uphill struggle

There are plenty of people who

tend to get a bit sniffy about
filmmakers who shoot horror
on a regular basis. Horror is
often seen as the easiest genre
in which to get started, and
thats true to an extent, but its
also a great subject area to
get into if you dont care about
snob value and merely want to
commit something to the digital
medium. More to the point you
can do it all without much in the
way of a budget and cultivate an
enthusiastic following relatively
easily. American filmmaker Seth
Breedlove isnt about to disagree
either All three of our Small
Town Monsters films have been
entirely self-funded and are
truly a grassroots effort, he
explains. Boggy Creek Monster
is especially interesting because
its based on this semi-famous
b-movie directed by a guy named
Charles Pierce called Legend of
Boggy Creek that came out in
1972. Pierce was a true indie film
pioneer and his little horror film
went on to do really well and still
serves as inspiration for a lot of
filmmakers today. Were able to

draw on his original film in our

documentary and really dig into
the stories that helped inspire his
movie and also this subject of
Bigfoot and how it can influence
the culture of an entire region
over time. It was also a major
learning experience for us as our
previous film had a crew of 3, and
no budget, whereas Boggy had
actual money to draw from (not
much) and some amazing gear to
use.

Slimmed down

With our previous documentaries

Id spent months and months

compiling information and

speaking with subjects and very
little time actually thinking about
the look and tone of the film,
furthers Seth. The tone and
mood and style of those movies
sort of just came along in post.
But with Boggy Creek we had an
author named Lyle Blackburn who

I was really able to

focus much more
on how our movie
would play as a film
this time around
was on board as a co-producer.
Lyle has written the ultimate
book on the Boggy Creek subject
(titled Beast of Boggy Creek)
and thankfully he brought all his
research with him. I was really
able to focus much more on how
our movie would play as a film
and really examine the story this
time around, because I had more
time to devote to those things
than I had on our previous films.
We also ran a very successful

Kickstarter campaign last

February and that took up a ton
of time during that month and in
the lead-up to it. I did take time to
call and speak with many of our
witnesses and interview subjects,
as well. I feel like getting to know
these people in advance is a huge
part of the process so you can
put them at ease and let them be
themselves on camera.

Versatile job

Im listed as director but I also

helped run camera, carried
equipment, conducted the
interviews, drove one of the vans,
set up lighting, and generally

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25

of experiences and influences

when composing his scores,
reckons Seth on how this way
of working actually benefitted
the overall production. He also
loves the subject of Bigfoot, so
he brings a passion for that to
the film and I think that inherent
curiosity he possesses really
comes through in his scores.
Zac is an absolute perfectionist
when it comes to filming and
it really comes through in the
look of the project. Ive never
seen a documentary about
Bigfoot that looked like this. Its
completely its own, unique thing.
The look draws heavily on Zacs
influences, particularly his love
of old, 1970s horror. He also
made use of natural light in ways
Ive never seen. This thing looks
phenomenal. Jason is just up for
anything. He worked his butt off
from day one, no matter what
we told him to do and I honestly
dont think wed have managed
to make it without him. Aaron
just jumped into filmmaking head
first and never looked back. Any
time we were having difficulty
with figuring out equipment he
was there to make it work or
make sense.

Tricky kit

oversaw everything, chuckles

Seth on the challenges facing
the low-budget filmmaker. I
am also doing all the editing
and marketing for the film.
Lyle Blackburn brought all of
his research, which consisted
numerous sighting reports,
newspaper articles and photos,
and folks he wanted us to
interview. Brandon Dalo is the
only permanent fixture of the
Small Town Monsters crew
besides myself. Hes a film
composer and also acts as
producer of the entire series and
on Boggy Creek Monster he was
also our sound recordist. Zac
Palmisano was our director of
photography. Ive known Zac
since we were kids, and we used
to make short films and talk
incessantly about movies and
how we wanted to make them.
This was sort of a dream come
true for me to work with him.
Hes got a really dark, moody

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Digital FilmMaker

sensibility, which perfectly suited

this story. Jason Utes is another
life-long friend and as soon as
I knew we were working on this

I really just tend to

learn as I go along.
Im not terribly
bright, but I think
that serves me well
project I had to have him involved.
Jason handled anything and
everything on set, from putting

down marks for our interview

subjects, to driving the rental vans
around, unloading equipment,
helping set up equipment and he
even did some shooting with an
8mm camera that well be using
as b-roll in the film. Aaron Gascon
came along as our behind the
scenes photographer and ended
up as our on-call engineer. He
was the guy who got equipment
running when we couldnt make
heads or tails of it, and he was
also the one who slept the least.
Hed be up first thing every
morning, start documenting our
day, and then after helping with
the shoot all day, hed be up until
1 or 2 am editing the behind the
scenes production diaries that
we uploaded every day for our
Kickstarter backers.

Tough call

Brandon is a musician and

spent a lot of his life in bands so
musically, he draws on a number

This was especially true with

the Ronin M gimbal we rented
from LensProtoGo, laughs the
filmmaker. Wed never used
one and, in fact, had been told
by another filmmaker the day
prior to not even bother with
it because wed never figure it
out. Thankfully, Aaron took one
look at it and knew what to do
and by the end of the first day
it had become our go-to piece
of equipment. Due to the run
and gun nature of the shoot it
really helped to have that thing
and we wouldnt have had it if
not for Aaron. His behind the
scenes skills were great too.
Every aspect of that shoot was
documented. As for me, I really
just tend to learn as I go along.
Im not terribly bright, but I think
that serves me well because
Im usually not aware that what
Im trying to do is supposedly
impossible. Everything with
this project shouldve been
either impossible or at least
improbable, from the shooting
schedule (a feature length doc
in 5 days) to the funding (a

Monster machine

Kickstarter for a Bigfoot movie

trying to get over 10 grand) to
the promotion. I just jump in and
hope that it all works out.

Creepy stuff

The film is about a small town

in rural Arkansas that has been
haunted by a vicious, hairy
creature for decades, Seth
explains when it comes to
outlining the plot of this project.
The creature sightings inspired
a movie called The Legend of
Boggy Creek (made by Charles B
Pierce who directed the original
Town That Dreaded Sundown)
that came out in 1972 and
went on to inspire filmmakers
like Eduardo Sanchez. Our film
looks at the stories that inspired
the movie and then traces the
long history of the creature all
the way up to present day. The
research was mostly done by Lyle
Blackburn, but Im writing the film

itself. Its a very difficult story to

tell because its so sprawling and
massive and involves decades
of sightings and details. Ive
never tackled anything like this

Brandon and I
have been neckdeep in these
monster docs for
about two years
before. Its been a difficult film
to write as Lyle is not only in the
movie but also narrating it, and
I had a difficult task of making
that transition from his narration
to his appearances on camera
flow naturally. Ive had numerous
challenges while making this
project, but the post-production
side of things has been relatively
easy despite the many different
aspects to the story.

Workable concept

Lyle originally approached us

about doing a film about the
Boggy Creek stories, adds Seth.
He was a fan of our first film,
Minerva Monster, and wanted
to do something similar with this
project so we naturally jumped
at the chance. Brandon and I
have been neck-deep in these
monster docs for about two years
now and weve been producing
together. On this one, I did a
lot of the work up-front with the
funding but on the back end,
well be tag-teaming it. While
Im editing alone, Brandon is
great about seeing points where
the story could be punched
up or fleshed out. We ran a
Kickstarter campaign where we
asked for $9,000. We ended
up with $17,000. However, our
campaigns are structured very
much in favour of our backers.
I think in the end they got a

great deal with t-shirts, posters,

digital content and so on. We
used every remaining dime (after
reward production) on equipment
rental, a handful of purchases,
lodging (we had to house a crew
of 7 in a hotel in Texarkana),
travel expense, and food for the
trip. LensProtoGo was amazing
to work with and we had some
awesome companies like Cinetics
and Glide Gear send along free
gear. Cinetics gave us one of their
Axis 360 sliders and Glide Gear
sent along an amazing Steadicam
unit. Red Giant got in on the
action too by sending us a full
Magic Bullet Suite to use on postproduction, as well.

Top gear

We rented a Sony FS5 as our

primary interview cam and a
Sony A7s II as our workhorse
b-roll cam, explains Seth on
the point of the all-important

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25

kit. We ended up using my

personal Sony Nex-VG900 as
a b-cam for interviews, as well.
Our typical interview setup was
the FS5 with a Sony 28-135
zoom and my Nex VG with my
own Rokinon Cine 85mm lens
as b-cam. Occasionally we
used the A7s II on a gimbal as a
third cam to get a nice range of
shots. We also had my GoPro
for drone shots and a t3i plus a
Sony a3000 for behind the scenes
stuff. Glass-wise, we went with
the aforementioned Sony 28-135
zoom, and two of the Xeen Cines
in 21mm and 50mm. They get
unbelievably beautiful images.
We also had a Ronin M gimbal,
a Phantom 3 drone, a Cinetics
Axis360 slider and, for sound,
we used an NTG4+ and a Zoom
H6. We were thrilled with the FS5
and A7s II. The gimbal was put
to heavy use, particularly while
trawling around the waterways
and swamps. We have some of
the most amazing footage Ive
seen in that sort of environment.

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Digital FilmMaker

Proud achievement

As a result, Seth thinks this is

without doubt his finest moment
so far. This is definitely our best
film, he says. I can say that,
having just finished the rough cut
yesterday. The movie has a visual
tone and poetry all its own that is
unlike anything Ive ever seen. It
really puts you in this dark, dank,
somewhat terrifying place where
a monster may be lurking behind
every shadow. The interviews are
so good, the stories so creepy
and unnerving, and the people so

emotionally impactful. This will be

a dramatically difficult bar for us
to reach again, but considering
with each film weve upped
our game, Im sure we will. As
director, I hope Im learning with
each film and doing everything I
can to continue pushing the crew
Im working with. Not just pushing
to get a movie made, but to make
it better and to have a blast in the

place and then the next stage is

more about mood and tempo. Im
not horror-minded, so working
on this project that is very much
in the horror-vein is hard for me,
so Im trying to go back and
really draw on the movies and
directors that scared me as a kid.
Hitchcock, Carpenter, and so
on

I find that our

rough cut is
typically just about
getting the pieces
of the overall story

With so much horror in circulation

out there Seth is certainly clear
about how much of a dark edge
this project needs to have in
order to grab attention. Its
unlike anything Ive ever seen,
he reckons. Even in its rough
form it totally transports you to
those swamps and dark woods
and just the b-roll alone is slightly
unnerving. Were predisposed
to make this the definitive story
about the Boggy Creek Monster
and I honestly believe we will. The
story is so big and sprawling, but
at the same time very personal.
Im anxious to see what Brandon
does with the score because

process. Our tentative release

date is November 11th and we
work fast, so I have no doubt well
make that easily. We still have
to punch up many of the scarier
stories and help those scenes be
unsettling. I find that our rough
cut is typically just about getting
the pieces of the overall story in

Dark edge

Monster machine
hes such a huge piece of the
puzzle and having his original
music under this will just elevate
the whole thing. Were lucky in
that our movies have all been
about Bigfoot and theres a fairly
large market for that whole thing,
and a huge community already
surrounding it. Weve managed
to gain a lot of press this past
year, particularly our first film,
Minerva Monster. Weve been
on regional news in Ohio, New
York and Arkansas multiple times,
been featured in well over a
hundred newspaper articles, had
magazines cover our films, and
more. It often feels like whoring us
out, but I dont have a marketing
budget so I just constantly send
press releases to media and that
has worked out well for us.

Working smart

The successful Kickstarter

campaign really helped from
a marketing angle, as well,
adds Seth. Support in Ohio
has always been huge thanks

I dont have a
marketing budget so
I just constantly send
out press releases to
the media
to the film festival we run. Small
Town Monsters hosts a festival
in Minerva where we show our
films, along with other themed
indie movies by filmmakers we
respect and that helps push
the whole subject forward. We

do everything we can to help

other filmmakers, particularly
those working in this same field.
Its hard to be taken seriously
when your films revolve around
monsters but there are some
genuinely talented filmmakers,
like Aleksander Petakov and
Justin Chernipeski who are doing
fantastic work. Minerva Monster
Day helps promote all of our
work.

Profile building

Our first film, Minerva Monster,

was featured all over, but, despite
the attention I really feel it could
have been a far better movie,
says Seth, getting all reflective for
a moment. I really hope to revisit
it one day so we can truly capture
the mystery of that story visually

and overcome some of our

freshman mistakes. Our second
film, Beast of Whitehall, was
shot last summer and originally
intended to be a 10-minute short
film that would be a Kickstarter
reward for Boggy Creek backers.
It ended up being just under
40-minutes and has been an

official selection of a number

of film festivals and even taken
honours at a few. This is almost
unheard of when youre dealing
with docs about Bigfoot. All of our
films thus far fall under the Small
Town Monsters series umbrella
and revolve around Bigfoot-type
creatures. Minerva was a very
small-scale story about one
family having interactions with
this creature that lurked on a
hill behind their home. I love the
story so much, partially because I
grew up not far from where it took
place, but at the end of the day,
its very much a rookie film with
many rookie mistakes. I did love
the idea of doing something that
focused as intently on the impact
the creature stories have on local
culture as it did on the creature
though, so when we decided
to do Whitehall I attacked that
aspect of the story in a big way.
Beast of Whitehall has a larger
central incident with 11 people
involved in the main sighting,
but it ended up seeming much
more personal. Possibly due to
Brandon and I being the only
ones who were actively working
on it. We had some help, but for
the actual shoot it was myself,
Brandon and my dad, Ronnie
Breedlove and then when we got
to post-production it was solely
Brandon and I. The film examines
Bigfoots cultural impact on the
Adirondack Mountain region of
upstate New York. Boggy Creek
draws on everything we learned
from those two movies and tells a
much bigger story than anything

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weve done before. Yet its still

full of scares and fear and heart.
And yes, it does take a look at the
cultural impact something like the
Boggy Creek Monster has on a
tiny town.

Popular genre

Like many people, Seth got

bitten by the horror bug early
on and its something that
has been with him ever since.
Perhaps not coincidentally I did
grow up watching old monster
movies, chuckles the filmmaker.
My mom sort of raised me on
Hammer horror films and Ray
Harryhausen. As a kid, I was
completely obsessed with King
Kong, which happens to involve

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Digital FilmMaker

a giant, hairy monster stalking

people. I love Hitchcock and
Orson Welles, and Im probably
more in love with 1940s and
50s cinema than any other era.
My favourite film is Casablanca,
which youd be hard pressed to
draw a correlation to the type

Perhaps not
coincidentally I did
grow up watching
old monster
movies
of films Im making. I do love
documentaries, and in the last
few years Ive really been drawn

to ones like Indie Game, Killer

Legends, Print the Legend and
many more. Im a huge, huge,
huge Hoop Dreams fan. Im
hoping to make a comedy next
summer, actually. As a kid, my
friends and I spent a lot of time
making comedic mockumentaries
very much in the Christopher
Guest style. Id sort of like to
have a go at something like
that now that Ive created a few
legitimate documentaries. Plus,
it would be nice to get away from
being known as the Bigfoot guy.
Id also love to do some more
documentaries on non-monster
topics. Im a huge comic book
guy and my all-time favourite
artists have both passed away in

the past decade (Mike Wieringo

and Darwyn Cooke) and at some
point Id love to do something
about them and their body of
work.

Healthy scene

Luckily for Seth he has plenty

of likeminded individuals on his
doorstep it seems The closest
film festival to us takes place in
Canton, Ohio and this past year
was the 5th Annual Canton Film
Fest, he says. They were kind
enough to actually contact us and
ask us to bring Beast of Whitehall
to kick-off the whole event.
The Canton film community,
headed up by James Waters,
seems to be very supportive

Monster machine
and encouraging as a whole.
Weve met some great guys from
down that way. I think Ohio has
a thriving filmmaking culture
right now, honestly. Ive been to
many festivals at this point and at
every one Im surprised by how
many of us there are. Most of
them arent churning out docs
about hairy monsters but hey
Were also doing well enough,
financially, that Im part-time
at my day job. I think we do
have a leg-up over many indie
filmmakers as we have a very
specific niche audience who are
so supportive of our films. We
also approach the marketing side
of things more as a music band
than filmmakers. We have an
entire line of merchandise, from
hats to t-shirts to posters, on our
web store, not to mention two
(soon to be three) films that are
sold on DVD, and stream through
Vimeo On Demand and Amazon.
The next step for us is television.
Im pretty much guaranteeing
youll see Boggy on major
network TV soon. Were already
talking with some networks and
its only a matter of time. Money,
up to now, has been merely our
way of funding the next film. In
2017 it needs to become about
actually making a living. Thats
our next step. n

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31

G
N
I
T
CUT
E
G
D
E
s Owen
e
m
a
J
r
e
filmmak
second
Budding issue with the that
y
his
is back t an intriguing stor f his
to
part of
elopmen
v
e
d
e
h
t
tracks nguard movie
Va

32

Digital FilmMaker

Cutting edge
Last month I focused on the
Vanguard screenplay. In this
issue I am going to discuss
early development and preproduction. The key to making
a feature film is collaboration
and you are going to need a
substantial team. If you already
have friends with skills then
lucky you, but if like me, your
friends talents lie elsewhere
then youd better look further
afield. So where are your team
of professional and highly
motivated filmmakers hiding and
how can you coax them out?
Personally, my first break came
when I introduced myself to the
line producer of the Film and TV
Company who were filming in my
local town.

Action stations

Seconds later, I was an extra in

a TV promo and two weeks after
that I was an assistant director
on Suicide Platoon, a World
War II action drama, which was
commissioned by Sony. The
point Im raising here is that your
filmmakers are nearer than you
think, but you have to go and find
them. Start by joining your local
filmmakers network, which in my
case is the Oxford Filmmaking
Group. Its bound to involve a
pub and you will soon be involved
in other peoples projects. Not
only will you develop your own
skills, but you can also observe
their abilities and discover the
team players who will help you
realise your vision. Yes, this
takes time, but hey! There are no
shortcuts if you want to do this
properly.

Valuable advice

Now, here is a piece of advice,

which I learnt the hard way:
filmmaking is a dynamic process,
and so is the formation of your
team. You may change direction,
your aspirations will grow and
collaborators will come and go
for many reasons. So, remain
professional at all times, be as
honest and open as you can with
people and, in your enthusiasm,
try not to make promises you will
struggle to keep. Stay focused
and make decisions that are
best for the project and for your
team. On my journey I have met
some remarkably talented and
enthusiastic filmmakers and I am
grateful to every one of them for

believing in me, and giving me

opportunities to hone my skills.
Many of them are with me now
on the Vanguard rollercoaster and
have become some of the best
friends I have known.

Packed agenda

As director and producer I had

my work cut out. Its impossible
to do both roles well, so employ a
line producer and delegate tasks
to associate producers when
you find them. Co-ordinating the
whole project is a full time job,
requiring good communication
and careful planning to keep
it moving forward. Director of
photography Dan Abrams, stills
photographer Trish Holden and
art director Catharina Goleb were
taken on at the start with good
reason. One of our early jobs
was to establish some branding
and images that would help
people to identify with the film
during development and early
promotion. This will be the first
impression the world has of your
project and its quality, so they
need to be carefully thought out
and professionally done.

Cutting edge

Vanguard tells the story of a

rogue surgeon who gets mixed
up with a fascist organisation in
a time of political unrest so we
created some large banners,
posters and artwork relevant
to that concept. These have
proved invaluable for creating
a dedicated website, social
media pages and investment
campaigns, as well as being
used at auditions, for behind the
scenes interviews, video blogs
and much more. In addition,
use every opportunity to take

photographs of all film related

activities with cast and crew
to support your promotional
campaign across all platforms.
Now, you could argue that all
this early promotion is a little
premature but, if like Vanguard,
this is your first time out then
you are going to need as much

As director and
producer I had my
work cut out. Its
impossible to do
both roles well
helps as you can to reach people
and assure them that you have a
project worthy of investment of
their time, energy and finance.

Teaser time

For Vanguard we chose to create

a proof of concept teaser. As an
unknown independent production
team I think this is an essential
part of your pitch to potential
investors, allowing you to present
the story, the style of the film and
demonstrate the quality of your
filmmaking skills. It should excite
investors to fund you, just like a
trailer will excite your audience to
go and watch the film. The time
had come to recruit some actors
and, with casting director Simon
Marriott (Shout Loud Casting),
we held successful auditions
in London and Birmingham,
from nearly one thousand
applications, casting all the main
roles for the teaser shoot. The
strength of our early branding
definitely supported the cast call
and auditions and Vanguard is
fortunate to have some incredibly

Photographs courtesy of Trish Holden

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33

talented actors on board with

extensive experience in film and
television. I am sure they checked
out our website and social media
profile before completing an
application.

Seasoned actors

I know we lost the confidence of

one experienced actor because
of a poorly formatted early script
exert, so dont underestimate
the importance of these details.
Remember that auditions are a
two-way process, with each actor
auditioning the Vanguard team
too, not formally of course - but
having a professional set up,

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Digital FilmMaker

artwork and the right approach

sets the tone for the whole
project. Auditions are not easy
and, if you have fixed ideas about
your characters, you may struggle
to find the right actors. So, what
did we learn from our auditions?
Here are my top tips: First of all,
the use of casting call websites
will give you an excellent
response, but the downside is
that it will generate a lot of work
for you, so the more detail you
provide about your characters the
better.

Show time

Vanguards casting director

spent many hours reviewing

show reels and applications in
order to create a short list of the
strongest candidates. We then
sent out script exerts and asked
for self-tapes. This is a very useful
and economical way to see the
applicants perform your lines.
Actors reading this take note:
be inventive, you need to stand
out. One of our scenes was in a
restaurant and someone did the
lines whilst eating- it worked well.
Another dressed in sports kit for a
squash court scene and one even
did a bedroom scene in lingerie!
The other method we employed,
which saved time and proved
very successful, was to go direct

to agents for recommendations.

Date line

Next, decide a date and book a

venue (this will cost 50-100 for a
half day). We held the Vanguard
auditions at the weekend.
Choose a good location, with
parking, a nearby or onsite caf,
toilets and a reception area.
The room doesnt need to be
large, but should be well lit and
contain chairs and tables. See it
beforehand or get details from the
venue, so you have no surprises.
You will be limited for set up
time and need to be prepared.
Take two cameras with external
microphones (one on sticks with a

Cutting edge
slave monitor for the screen tests
and one rig for behind the scenes
extras), a couple of four-way
extension leads, black sheets to
hide stuff (you will be surprised
how shabby some places can
be), refreshments, paper towels,

pens, extra script excerpts, and

plenty of your team members.
As a minimum I would suggest
the director, casting director,
DOP, behind the scenes camera
operator, stills photographer,
receptionist and a runner.

The right place

We put up banners, posters

and signage with logos, so
everyone knew they were at the
right place and it was a good
promotional opportunity. We
used the Rag Factory in London
and The Custard Factory in
Birmingham; both had charm and
worked well in different ways.
Be a professional and friendly
team and dress smart. Our
receptionist welcomed the actors

Discuss your
first thoughts with
the team but take
time to review the
videos
and checked that we had their
correct contact details. Make
sure you have email, phone,
postal address and agent details
as a minimum. Number the back
of the forms and the photo for
each actor with it for reference.
We also explained that we were
filming the auditions and behind
the scenes images, so asked for
a signed release form explaining
we would only use images of
successful candidates.

Running order

During each audition it is

important to ensure that only
the director and casting director

speak to the actors. Use a limited

number of short interesting script
exerts and let them perform
it at least three times. As well
as delivering a convincing
performance you need to be sure
your actors can take direction, so
experiment a little. Schedule 20
minutes for each one and have
someone on the clock so you
stick to time! Remember, your
actors are giving up part of their
weekend to attend, at their own
expense, so dont keep them
longer than necessary. Pairing
artists up for scenes can be more
efficient and you will get better,
more dynamic performances this
way. Your casting director needs
to plan all this in advance so the
day runs smoothly.

Frame it

Watch the auditions through a

monitor too; remember this is a
screen test. Remain neutral with
comments, but be encouraging
and strictly confidential about the
other actors. After each audition,
tell them you will try to make
timely decisions in the week that
follows, or at least communicate
with them. Afterwards, discuss
your first thoughts with the team
but take time to review the videos
before making your decisions.
Auditions are not easy and if
you have fixed ideas about your
characters then you may struggle
to find the right actors.

Wise words

However, my advice would be

to keep an open mind, the script
remains in flux and you never
know when you will be blown
away by an amazing performance
or look, which adds more to the
character than you had imagined
and may lead to some further
script improvements. We made
the auditions dynamic, pairing
characters where possible and
filming them all for later review,
which is essential before making
your decisions. We also filmed
other behind the scenes shots
for video extras. Now we were
ready to shoot the teaser trailer
and, in the next issue, I will take
you behind the scenes. James
Owen is the writer, director and
producer of Vanguard. Follow us
on Facebook and Twitter over
@vanguardthemovie or see
www.vanguardthemovie.com n

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35

The

material
man
The unusually monikered Ed Surname is the
man behind Unsolicited Material, a featurelength documentary about his own life filmed
over the course of two decades

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Digital FilmMaker

The material man

We hear from plenty of budding

filmmakers who all reckon
theyve got an unusual angle or,
perhaps, a project thats a little
bit out of the ordinary. However,
there are none that come even
close to the slightly barmy project
that has been produced by Ed
Surname. Here is a man who has
spent two decades documenting
his progress in the world of comedy

In the world of
comedy I did
everything you
could imagine as
part of the project
with a body of work that actually
pre-dates the digital age with
the early years spanning a huge
collection of tapes. Ed has been
collating it all and tinkering with the
project over that time and now has
a finished feature that, he thinks,
is an impressive showcase for his
talents. It also stands as a great
showcase of how the world of
videography has been transformed.

Meaningful work
The project champions creativity
over budget for the independent
filmmaker, comments Ed on
what has become a real labour of
love over the decades. The film
will also be of interest due to its
very unusual nature: I genuinely
recorded my life 24/7 for 20 years
whilst I followed my dreams in the
world of comedy. The film has

been made from thousands of

tapes spanning those 20 years and
charts the analogue to digital age.
It can never, ever be replicated
and is entirely relevant to todays
videoblogging, social media
generation. In the world of comedy
I did everything you could imagine
as part of the same overall project.
That includes stand-up, radio,
sketches, spoken word and blogs.
When I got a weekly TV spot on
New Yorks Manhattan Network, I
edited the pieces myself.

Important steps
Crucially, I used all of these
different and varied avenues
towards the same end goal, adds
Ed. They were all introspective
and looked at the human condition.
This film is the whole story and
encompasses the entire journey
and, likewise, examines the human
condition. In the films case, the
narrative looks at why certain
humans, people we call comedians,
wish to sacrifice their life to make
strangers laugh. And, when I get
my first paid gig, the films focus
is not on the jokes in the gig, but
me second guessing afterwards
whether I was good enough to be
paid. My sketches were originally
me playing an exaggerated version
of myself with no common sense,
but set in real, public situations.
One altercation in a lecture hall
went around the internet in 2004
and people recognised me in train
stations. Before Id ever met my
wifes brother, he sent her the link
and suggested she watch this

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37

funny video. She replied saying

that it was her husband. My
project went viral before YouTube
was invented. It sounds a silly,
made-up claim until you watch the
film.

Self help
Ed hasnt had any external help
along the way either, as he goes
on to explain I did all of it:
writing, storyboarding, editing,
producing, the trailer, posters,
flyers, PR and interviews. Its
such a personal vision, and the
project is so uncompromising, it
had to be that way. Furthermore,

I fooled a TV
producer into
thinking I was a
professional editor
when I was 17
Im self-taught in all areas but the
work isnt amateurish. I fooled a
TV producer into thinking I was
a professional editor when I was
17. They say you take 10,000
hours of experience to get good
at anything. Over the last two
decades, Ive edited over 10,000
hours of footage, and each minute
takes about an hour. Though the
end result is how I want it, any
criticism is very hurtful because of
how much of myself Ive put into
the project. If Im describing what
Ive done it can come across the
wrong way, like Im boasting. But
in the film, youll see that over the

course of 20 years I totally bare my

soul and display my insecurities
that come with others being hurtful
about your ambitions.

Damage case
From the outside looking in,
all of this might sound like Ed
has almost been scarred by the
experience though Its really,
really hard to conceive of a
concept, put that into practice and

actually have it screen in a theatre

when its only you working on it,
he goes on. So, more important
than any practical editing or filming
skills is my resiliency, not taking
no for an answer. I think resilience
is a polite word for being deluded
in the face of rejection. But, if
anyone else has a better method
of how to get a framed ticket on
their wall from a film they made
themselves with no team, budget
or networking behind them, please
let me know. The filming, archiving
and resulting pieces of work radio, TV spots, this film - are all
me. My individual skills came in
handy such as seeing through an
idea to the end where most people
give up. Im extremely patient if I
can see the end goal.

Subject matters
So, how does he respond when
people ask him what the film is
about? Its about life, states Ed.
Comedy is the backdrop, but
the narrative examines if following
your dreams is the meaning of
life or an unrealistic waste of

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Digital FilmMaker

time. It looks inside the mind of a

comedian in a way no other film
would ever have the access to
do. Its a 51% funny, 49% serious
exploration into the illusion of fame
in our society, the role of fame
and riches in happiness and the
personal costs of pursuing artistic
ambition. It also looks at how
family is affected by ones artistic
pursuits. Its Youve Been Framed
with a narrative, mixed with
philosophy. I was inspired by my
family naturally attracting madness
and being funny; my dad letting
off fireworks sideways, my mum
worrying that our American guests
would be offended because the
use-by-date on the loaf of bread
happened to be September
11. I started filming because I
wanted to create a reality-sitcom
hybrid and when I missed golden
moments, it became easier to just
not turn the camera off.

Always on
So the camera was on while I
entered comedy and experienced
my first payday, adds Ed. My

The material man

first time being recognised, my
first headline, my first stalker, my
first bad reviews. So eventually,
what started as me playing an
exaggerated version of myself,
morphed into my real life and
my real emotions. Its my real
life, so I lived it instead of wrote
it. However, it has been edited
with comic timing and thats
where the storyboards and an
element of writing was required.
For example, my nan says the
most hilarious things in the film:
but those sentences were cut
from hours of footage, and those
situations, though real, were
capitalised on by me when I
could see they may lead to good
footage. That aspect of the film
could paint me as its writer. But it
is real. Its not a mockumentary,

it is a real mans real life edited

in such a way that it serves as a
satire on showbusiness because
it questions why anybody would
want to be a performer.

Huge challenge
I made over 130 episodes of
my web series Laugh or Cry TV,
furthers Ed on how the project
evolved over time. When making
this film it would have been easy
to lift footage from the easily
accessible webshow. But if I could
illustrate a point in the film with
unused footage from the archives,
I went to great lengths to track it
down, even if it took ages. I did
this so that viewers wouldnt be
watching things theyd already
seen. I archive my videos now
on lots of 4TB external hard

drives and have Word documents

indexing each moment with a brief
description. All analogue footage
has now been digitised, ready to
be dropped into a project at the

I went through the

laborious process
of reading the list
of everything Id
ever filmed
click of a button (once located). To
make Unsolicited Material, I went
through the laborious process
of literally reading the entire list
of everything I had ever filmed in
order to compile a shortlist of what
could be included. I then wrote
each bit on a small piece of paper

and attached them to a storyboard

in their respective chapters or
scenes. And each chapter was
on its own piece of card on the
storyboard, so I could travel with
whatever one I was working on at
the time.

Cashless society
Refreshingly Ed doesnt think
the project would have been
made better with the help of hard
cash either. This film couldnt
have been made with big boom
mics and huge TV cameras
because the intimacy of real life
would have suffered, he says.
My family went from being
horrified, to being in denial, to
begrudgingly accepting it, to
genuinely accepting it, to actively
embracing it - which sounds like

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39

a workaround, the plan was to

take the VHS recorder with us in
the middle of the night by joining
up 20 extension leads. Halfway
through, it started raining, which
led to the purchase of a portable
Samsung 8mm VP-W60, which
saw all sorts of madness, such
as me falling off 30-foot bridge,

Theres nothing
like 300 people
laughing at you
and your nan in the
bathroom

the process of facing death. But

even then you can enjoy your
last meal without being filmed.
Now, my family are so used
to it they are the most relaxed
subjects of a documentary, ever.
Originally, embracing the home
video effect was used by me as
a way to overcome the obvious
lack of budget when pitching
to companies; I was able to say
its not trying to compete with
Hollywood CGI, rather, I would
accentuate the positives like
the intimacy, the reality and the
madness.

Basic setup
Similarly, with a production

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Digital FilmMaker

period over so many years, the

kit obviously evolved with the film
too Originally, my nan had a
Tyco videocam, chuckles Ed. My
parents tried to convince her to
not pass it on to me, apparently,
knowing Id be trouble. But I dont
think in their wildest dreams theyd
have thought it would be this
much trouble when I eventually
found it - or this constructive for
that matter. I felt a good filming
opportunity would be to visit a
depressed Mexican gun maniac
who lived down the road at 3am.
But the camera had to be attached
to the VHS recorder. I was fed up
of being unable to film anything
more than 3 metres from it. As

sleeping naked in a bedshop and

finally visiting the gun maniac. My
favourite piece of kit was the Sony
DCR-TRV14E, because it had a
mic input, which was removed
from later models of a similar
range because apparently people
werent buying the more expensive
cameras. The quality was high, but
the transfer via Firewire had to be
done in real time.

The new dawn

I could have never predicted
the digital revolution, adds Ed.
My current Sony CX115E shoots
incredible HD for the price on a
64GB SD card. Its all Ive needed
since. I feel buying anything more
is unnecessary for my project; it
fits in my pocket and starts up
quickly, and peoples reactions

are authentic because they dont

think the footage is going to end
up being discussed in a film
magazine.
So, considering all that and the
effort put in to it, is the project
taking off as expected? Its been
screened at The Etcetera Theatre
in Camden, says the comedian.
Its been nominated for 4 film
awards, it played at Londons
International Film Festival, it was
shown in Spain, its received
lots of press in London and it is
recognised as a film on IMDb.
Theres nothing like 300 people in
tuxedos laughing at you and your
nan in the bathroom (see trailer),
when they are all part of big teams
with budgets. I have a photo
of me on the red carpet, which
Ive placed on the desk where I
stayed up every night editing until
4am. Its such a personal victory.
Another personal victory was
getting a distributor who doesnt
accept unsolicited material to
view my screener. The acquisitions
person got it and it was their
humour, but said they couldnt
possibly consider a release unless
I cut about 10 controversial
scenes.

No turning
Those scenes are the things
that nearly killed me and are
all in context, reckons Ed. All
painstakingly weaved into a strict
narrative. Then, someone else

The material man

from the team disagreed with

him! I cant let third parties dictate
the future of what is essentially
my lifes work when they cant
even agree amongst themselves.
So, I knew when I was editing it
that the ideal format for release
is going to be online VOD. I have
talked with a comedy website that
is interested but really, it figures
that Id release it myself after
having done everything else on
my own. I even screened the film
off my laptop rather than hire the
theatre projector to keep in with
my independent spirit. However,
I was worried the whole time
that a poignant scene would be
interrupted by an update your
antivirus pop-up. I am speaking
with a team at the moment who
may help get me publicity with
me being interviewed in the press
and on television as The Man
Who Videotaped His Dreams.
The film can be promoted off the
back of that. On one hand, having
something so different is hard to
categorise and can ironically be a
setback. On the other hand, when
people get it and give me the
stage to speak about it, it always

goes down well and some radio

stations and podcasts are going to
have me on to discuss it.

Possible break
Ed also has high hopes that his
protracted project will now also
be picked up by a bigger player
A TV production company has
contacted me to adapt the film
into a TV series, he enthuses.
Filming new footage and
returning to my original idea of

This film is all real

and one of the
challenges was
not exaggerating
anything
a reality-sitcom hybrid where
I play a character in the real
public world. It would be like a
prank show but with narrative
and pathos, interwoven with my
back catalogue. Im also going to
plan a stage show, which mixes
stand-up with video on a screen.
And, finally, Ive started writing a
book. Theres so much that isnt

in this film, like proposing to my

wife before I even met her, and
individual incidents of madness
such as having no choice but to
fit nine adults into a car. However,
this film is all real and one of the
challenges of the project was
not exaggerating anything and
keeping it all real - I had to resist
temptation to embellish or make
things up because to me its
more than a film, its the message
I leave behind when Im gone.
But with this TV adaptation I

can take advantage of mixing in

fiction and it will be much easier.
It will also be easier on my family
because I feel I wont involve
them, for everyones sakes. I
was sad to stop recording my life
24/7 because in my head I felt it
represented the end of my fun
times with them, and the end of
me making comedy projects. I
now realise it only represented the
end of making the project: a film
never made before and never to
be made again. n

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41

GOLD
DIGGERS
Richard Wright and Amy Newman are a
filmmaking combo who are producing a
series of shorts looking at the rich history of
the Canadian gold rush of the 1860s

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Digital FilmMaker

Gold diggers
If youre going for a period
look with your project then
youve really got to go the
extra mile in order to ensure
that the end result does look
of its time. That often means
budgeting extra cash for period
clothing and also extends to
sets and props. Thankfully there
is occasionally a helping hand
in the shape of a great location
that might come complete with
many of the desirable fixtures
and fittings, plus a suitable
backdrop, that you need to pull
off the illusion of going back in
time. Its an issue that filmmaking
collaborators Richard Wright
and Amy Newman have been
very conscious of while filming
their series of historic stories.

I was familiar with

the concept of
story, film pacing,
and the basics of
film production
I have been a photographer
and cinematographer most of
my life so I was familiar with the
concept of story, film pacing, and
the basics of film and sprocket
production, Richard explains.
A few decades ago I filmed
and produced 14 films for the
Canadian Broadcast Corporation.
This Bonepicker project, however,
was my first major foray into the
digital film realm. I have written
several books on the gold rush
era and have a deep knowledge

of the time and place. Telling the

backstories of these folks seemed
to fit with film.

Learning curve
So although Richard has bags
of experience, his background
meant that moving into the digital
arena brought with it plenty of
challenges. My partner Amy
Newman and I have done all the
work, except music tracks and
end crawl songs, he says of the
task in hand. We research, shoot,
appear on camera to tell the story
and do all the photography. Amy,
being an experienced performer, is
great with stand-up. She prefers to
work on a script and memorize it.
I, on the other hand, usually wing
it as that has been my experience
as a storyteller and sometime TV
narrator. Amy is a great fixer/line
producer who will talk to anyone
and call anyone to get the info,
permission or interview we need.
I edit the films and use the music
of friends in the music industry
who have bought into the project
and provide the audio without
charge. We hope to begin paying
for music in the next round. Ken
Hamm, Bob Campbell, Scott Cook
and The Boys from Joe Dennys,
a gold rush band, have offered us
music so far.

Ideal match
I have always been a
photographer and writer,
adds Richard. So those skills
were easy put to use. Amy is
a performer specializing in our
chosen era of the gold rush years,
so those talents were put to use
in stand-up camera work. We
both produce gold rush theatre
in the summer months in the
historic town of Barkerville, BC
so we are familiar with the era,
performing and, have a ready
source of locations and actors
when needed. The Bonepicker
is a series of short form films
telling the backstories of people
who took part in the great British
Columbia gold rush of the 1860s.
The stories take the viewer from
BC to many of the USA states,
the UK and Europe. Eventually
we will film several stories in

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43

Hong Kong and China. The title

Bonepicker comes from the
Chinese culture. When Chinese
miners or emigrants died away
from their homeland they were
buried. Seven years later their
bones were exhumed, cleaned
and stored in large jars to be sent

We invested our
own money and
time and all our
own equipment to
get started
back home to their home province
to be with their ancestors. The
man who exhumed the bones was
called the Bonepicker. We see
our films as picking at the bones
of history to tell these stories.
Most of the stories I have written
during several years of writing
books and articles on BC history.
All too often the stories of our
pioneers have focused on what
they did at the time they were, for
example, mining for gold. Little
attention was paid to where they

44

Digital FilmMaker

came from, who they were their

backstory. And most did not
stay long but moved on to other
places, rushes or occupations. We
want to tell that part of their story.

Shoestring budget
Did the pair have much in the way
of money to play with? Nope,
Richard states. We invested our
own money and time and all our
own equipment to get started
and then launched an Indiegogo
campaign to kickstart the project.
We raised $2,500 (CDN) to buy
some software, hard drives
and launch a website. Then a
regional non-profit, the Friends
of Barkerville Historical Society,
granted us $5,000 for the first
five films. Now, having seen the
responses from small festivals,
Facebook, and viewings, other
sponsors are coming on board.
The most recent was a major buyin from Barkerville Historic Town
and Park. Several merchants in
the living history town have also
offered sponsorship, as have
individual supporters. With this
support we are now meeting most

Gold diggers
when we meet folks who might
be interested in showing the films
(such as a festival) or a potential
sponsor, we give them a regular
business card and a USB card
with medium resolution uploads.
Some of the cards also have
bios and CVs, project proposals
and background uploaded as
well. While these views do not, of
course, add to the total on Vimeo
we have found that folks are more
likely to quickly stick them in their
laptop and have a look. So far we
have gone through 100. We also
use them for retail sales at festivals
and showings.

of our overall expenses.

Different strokes
In terms of filmmaking it is
actually something new, adds
Richard. However, my writing

The next phase

is another five or
six films in Oregon
and California this
coming spring
portfolio has focused on this
era, as has Amys performance
work. Amy also works as a
singer performer in Vancouver
in the winter, and I work as a
documentary stills photographer.
What with the three-plus months
a year travel we are now doing
for this project the portfolio is
blending and shifting more toward
film work. The first five films,
ranging from 3 to 21 minutes, are

complete and posted on Vimeo

and various websites. The next
phase is another five or six films
in Oregon and California this
spring and then, funding being
successful, a trip to the UK to
shoot four backstories in London,
Cambridgeshire and Scotland.
The response has already been
more than we hoped for. Although

promoting the films takes lots of

time and effort, it is paying off. We
market wherever we can. One of
the most successful promotional
tools we have used is a USB 8
Gigabyte business card. We made
them up for a conference
we were invited to and
they were a great
success. Now

Tricky sell
Richard is quick to admit that
the series of films might not be
for everyone and represents
something of an acquired taste,
but hes still confident about
the appeal. This subject is a
niche market for us, so not as
competitive as for regular short

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45

feature films, for instance, he

says. We are pursuing as many
outreaches as we can, from a
Barkerville premiere and small
festivals with low entry fees,
to Facebook, Vimeo, regular
showings in Barkerville and even
showings in sponsors homes.
We were invited to The
Archaeological Channels
conference on Cultural Heritage
Media in Eugene, Oregon in May,
which opened up a few more
doors and broadcast opportunities
such as on their Strata cable
cast. In Barkerville, a 40-minute
selection of films are shown for a
small admission fee at our Theatre
Royal on the regular dark day or
the casts day off. We brought
in a 64-inch screen centre stage
and good speakers and limit
the seating to a good viewing
area. This is attracting a growing
audience and brings in a few more
dollars for expenses.

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Digital FilmMaker

Cult collection
And, if you think this series
sounds niche then Richards other
projects sport a similar appeal.
The Unquiet Grave is a short
feature that comes from a play I
wrote and produced at the Theatre
Royal in Barkerville a few years
ago, he explains. The story
resonated with audiences as it
reflects some of the issues we are
facing in British Columbia around
the issue of missing and murdered
First Nations women and a
perceived lack of attention from
authorities. The Unquiet Grave is
the story of a Scotswoman who,
in 1862, was raped and murdered
in the Cariboo goldfields. In a
gross and obvious miscarriage of
justice, her murderer went free.
The story unfolds through detailed
court transcripts and newspaper
accounts with direct testimony
from residents. The story writes
itself though witness testimony. It

is a story that sadly is reflected in

todays justice system. So Jessie
Hamilton of 1862 speaks for the
missing women of today.

Moving forwards
The script is complete and the
screenplay in production, adds
Richard. Once again, participants
will have multiple cast and crew
roles. Amy Newman is cast in the
title role, and as costume designer.
James Douglas, a fine actor and
manager of Visitor Experiences
in Barkerville, has the main role
of the murderer and co-director.
Various Barkerville living history
actors will be cast. I am writing the
screenplay and will be co-director
and DOP. One advantage we have
with this film is a town for a set
the actual town where some of

The story unfolds

through detailed
court transcripts
and newspaper
accounts
the action took place. Barkerville
Historic Town and Park have
opened up all locations for us.

Other options
On his own admission, Richard is
content with making period pieces
from medieval times to 1900 and
historical documentaries too. But
he loves a good western into the
bargain. I love history and story
and film can take us back to those
times, he enthuses. If well and

Gold diggers
truthfully done. I live in today, so
am less interested in seeing life
today recreated on screen. As
the outreach of Bonepicker films
increases we also see ourselves
moving into the production of
social and environmental activism,
such as wildlife issues and the
increasing threats of the Canadian
environment from hydro-electric
dams and resource extraction.
Yet in many ways Bonepicker is
doing just that. In telling stories of
the past, we tell todays story. We
are our past. In this Cariboo area
of BC, filmmakers are scattered.
In our town of Wells there are
two film festivals, but each
draws only a handful of viewers.
We are sometimes the set for
documentaries or reality mining
TV shows, and very occasionally
a feature, such as the Germanbased film Gold that was shot here
a few years ago.

Public reaction
We would like to see the
Bonepicker series on a public
broadcasting channel, furthers
Richard on the ideal outcome
for his pet project. We have
a revolving focus group and
interested parties who we rely on
for feedback and new ideas, so
the whole project could open up.
For instance, there is a growing
interest from the Chinese in this
area as many of their ancestors
mined here. A recent tour brought
many government, media and
business Chinese here. They loved
the area and were interested in
the Bonepicker project, so there is
now a growing conversation with
them on expanding the stories to
include China. One of the main
challenges, other than those
such as funding, and time, which
every filmmaker faces, is travel
and working away from normal
resources. Our base is seldom
a fixed location, but usually our
travel trailer. This made studio
work such as uploading and
battery charging an issue. For
shooting we relied on constantly
charging the 15 or so camera
batteries we carried, either with
an in-truck inverter or when we
stopped at night and used solar
or shore power. We downloaded

Better way

and backed up every evening to

LaCie Rugged drives and when we
had power we then backed up to
two 3 gig LaCie drives. Normally
one set of hard drives was in the
truck and one in the trailer in case
of accidents such as fire. We never
reformatted the camera CF cards
until we had at least two backups.

We went to a
6-days work week
with one day for
rest, repairs and
reorganization
And, touch wood, we never had
any drives or cards fail. We did,
however, have a trailer fire when
a wheel bearing burned out and
the axle grease and rubber burst
into flames. It proved the worth
of our two-location practice. As
we uploaded videos to the drives,
clips were sorted by subject, film
subject or B-roll. So, in theory,
I had a good start on managing
the 1,000 plus clips when we
returned to our base. Working
in the environment rather than a
studio presented other challenges,
such as a dust storm that covered
a camera sensor, an encounter
with a rattlesnake, the heat of
the desert, constant travel and
damage to equipment.

to be replaced. Zacutos
customer service was great as
they immediately dispatched a
replacement. In the meantime,
we travelled 200 miles to buy a
new one, so as not to lose time.
The whole viewfinder of my
Nikon D800 fell out and had to
be repaired with cardboard. Who
knew a single minute screw held
it in? When we look back at some
of the films and see our weathered
and burned faces we realized
why our two-person team was a
little testy at times. We went to a
6-days work week with one day for
repairs, rest and reorganization
or, time alone. And that is another
opportunity and challenge. We
work as a two-person team by
necessity of
budget and
travel and
choice. Last
winters shooting
took us 8,000 kilometres,
with no assistance at any
point, except for Lana Fox,
our remote internet
researcher.

In the future we hope to have

the budget to hire local sound
and lighting techs on occasion,
or even a fixer to facilitate the
process. The process being what
it is ie; conducting research
and script revisions on the fly
the shooting changed day by
day as well which hopefully is
reflected in the films. Sometimes
we had to reshoot when the story
changed or opened up. In one
case we decided that two of the
films needed shots of an 1860s
steam train. Being winter we had
few choices, so we travelled an
extra 2,000 miles for several days
to film a steam train in Durango,
Colorado. This year, while shooting
in Barkerville Historic Town, we
are using re-enactment actors to
help us with some of the scenes
and give a little bit of a different
look to the films. We are fortunate
to have this resource, as most of
them have theatre degrees and
have been acting for some years
and they have their own period
costumes. We are now planning
for our winter shoots and shooting
B-roll. Soon were off on the road
again. n

Accidental damage
In one instance, adds
Richard by way of an
example, I lost half the
Zacuto finder while hiking
in the desert. It needed
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47

MAKING A
CHAMPION
Whats the difference between someone who becomes
a world champion, and someone who doesnt? Creative
director Klaus Pedersen aimed to find out with new
documentary, Story of Becoming

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Digital FilmMaker

Making a champion
For some, the answer lies
in talent; for others, its all
a matter of luck. But what
does it truly take to become
good enough to be a world
champion? According to
Katalin Konya, the answer
lies in neither talent nor luck.
Growing up in Hungary,
she dreamt of becoming a
kickboxing champion from a
very young age; deciding that
having unwavering faith in
herself was the most important
factor towards making it
happen. By the time she was
7, she had won her first medal.
Today, she holds the title of

While I could use

the core skills I had
from photography,
there was much
more to learn
three-time World Champion in
WKU Amateur Kickboxing. I
was really inspired by Katalins
career after meeting her,
begins creative director at
Gaffa Media, Klaus Pedersen.
In a fight, you either win or
you lose but whats rarely
discussed is how many
emotional highs and lows
you need to overcome to
get into the ring in the first
place. Together with his
team, Klaus set out to tell the
tale of Katalins rise to world
championship. The result was a
new indie documentary: Story
of Becoming.

Photo inspiration
Initially trained as a
photographer, Klaus only made
the transition into moving
images in 2011, when he
noticed an increasing demand
for video production among
his clients. As a professional,
I saw the transition as a natural
progression, Klaus continues.
That doesnt mean it wasnt
challenging, though. While I
could still use the core skills I
had from photography, such
as composition and lighting,

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49

there were two main features he

required of a primary camera. The
first was that it needed to be able
to shoot in Cinema DNG Raw
as he wanted the best quality

The images we
were able to obtain
from the 4.6K in
difficult conditions
were spectacular

there was much more to learn

before I could produce a good
video. I took time out to obtain a
solid understanding of the entire
production and post-production
process, including audio, video
editing, colour grading and
motion graphics. After completing
work on a variety of commercials
with Gaffa Media over the years
since, Story of Becoming gave
me the chance to direct my own
indie project, offering complete
creative control.

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Digital FilmMaker

Breaking barriers
From the start, Klaus explains
he was adamant that Story of
Becoming would not be a story
about success, and multiple titles,
but about the exploration of the
mental and physical barriers you
need to break down in order to
achieve worldwide success. The
first step towards completing the
documentary involved deciding
on what cameras and equipment
to use throughout production.
As director, Klaus decided that

possible out of the footage. On

top of that, he also wanted to
have a lot of flexibility when it
came to post-production: with the
core of the documentary focused
on Katalins emotions, colour
and dynamic range would
need to be essential tools in
telling her story.

Kit decisions
Ultimately, I decided on
the URSA Mini 4K and 4.6K
with EF lens mounts, with
a selection of Angenieux
Zoom glass as well as the
Canon L-series of lenses,
Klaus remembers. I also
had a long talk with Katalin

about her journey to world

championship and together, we
decided on the best visual design
to support her story. After this,
I had a clear creative vision of
the look we wanted to achieve.
I ensured that the lighting setup
was full of contrast to highlight
the opposing themes explored
in the documentary, such as
winning and losing. I also used
a lot of backlight throughout,
and specifically chose to have
the main overhead light turned
off during the fight scenes to
avoid spill light in the room,
supplementing it with a strong
edge light instead for a harsher
look. Finally, we added haze

Making a champion

to give the scene a little bit of

additional softness, a contrast
which I felt reflected Katalins
story perfectly.

Creative edge
Using both the URSA Mini 4K
and 4.6K also helped the team
achieve their creative goals, Klaus
reflects. Because we used both
flavours of the URSA Mini, I was
able to take advantage of the
global shutter on the 4K model
when filming action scenes that

required fast panning, and the

15 stops of dynamic range on
the URSA Mini 4.6K to capture
moments such as a camp fire
interview with Katalin, shot at
night. The images that we were
able to obtain from the 4.6K in
such difficult conditions were
spectacular.

Raw workflow
Once production on the project
was complete, all the rushes for
Story of Becoming were brought

into DaVinci Resolve Studio

to complete post-production,
including editing, colour grading,
and final delivery. All the clips
were imported and organized
in the Media page, ready for
the editing process. To begin,
we had to make sure all of our
Cinema DNG Raw footage
from production was organized
properly, which is crucial to
a project of this complexity,
Klaus explains. For this, we
used Resolves Media page. It

To begin, we had
to make sure all of
our Cinema DNG
Raw footage was
organized properly
makes everything really simple
when it comes to setting up
your project, especially if you
use dual monitors as you can
have a clear overview of your
hard drives folder structure on
one screen and the Media Pool
- which contains all the project
files youve imported into Resolve
for your current project - on the
other.

Staying organised
Our approach was to generally
organize the footage from the
very start. After importing it, we
mirrored the respective folder
structure and then, if needed,
we broke it down further by
location, time of day or any other
criteria that suited the project
best. Resolve makes this an
effortless task. While in Icon
view, for example, all you need
to do is scrub through a clips
icon to preview its contents. You
can also tag particular bins with
colours, or easily sort through
media according to anything from
start and end timecode values to
the resolution, type of file, or any
flags youve added. You can even
create custom Smart Bins, which
can automatically sort together
clips based on your metadata.
Once all the footage was sorted,
the team had to carefully preview
large quantities of Cinema DNG
Raw 4K footage to make sure
that they did the story justice.
This was particularly crucial as
this was a documentary, so we
needed to ensure that all of the
dialogue fit well with the imagery
and told Katalins story in the
most accurate way possible,

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51

on YouTube and Vimeo right out

of the box, which are extremely
useful when producing daily
Vimeo previews that we could
review to assess our work.

Correction time

affirms Klaus.

Tall order
Though this might seem like a
huge challenge without a very
powerful processor capable of
handling Raw, Klaus reveals that
by using Resolves Optimized
Media functionality, he was able
to create pre-rendered media in a
variety of finishing formats to let
everyone work more efficiently.
This resulted in smooth real
time play back with a much
more processor-efficient format
and resolution. The beauty of
this was that you could delete
optimized media with just one
click by simply going to the
Playback menu and selecting
Delete Optimized Media, which
would save space on your scratch
volume for the next sequence,
Klaus adds. You could also
go into the Playback menu and
select Use Optimized Media if
Available to switch your entire
project between using your
optimized media during the edit
and the power of Raw during the
grade - which was incredible in
terms of flexibility.

Documentary editing
Another very useful aspect to
editing in DaVinci Resolve was
the multi-track timeline.
The interview alone, for instance,
requires a lot of skimming back
and forth through hours and

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Digital FilmMaker

hours of footage, and being

able to lock and mute different
tracks, or overlap clips proved
invaluable, says Klaus. Resolve
also has multiple edit modes that
you can easily switch between,
such as the default Normal Edit
Mode, Razor Edit Mode, which
lets you add cuts to the timeline
with just a single click, and Trim
Edit Mode, which lets you use
the Trim tools to make slip, slide,

We needed to
ensure that all of the
dialogue fit well with
the imagery in the
most accurate way

ripple and roll edits by dragging

different parts of clips in the
timeline.
Patching clips together in an
instant with Snapping or Ripple
Delete was also bliss, as well
as being able to use DaVinci
Resolves retime controls for our
b-roll footage, to manually
adjust the timing of our
clips so that they synced
better with the audio track.
We also made use of the
Retime Curve, which can be
accessed by right-clicking
a clip and choosing the
Retime Curve option from the
dropdown menu, to easily
create time ramping effects.
Resolve also has a variety of
pre-sets for online distribution

Once the edit for Story of

Becoming was complete, Klaus
then moved on to the colour
grading process. Colour grading
in Resolve really helped us take
the project to an entirely new
level, Klaus reveals. The colour
matching process is fast and
easy, allowing you to use saved
stills as reference to match the
look of one clip to another. One
of the most challenging shots to
grade was the interview by the
campfire, which was shot entirely
using natural light. For this, we
were able to use a combination
of Qualifiers and Windows to help
preserve skin tones, regardless of
the natural light changes, Klaus
continues. Some of the exterior
shots, which wed filmed against
the sun early in the morning,

Making a champion

Colour grading
in Resolve really
helped to take the
project to an entirely
new level
the image quality and flexibility
in post-production that Raw
provides without having to cash
out thousands of dollars, which
is revolutionary. I only have one
recommendation: make sure to
bring plenty of cards! n

would have been impossible to

achieve were it not for the Raw
capabilities of the URSA Mini
as well as Resolves fine-tuning
tools, such as the Hue vs Sat
or Lum vs Sat curves. We used
these to adjust certain areas of
light, saturating the sky to give
it a more natural blue look. It
might sound simple, but using
nodes in Resolve was also a huge
advantage to the team, allowing

us to make changes in a node,

then turn those changes off and
on with one click to experiment to
find the best grade for each shot.

Finishing up
Before I knew it, the
documentary was complete,
and I definitely feel like it was a
success, Klaus concludes. We
live in such an exciting time.
Filmmakers now have access to

Digital FilmMaker

53

ASK THE
FILMMAKER
Sean J Vincent is
a professional who
faces filmmaking
challenges every day
of his career. Here he
takes some time out
to answer a few of
your questions

Lost cause

Ive got a large collection

of family videos from
over the years and am
wondering if there is any
viable way of getting
them digitised in order
to preserve them for
posterity. There are a lot
of these and they are not

always of great quality.

Nevertheless, they are
of great sentimental
value so Im therefore
wondering if this is
possible. Im new to the
world of filmmaking so
would appreciate any
help you can offer or
advice on where to go if

this needs the services of

a professional.
Barry Long, Canvey Island
SJV: There are professional
transfer services who can
handle this task for you. For
example, www.digitalcoverters.
co.uk will do this for around
8 to 10 per tape. It can be

Win a 64GB memory card!

Were giving away a Samsung
Pro Plus SDXC 64GB card
worth 87.99 each issue for your
best filmmaking question. The
Editor will pick a winner from the
entries received in collaboration
with our professional filmmaker
Sean. So, send in your queries to
[email protected] today!
www.samsung.com/memorycard

54

Digital FilmMaker

Ask the filmmaker

Canon have got left behind

somewhat, but, as always, its
what you shoot that counts,
rather what you shoot it on

converted to DVD or a USB

drive. Or, you could do it
yourself. Buy a video capture
card and connect your camera
or old VHS machine (or whatever
it is) to it. This usually works
quite well, but the process
is quite time consuming and
domestic capture cards dont
always use the best codecs.

Bad attitude

We have been shooting

our latest short recently,
making use of the
surrounding areas as

there are some great

locations in and around
our town. However,
most recently we have
attracted the attention
of a security guard from
a firm who patrols one
of the businesses near
where we shoot. While
that property hasnt been
the subject of direct
filming, it is possible that
the business might be
able to be seen in the
background of several
scenes. The guard was
saying that we were
acting illegally. What
would be your take on
this and do we need
to get permissions
retrospectively?
Mike Edwards, Stoke on Trent
SJV: Generally, in the UK, if you
are shooting with a cast and
crew of less than five people in
total, and youre not putting any

New shooter
I follow this mag religiously and always check
over the kit reviews as my first port of call. So,
Ive been pleased to see a bunch of new releases
from the Canon camp. As what I would class as
a Canon person myself, Im keen to stay loyal to
the brand as they have been good for me and my
video content over the last few years. However,
I seem to be having increasing amounts of pub
conversations where fellow filmmaking types are
trying to persuade me to go elsewhere. So, what
am I doing so wrong, which of the new Canon
models are any good and, finally, are there any
competitors I should be looking at instead. Money
isnt really the issue but I am a fan of the Canon
brand to be honest.
Michael Frost, Wimbledon
SJV: Well, Canon started the whole DSLR filming trend with the
5D MK II and then followed it with the 7D and the 550D and then
they released many similar models with very similar specs. They
then released the Cinema EOS range of cameras like the C300,
C500 and C100. These were not DSLRs they were proper video
cameras. Since then, Canon havent really kept up with the crowd
with their DSLRs video features nearly every model has had the
same boring 1080p h.264 specs. Recently, they have released some
4K models and theres the killer 1DC and 1DX models but these
have their issues too. What your mates are probably hinting at is this
- the forward thinking of companies like Lumix with their awesome
4K GH4 and upcoming 6K GH5 Or maybe the Sony A7SII, which
is a killer full frame, 4K lowlight beast! Canon have got left behind
somewhat, but, as always, its what you shoot that counts, rather
than what you shoot it on.
equipment on the floor (such as
using a tripod, lighting stands
and all the rest of it) so if its all
handheld work you are allowed
to film in most public places,
such as on the street or in a park.
But, if you capture business

names/logos and suchlike in the

shot then, strictly speaking, you
should obtain a signed release
form before using the footage
in a commercial sense. If its a
short, dont worry unless youre
showing it at festivals.

Digital FilmMaker

55

Capture it
Ive been impressed by
the quality of the time
lapse videography Ive
been seeing recently and,
as a keen filmmaker, Im

interested in having a
go myself. So ideally Im
looking for best advice
on what sort of kit is fine
to use and also what
sort of post-production

work is needed to get

everything looking shipshape. If I can master it
then I think this might be
an interesting angle to
add to my other freelance
video output, but I
obviously need to make
sure that any content I
produce is of a sufficient
standard to charge for.
Can you give me a few
pointers please?
Stelios Makros, Athens

Post problems

Ill admit that I am not the worlds most

accomplished filmmaker and much of what I
have learnt in recent years has been from these
very pages. Now though, I have a small short film
together and am currently spending evenings in
post-production. I rather like the capacity for giving
it an extra edge via grading and other effects, and
I also have access to Premiere and After Effects.
The downside to all this filmmaking goodness is
that Im not a wizard at these programs. So can
you give me a few quick and easy pointers on how
to add some edge to my movie? By way of an
example, I loved the look of the Hateful Eight, so
something along those lines would be awesome.
Am I in with a chance?
Mark Childs, Daventry
SJV: At this point, I would like to do a big sigh and maybe tut a bit.
The look of The Hateful 8 was accomplished by shooting on 70mm
film using the very best cameras and lenses, having a director of
photography and a huge crew, all working towards getting a great
image in the can before getting a world-class colourist to grade it.
Shooting on a DSLR (probably not in LOG mode) and then hoping
to grade it to look like that is like entering a Grand Prix in a Skoda
and hoping to keep up with Lewis Hamilton. Colour grading is the
icing on the cake. Its not the cream sponge. But, you can give your
footage a boost by doing something slightly filmic with the grading
tools. Add some contrast and then boost the saturation to give it
that rich film look. There are various plug-ins that will come with lots
of looks ready to try out but they are generally designed to work
on flat, log footage. Use the mix control to dial back the effect until it
works on your footage.

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Digital FilmMaker

SJV: Time lapses do look pretty

amazing when theyre done right.
The best bet is to use a stills
camera to get the shot. A full
frame camera with a decent pixel
count like the Canon 5D MK III
is ideal. Use an intervelometer
to trigger the camera to take a
still photo every few seconds. I
generally use a gap of about 7
to 10 seconds. Let the camera
shoot away until you have a
couple of hours-worth of pics
and then copy them to your
computer. At this stage you can
use something like Quicktime
Pro to import them into an image

sequence. Just point Quicktime

at the first shot in the folder and
it will automatically find the rest.
Once Quicktime has imported the
photos, you can then export them
as a MOV file. You can choose
the frame rate to match your
project. Once its in your NLE,
you can colour grade and edit
it just like you would any other
footage. Good time lapses come
from experimenting with all the
settings on the camera and the
intervelometer.

Round about

Someone at work
recently showed me a

360-degree video, which

I thought looked pretty
interesting and, having
made some enquiries, it
seems like this could be
the next big thing if youre
a videographer. I know
Digital FilmMaker has
touched on the subject
in previous issues, but
as a professional, what
do you know about it?
Is this new format worth
exploring and where do

done a lot of this in the past,

but if things are in danger of
getting damaged or broken,
you really do need to think
twice. A prop house will rent
you pretty much anything you
need but you will need to look
after it. If something is going to
get trashed you should buy

Choose the frame rate to match

your project. Once its in your
NLE, you can colour grade and
edit it just as you would any other

you see it becoming most

useful. It sounds like the
kit needed is within the
grasp of pretty much
anyone, so any tips for
staying ahead of the
pack would be handy and
much appreciated.
Mick Funnell, Fleet

SJV: 360-degree videos are

slowly taking off, in a novelty
kind of way. Ive rarely seen
a decent application for them
apart from a couple of quite cool
music videos. Basically, they use
a 360-degree lens to get some
very wacky looking shots. Using
special software, you can stitch
together the resulting images in
clever ways to make them more

Ask the filmmaker

interesting to view on a flat 2D

screen. Check out models from
Theta, Samsung, Nikon and
Kodak.

Safe bet

Were in the midst of

making a crime caper
where the central prop is
likely going to be a safe,
as in a solid metal box
used for keeping cash
in. I say likely as we have
yet to secure one. This
is an outside chance,
but do you think there is
anyone in the filmmaking
business who might have
one we can borrow for
a short period of time.
And, while were on the
subject of props is
there anywhere you can
recommend for general
everyday props, such
as furniture and so on
or do you tend to beg,
borrow or occasionally
buy anything you need to
dress a set. Were happy
to do that but some of
our props might meet
their end in the proposed
action scene midway
through! Im worried
about repercussions.

it. So, eBay and Gumtree are

really great for buying furniture
and various props that you
might need to own rather than
borrow or hire. Another issue
with borrowing instead of hiring
is how it looks. Not the most
professional approach is it? If

Got wood

Ive seen some really

cool accessories from Wooden Camera, many
of which look almost homemade without
wanting to sound disrespectful to what is a tasty
brand. Nevertheless, as a keen metal fabricator
who does a bit of filmmaking into the bargain,
Im wondering if there is a market for producing
a few of my own ideas. As a filmmaker yourself,
do you find that everything you do during a
shoot is pretty well catered for or are there
some bit of kits or perhaps the odd random
accessory that youre itching to get your hands
on? Is there really anything else left to make?
Nick Miller, St Albans
SJV: Theres always accessories left to make Nick! I can think
of plenty but Ill keep them to myself in case I decide to make
them. Ive always thought that having access to the tools to make
my own cages or cheeseplates would be really useful. Most of
these accessories are trying to please everyone making custom
pieces, purely for what I want would be great. Maybe you could
do the same?

Nigel Edwards, Wallsall

SJV: Blagging things is okay
as far as it goes and I have

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57

youre borrowing things that

probably indicates that youre
not paying for insurance either
and in that case, lending you
anything is a bad idea! Sorry

Laughing stock

This might seem like an

odd question if youre

a proper actor but we

have a short film project
where we need our
actors to do plenty of
laughing. Without wanting
to give too much away
the underlying theme is
of comedy. However,
we have encountered a

Quick fix

Ive got a script for a film project of mine that

Ive produced on a laptop during my commute
to and from work. Now though Im looking at
getting it tidied up and hopefully made ready
to use for a proper shoot. The problem I have
is that the script concept is fine, but its a bit
rough and ready around the edges. Plus, I
havent used scriptwriting software, so its been
more a case of just writing the storyline as I
go and adding in character suggestions along
the way. So, long story short, is there any way
of getting this turned into a proper ready-togo script that can be used for a film project,
or does it need professional help? Maybe
you know of some software that can work its
magic?
Olaf Magnusson, Norway

SJV: If you intend to submit your script to either actors or crew or

even production companies, you will need it properly formatted in
the industry recognised way or it wont even get read. There are
various software packages designed to do just this. On the Mac,
I use MovieDraft, but a lot of people use Final Draft or Scrivener.
On the PC, theres Trelby, CeltX or Fade In. You will need to
re-format your script and make sure all the dialogue and scene
headings are properly laid out and as complete as possible. You
might be able to import a text file and then spend a few days
formatting it, but it might be worth just re-typing it into the new
software from scratch and using the opportunity to brush up the
script to a second draft.

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Digital FilmMaker

small but fundamental

issue in that our actors
are not able to laugh on
cue. Granted, the pair
are not professionals,
but they do know how to
enjoy a joke. So is there
any trick or technique
that you think might work
which will cause them to
belly laugh pretty much
on cue? This must surely
be one of the weirdest

Ask the filmmaker

Block head

way. Do you see where this is

going? Professional, trained
actors seem a luxury when
youre starting out, but they can
do things like laugh on cue with
ease. However, Id also suggest
you do the other thing that
people starting out always forget
look at the script! Is it really
that funny? Have you had some
honest third-party feedback on
it? Have you rewritten it several
times, each time being ruthless
and cutting anything that doesnt
work or need to be there?
Comedy is really hard. Make

A director will walk the actors

and camera op through a scene,
deciding where each performer
will be at different points
questions you have ever
been asked, am I right?
Nicola Reynolds, Portswood
SJV: Yep thats definitely one
of the weirdest questions ever.
Okay basically, you want
your non-professional actors
to laugh on cue in a convincing

sure its really funny then get

some professionals to perform
it. Filming comedy is often hard
work because the actors cant
stop laughing if thats not
happening, Id be inclined to rethink the whole script. n

Im eighteen so I know Im supposed to be

familiar with the world of digital filmmaking
but, as someone who is still learning the craft,
there are a few things Im still not sure about.
Ive come across the phrase blocking a few
times and wondered if you could explain how
this works within the context of producing a
movie. Ive also read, in this magazine actually,
that storyboarding makes a lot of sense when
planning a shoot. So do you do this before you
start production or can you add or subtract
items from your storyboard as you go? I guess
this is mainly about planning a film, so any help
you can offer would be hugely appreciated.
Marianne DuPont, Belgium

SJV: Blocking is the process of working out the choreography

of the actors and the camera operators in a shot. Actors need to
hit marks, which are often physically marked on the floor with
tape, so that the focus puller can be sure they will be in focus
at any particular point in the scene. So, a director will usually
walk the actors and camera op through a scene, deciding where
each performer will be at different points in the script. Its time
consuming and tedious, but its how you make sure that actors
arent blocking each others shots and its how the camera
knows where to point and who to focus on at any particular time.
Storyboarding is the process of drawing each shot of a movie
in pre-production so that the crew know what they are trying to
achieve for each shot. Some directors swear by storyboards,
others hate them and dont use them. Its up to you. I tend to
storyboard action scenes or really complicated key shots, but then
rely on notes for the majority of a project.

Keep up with Sean and his work at

www.seanjvincent.com

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59

SMART

THINKING
Nick Parker talks
about Switch, a new
project that he thinks
boasts plenty of high
production values
whilst also retaining
the very essence
of low-budget
filmmaking

Its taken filmmaker Nick

Parker a while to find his feet
in the world of low-budget
movies but his new project
certainly doesnt have the
feel of a cheap and cheerful
production. In fact, Nick has
worked hard to ensure that the
project looks as high-end and
stylish as possible. As a result,
he thinks its the sort of thing
that will appeal to a variety of
likeminded filmmakers after
Nick combined everything he
learned from his previous and
first project while doing it all for
very little money. Nick knows
from experience that, faced
with plenty of hurdles, he has
had no option but to come up
with innovative, practical ways
of getting the shots he needed
without having to compromise
on the quality.

Cool story
The film is about two
characters, Layla and Charlie
who meet, fall in love and move
in together, Nick explains.
Charlie, however, is deeply
flawed and loses control when
the red mist descends. This
ultimately results in him going to
prison for a senseless murder.
Layla supports him whilst he
gets help from a psychiatrist
in prison and they pool their
resources to buy a small farm
in the country, away from
other people. When Charlie is

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Digital FilmMaker

Smart thinking
Steady progress
Not bad at all, although this
naturally hasnt been a singlehanded learning curve Id like
to think Im a good talent spotter
and I really wanted to work with
the best team I could put together
on the next project after Mamma,
adds the filmmaker. So I spent
a lot of time networking and met
these two fantastic actors, Micky
McGregor and Harriet Ghost
who were already established

There were no
other particular
influences other
than I love films
that have a twist
pros (they recently appeared in
Ken Loachs film, I, Daniel Blake,
which won the Ballon DOr at
Cannes). I got such a good vibe
from them that I actually wrote
Switch for them. I sent them the
script and fortunately they loved
it. I also spent a long time looking
for a great DOP with Micky and
Harriet, as it was really important
to me that the team functions well,
released everything seems
fine, but time has taken its
toll on Layla and Charlie makes
a shocking discovery that could
send him back to his dark side.
But youll have to watch it to find
out what it is. I wrote the story
for actors Micky and Harriet after
meeting them at a networking
event. I had a basic outline for
a story, but meeting these guys
really changed the dynamic of
the characters as I could really
use their existing relationship
as a natural component of the
film rather than having to write a
relationship for them. There were
no particular influences other
than I really love films that have a
twist that you dont see coming
and thats definitely the idea with
Switch. The story itself spans a
fifteen-year period, so rather than
use a linear approach the viewer
will see what happens right at
the end then go all the way back
to the beginning of the timeline
to see how the characters got

and was really lucky to get Glen

Harris. Hes a newly graduated
film student, but has already
worked on a number of great
projects and has immediately
landed a job in TV whilst we were
shooting, so my feeling about him
has really been enforced. Mikey
Johnson came with Glen as 1st
AC and Gaffer.

Stylish edge
Nick needed to be sure he had
the right people on board too
as Switch isnt just a standard,
meat n potatoes affair as you
can see, so it required some
additional nous to tweak to
perfection. There are some
complex action sequences that
we really wanted to get right, he
elaborates. But make sure they
looked instant, organic and gritty,
so Mike Carr who is a great action
choreographer and actor came
on board and also took up a role
in the film. Ive also got to give a
mention to Andrew Glazebrook
who has been our principle
SFX make-up artist, his work is
fantastic. And David Turnbull who
is our sound recordist. And then I
took care of the Director role.

there. Hopefully itll create some

surprises along the way.

Follow up
The new project takes plenty
of production inspiration from
Nicks earlier filmmaking efforts,
which quickly taught him to be
innovative and resourceful. Even
if you dont have the money,
reckons Nick, theres no reason
why your film shouldnt look
the business. Ive only made
one short film before this, called
Mamma, he says. Which
was taking the song Bohemian
Rhapsody and re-telling the story
in a modern urban setting. To give
it a little extra twist, I limited the
main characters dialogue to just
the lyrics from the song. The film
got shown in two film festivals in
LA, winning an award at one, and
has been shown at a number of
UK festivals and shown on two
TV stations, which made me really
proud for a first go at making a
film.

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61

Working well
And, thankfully, the combination
ultimately worked well and
delivered just what Nick was
looking for. I really wanted the
guys to focus on what they are
there to do, he says. So the
main focus for me was to make
sure they had what they needed,
when they needed it and where
they needed it. I did a Previz for
Glen so he could get a good idea
of the look and feel and we talked
a lot about camera movement and
how we would change the look
to match the action, but outside
of that I wanted to be clear that I

trusted him implicitly. I wanted

Micky and Harriet to focus only
on acting and so I would work
with them closely on what their
characters would be experiencing.
We also had a lot of unscripted
sections that allowed the guys
to play with the characters. Im
really not that technical and my
skills are more around working
with people so I used my skills
to work with the team, get things
organised and open doors for
us to really allow us to take a no
compromises approach. That was
really our team mantra, so if even
one person on the team didnt like
a take, wed go again.

Solid stance
It all sounds pretty professional
and very organised considering
that Nick is still a relative newbie
does he think he has a natural
capacity for working in the face
of adversity? I took on the role
of producer because Im still
new to filmmaking, he chuckles.
And, honestly, I wouldnt do it
again on a project as complex as
this, but at the time it just made
sense for me to get as much of
the production side of things
pulled together as I could, before
we started shooting. That way I
could focus on direction on set.
For my second film, its been a
pretty big ask, we have used over
20 actors and 16 locations so
far including buses, bars, trains,
restaurants, offices, farms, cars
and houses and many of those
are businesses. Its been an
amazing experience because we
havent paid a penny for a single
location. I used a strategy of

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Digital FilmMaker

mutual backscratching where Ive

targeted locations that might be
a new, up and coming business
with the approach of Ill put
your business on screen and
introduce you to an audience you
might not already have. Thats
really paid dividends because its

For my second
film its been a
pretty big ask,
weve used over
20 actors
really opened doors for me. Its
really been a case of being as
organised as you can be. I have
spreadsheets for everything,
locations, actors and crew,
props, kit and costume. Its been
a real education.

The right stuff

Its just this sort of quirky
entrepreneurial inventiveness
that makes Nicks project such

Smart thinking
a prime candidate for coverage
in this magazine. As weve
already said, even without much
money anything is possible just
as long as you retain a can do
attitude. And, Nick certainly
didnt have much in the way of
a budget, did he? In short, not
really, he grins. We did run a
crowdfunding campaign, which
raised about 700. Which was
good considering I only have a
small network in the filmmaking
scene and the rest of the costs,
Ive covered. Whats been
amazing about this team, is that
every one of the main group
said right from the off that theyd
work for expenses because
they believed in the project and
wanted whatever we raised from
crowdfunding to go into the
production budget. I really cant
thank the guys enough, but the
aim for me is to make something
we are all super proud of and that
we all are able to use the film to
showcase our abilities.

Technical edge
Adding to the appeal of the
project is the fact that Nick
managed to purloin some decent
kit for when the filming started.
Weve been really lucky, he
says. We shot all bar a couple
of drone shots on a Blackmagic
Cinema Camera in 4K. Weve also
been able to scrabble together a

I also built up an
array of bits and
bobs of kit from
my first no-budget
project
pretty professional set up full of
dollys, steadicams, sound kit and
Arri lights. I also built up an array
of bits and bobs of kit from my
first project, which had no budget
at all. I learnt really quickly that if
you cant afford it, youd better
learn how to make it. So I had an
idea for a continuous 360-degree

dolly shot that would follow the

action throughout a dialogue
piece, so I built the rig and its
worked pretty well.

Time bandits
One thing Nick has definitely
picked up following his decision
to cover production duties is that
things can rumble on long after
they should have been done
and dusted. Well, Im so new
to filmmaking that this is only
my second project after my last
short, he laughs. I guess Id
probably had a lot more projects
to talk about if Id have made less
complex productions or simplified
the stories to cut out anything
difficult like securing great
locations or technically difficult
shots. But, frankly, I wouldnt find
that at all exciting. I wouldnt see
the point in looking at a piece of
work Id done and thinking, if only
Id gone and got that location,
this shot would pop! Dont get
me wrong, Im my biggest critic

but if I can, hand on heart, say I

did my absolute best then Ill get
satisfaction from that. We are
just two small shoots away from
completing principle photography
and then weve probably got a
solid three months of editing to
do and no doubt some further
post-production bits to complete
the film. Then we get into festival
promo and will start looking at
distribution options. We are in a
short hiatus right now but should
be wrapped really soon.

Confident outlook
Nick is also pretty sure the Switch
will leave its mark on the world
of filmmaking, even though there
is still some production work to
complete. It has a real cinematic
feel about it, he enthuses. The
guys keep telling me it has a very
British feel to the shots. I have no
idea what they mean, but they
seem to like it so thats good. I
just set the shots up how I see it in
my head but they are coming out

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63

way better than I had imagined.

The run time at the moment looks
like its going to be around 3040 minutes, but I really see this
project as a feature as there is
so much unexplored story about
how the characters develop and
end up where they do. So part of
what Im aiming to do is promo
the film not just as a standalone
project but as an opportunity
to take the story and make
something so much bigger.

Tough times
That said though, Nick still has
to balance his filmmaking output
with making a living. I guess Im
like a lot of filmmakers out there,
he concedes. I have to hold
down a full-time job too so I can
really only work on one thing at
a time, but I have already written
another script, which explores the
idea of how you get into heaven.
Im also lining up some music
video projects because thats an

area Id really like to get into. Ive

been working with some artists to
have lots of original songs for the
Switch soundtrack, so Im going
to be working with some of those
guys to give them videos for their
songs in return. Meanwhile, the
film Ive written will be shorter and
have less locations and actors,
but it will be more complicated in
other ways because it will have
a number of special effects, that
I havent even begun to work

out how Im going to get done.

The music videos are still to get
a treatment, but I love the idea
of blending performance with
a narrative storyline. I also built

I have to hold
down a full-time
job so I can really
only work on one
thing at a time
the circular dolly rig with these
in mind. But, whatever my next
major project will be, the personal
aim for me will be to work more
collaboratively, as letting go and
letting others take the wheel is
something Ive worked really hard
on, but its certainly something I
need to get better at.

Simple strategy
Im pretty mainstream, adds
Nick, commenting on his overall
ethos. I love psychological
dramas and any film that makes
you think but, I can just as easily
watch a good action thriller too.
For example, I am a massive
fan of the Bourne films because
theres a ton of action but you
also need to pay attention. What
Im definitely not a fan of is art
films. I want to be entertained
when I watch a film and, honestly,

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Digital FilmMaker

Smart thinking
love to do a full on action film,
because I love working with teams
to bring an idea through planning,
choreography and then to set, but
the budget would be phenomenal.
Im also a bit of a sci-fi nerd
as well and would love to do
something in that genre although,
again, budget would be an issue
because without the budget you
are always going to be making
compromises on your story. The
man walks over lunar landscape
shot would either have to go or
youd end up I using FX that dont
look all that convincing. And I
really dont like compromising the
story.

Shooting freedom
Nick has been enjoying his

they just bore me. Im a pretty

simple person really, I didnt study
filmmaking so I dont have the
education on this filmmaker or
that filmmaker and I dont know
a lot about styles and methods.
I just know what I like and thats
what Im trying to make. So
hopefully Switch delivers that. Id

filmmaking freedom so much

that he is already contemplating
making a living from it. So is
he actually making money?
Absolutely not, he exclaims.
But to be fair, Im not even
thinking about it. I made my first
film solely to see if I could do it. I
didnt plan beyond that first film
because I didnt know whether Id
even want to make another film
or whether the experience would

I made my first
film solely to see if I
could do it. I didnt
plan beyond that
first project

filmmaker and thats the ultimate

goal. But, Ive got a family to
support, so it would have to be a
pretty solid option for me to make
the leap. I still feel like Im learning
at a massive rate and need to
gain a lot more experience in the
practical elements and I need to
spend more time directing. For
now though, Im happy to go
along for the ride and see where
it takes me because its really a
passion. n

put me off. But, its fair to say Im

hooked now. Its also fair to say I
wouldnt know where to start with
making money out of it. I really
want a production house to see
Switch and look at making it into
a feature and to get me and the
other guys that worked on the film
noticed. If it achieves that, Ill be
delighted. Id love to be a full time

Digital FilmMaker

65

66

Digital FilmMaker

Power play

POWER
PLAY

One of the best things about

filmmaking is that anyone can have
a go as American producer David
Tittone has found out for himself by
making the leap into indie movies

Moviemaking and distribution,

like most all mature industries,
is highly concentrated and
influenced by large firms:
mega studios and large
distributors. So, successful
films are still heavily influenced
and controlled by the onepercenters. But technology is
creating new opportunities for
the independent filmmaker and
changing the landscape of the
mega firm business model. Top
Coat Cash (TCC) leveraged
technology to create a movie
that 15 years ago would have
cost several million dollars
to create and produce. TCC
was filmed at great locations,
including four separate
banks and bank vaults. When
completed, TCC, a bank heist/
MMA Crime drama, would have
had a budget of approximately
$300,000. TCC demonstrates
how the independent filmmaker
can move faster, with more
agility, and with less cost thanks
to advances in technology. As
the co-writer, director, actor
and producer of Top Coat Cash,
I managed the production of

this movie while still holding

down a full-time job as a high
school English teacher. It wasnt
easy. Work weeks sometimes
approached 80-100 hours
(or more). But TCC serves as
an example that in this new
digital era, if one has the will
and passion, the independent
filmmaker can compete and
deliver a high quality movie.

New order
David is right, thanks to
modern technology and the
determination to get out there
and just do it, independent
filmmakers are on to
something In 2013 I wrote,
directed, produced and acted
in a $7,000 mafia film titled
Subdued, he says of his own
path towards indie heaven. I
funded the movie myself with
the goal of creating a good,
entertaining film that I could
use as a model of what I could
create if I had a decent budget.
I believe the most important
and most differentiating element
in the formula for a winning
film is the script. No matter
how good the technology,
cinematography, acting, editing,
sound, score and all the rest
of it, if the script stinks, so will
the film. I was lucky to work
with two young and ambitious
cinematographers, Larry Smith
and Chase Stewart, who also
served as editors for the film. So,
after Subdued, my father and
I wrote the script for Top Coat
Cash. We wrote it keeping in
mind the cost of production. We
also had the flexibility to modify

the script as challenges in

production (location, scheduling,
lighting, resources, cast, crew
and so on) dictated.

Pitching it
After completing Subdued, I
pitched Top Coat Cash to Paul
Strohm, furthers David. A
very successful businessman
in Kansas City. He had seen
and liked Subdued, and loved
the script for Top Coat Cash,
so he agreed to come on
board as Executive Producer
for TCC. Together, along
with our producing team, we
tackled the many challenges

I love to get
involved in
the complete
spectrum of the
production
facing todays independent
filmmakers - challenges that at
different stages of the project
can often seem insurmountable.
For example: What technology
should we use? What technology
can we afford to use? How
much financial resource and
at what point in time do we
need to create and produce the
film? Where and how do we
get financing? What genre of
independent film is in demand?
How and where can we find the
right locations? With limited
resources (meaning tough
trade-off decisions have to be
made), what do we believe is
most important to creating a

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67

successful and marketable film,

recognizing we cant afford to
do everything? Another tool
that proved very useful, and

The story has

been bouncing
around my head in
one form or another
for a long time
that I learned to use during the
creation of Subdued, was a
financial model where I could

do what-ifs in cost and test

the allocation of resources
among different components
in the production of the film.
This financial modelling tool
assisted with making decisions
related to the tough trade-off
bets associated with resource
allocation in the making of Top
Coat Cash.

he makes is that you can do it

if youre determined enough. I
believe successful independent
filmmakers are entrepreneurs
that win by teaming, learning,
and benefiting from the

knowledge and experience of

others, he agrees. I am very
lucky to have producers who
believed in the TCC vision.
They are my advisory board
of close personal advisors not
only for Top Coat Cash, but
for my next film, Serpentine.
My role as director was one of
visionary, project manager and
implementer of the great ideas
that came from all involved in
the project. Any success of Top
Coat Cash has to be shared
collectively by the producers,
cast and crew, and the postproduction team. I shared my
vision for TCC and for each
scene with this team. Their talent
and incredible hard work helped
translate that vision onto the
screen.

Tough call
The role of Johnny, an MMA
fighter, was a difficult one to fill,
adds David on the challenges

Secret formula
Armed with his quality script
and a precise business plan
David was well-placed to move
forwards, but the main point

of recruiting the right cast for

the project. I had an interest in
playing the role, and had been
training for months in preparation
- martial arts, weightlifting and
what not. Physically, I was in a
position that I thought I could
effectively portray Johnny (I
was benching over 300 pounds
and was in great cardiovascular
shape). So, in addition to
the other responsibilities of
directing and producing,
I expressed my interest in
the role to Paul Strohm, the
producers, and the casting
director, Staci Klinginsmith.
After much discussion, I was

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Digital FilmMaker

Power play
eventually cast as Johnny in
the film. One of the reasons
Johnny was a difficult role to
fill was due to the physically
demanding nature of the part.
As an example, in the course
of shooting the MMA fight
sequences (plenty of which
ended up being full contact) I
suffered a broken thumb and
hernia. The fight sequences
look great. The credit for this
has to go to the talent of the
assistant director (Nick Tittone),
choreographers (Larry Parrish,
Louis Pena, Greg Richter),
cast, crew and post-production
team, as its particularly difficult
to direct really good scenes
when one is acting. Just to
be clear, I believe the team
the independent filmmaker
pulls together is a significant
contributor to the quality of the
film.

Writing credit
David Tittone and David Torre
(son and father), wrote the
script. The father/son duo had
always dreamed of writing/
filming a bank heist film, so
TCC was inspired by their
love and fascination with this
subgenre of crime films. TCC
was envisioned to serve as an
example of how the average
person can overcome great
odds, reckons David. The
anti-hero in this film is symbolic
of how one of the masses can

challenge and overcome lifes

obstacles. Top Coat Cash
captures the reality, brutality,
and toughness of life through
the experiences of an antihero that constantly holds to
the mantra no matter what
the odds, no matter what
others believe, I can and I will
overcome. In so doing, the
central question of the film
In a world where everyone
is bad, how do you tell who
is good?, is answered. In
real life, the average person
is diverse and global. Top
Coat Cash reflects this global
diversity and was made for
every man, every woman and
every race. Lead roles were

filled by an American Indian,

Hispanic, African American,
Italian, Korean, old, young and
very strong female actresses.
Dig into their background and

Ive always liked

films that leave
the ultimate
conclusion open to
the audience
you will find the cast, crew and
producers have life experiences
that mirror the toughness
and diversity portrayed in the
film. The diversity of the cast,
crew and characters, and the

unconventional yet frightening

way in which the antihero of
TCC overcomes all the odds
stacked against him, are
symbolic of how anyone can
overcome adversity and survive
in a complex world.

Carefully managed
Although David and his team
were meticulous in their
planning they did also have
something of a budget to work
with, approximately $300,000
in fact. This not only meant that
they could boost the production
values, but also ensure they
had top kit at their disposal.
The challenge with a film like
Top Coat Cash, with mixed
martial arts action sequences
and bank heists, challenging
sets/locations, and a large cast,
was how to best allocate the
funding to increase production
value and increase our chances
of success, he says. Our
financial model helped us
manage and control a very tight
budget. Nevertheless, I know
it sounds clich, but it is an
exciting time to be a filmmaker.
Technology is evolving rapidly,
and the cost of studio-like
quality cameras, lighting, and
sound equipment continues
to drop as quality increases.
Evolution in digital technology
continues to dramatically
lower the cost of production

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69

technician, Chad Johann, used

Arri, Kino Flo, LED Portable
light systems, amongst others.

and facilitate post-production

activities. After examining the
technology development curve
of these different technologies,
the cost of these technologies
at different life cycle stages, as
well as the adoption cycle for
using improved digital quality in
distribution our team decided
to go with 4K cameras. All
these factors when considered
in aggregate went into the
equipment selection decision.

Future work

Perfect decision
Our director of photography
Michael Rogers and
cinematographers Nicholaus
James, Chris Commons and
Larry Smith, primarily used
two Panasonic GH4 cameras
with Rokinon Cine and Nikon
lenses, furthers the filmmaker.
These cameras were great in

Soror was an
incredibly smooth
production, mainly
due to our highly
efficient producer
that they have a great image,
and were lightweight for
Michael during MMA scenes
and bank heist scenes where
he utilized the Steadicam. In
addition, cinematographer

Isaac Alongi used a RED

Epic with Carl Zeiss lenses
for all of our aerial footage.
Using DaVinci Resolve, our
colourist, Taylre Jones (The
House on Pine Street, Adira)
was able to blend the two
cameras effectively to create
a very crisp, industry-standard
colour accuracy for Top Coat

Cash. Our sound recordists

Tyler Thompson and Phillip
Cattell used a 664 SixChannel Portable Production
Mixer with integrated
recorder and a Sennheiser
Shotgun Microphone and two
Sennheiser Wireless Bodypack
Microphone systems for our
lavalier mics. Our lighting

I view Top Coat Cash as my

seminal work, adds David,
looking back over the project
as a whole. My first real full
production movie. We have
several other script outlines
and ideas. The sequence with
which we pursue these other
movie ideas will depend on
what we continue to learn,
how technology enables
us, how we assess demand
for the concept, where my
passion lies and the resources
available to translate the idea
into a movie. Top Coat Cash
is currently in the final stages
of post-production. We have
just completed VFX, and our
sound designer, Alex Niedt,
is completing the final round
of sound edits. We are about
to begin our marketing phase.
At 105-minutes it looks great,
and I am beyond pleased
with the final product. With
the expertise of our Emmy
award-winning editor and
post-production supervisor
Cara Myers, we have crafted
a very entertaining film with a
high level of production value.
Thus far, with little marketing,
our target audience has
expressed great interest via
social media. After releasing
our trailer, we have had a very
positive response the trailer
has had over 100,000 views, it
has been shared a few hundred
times, and our Facebook page
has garnered over 21,000
likes. We have also received
interest from others in the
industry about participating
in the making of our next film
Serpentine.

Marketing machine
Similar to big studio films, we
plan to utilize social media to
market and promote Top Coat
Cash, adds the filmmaker.
Top Coat Cash Executive
Producer Paul Strohm and our

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Digital FilmMaker

Power play
marketing department head Brian
Strohm have helped to develop a
solid marketing plan: we will use
social media to actively engage
our target audience, to attract
fans to both the Facebook page
and the Top Coat Cash website.
Mixed martial arts has a huge
fan base and bank heist films
are a very popular subgenre of
crime films. Our goal is to tap
into these large niche markets in
order to generate a lot of interest
and support for Top Coat Cash.
Through the use of our trailer
and short action segments from
the film, we will illustrate to this
audience that Top Coat Cash
is very well made, has a high
production value, and is, most
importantly, very entertaining.
Meanwhile, Ive just finished the
screenplay for Serpentine. The
movie is a human trafficking
crime drama/thriller about a team
of professional criminals that
face heat from the FBI when they
begin to collaborate with a major
drug cartel in the trafficking of
women and children. My film
production company, Paradise
Lost Films, is in the early stages
of pre-production. The movie
is targeted to have a $1 to $5
million budget. Human trafficking

is a multi-billion dollar, global

business and millions of people
are trapped in this modern
version of human slavery. The
purpose of the movie is to shed
light on the perpetrators of this
horrific crime in a thrilling and
entertaining manner.

Big budget
Although many would argue that
this isnt exactly a low-budget
follow up Both Top Coat
Cash and Serpentine are crime
drama thrillers, says David.
Serpentine serves the social
cause of shedding a light on a
crime - human trafficking, that
for the most part operates under
the news media and politicians
radar. The increase in budget will

Life doesnt
wrap itself in a neat
little package, so I
didnt want the film
to either
allow us to do some things in the
film that were not possible to do
in a $300,000 film. These crime
drama/thrillers are my personal
favourite. I have always been

fascinated with the criminal mind,

and the various traits associated
with the criminal persona that
inspires certain individuals to
commit crimes. The juxtaposition
of good and evil in crime dramas
allow for visual contrast in ideas
and emotions when presented
in a cinematographic form. As a
director, this helps in managing
the pace, flow, and complexity
of a film. Top Coat Cash and
Serpentine are complex movies,
with many moving parts and
characters. In Top Coat Cash,
the lines between the good and
bad are blurred, and this creates
one of the central puzzles of the
film In a world where everyone

is bad, how do you tell who is

good? In Serpentine, the lines of
good and evil appear to be more
clearly defined, but a subplot and
tension unfolds Can good defeat
evil without becoming just as evil
as the evil it seeks to defeat?
This is the age old question: Do
the ends ever justify the means?
I believe the target audience
of our movies like fast moving,
complex thrillers. Serpentine
builds on Top Coat Cashs style,
increasing the tension and pace,
creating a bigger and faster roller
coaster ride of a thriller. I love
film and filmmaking. Having my
next film serve a social cause
just intensifies my passion. n

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71

Flying high
Filmmaker Alex Secker talks about why he thinks
Follow The Crows, his new project, is tailor-made
for fellow shooters and how the lessons hes learned
along the way could prove inspirational for others
facing the same challenges

Like many of us, Alex Secker

has always had a thirst for
filmmaking and its something
that got to him early on.
Ive been working to enter
the industry since before I can
remember, he laughs. Thats
not even an exaggeration! My
dad used to be a manager at the
Sony Centre in Swindon (when
it had one) and so he used to
bring home the cameras and the
other bits to learn about them.
We used to make little movies
and, as I got older, I started
making them on my own. For
my eighth birthday I got bought
a cheap camcorder and used
to make films with my brother
and my friends. By the time
Id left college I was working
with better equipment, but the
passion and the drive was the
same. I hopped from project to
project, offering up my services

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Digital FilmMaker

freelance, and did a lot of

wedding videos to earn money
to fund my own short films.
The first short I ever released
publicly was called The Silent
Assassin - we shot it over two
days and entered it into a local
film festival. I remember sitting
in the theatre when it got to the
big twist of the film and the
audience actually gasped. When
the credits rolled there was this
silence and then just an eruption
of applause.

Arrival time
Along with the birth of my
kids, thats probably one of
the happiest moments of my
life, Alex adds. It gave me
a validation that I was, dare I
say, good at this, and Ive been
making films ever since. I set
up my own video production
company, 22six Productions

and have been working

on a lot of corporate stuff,
as well as weddings and
music videos. But my real
passion is narrative film,
and I keep coming back
to shorts. Ive directed
and edited a lot of shorts
that I havent written, but
Ive always done my own
projects as well. Follow The
Crows actually started life as
a short, but the idea just kept
growing.
Similarly, Alex also reckons that
this is a project that readers will
love, combining many of the
challenges that face fledgling
filmmakers on a daily basis.
This is a project created by the
very people Digital FilmMaker
is aimed at, he says. Were
all totally independent, low and
no-budget filmmakers trying
to break into the industry and,

although I cant speak for the

others involved, I myself as
writer and director of the film
am a big fan and avid reader of
the magazine. Ive often utilized
things Ive read in its pages,
transporting them into real-life
scenarios. We made this film
on what is the very definition of
a shoestring budget, shooting
at weekends and evenings
and everyone giving up their
time for free. Were exactly the
kind of people who read Digital
FilmMaker and Im certain,

Flying high
speaking as a reader myself, that
the audience of the magazine
would be interested in our
movie.

Driving force
Central to that has been
the camaraderie that Alex
has enjoyed from his fellow
crewmates in order to produce
his new project. Weve had
some amazing people working
on this film and theyve all given
up their time for free to make
it, says the filmmaker. It was
incredible to see how many
people actually believed in this
project, and the fact that were
actually nearing the end of postproduction now is a testament

It was really
incredible to see
how many people
actually believed in
this project
to their passion and belief in the
film. Its true that you dont know
until you ask, but Ive found that
sometimes that is literally all it
takes. We had Marcus Starr,
whos an actor and a producer,
come onboard very early on,
when I pitched him the idea.
Marc actually ended up funding
a lot of the movie himself as
well, he believed in it so much,
and that was quite reaffirming.
Then we had Darren Potter as
our DOP and camera operator,

he runs Infinite 8 Productions,

which is a fairly successful
corporate film company, and
he brought with him equipment
and experience on more
professional shoots. Initially
the movie actually opened in a
different way, and I cast a friend
of a friend in this tiny, thankless
role, because he just wanted to
be involved, and we ended up
cutting it. But the guy, Ashley
Robson, ended up helping us
on the rest of the shoot as a
runner, boom operator, behind
the scenes documenter, literally
anything and everything, and
he did some line-reads for a
rehearsal and ended being cast
in a much larger role later on.
Of course, we had an incredible
make-up artist, Bethany Smith,
who Id worked with a couple
of times on my own shorts,
and I asked her if she was
interested. She ended up doing
the costumes and the make-up
and all the make-up effects as
well, she was just amazing. The
actors were incredible too, Max
Curtis and Daniella Faircloth,
who play the two leads, were so
into their parts. I actually wrote
the script with Max in mind for
the lead character, because Id
worked with him before, but
Daniella came and auditioned
and just blew us away. When we
got to the set she was really into
it, at some points even going
full method on the character.
She had this whole backstory worked out and made

suggestions of lines and things.

It really helped sell the movie.
In fact, everyone on it was just
brilliant and they all seemed to
just get what we were going for.

Working well
Ive always been a believer
that filmmaking is all about
collaboration, Alex adds. You
get better results when youre
willing to work with people and
work together and thrash things
out. So I was lucky to have so
many talented people at my
disposal who all believed in the
project and what we were doing.
Obviously Marc and Darren
have experience on professional
film sets and so they brought
with them a whole wealth of
experience that I didnt have.
But Ive always been, at the
risk of sounding big-headed, a
good manager, and so I was
able to recognize, I think, when
people had something to offer.
A lot of our actors are members
of acting troupes and amateur
dramatic societies, but theyve
all been taught drama in school
and college and university, and

so they brought with them tips

about how to make sure they
had the best performance.
Everyone was up for helping
out when it came to rehearsals,
changing lines of dialogue and
making sure that things were
fluid and worked well. When I
met Bethany, our make-up artist,
she was actually in college doing
a make-up effects course. So
she had loads of experience and
skills to bring along to her role,
and she helped me understand
what was possible and what
wasnt when it came to the
script, and that in turn meant
I had a decent idea of how to
shoot it. I genuinely cant big
everyone up enough, they were
all amazing, and all of them put
their skills to use in every way
they could.

Survival instinct
Alex has plumped to make a film
that has also been something
of a risk in terms of the subject
matter. More importantly, he has
gone for a storyline that requires
the viewer to keep up with
whats happening in the plot.

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73

suddenly things started falling

into place.

Producer power

This is not, then, a leave your

brain at home exercise Long
after an apocalyptic event, the
world has been reduced to a few
survivors, wandering the world
in search of something to live
for, the filmmaker explains. But
that is deliberately ambiguous.
Its two parallel stories, set in
this world where society has
been stripped of all technology,
law and any kind of semblance
of normality. The first story
is about a man and a woman
who, together, sort of discover,
or rediscover, their humanity,

It started off as
a short and it just
sort of spiralled
into this massive
behemoth
while the second is about a man
searching the wastelands for
people in a quest for revenge.
But, as he reaches the end of
his journey, he starts to wonder
what hell have to live for when
hes done. I mean, I dont think
its unfair to say that its quite a
heavy film, but its quite pulpy
too. Its definitely a movie that,
hopefully, will make you think.
It poses a lot of questions but
doesnt really offer up many
answers, and thats sort of
the point. We had long talks
about what this means and
what that means, but ultimately
we decided to not spoon-feed
everything to the audience. So

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Digital FilmMaker

pay attention! One of the key

things I always get asked when
Im talking about it is so what
caused the apocalypse, and I
dont really have an answer if
Im honest. Its never explained
in the film, these people dont
remember a time before, so its
not really important. It just is the
world and thats that.

Working title
While Alex claims credit for
coming up with the idea and
writing it, the story was further
developed between him and
producer Marcus Starr after hed
pitched it to him. As I said, it
started off as a short and it just
sort of spiralled into this massive
behemoth that then needed to
be refined and chopped up and
pulled back, he chuckles. As
far as inspiration goes, originally
the story didnt actually take
place in a post-apocalyptic
world, it was contemporary,
and that initial idea doesnt
really bare any resemblance
to what its become now. But,
it was a combination of lots of
different things that inspired it.
I had this idea of a man on a
quest for revenge, and I had this
idea for shooting lots of little
movies that, when you put them
together, make one massive
movie, and I also felt like where
I live, in Wiltshire in the South
West of the UK, wasnt really
being utilized as it could be as a
filming location. Weve got these
massive, sprawling landscapes
that look like theyve literally

never been touched, and I just

couldnt figure out why no one
was filming there. I found out on
our first day of shooting that its
because Wiltshire sits right under
a hell of a lot of flight paths, so
we had to contend with planes
every day, but it looks fantastic.
I was just pitching all of these
different ideas to Marc one day,
totally informally, and he sort
of said why dont you combine
them? and I started just toying
around with that idea and then,

However, Alex is also quick to

admit that the project was really
propelled along thanks to having
a bona fide producer. That
credit needs to go to Marc,
reckons the filmmaker. He did
an amazing job. I knew a lot of
the people from other projects,
and I used to run a networking
event where Id met some
people, but Marc pulled it all
together. He worked his ass off,
and I mean that! Whenever we
needed something or whatever
Marc sorted it out. This is as
much his movie as it is mine. He
even paid for us to all go and
spend the night at the beach
when I said Id love to have a
certain scene take place next to
the ocean. He really believed in
this project and he really pushed
us all to do it. If it wasnt for
him, I wouldnt even be here
talking about this right now. He
totally deserves full credit. And,
in terms of budget, we had next

Flying high
to nothing. Marc pulled out
his credit card if we did need
something, but we made most
of the props and costumes and
things out of stuff we had lying
around. I think Max is wearing
my old hoodie throughout
the film, and I know Marcs
costume is basically stuff hed
bought years ago to go skiing
and just never used it. We
called in a lot of a favours, and
I mean a lot of favours to get
this done. We were shooting
guerrilla-style a lot of time, just
down in the woods and out
on the fields. Me, Marc and
Darren went out one day to get
some cutaways and we had
to climb over this fence to get
into where I wanted to shoot
as we were driving away Marc
told us that he spent the whole
time on the lookout out for the
farmer because we werent
allowed to actually be there. I
had no idea. But yeah, we had
hardly any cash to play with.
Everything came from someone
who had something, or knew
someone who had something.
Its quite incredible that we
even managed to pull it all
together, but I tried to write the
script to what I knew we could
get and we ended up barely
paying out for anything.

Quality results
Cast and crew are happy with
the overall look of the film,
even though they didnt have
the means to use real highend kit, despite the desire
to Well, as much as Id
love to have shot on a RED or
something, in glorious 4K, we
just couldnt afford anything
like that, chortles Alex. We
shot the movie using a Sony
FS700 as our primary camera
and then Ive been grabbing
cutaways and the odd shot
when I can using my Canons,
a 550D and a 600D. I actually
think, in an odd sort of way,
that this has wound up helping
the film somewhat. Now its
been colour graded as well,
its got a sort of a grainy
quality that, with the post-

apocalyptic setting, works

really nicely and makes it look
really professional! What really
let us down is our sound. We
didnt have our own mic, so
we started off borrowing one
and then found out that it
wasnt actually picking up the
sound as well as it appeared
to be doing on the shoot. So
we swapped mics near the
beginning of filming, and we
used a Rode Shotgun mic and
a H4n for the bulk of the shoot.
Of course, then we had the
planes to contend with, so its
looking like a lot of ADR.

Humble pie
Although hes secretly quite
pleased with the outcome,
Alex is less confident sounding
when he reflects on how it
compares to his other movie
output. It doesnt, he jokes.
It really, really doesnt. I
suppose thematically you could
argue that it does, but its so

I find
contemporary
settings, behind
closed doors, really
interesting
much broader and larger in
scale than anything Ive ever
made before. I tend to make
movies about the sinister side
of normal. I find contemporary
settings, behind closed
doors, that kind of thing really
interesting, and so as far as
my narrative work goes, Follow
The Crows doesnt really fit into
that. But it deals with a lot of
the same issue that I often deal
with, its dark and ambiguous,
and its about loss and purpose
and a lot of my films are about
those sorts of things. Its
definitely, by far, the biggest
thing Ive ever made. Right now
were in the midst of postproduction. Weve finished the
final cut and the film needs
music and it needs ADR. A
couple of the actors have
seen it and were pretty blown

away. To be honest, Ive been

pretty blown away and I directed
and edited the thing. But then,
Im biased. Were going to be
running a funding campaign in
the hope that we can raise some
money to get a professional ADR
mix done of the project, but if
we cant well have to beg, steal
and borrow like we did while we
were shooting. Its okay, weve
got experience in that area
now. Its looking really, really
good though. Im consistently
blown away by it. Ive watched it
through a few times now and Im
genuinely proud of it. Im a bit of
perfectionist, and there are shots

and bits that I really dislike, but

overall Im just gobsmacked that
we actually managed to pull this
off! Its incredible. The film looks
like I envisioned it would and
the performances and things
are outstanding! To be honest,
I spend most of the time when
I watch it thinking Holy crap!
It actually looks like a movie!
and thats probably one of the
greatest feelings ever!

Social Boost
Alex hopes he can now go on to
generate a positive buzz around
the film via online marketing.
Obviously social media is a

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big aspect of our marketing

campaign, he says. Well be
making some appearances on
local radio and in local papers
and things, but were really
trying to push our social media
presence, even more so now
that were preparing to launch
our funding campaign for the
final stretch. Social media is
a Godsend for independent
filmmakers and artists in general.

Social media
is a Godsend
for independent
filmmakers and
artists in general
It doesnt cost much to sponsor
your posts either, and you can
really generate an audience
through Facebook and Twitter.
We set up an official YouTube
channel and had a behind-thescenes person on board for
a lot of it, a guy named Paul
Woolhouse, who did a great
job of capturing lots and lots of
footage, and Ive been slowly
working my way through that,
editing it into short videos
covering our process, and weve

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Digital FilmMaker

been doing little interviews that

we release online. Weve also got
a blog that we use to generate
buzz, we update it once a week,
just covering where we are in the
process and stuff. We release it
on a Monday and that has a fairly
decent following. We havent
made any money from Follow
The Crows yet and, to be honest,
that was never really the aim. We
had a good story and some great
people and we all just wanted to
make an awesome movie! Dont
get me wrong, if we can make
money from it too that would be
a plus, and Im hardly going to
snub my nose up at it, but we
wanted to make a film first and
foremost. Were going to be
running our funding campaign,
and part of that is in the hopes
of actually paying everyone who
gave up their time for free, and
of course then well be sending
it off to festivals in the hopes of
finding a distributor. If not then
well be distributing it ourselves
online, so you never know.

Next steps
For now though Alex seems
content to be looking to the
future and pursuing a few of
his other filmmaking projects

that are in various states of

development. Ive got several
shorts I want to get shot and
edited for general release on
YouTube and Im working on
those right now, he says. And
a couple I want to get out into
the festival circuit. Weve spent
so long working on Follow The
Crows that, while theres a part
of me thats sad to be nearing
the end, its also a bit of a
relief. Itll be nice to focus on
something that wont take over
my life for the better part of a
year! But really Im throwing my
efforts into what I hope will be

my follow-up feature film, an

exciting story called The Body.
Follow The Crows is massive in
scale. Id go so far as to call it
a sprawling saga, and while its
about small groups of people,
theres some big themes. The
shorts Ive got in the pipeline
are much smaller in scale,
obviously. Theyre contemporary
and theyre fairly self-contained.
Shorts are different from features
anyway, because theyre short,
and that means, in a way, that
you can have more fun with
ambiguity and stuff. The Body
is a totally different type of film,

Flying high
its a lot more streamlined than
Follow The Crows. I suppose
the term Im looking for is
high-concept, it only features
three characters and a handful
of locations, as opposed to the
twelve or so characters in Follow
The Crows and the dozens of
locations. In fact, while its an
idea I had from a long time ago,
I revisited it as a direct reaction
to the location-based, ensemble

that I ever started actually doing

things. Ive now got a decent
group of people that I know
and trust and I enjoy meeting
new people. I used to run a
networking event and we had a
pretty incredible turnout the first
few times (70 plus at one point),
but it wound up fizzling out
due to the egos on display and
there doesnt seem to be much
about anymore. I think its like

extraordinary within the ordinary.

You never know what goes on
behind closed doors, that kind

Id like to take
those ideas and
really go out and
out horror at some
point in the future

cast featured in Follow The

Crows, I felt like it would be nice
to do something smaller and
more personal.

Social issues
Alex goes on to cover some
interesting topics, not least of
which is how the filmmaking
community can be a bit of a
mixed bag when you get down
to the nitty gritty. Theres a fairly
decent number of filmmakers
where Im from, he reasons.
But, and Ill be brutally honest
here, I find theres way too
much ego. Filmmaking seems
to be filled with people who like
to appear as though theyre
passionate and creative and
unique, but they never actually
want to put in the hard work
that it takes to make a movie.
The filmmakers here can be very
exclusive, and it can be hard to
get your voice heard amongst
them. I spent a long time trying
to get in with the crowd until I
decided to go off and do stuff
myself, and it was only then

that everywhere and my advice

to people who genuinely are
passionate about it is to just go
and do it. If you care, youll find
the other people who do too.

Genre challenges
Good on the filmmaker for
ditching the egotistical types
then and forging his own path,
which could include a raft of
different genres in the future. I
always struggle with genres,
Alex chuckles. I would say
what I tend to write are thrillers,
but then they have some heavy
horror elements, and sometimes
they can veer off into drama for
large portions of time. I dont
think I ever particularly set out
to write a genre picture, I let
the plot dictate where it should
sit. Having said that, I do enjoy
thrillers and horrors as a whole.
But I prefer a less supernatural
approach, or if there is
supernatural elements I like it to
be dealt with in a realistic way. I
find realism far more interesting
and I really enjoy that idea of the

of thing. Obviously I love horror

and thrillers though Follow The
Crows probably sits somewhere
between the two. Thats where
I feel most at home and Id like
to take those ideas further and
really go out and out horror at
some point in the future. Id also
love to tackle something totally
leftfield, like a broad comedy in
the vein of Airplane, or maybe
even a gigantic, colourful
musical like Singin in the Rain or
something. I also have a softspot for noir, and Id love to do
something really full-tilt noir,
with the dialogue and the Dutch
tilts and lighting, the whole nine

yards. Although, that might count

as thriller...

Resting easy
For now though Alex is happy
to see how Follow The Crows
fares It would be amazing
if the movie got picked up,
released into cinemas, I got a
million film contract with some
major studio, with total creative
freedom and no time constraints,
critics loved me, audiences loved
me and I just made films forever.
Of course, this is a little unlikely,
but I hope that it opens a few
doors, I meet some people who
have more experience or are in
the industry proper and it leads
to some new opportunities, even
if thats just doing this kind of
thing again. For the first time I
can honestly say that I feel like
I genuinely stand a chance.
Thanks to the amazing people
who helped me make this movie
and brought it to life, we all have
something we should be really,
really proud of, and I think well
all be reaping the rewards. n

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77

LOST
HORIZONS
James Twyman is the director of sciencefiction romp Invasion Earth, which has even
managed to make it onto DVD and get a
release in stores. So whats the secret?

B&W images credit: Gaz De Vere

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Lost horizons
Some people struggle when
trying to articulate what theyre
doing when it comes to certain
filmmaking projects. That
certainly seems to be the case for
fledgling director James Twyman,
who appears to want let the
moving image do all the talking.
Thats no bad thing either and it
certainly hasnt held him back,
because the movie has already
enjoyed a DVD release in stores.
And, much like horror, theres
a definite market for what hes
peddling too because sciencefiction has a fanbase that never
tires of the genre. Invasion Earth,
the feature hes been working on,
has plenty to attract that willing
audience too, as the director is
quick to underline

the sci-fi and horror elements on

top to create a real sense of dread
and fear.

Popular topic

The next step was

to create a proof of
concept trailer, and
so I travelled to the
Isle of Man

Invasion Earth was intended

to be a film that would remind
people of what really makes sci-fi
such a malleable and versatile
genre, he explains. Its not
about the space ships and laser
guns, aliens and tech. Its about
humanity, about tackling those
tough issues and educating
through really wonderful story
telling. Its an incredibly ambitious
project on such a small budget
of around 30,000 and I wanted
to show that, just because your
budget is small, your vision
doesnt need to be compromised.
For me, its about creating a
character-based story and adding

Other work
Prior to this project I was director
of photography on another one of
Greenway Entertainment films, I
am Hooligan, furthers James. I
got chatting to Steven M Smith
(the director and producer of I am
Hooligan) about an alien sci-fi film.
It started really with a drawing I
had done at lunch time one day
of an alien. That was how the
project was born. The next step
was to create a proof of concept
trailer, and so I travelled to the
Isle of Man where the film was
originally slated to be shot. The
lighting designer Joshua Clegg is

a resident there and filmed a short

scene to show what we wanted
to achieve with the lighting and
cinematography. We then scouted
our locations all over the island
and prepped to shoot the film.
Then, due to budget issues, we
were forced to move production
to Essex a couple of weeks before
filming began. It was a huge
challenge. Going from having

everything meticulously planned

and ready to go, to shooting day
to day in locations Id never seen
before.

Obstacle course
However, the team managed
to survive this seemingly
disastrous turn of events and,
as it happened, push things
in a direction that was to their
advantage. I served as writer,
director, editor and VFX artist
on the film, James explains.
While Steven M Smith was
the producer. We had Joshua
who designed and rigged the
lighting as well as producing the
second unit stuff. The first AD
and production manager Ty Hack
and Dan Brown helped us shoot
the film against all odds in just 14
days. Rose Taylor designed and
made the full prosthetic alien head
in collaboration with Ylana Lovell,
who made the alien costume
(and played the alien too). Alex
Harrison was the director of
photography who worked very
closely with me to get the right
visual language for the film. The
music composer was Jon Bentley,
who created this wonderful score.
Aran Clifford and Rachel Park
took the stunning sound recorded
by Brian Gray. Brian Diehl and his
family team created the practical
explosion effects.

Total control
The best thing about having such
a wonderful and passionate group
of talented people to work with
means I can just direct, reckons

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79

James. On my previous films I

found myself multi-tasking, doing
lots of jobs from make-up to
operating cameras and lights, so
that the directing took a bit of a
back seat. But that was because
I didnt have the crew but wanted
to make the films the best I could.

I found myself
multi-tasking,
doing lots of jobs
from make-up to
operating cameras
With this film, having all of those
things not just taken out of my
hands but enhanced by people
far better at them than me meant
I could focus on telling my story
and making those important
creative decisions. On set I
was told off by Ty, the first AD,
because on day one someone
asked where a prop was and I
was about to run off and find it
and he said James... the director
does not collect the props... Ill
sort it. It was so utterly freeing

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Digital FilmMaker

and made the film so much

better. I was so lucky to work
with some of the most dedicated,
talented and wonderful people.
Each bringing so much to the
table and constantly going above
and beyond the call of duty to
help me make the film I wanted
to make. Without them I couldnt
have achieved this.

Scene setting
The film follows a group of teens,
all with their own mental health
and emotional issues who, says
James, check into the rough it out
rehab facility run by Dr Carson.
As they deal with these intense
issues they begin to be stalked
by an enemy not of this world...
Completely secluded and with no
way to get help, they must put
aside their differences and fight
this alien threat. The film was
written by me and was inspired
by a conversation I had had with
Ylana Lovell, James explains.
She, like me, is a big geek and
we were chatting about the
upcoming release of The Force
Awakens and sci-fi in general.

Lost horizons
stands up as being incredible,
gritty and horrific.

It was that which prompted

the drawing. When I discussed
the idea of a sci-fi movie with
Greenway Entertainment there
was no story. It wasnt until I was
given the remit of teenagers

Doing it
James was lucky to subsequently
have his idea developed by the
production company and so it
was all systems go. The film was
produced by Steven M Smith
of Greenway Entertainment,
he says. They put in place the
team and provided the finance
for the film. The overall budget of
the film came to around 30,000

I knew I wanted
a slow burn to the
sci-fi so I looked at
films like The Thing
and Alien
versus aliens in a cabin in the
woods to work with that I actually
started developing characters.
I wasnt enamoured with that
concept at first. I wanted to avoid
the bog-standard cardboard
cutout teens and recycled jump
scares. I wanted more substance.
As someone trained in NLP and
hypnosis, I began to draw upon
the idea of a battle against inner
demons becoming a fight against
a physical threat. From there,

characters started to emerge

and the story became dictated
by them and the decisions they
were making. Things like Star
Trek, known for its character
and story first approach to sci-fi
inspired the style of storytelling.
Trek has always been known for
using the genre to explore people,
humanity and hot topics. I knew I

wanted a slow burn to

the sci-fi so I looked
at films like The Thing,
Alien, Close Encounters
and Jaws. Style-wise,
I was heavily influenced
by Blade Runner and the
2013 remake of Evil Dead. I
love the original, but visually
speaking the remake really

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we had I can be happy that we

have done our jobs. The film was
shot on a Blackmagic 4K camera
with prime lenses. This really
helped make the film appear
higher-end. Lighting-wise, Joshua
used mainly theatrical fixtures
to get the really stylized lighting.
By using stage-based colour
changing LED pars and movers
we had instantaneous control
over colour and cues with minimal

in the end. This wasnt much to

play with, but we managed to
pull together something of real
quality. The aim was always to
take that money and make it
appear as though we had more.
I call it perceived budget. Not
how much the movie cost, but
how much an audience think it
did. If they guess its more than

The film was shot

on a Blackmagic
4K camera with
prime lenses. This
really helped
programming. All lights could be
programmed quickly on set and
repeated over and over. By not
messing with hot lights and gels
we saved masses of time and got
complex set ups done quickly.

Creative streak
James sounds hugely happy
about the way the production
evolved and, thanks to the benefit
of a reasonable budget, he was
able to pull it off. I have always
had a very cinematic style, he
reckons. Having spent years
making high-concept shorts,
many of which didnt work out

but taught me loads, I have built

myself quite a personal style. I
make a lot of Batman fan films
and music videos, giving myself
something specific to hone with
each. What differed here was the
team. People vastly talented in
their field putting in their ideas
to enhance and move my style
forward. This was difficult at first.
I insisted at the start that I would
DOP the film, but after being
convinced to let the camera go
and focus on story was a big
thing. The DOP, Alex Harrison,
could work to set up the shots
I wanted, whilst I worked with
actors and got the performances
where I wanted them. This helped
me improve the way I shot the
film. It was a long and hard year,

but its the end of the road now

and it has now been released
worldwide on DVD. I walked
into HMV on the 3rd of October
and realised a dream I had had
since the age of 16... to see my
film on shelves and buy a copy.
I know, big ego, but it was an
important moment for me. The
film is now going to be submitted
to festivals and I hope to do a lot
of showings and really push it. Its
looking great. Theres things Id
do differently if I could do it over,
but Im immensely proud of the
film and all those involved in its
making. At the moment its about
analyzing the finished product
and using that as a chance to
learn and improve, ready for my
next big project.

Positive place
James is also well aware just how
much support the production
company is giving him. Well,
we find ourselves in a massively
fortunate place, he smiles. We
have a distribution company
that knows what they are doing.
101 films, who have got the film
onto the shelves, have worked
incredibly hard, taking the film
to the Cannes and Toronto film
festival film markets to get buyers
looking at the film. The film will
be available on DVD in the UK,
USA, Canada, Germany and
many more thanks to their hard
work. So now its a case of just
pushing it in the right places and
letting sci-fi lovers know it exists.
Meanwhile, for me, its about
looking for the next story. I have

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Lost horizons
a couple of bits that Im hoping to
find investment for. The only real
stipulation for me now is ensuring
I can make something with a more
professional budget. I think having
a bit more money wont make my
storytelling better, but it means I
can have the financial freedom to
tell the story in the way I want to.
More than that, its about paying
talent. Im a big believer that
without talented and incredible

Science-fiction
is probably my
favourite because
it can be so many
things
cast and crew, I couldnt achieve
anything. Having a budget would
allow me to show my team
how much I appreciate them
by paying them what they are
worth. Micro filmmaking is great
and everything, and a wonderful
measure of passion, but people
who are amazing deserve more.

Great genres
The director is also sure that hed
like to make more sci-fi features in
the future too although is certainly
open to other suggestions in
the meantime, especially from
fellow collaborators where he
comes from. Science-fiction is
probably my favourite because it
can be so many things and wear
so many hats, he says. It can
explore the big topics, be fun and
cool plus be incredibly human
(even if the main characters
are aliens). You can make a

horror, rom com, action epic or

a political thriller all within this
one genre and really play. Its
a tool box of awesome. The
one genre I think Id find a huge
challenge would be something
romantic. It requires a whole
different approach and another
type of conflict. I think that
would be something that would
really push me to experiment
and would be a chance to do
something that is completely out
of my comfort zone. Manchester
is a vibrant place for the arts,

which is wonderful, but it hasnt

quite got to the point where it
feels saturated. Theres always
something being made by
someone here. There are lots
of short films being made. Film
festivals, such as the Filmonik,
are constantly giving filmmakers
a chance to show their work. In
fact, the Filmonik is where I first
cut my teeth and started showing
my work. It was wonderful to see
how supportive they are, as well
as how much of a community the
filmmakers have created within it.
Theres also Media City, which is
creating a multitude of amazing
jobs for people wanting to take
that next level. Manchester really
is a great place to be making
films. n

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83

The student
perspective
Glenn Harris explains how studying Digital Film
Production at Sunderland University for three
years was just the tip of the iceberg when it came
to kickstarting his career in filmmaking

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The student perspective

and a few very patient friends. All
of said films were nothing short
of terrible, but we had a fun time
making them and the fact that
my family and friends enjoyed
them (and Id been lucky enough
to snag a few BBC set visits)
gave me just enough motivation
to look into pursuing it further
as a degree since studying three
more years of geography, history
or literature (my A level choices)
didnt appeal to me all that
much.

Starting out

I graduated from Sunderland

University with a first class
BA (Hons) degree in Digital
Film Production after three
years of study. Id had a
pretty big interest in filmmaking
before heading to university,
probably since the age of 14,
and had made a bunch of films
beforehand with just a handicam

The first year of university was

more an adjustment phase,
finding my feet, trying to balance
living alone and developing a
social life whilst trying to make a
few half-decent films on the side.
At the time, it felt like a huge
step forward. We were using
DSLRs and boom microphones
and so on, which seemed pretty
incredible at the time compared
to the old handicam footage. But
again, looking back, it was all
still fairly awful stuff. However, it
did provide me the opportunity
to try out producing, which not
only ended up becoming my

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85

ever approached. Not only were

we obligated to do her story
justice and tell it in a mature,
respectful manner, but we
also had hours and hours of
interview footage and cutaways
(detailing almost her entire life)
to trim down into a ten minute
piece. I remember all four of us

role of choice throughout the

rest of university, but also taught
me how vital networking was.
Reaching out to local filmmakers
and actors within the region
through the likes of social media
sites proved invaluable later on
in my studies and working as a
runner on various external (and
dissertation level) productions
offered some really useful
insights.

Making progress
Second year was where things
really started to develop
for me I think. Our first two
modules of the year involved
me having to produce and
direct an experimental film and
a documentary. Both offered a
unique set of challenges in terms
of approach and execution. After
playing around with a few ideas,
I ended up throwing almost all
logic out the window for my
experimental film, eventually
settling on filming a few local
volunteers under some funky
lighting, asking each of them
the same set of questions and

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Digital FilmMaker

then layering their responses

directly on top of one another in
post-production. Yeah, I have
no idea either, but I must have
done something right as it still
somehow remains the highest
mark I ever achieved in a module
and premiered at the Sage
Gateshead later that year.

Different approach
My documentary couldnt have
been more different. I was
working in a group of four, so
the shared workload between
us was pretty substantial. We
were lucky enough to get in
touch with a truly inspirational
woman who had been born with
a facial disfigurement and been
made to suffer for it throughout
her entire life. After getting over
a number of personal struggles,
shed found herself a career as
a district nurse, only to have her
driving licence removed by the
DVLA decades later because her
facial disfigurement suddenly
didnt meet their requirements.
It was quite possibly one of
the most challenging films Ive

Our first two

modules of the
year involved me
having to produce
and direct
spending three whole days at the
editors house right before our
deadline desperately trying to
piece together a coherent story.
Im pretty sure I got about four
hours of sleep across that whole
hellish period, but it was all worth
it in the end. The film won a
student award, was nominated

for a Royal Television Society

award and was featured in an ITV
programme too.

Negative vibes
The rest of second year kind of
sucked. I joined a group of eight
to make our three final films for
the year but it turned out to be a
pretty horrendous time. In short,
our group didnt all get along that
well (were all okay now though)
and we were trying way too
hard to please our lecturer (who,
inevitably, was still not pleased).
This did act as a lesson however.
Not only do you have to choose
your peers carefully, but if you
all try to make a film solely for
somebody else, its more than
likely going to fall flat (at least
when it comes to fictional or
dramatic filmmaking). If you
and the rest of the crew arent
passionate about a project,
or dont have a shared vision,
its going to have some pretty

The student perspective

detrimental effects on the final
piece. During this time I did,
however, decide on who Id be
working with for my dissertation
project and to this day I consider
them some of the most hardworking, friendliest and talented
people Ive worked with. We
actually tried having a go at
making a half-hour web series
pilot over the summer (which
despite going well is still in postproduction since university kind
of took over our lives right after
we finished shooting it).

Final furlong
My final year at university was
easily my favourite. I finally
managed to put together a
few films that I havent already
started to hate and have actually
featured on my showreel, which
was a nice change. I think this
was probably thanks for the
fact that not only was I working
alongside my best friends
and making films that all of
us really wanted to make, but
we all knew exactly what roles
we were suited to, how to get

the best out of the equipment

we had and how to properly
manage micro-budgets. All of
the networking I had done, and
continued to do, throughout the
previous two years definitely
helped immensely here. Without
it, Im not sure wed have had
half the actors, location, props or
costumes we acquired. Me and
two of my friends even began
to set up our own little freelance
production company, Flat 14
Productions, and tried our hand
at making a few corporate videos

and showreels for people.

Tough call
Our first student film of the year
was for a client (Northumbria
Police) as well as university,
and gave us the challenge of
dealing with the topic of child
sexual exploitation. Thankfully,
the client really enjoyed what
we came up with, which turned
out to have a strong music video

We actually tried
having a go at
making a half-hour
web series pilot
over the summer
style, and we even won a little
award for it. We had some fun
with our second film, which was
considerably lighter in tone. I got
the opportunity to write, direct
and edit it and, to our surprise,
it won a runner-up prize at a
festival in New York. Possibly
the most fun Ive had with a film,
however, was the one I made in
the courses moving camera
module. It was an optional
module, which trained us to use
and implement equipment such
as the Steadicam and the track
and dolly into our work. Being
a big fan of fight scenes and
extended takes, I saw this as the

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87

perfect opportunity to go crazy

and just get a whole bunch of
people (which turned out to be
around 25) into a room and fight
one another whilst I filmed them
on a Steadicam. It went down
pretty well with my lecturer and
just helped remind me that its
okay to indulge and have fun
with your work now and again.

Big production
Then came the most stressful,
most expensive project (like
8,000 expensive) my group
and I had ever worked on, our
dissertation film. We made the
oh-so-wise decision (largely my
fault) to make a film set in World
War Two, because making a
twenty-minute film set in our

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Digital FilmMaker

own era apparently wasnt hard

enough. Regardless, we stepped
up to the challenge and tried
various methods to raise money.
We earned a decent amount from
crowdfunding campaigns online,
but the majority came from
ourselves, generous friends and
family members, plus a fortunate
donation from two investors our
groups director knew indirectly.
We also managed to partner up
with a professional re-enactment
company, who usually work with
BBC and Amazon Prime and so
on, who for some reason decided
theyd help us out and, for a
discounted fee, provide us with
a bunch of soldiers, vehicles,
explosions and locations (which
was pretty helpful as you can

probably imagine).

Skeleton staff
With only four of us in the group,
we recruited the help of a few
friends, most of which were
studying on the same course
in their second year, to fill out
our crew. To this day, I still
cant thank them enough for
the time and dedication they
put into the project. I mean,
they joined us on a six hour
drive down to Portsmouth and
stayed with us in a Travelodge
for the better part of week, sat
shivering next to us in the dead
of night and even endured the
wettest, windiest storm Ive ever
stood in, just to help us make
a film. Whilst these things were
of course stressful, somehow
they were simultaneously a ton
of fun. I think thats the insanity

of filmmakers, and those that

aspire to be one. We enjoy the
struggles, the problems, the
challenges. It doesnt matter
how close we come to giving
ourselves a heart attack on one
project, eventually well want
to start another and go through
the same thing all over again.
Its almost like an addiction.
The sheer relief and sense of
achievement that came from
completing our dissertation
made it all worth it, and the
experiences we had together
as a crew led to some unique
moments you just wouldnt get
studying in any other industry. It
was great.

Professional move
So, with our dissertation finished
and university virtually over, my
two friends and I continued to

The student perspective

work on Flat 14 Productions.
We finally registered ourselves
as a limited company and
started pushing out logos,
business cards, websites and
social media pages. Riding off
our contacts made through
university, we managed to land
a good number of jobs, primarily
wedding videos, fitness DVDs,

I think thats
the insanity of
filmmakers, and
those that aspire to
be one
showreels, promos and so on.
We werent exactly raking it
in but we were doing alright
considering we basically hadnt
even left university at that point,
we had even been given our own
office space by the Enterprise
Place (which is a brilliant group
associated with the university
that helps support start-up
businesses). Not long after this,
we made a music video for a
death metal band, which was
a pretty unique experience as
well. It definitely taught us a lot
about client relations and renting
equipment, plus it was pretty
good fun spending a weekend

shooting in a warehouse (despite

the inevitable lack of sleep and
weird black soot that we all
ended up inhaling).

Break time
However, not long after we
graduated, this all started to die
down. We had less access to
free equipment, student loans
were starting to run dry and less
people were showing an interest.
I started looking around for
potential jobs and was fortunate
enough to have a successful
interview for a summer job (that

I wasnt overly ecstatic about

doing). Then, by some miracle, I
was given the contact of a man
working for Made Television
who was interested in making
a show on local filmmakers. I
showed him my documentary
and my fight scene film and
he set up an interview with me.
It didnt actually get aired, but I
kept in touch with him and asked
if Made Television needed any
freelancers. Again, by some
miracle, they were in pretty
desperate need of one so I sent
in a showreel of some of my

better work and they decided to

trial me for a few weeks. As it
happened they had recently lost
a cameraman/editor so, luckily,
when the trial period finished,
they hired me as a full-time
employee. Ive been working at
Made Television for nearly four
months now and am enjoying my
time there. Honestly, I consider
myself extremely lucky having
just graduated university. The
fact that I can now actually pay
for a roof over my head whilst
working in the industry I studied
for really is fantastic. n

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89

Next issue

41

HARDWARE ADVICE
The DFM team offers up essential
advice on getting started and takes a
look at some of the best kit currently
available for filmmaking

92
New kit
99

Interview
with a pro

Digital FilmMaker

91

with a Pro

Interview

This issue we take a look at the team

behind lighting specialists Fiilex and gain
an insight into their excellent range of
products for filmmakers of all skill levels

92

Digital FilmMaker

Interview with a pro: Fiilex

Nearly every aspect of media
production has undergone a
major shift in recent decades.
Film to video, analogue to
digital, SD up to 4K and beyond.
The dizzying influx of new
technologies make this industry
incredibly exciting for those who
manage to keep up with its latest
developments. One area that
currently draws the attention of
many forward-thinking filmmakers
is lighting. Its major technological
advancement: the transition of
pretty much everything to LED.
There are countless
manufacturers out there looking
to get a piece of the LED
pie, ranging all the way from
newcomers trying to carve out
a niche, to long-established
lighting stalwarts embracing
the solid-state future out of
sheer necessity. A common
denominator amongst virtually
all of these manufacturers is that
they design their fixtures using
mass-produced LED chips, with
all the limitations that entails.
But there is one company that
bucks this trend. They distinguish
their products through not only
creating their own fixtures, but by
designing and manufacturing the
chips inside.

Inside job
Located a stones throw away
from San Francisco in Californias
East Bay, Fiilex burst onto the
scene in early 2013. With their
first product, the P360, they
quickly established themselves as
a significant up-and-comer in the
rapidly expanding LED field. For
a new company, it can be tough
to hit your stride right off the
bat, especially in this industry,
says Fiilex brand manager Brent
Siebenaler. Professionals tend
to stick with brands they know.
While we were confident in our
technology, we still faced the
challenge of winning over tough
customers. And thats what we
did with the P360. The P360 set
a high standard for Fiilex, one
that they strive to maintain with
each new product release. The
90W LED fixture is remarkably
small, weighing only 1.6 lbs. It can

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93

Q500 and Q1000. In addition to

greater output, these lights come
with adjustable fresnels, DMX
capability, and hue control. Their

The Q-Series
(Quasar) is home
to Fiilexs more
powerful fixtures: the
Q500 and Q1000
dim and be tuned from tungsten
to daylight with no colour spikes
or significant drops in CRI. The
cool, specular source works with
standard softboxes, as well as
Fiilexs dome diffuser and fresnel
magnetic accessories, which can
be almost literally thrown onto the
front of the fixtures for easy light
shaping. The P360 is all about
maximizing versatility without
sacrificing quality, states Andrew
Harris, Fiilexs in-house video
producer. This is a light you can
take on location then set up and
break down very quickly. You can
shoot an interview in an office
then bring it back to light a subject
in the studio with minimal hassle.

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Digital FilmMaker

Coincidentally one of Fiilexs most

popular kits is the K301, which
packs three P360s and stands
into a surprisingly compact rolling
case.

Growing range
Fiilex quickly expanded their
product line in the ensuing
months and years. Most of
their lights can be divided into
the P and Q-Series. P-Series
(Portable) lights are smaller, and
they range from the handheld
battery-powered P100 catch
light to the weather-resistant
and DMX-enabled P360EX. The
Q-Series (Quasar) is home to
Fiilexs more powerful fixtures: the

intensity and versatility make them

worthy competitors with Arris
own LED fresnels.
Mass produced LED chips are

typically assembled individually,

with each single LED die placed
in a separate reflective cavity.
These chips are too large to be
grouped very tightly, and must
instead be arranged in diffuse
arrays. This is why the panel formfactor is so popular with many
lighting manufacturers, and while
it makes an excellent soft light, it
lacks the versatility of a fresnel.
Though quality LED fresnels do
exist, they are still beholden to
the same limitations of massproduced chip design. In such
fixtures, many chips are packed
into a light head then shot through

Interview with a pro: Fiilex

area that its concentrated thermal
output needs to be dissipated to
keep the array within a functional
temperature range. The cooling
issue was a big source of drama
during the development of the
Dense Matrix, says Brian Chiang,
Fiilexs head of marketing. The
question was: How can we
absorb the heat coming off of
the array and conduct it away
quickly enough to maintain a
stable temperature in a manner
that doesnt compromise the
electronics? Moving towards a
solution required adapting vapour
cooling techniques generally used
in servers and CPUs to assist

Moving towards
a solution required
adapting vapour
cooling techniques
used in servers

the fresnel lens. The resulting

illumination can be powerful, but
the fixtures themselves must be
bulky to accommodate the chips,
and they dont focus as efficiently
as true point sources. With Fiilex,
a fundamentally different LED
technology allows them to create
fundamentally different LED
fixtures with true point sources.

Innovative edge
At the core of every Fiilex light
is a proprietary LED array
that is produced in-house. In
developing this technology, Fiilex
leveraged the expertise of their
parent organization, DiCon, a
company that specializes in fiber
optic communications. With the
cumulative R&D efforts of nearly
one hundred engineers over the
course of several years, the Dense
Matrix LED Array was born. The
Dense Matrix exemplifies what
is possible with LED lighting
when extremely complex,
microscopically accurate

photonics engineering techniques

are used to develop high-output
sources of illumination, says
Bob Schleicher, head of product
development. This is the sort
of precision hardware that will
malfunction if the assembly
isnt accurate to the micron.
Fortunately, the Fiilex facilities
and personnel are up to the
task. Walking through the air
shower into Fiilexs labs feels
like stepping into a sci-fi movie.
Technicians wearing cleanroom
suits operate inscrutable
machinery in rooms flooded
with non-reactive yellow light.
Flickering readouts on instrument
panels reflect off protective visors
and glass partitions. Assembled
components lay cooking in
gleaming rectilinear ovens. This
is where the Dense Matrix is
created.

the Dense Matrix work. One of the

most significant of these was the
cooling issue. While LEDs emit
much less heat than other types
of lights, the Dense Matrix joins
so many chips into such a small

the heat sink. After countless

iterations in design, a dedicated
team of engineers was finally
able to successfully integrate a
metal heat sink layer and active
cooling combination that would
meet the strict thermal mitigation
requirements.

Clever design
Each LED chip in a Dense Matrix
array is about one-millimetre

Technical challenge
Several major engineering hurdles
had to be surmounted to make

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95

square. A complete array contains

dozens of chips magnified
through a hemispherical glass

A complete
array contains
dozens of chips
magnified through a
hemispherical lens
lens and is the size of a small
coin. When its activated, it emits
an impressive amount of light (The
Q1000, which contains Fiilexs
brightest commercially available
array, is the rough equivalent
of a 1500W tungsten fixture,
and, without confirming
anything, an engineer hints

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Digital FilmMaker

that, in R&D, more

power is always a
priority). And its
not just the intensity
that impresses,
but also the light
quality and colour
accuracy that can be
achieved with their
entirely bespoke
setup. Fixtures with
mass-produced

chips typically
adhere to the
familiar bi-colour
setup where LEDs
are arranged with
alternating blue and
orange phosphors
and tunability
is achieved by
dimming one colour
in favour of the
other.

Modern advantage
The drawbacks of this
arrangement are that intensity
and colour rendition can vary
significantly when colour
temperature is adjusted, and
dimming also results in a loss
of quality. Fiilex utilizes custom
phosphors, which means that
their chips can be designed to
output other colours of light. A
larger array can have several
different phosphors, all producing
their own unique wavelength.
And when the colour-tuning dial
is adjusted on a Fiilex light, every
chip adjusts individually with preprogrammed intensity settings.
The combination of what Fiilex
calls intelligent tuning with
the various colours of light

Interview with a pro: Fiilex

keeps CRI very high across both

the tunable spectrum and the
dimming curve, even in the R9
region, which is notoriously difficult
for LEDs to render.

Brighter kit
The Dense Matrix is an impressive
piece of technology, but its
only one aspect of Fiilexs truly
distinguishing feature: their
status as a vertically integrated
company. Vertical integration
means that every component
of a Fiilex light is designed and
manufactured by Fiilex to be
ideally suited to its task. This
gives the company the ability to
bring a project from conception
to reality in a remarkably short
amount of time (often as little as
a few months). You can see the
results of this structural agility in
their diverse catalogue, for which
constant fast-paced iteration and
experimentation has yielded a wide
array of products and accessories
from the P100 up to the Q1000.
All of this from a company that

has only been active in the lighting

market for a few years.

Shots were all

handheld and
stabilised in After
Effects using the
Warp Stabiliser tool

Fiilex unique, and what our value is

as a company.

Evolving picture
Looking to the future, its clear

that Fiilex hopes to continue

reinforcing their image as maverick
innovators through their upcoming
products. One such product, the
AL250, takes the size advantages

This appetite for experimentation

is shown most distinctly in their
more radical products, such as
the P200. The P200 is designed
to shoot into lengths flexible fiber
optic cable, causing the cable
to glow with any of the various
colours the fixture can put out.
Its really great to be part of a
company that can take a concept
out of left field, put a prototype
together, and have it in customers
hands within months, says Brent.
Ive seen people do some really
cool things with the P200. And
even though its more of a niche
product, I think when you look at
it you can see a lot of what makes

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97

Interview with a pro: Fiilex

of the Dense Matrix to the
extreme. Weighing just over half
of a pound, this fixture mounts
to quadcopter drones, allowing
users to manoeuvre its light
source into positions that would
have previously been extremely
difficult or impossible to reach.
While it hasnt had its official
release yet, photographer Reuben

LEDs have
become staples
of smaller shoots
requiring moderate
light output
Wu was able to get his hands on
a prototype. He used it to create
a series of breathtaking nocturnal
landscape photographs, which
became somewhat of an internet
sensation (check out Lux Noctis
on Fiilexs Vimeo page). It was
really exciting to have one of our
products go viral, shares Andrew.
Our market is very specialized,
so even if you release an excellent

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Digital FilmMaker

piece of equipment, it probably

wont be very interesting to the
general public. But with the
AL250, we have something that
reaches beyond our normal range
of appeal.

Boom times
While LEDs have become staples
of smaller shoots requiring
moderate light output, they
havent made as many inroads in
big productions. A major reason
for this is that LEDs cant yet
compete with the extremely high
output of bigger tungsten and HMI
lights. One way to rectify this is
modularity, which is part of what
makes Fiilexs upcoming Matrix
Light so appealing. The Matrix
incorporates four Dense Matrix
LED sources into a single housing,
diffusing them into a panel-style
illumination. Multiple Matrix
Lights can be arranged to work in
tandem for situations that require
a ton of light. It also boasts the
intriguing distinction of being a
diffuse panel that can be focused
with a fresnel attachment for a big

boost in centre lux.

The future
As LED technology inevitably
marches forward, overtaking
more and more of the production
lighting market, it will be
interesting to see where the
chips fall. In a crowded field,

Fiilex leaves the impression of a

company that has constructed its
distinct vision on the bedrock of
a powerful technology. What will
emerge next from their formidable
laboratories? Fiilex remains tightlipped on the subject, but, if youll
pardon the pun, its seems like the
future is trending towards bright. n

New Kit

New Kit Reviews

CANON XC15

Does this natty new model from the Canon camp

offer anything new for the aspiring filmmaker?
Canon has been up against
it in recent times with many
filmmaking types eschewing
their products in favour of
other more forward thinking
manufacturers who have been
able to offer more features
and functionality. Nevertheless,
the company has been fighting
back with several new models
that have rekindled interest in
the brand, one of which is the
XC15. This, reckons Canon, is
a model thats going to appeal
to advanced amateurs and
professional folk alike, thanks to
the fact that it comes packing
a formidable specification but
all within the confines of a
compact body. It offers 4K UHD/
HD internal video recording
and high-end XLR audio so
its therefore ideal for anyone
wanting pin-sharp, top quality
footage but its that portable
body that really adds to the
appeal. This thing is super handy
to carry around and the compact
design means that it can be
used for off-the-cuff handheld
work or even news reporting.
Inside, theres a 12-megapixel
CMOS image sensor and a
wide-angle 10x zoom lens with
image stabilizer, which is going
to be vital for something of this
size. The camera also works in
tandem with other Cinema EOS
models in the Canon range,
along with XF and XA series

camcorders, so it could make

part of an impressive kit roster
to cover any kind of shooting
situation.

VERDICT
This comes with an attractive
price tag considering the raft of
great features the XC15 packs
inside that very good on the eyes
design. In fact, its the diminutive
stance of this model that makes
it most appealing and the fact
that it can produce great footage
adds to the appeal. Whether
or not this Canon, and indeed
their other new models, can
keep up with rivals who are
doing it rather better, remains
to be seen. However, theres
no denying that the XC15
is a commendable attempt
to get things back on track.
Price 2,400
Web www.canon.co.uk

SARAMONIC MIXMIC
Get quality audio on every shoot no matter
where it is with this very cool new microphone
Ensuring that you get great
audio alongside your footage
is of paramount importance,
so this new Saramonic
MixMic should be top of
your shopping list alongside
a decent camera. Its a very
cool box of tricks too, and
considering that it wont cost
you an arm and a leg to buy,
also promises top-notch audio
on the go when hooked up to
a DSLR. You get the whole
package too, which includes a
shotgun microphone the SRNV5 no less plus a deadcan
and two professional-standard
XLR inputs providing phantom
power. Theres also an XLR
audio cable plus a super neat
audio adapter that mounts on
top of the camera itself. What
this does is it allows you to
connect your camera to that
nifty little mic, or, in fact, pretty
much any other professionallevel microphone, mixing
consoles and sound studios.
Perhaps the best thing about
this product, alongside the
build quality and performance,
is the fact that its wonderfully
easy to use. Those twin XLR
terminals offer superb flexibility
while there are separate
volume controls and adjustable

settings for gain settings

and wind noise reduction.
Being able to adjust mic/line
input allows you to adapt the
kit to suit a raft of shooting
conditions.

VERDICT
This has to be one of the best
audio packages currently on the
market and its a superb outof-the-box solution for fledgling
filmmakers who want to get up
and running fast. At the same
time, there is plenty here to
attract the more experienced
shooter too, while a suite of
control options means that the
Saramonic MixMic is able to
take on any audio challenge
with aplomb. Check it out at
your earliest convenience.
Price 350.95
Web www.kenro.co.uk

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99

New Kit

NANGUANG LED
RING LIGHTS

CANON EOS M5

Get just the right amount of light onto your

shoot with this handy LED light combination

Canon hopes to win over a legion of new followers

with the EOS M5 but has it got what it takes?

If youre a filmmaker looking

to boost the quality of your
shooting activities then good
lighting is of paramount
importance. So, one great
place to head for is Kenro,
which is the UK and Irelands
official distributor for NanGuang
lighting equipment. These guys
offer a wide range of affordable
LED lighting kits, that can be
used for both stills photography
and, more importantly here,
video work. LED has become
a runaway success story due
to its capacity for capturing
skin tones to great effect, while
at the same time its seen as
perfect for continuous lighting
output but also offering low
power consumption. So, for
example, here we have the like
of the NanGuang LED Luxpad
43 Kit, which is a really versatile
option that is perfect for video
shoots. There are two Luxpad
43 heads plus a pair of CN20FC
Fresnel Heads as part of the
package, plus four stands and

Canon is making some decent

steps towards catching up
with the competition when it
comes to releasing products
that will pull in new customers
as well as keeping its existing
fans. The EOS M5 features a
24.2-megapixel APS-C sized
CMOS sensor DIGIC 7 image
processor and the fastest AF
speed in the EOS M-series. All
that, reckons Canon, will enable
videographers to capture clear,
sharp, high-resolution Full HD
videos. It is also the first in the
EOS camera line to include the
interesting low energy Bluetooth
Smart feature. What this does
is allow you to maintain a
constant connection with a
compatible smartphone or
tablet when you use the Canon
camera connect application
and both applications are
active. Advanced videographers
will certainly appreciate the
improved operability of the
EOS M5 camera, with a built-in
electronic viewfinder (EVF) and
Canons Dual Pixel CMOS AF
for capturing video with smooth
and precise autofocus. This
allows for Touch and Drag
AF so users can easily switch
the subject of their focus by
dragging the AF frame directly
on the LCD panel, even while
looking through the cameras
EVF. Focus peaking allows

a handy carry bag. All lights

have stepless dimmers for
fine light control, and colour
temperature is controllable from
3200 to 5600K on each head.
Power output of the Luxpad
43 head is 25.6W, while the
CN20FC is 20W. Its also worth
investigating the CNT96 LED
heads package that features a
foldable mini photo table, carry
case, five background papers,
two mini stand bases, one mini
tripod stand, three adjustable
base connectors and four clips
for the paper backgrounds.
This is ideal if youre shooting
product demos and suchlike.

VERDICT
Youll need to head over to the
Kenro site and pick through the
wide array of NanGuang lighting
products to get a proper feel
of whats on offer but theres
something here for every kind
of shooting scenario. The units
are cleverly designed and well
built, which makes them an
ideal option for both enthusiast
and professional users. The
other bonus is that many of
these are available to buy
individually, so you can add to
your lighting kit collection as
and when your budget allows.
Price Various
Web www.kenro.co.uk

100

Digital FilmMaker

users to highlight the area of

the image that is in focus from
within the EVF or LCD monitor.
In addition to its touchscreen
operability, the EOS M5 camera
also has easily accessible dials
that allow you to quickly adjust
your settings on-the-go.

VERDICT
This carries the sort of
price tag that makes it very
appealing to the fledgling
filmmaker, and there are
plenty of features and a host
of functionality that will get
you up and running in no
time. Its nicely put together
and offers Full HD resolution
at up to 60fps, while theres
a 3.5mm stereo socket for
an external microphone plus
5-axis image stabilisation.
However, perhaps the biggest
oversight here is a lack of 4K
video. What gives Canon?
Price 1,049 (body only)
Web www.canon.co.uk

New Kit

PANASONIC
AK-UB300 4K

Panasonic adds another filmmaking powerhouse

to its roster of products with this new 4K offering

While its highly unlikely that

the Panasonic AK-UB300 4K
will be in the sights of many
of the fledgling filmmakers
who read this magazine,
its well worthy of inclusion.
And, of course, as Panasonic
states in the sales blurb, its
primary use is likely to be
for sports remote studios,
delivering weather information,
covering live concerts and
other applications where high
quality broadcasting is needed.
Having said all that, the
package is a comprehensive
one and allows broadcasters to
get 4K image quality whatever
or wherever the subject matter
might happen to be. In fact,
Panasonic reckons that the
AK-UB300 is also well suited
to aerial filming duties. The
Japanese manufacturer has
also spent a good deal of
time ensuring that, despite its
sophistication, the AK-UB300
is sufficiently user-friendly that
pretty much anyone could
work it. Theres a low-light
noise reduction function
utilizing high sensitivity mode,
a newly developed haze
reduction function (valuable
for the aforementioned

weather reporting), and 4K

output board. Streaming
video output will be available
from the UB300 in up to four
simultaneous H.264 streams,
at a wide range of data rates
while video resolutions of up
to 1080/50p are available at
rates of up to 24Mbps. For
IP live remote monitoring and
control, up to 10 cameras
can be viewed and controlled
simultaneously from a web
browser.

VERDICT
The AK-UB300 comes fully
armed with a host of great
features, all shoehorned into a
design that is built to withstand
the daily grind of a commercial
usage. While many of us will
never even get close to seeing
one, let alone using it, the
AK-UB300 showcases many
of the great technological
advancements in cameras that
gradually filter down through
to mainstream models that us
more budget-conscious users
tend to get our hands on.
Price POA
Web business.panasonic.co.uk

SMALLHD
1303 HDR
This excellent new addition to the SmallHD range
offers performance combined with a quality build
This is one of two recent
additions to the SmallHD
product roster and the 1303
HDR monitor comes with an
extra veneer that makes it
slightly higher-end than the
1303 Studio model covered a
little later on in this section.
As is the case with the other
version, this unit is designed
with taking the stress out of the
focus pulling process and lets
you get the job done with the
minimum of fuss and bother.
Theres an Output Preview
Page feature too, that lets you
keep precise tabs on your
footage while the screen itself
offers a very generous view
of your subject matter thanks
to 13-inches of 1920 x 1080
real estate with 1500 NITs
brightness. The LCD panel is
really the standout feature of
this unit and while its a pricey
piece of kit to buy, theres no
doubt that the results it delivers
and the capacity for speeding
up your workflow makes it a
real asset to any filmmaking kit
arsenal. Of course, the other
essential aspect of this model
is its practical but highly robust
design, that will ensure that
it keeps working even during
those long outdoor sessions
in all manner of conditions. All

SmallHD monitors boast the

Rapid Rail Mounting System
that delivers the ultimate
experience when it comes
to securing and using your
monitor in any scenario.

VERDICT
This is a classy bit of kit that
will fit in perfectly alongside
other items of hardware in
your setup. The design is solid,
the usability factor makes it a
breeze to get to grips with and
the power options are ideal.
Whats more, the 2-pin LEMO
out that allows for a seamless
integration with accessories
such as the Teradek Bolt
wireless receiver. So, adding
all of that together and youve
got an awesome performer
that comes with the assurance
of the respected SmallHD
brand.
Price 3,000
Web www.smallhd.com

Digital FilmMaker

101

New Kit
PANASONIC
VARICAM PURE

The new Panasonic Varicam Pure delivers the

goods when it comes to high-end features

LEXAR 256GB
MICROSD CARD
This is another one of those
cameras that it likely to be
out of the reach of many
but its worthy of a quick
look if only to marvel at
the awesome design and
killer feature set. While the
design is relatively small and
compact, inside that robust
exterior nestles a specification
that offers cinematographers
and producers a complete
solution for their daily
duties. Its aimed at the
likes of episodic television
show makers and feature
productions that have a need
for 4K Raw acquisition for 4K
UHD TV or 4K DCI purposes.
The VariCam Pure has a more
than capable 4K Super 35
Sensor that delivers fourteenplus stops of latitude and
integrated Codex recording
to Capture Drive. Panasonic
has spent considerable
time condensing what this
camera can do into a more
usable, practical design too
and the recorder is actually

102

Digital FilmMaker

157mm shorter than earlier

comparable incarnations. The
means its a lighter and easier
to use beast that can also
work in harmony with gimbals
and cranes.

VERDICT
Panasonics Varicam Pure
is a veritable filmmaking
monster that comes armed to
the teeth with a dazzling array
of features. Using Codexs
Production Suite, recorded
data can be converted to a
wide range of file formats
including Panasonic V-RAW,
Apple ProRes and Avid
DNxHR, so this ensures
wide-ranging support for
existing workflows. Add it all
together and this is a product
that is likely to cost a small
fortune but pretty much
does it all for a specific part
of the production market.
Price POA
Webbusiness.panasonic.co.uk

Lexar adds another beefy card to its range aimed

firmly at people who shoot a lot of video

Now that many of us are

choosing to shoot footage
on action cams then the
market for small storage, in
the shape of microSD cards,
is booming. Lexar, which is
always a brand you can trust,
has been quick to meet the
demand and this new 256GB
offering is ideal if youre in the
habit of shooting a lot of video
on said mini cams. However,
the other bonus is that these
also work quite happily in
tablets and smartphones
too, so they can easily be
repurposed when the need
arises. The 633x microSDXC
UHS-I card has read transfer
speeds up to 95MB per second
and can capture more than 36
hours of HD video, a healthy
67,600 photos or even 58,100
songs. The other benefit of
going with Lexar is that you
also get UHS Speed Class 3
(U3) video recording speeds,
which are ideal for capturing
extended lengths of 4K. The
microSDXC card comes
with a USB 3.0 reader too,
which allows for quick
and easy file transfer from
the card to a PC or Mac.
In addition, the card has a
limited lifetime warranty and
a one-year limited warranty
for the USB 3.0 reader. So
all in all this makes for a good

bet if your data is a primary

concern which it should be.

VERDICT
Large capacity memory is
pretty cheap these days and
this model works out at just
under a pound a gig, which is
not bad at all when you think
back to what high capacity
cards used to cost. Buying
Lexar also means that youve
got less chance of having a
hokey card, so this should be
pretty good for a few years
service. Itll be quick and
dependable, which if youre
in the video marketplace, is
essential. Money well spent.
Price 246.99
Web www.lexar.com

New Kit

SMALLHD
1303 STUDIO

Monitor your next shoot in style with this fully

loaded premium filmmaking package

VIEWSONIC MONITOR

Get on top of your post-production duties with

this capacious new monitor from ViewSonic
If youre of the opinion that
Atomos is the last word
when it comes to decent
monitors then think again
because SmallHD has been
building up a very tidy
business over the last few
years. Central to the product
range are its own monitors,
with the new SmallHD 1303
Studio being one to watch
thanks to a realistic price tag
that makes it affordable for
up-and-coming filmmakers
and videographers but with
enough high-end features
and functionality to make it
a serious proposition. Focus
pulling, for example, can be
tricky for people starting out,
but the size of the display,
the resolution and overall
pixel density makes this
challenge a breeze. Then
theres the Output Preview
Page feature that lets you
check what youve captured
on the go while tool options
such as customizable focus
assist and peaking means
you have full overall control
of footage in within the
confines of that great little
screen. Colour accuracy is
paramount, reckons SmallHD
and the broad viewing
angle make it easy to share
your work with clients and

directors either on the day

of your shoot or at meetings
afterwards. Apparently the
panel is roughly three times
brighter than most production
monitors and the optically
bonded LCD fends off the
worst that glare and tricky
shooting situations can throw
at it.

VERDICT
This is a nice bit of kit, with
the above features sitting
nicely alongside power
options that include a 2-pin
LEMO out, which allows
for a seamless integration
with accessories such as
the Teradek Bolt wireless
receiver. All SmallHD
production monitors are
equipped with the Rapid
Rail Mounting System too,
which is the simplest way
to connect, store, and
travel with critical monitor
accessories. Meanwhile,
transitioning from table to
C-Stand happens safely and
securely with the 1303s
VESA compatible mounting
accessory. The 1303 monitor
is therefore the perfect blend
of functionality and portability.
Price 2,250
Web www.smallhd.com

ViewSonic has been around

for a good few years now
so they know what goes
into producing a decent
monitor. And, if youre in the
business of post-production
editing, or even if youre
not but are after a quality
screen, then this new model,
the VP2468 makes an awful
lot of sense. Its a sizeable
24-inch offering that comes
armed with Full HD 1080p
(1920 x 1080) characteristics
that offers professional level
colour precision for colourcritical applications. Its also
been built with an edge-toedge SuperClear IPS panel
while the design also features
one of the worlds thinnest
bezels for a frameless viewing
experience. ViewSonic also
highlights the fact that this has
been co-developed with colour
management experts X-rite, so
the unique on-board software
offers hardware calibration
functionalities, which help align
graphics card and monitor
scalar to ensure long-term
consistency and accuracy of
colour output. With hue and
saturation fine tuning as well
as five gamma settings, the
VP2468 allows content to stand
out with true-to-life colours.
The sleek and frameless design

is ideal for multiple monitor

set-ups, which makes it the
perfect choice for creative
professionals.

VERDICT
This particular ViewSonic
seems like an absolute
bargain to us with a raft of
great features and a pedigree
that has been honed over
the last few years. It comes
equipped with a whole range
of viewing positions and is
equipped with future-proof
DisplayPort (1x in, 1x out)
technology, Mini DisplayPort,
dual HDMI inputs and four
USB 3.0 ports for maximum
flexibility and connectivity
to a variety of devices and
peripherals. Whats more, the
DisplayPort interface provides
multi-stream technology that
allows the daisy-chaining
of multiple monitors with a
single cable. Impressive stuff.
Price 229
Web www.viewsonic.co.uk

Digital FilmMaker

103

New Kit

COOKE SPEED
PANCHRO

Aim for the Cooke look when you shoot your next
project with this new high-end lens release

IPHONE EXOLENS

Boost your iPhone movie output with this great

new ExoLens offering for the premium handset
If youre going to splurge and
buy yourself the new iPhone
7 then it might also be time
to think about adding a little
extra zing to older phones in
your collection. This ExoLens
offerings works with the iPhone
6 and is aimed at breathing new
life into the less than inspiring
photographic appeal of that
handset. The ExoLens comes
armed with optics from Zeiss,
so that gets it off to a decent
start and the overall aim of the
gadget is to add another level
of quality to stills shot on the
handset. Its makers claim it
can offer DSLR-quality images,
so its tempting to ponder if it
can also add an extra sheen
to video output too. Of course,
a lot of the features are aimed
firmly at stills imaging, such as
the macro-zoom functionality
that features a focal length of
40-80mm. We really like the
idea that the modular design
of this product lets people buy
the bracket and lens separately
if they prefer, which lets you
switch between macro and
telephoto lens options. Its
hardly an essential for the
filmmaking fraternity, but for
those with money to burn
then this could be fund to
experiment with.

104

Digital FilmMaker

VERDICT
This is just one of a whole suite of
add-on products that this outfit
does for the iPhone, and although
most are aimed at the still shooter
theres plenty here that might
help beef up video output too.
This doesnt come cheap, but if
youve already shelled out for an
iPhone then a couple hundred
more is unlikely to faze you,
right? Its nicely designed and
well put together too and is a
conversation piece if nothing else.
Price 199.99
Web eu.exolens.com

The Cooke look is a phrase

that youll hear from time to
time in fimmaking circles and
were not sure if it was made
up by a shrewd marketing
person at the British company
or has just developed over
time. Cooke optics are certainly
the go-to choice for many in
the industry and, under the
guidance and vision of company
owner Les Zellan they offer
an additional edge to your
production based around many,
many years of development.
Responding to the ongoing
high demand for its vintage
Speed Panchro lenses from the
1920s-1960s, the company has
subsequently re-introduced its
new Panchro Classics using
the original design but with PL
mounts for modern cameras.
The original Cooke Speed
Panchro, designed by Horace
W Lee in the 1920s, was a cine
prime lens that chromatically
enhanced an image when
filming under restricted
illumination. Developed
several years before talkies
came into being, the advent
of sound films created a
great demand for faster
lenses because arc lamps
could no longer be used,
making much existing
equipment obsolete. Cooke
Speed Panchros combined
a relative aperture as wide

as f2.0 with an angular field of

view and definition previously
impossible with much smaller
apertures. They quickly gained a
worldwide reputation for quality
cinema production and were
widely used throughout the 20th
century.

VERDICT
If youve got the sort of
investment in your filmmaking
project that allows for it then
the re-introduced Panchro
Classics range sound well worth
investigating. Not only will they
add extra production value,
but youll also be working with
optics that have shaped the
way we make and watch movies
today. Its like taking a trip
down memory lane but shaped
for the 21st century kit that we
used today. Quite something.
Price TBC
Web www.cooke.co.uk

New Kit

CANON
DP-V2420
Canon unveils a brace of tidy new monitors

aimed firmly at the visual imaging professional

The new Canon DP-V2420

is seen as the last word
when it comes to reference
displays where the ultimate
in high-end performance and
a feature-heavy specification
is needed to get the job
done. Little wonder then that
the 24-inch model comes with
a suggested price of around
$32,000, while the slightly less
impressive 17-inch variant
costs a mere $13,500. In the
case of the leading model, the
DP-V2420 fair bristles with
multiple features that aim to
justify that ridiculous price tag.
It supports HDR standards and
display methods increasingly
used for next-generation video
production, and provides
high luminance and black
luminance performance
essential for screening HDR
content. Canons DP-V2420
display qualifies as a Dolby
Vision mastering monitor
and complies with
the ITU-R BT.2100-0
HDR standard, which
specifies a peak
luminance 1000 cd/
m2 and a minimum
luminance 0.005 cd/
m2. Meanwhile, the
cheaper DP-V1710 4K/
UHD is the industrys
first 17-inch 3840
x 2160 resolution
professional-model

display, which can be used

with the 19-inch rack mounts
that are commonplace in
broadcast studio sub control
rooms and broadcasting vans.

VERDICT
Most of us wont be getting
our mitts on one of these any
time soon, but its great to
see that models like this are
being produced. It just goes
to show that Canon thinks
the marketplace is buoyant
enough to support such
lavish monitors, especially at
a time when companies and
individuals are trying to slash
their costs as margins continue
to dwindle. Granted, buying
one of these requires a huge
amount of investment, but its
probably an absolute dream to
use.
Price $13,500/$32,000
Web www.canon.co.uk

ATOMOS SHOGUN
INFERNO
Atomos returns with another new monitor that
targets a whole array of filmmaking folks

Australian kit manufacturer

Atomos has been on a
rollercoaster of a ride
thanks to the success of its
range of products. And, that
momentum shows no sign of
slow up either, with the release
of the Shogun Inferno. Its
billed by the company as the
worlds most advanced monitor
recorder and there are certainly
plenty of very cool features
nestling inside the practical
design. This is led by a raft
of HDR features but there is
also 1500nit high bright, 10-bit
monitoring with Scheduled
Playlist and meta data tagging
that really boosts the potential
of the monitor. Atomos has
invested heavily in 4Kp60 HDR
and thats echoed in the feature
list, that includes HDR Log
and Raw recording, AtomHDR
engine with 10+ stops dynamic
range for perfect exposure
monitoring. A new arrangement
with G-Technology is also
set to benefit the entire
Atomos community by directly
integrating the Atomos Master
Caddy into the G-Technology

ev Series workflow solutions.

VERDICT
Its interesting to note that
Atomos has only released
pricing in euros and dollars,
which perhaps suggests theyre
not bothered about us here
in the UK. Nevertheless, this
looks like being another hit
with the filmmaking fraternity
and, while the price tag is
certainly not cheap, the
feature set is impressive. If
youre a professional then this
model makes a lot of sense,
although at the rate they are
going Atomos might soon be
competing with themselves due
to the number of models they
have on offer.
Price 1,995
Web www.atomos.com

Digital FilmMaker

105

New Kit
ARRI MASTER
GRIPS

The innovative Arri returns with an excellent new

product aimed at high-end film producers

Professional filmmakers
often get to use the best
kit out there and Arri is top
of the tree for many. Now,
the company has introduced
these, their Arri Master
Grips, that let DOPs combine
effective camera stabilization
with highly innovative fingertip
controls that cover the entire
gamut of shooting duties.
Master Grips come in four
different iterations, with a
right and left-side variant,
plus rocker and thumb wheel
combinations. To break that
range of options down the
right rocker offers a control
rocker that delivers supersmooth zooming capability.
Theres also a steel Arri
rosette along with two LBUS
interfaces. Partner that with the
Master Grip left wheel option
and you have control of iris
or focus adjustments using a
neat finger wheel. Again, this
comes with a steel Arri rosette

and two LBUS interfaces.

Although these are high-end
accessories, theyre actually
really easy to use and can
be deployed to great effect if
youre using something like the
Arri Amira in Multicam mode.
As youd expect, these items
make use of quality precision
machined materials based
around lightweight magnesium,
so the chances are theyll last
for more than a few years.

VERDICT
These are very tasty
accessories that add extra
functionality to a raft of Arri
cameras, including the Alexa,
Amira, Alexa Mini, UMC-4,
SMC-1, EMC-1 and AMC-1,
but they can also be used
with various models from the
Sony and RED product camps
via CUB-1. Pricing appears
to be on application, which
probably means that theyre
out of the reach of most
humble home enthusiasts.
Nevertheless, when it comes
down to aspirational kit then
theres no denying these
beauties really leave you
with something to aim for.
Price POA
Web www.arri.com

106

Digital FilmMaker

APPLE IPHONE 7

Its got a beefed up camera so is the new Apple

phone ideal for moviemaking this time around?

Despite its sizeable cost to

buy, or own on a monthly
contract, the iPhone is
everywhere and its a great
handset. However, over
the years there have been
plenty of requests to improve
the standard of the built-in
camera. Apple has finally
addressed this issue with
the arrival of the seventh
incarnation of the handset.
Aside from the camera and
its video characteristics, its
largely business as usual
for the smartphone, with
the customary tweaks youd
expect to keep the phone
as appealing as possible
to punters. The camera,
meanwhile, has really been
reworked to offer much
more than before. Its a
12megapixel offering that
features wide-angle and
telephoto functionality, while
theres also optical zoom
at 2x and digital zoom up
to 10x. Video functionality
gets a boost from the built-I
optical image stabilisation and
the six-element lens really
seems much more capable
of tackling tricky shooting

situations compared to earlier

models. This is supplemented
by a Quad-LED True Tone
flash, thats probably going to
hammer your battery, but its
there nonetheless.

VERDICT
The Apple specs highlight the
potential video prowess of
this phone, with 4K recording
at 30 fps, 1080p HD at 30 fps
or 60 fps and 720p HD video
recording at 30 fps.
Given that a lot of people
are shooting films on the
iPhone now then thats
all good news, plus
theres slomo video
support for 1080p at
120 fps and 720p at 240
fps and even timelapse
video with stabilisation.
Other highlights
include cinematic video
stabilisation (1080p
and 720p), continuous
autofocus video, body
and face detection and
the capacity to take
8-megapixel still photos
while recording 4K.
Price from 599
Web www.apple.com

Next issue

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NEXT ISSUE
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Whats

hot?
The Nice Guys

The team singles out current

and forthcoming indie movies
plus documentaries that are
creating a buzz!

Breaking a Monster

The Shallows

Set against the backdrop of 1977 Los Angeles,

two private investigators are hired to uncover
the truth behind the alleged suicide of a fading
adult film star. But
hippies, strippers, drug
lords and a government
conspiracy all try to
impede their mission.

This film tells the story of the unexpected and

astronomical success of a teenage rock band.
A success that transcends their childhood and
puts them to the test as
they try to adapt to the
new found success they
have always dreamed
about.

When a great white shark strays into shallow

waters off the shore of a secluded Australian
beach, a young surfer fights for survival as she
tries to make her way
safely back to dry land,
which lies only 200 yards
away. Survival horror at
its best.

Director
Shane Black
UK Release
June 2016
Language
English
Duration
116 minutes
UK Certification
15

Director
Luke Meyer
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
92 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Directors Jaume Collet-Serra

UK Release August 2016
Language
English
Duration
90 minutes
UK Certification
PG-13

Turbo Kid

Sing Street

Set in an alternate 1997 where the world has

become a barren wasteland, a comic book
fanatic takes on the persona of his favourite
character and battles
an evil overlord in this
homage to the low
budget futuristic flicks of
the 1980s.

Set in Dublin in the 1985, Sing Street is the tale

of a young musician who suffers a troubled
home life, and in an attempt to escape this sad
existence, he begins
a rock and roll band,
attracting the attention
of an aspiring model in
the process.

Director Franois Simard

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
93 minutes
UK Certification
15

Director
John Carney
UK Release
May 2016
Language
English
Duration
106 minutes
UK Certification
12A

Destined

A story of two parallel worlds and one man

who lives out two lives; one as a successful
business man, the other as a criminal of a
drug-fuelled underworld.
Destined explores how
one mans future can
be changed by a single
moment.
Director
Qasim Basir
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
95 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Swiss Army Man

Take Me to The River

A gay Californian teenager plans to come out
at his family reunion in Nebraska. His intentions
are put on hold when his attention is drawn to a
bloodstain on his young
cousins dress, which
leads him to unwittingly
suspect she is being
abused by the family.
Director
Matt Sobel
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
84 minutes
UK Certification
15

Buzzard

A young man is shipwrecked, stranded in the

wilderness and desperate for help. Just as he
attempts to take his own life, he befriends a
dead body with bizarre,
grim powers. Together
they embark on a surreal
journey in an attempt to
get home.

A bored office employee by he name of Marty

sets out to steal from the bank he works for
by cashing dozens of refund cheques, whilst
living on the streets. But
when his grand plans
begin to fail, his world
spirals into paranoia and
violence.

Directors D.Kwan, D. Scheinert

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
95 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Director
Joel Potrykus
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
97 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

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Orthodox

Dough

An old Jewish baker struggles to keep his

small business afloat when sales dramatically
begin to fall. But when his young apprentice
intentionally drops
cannabis into the dough
mix, business starts to
boom again in this fun
British comedy.

A boy victimised in his neighbourhood for this

religious beliefs takes up boxing as a means
of self-defence. His involvement in unlicensed
fights alienates him
from his beloved Jewish
community, and the
criminal life that comes
with it lands him in jail.

Director John Goldschmidt

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
94 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Creative Control

Director
David Leon
UK Release February 2016
Language
English
Duration
98 minutes
UK Certification
18

Fraud

This film is based in a future version of

New York City, where a yuppy marketing
professional uses a new augmented reality
technology - enabling
people to immerse
themselves in alternative
realities - to pursue a
taboo relationship.

A found-footage-style film in which a family try

desperately to live the high life, but in truth, are
drowning in debt. Out of sheer desperation,
they turn crime to fund
their pretentious life. The
director initially claims to
have stumbled across
the footage on YouTube.

Director Benjamin Dickinson

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
97 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Director Dean Fleischer-Camp

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
52 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Green Room

An American punk rock band are witnesses

to a violent murder in a music venue run by
white supremacists. They are forced to fight for
their own lives, coming
face-to-face with the
murderers, who are
intent on covering up
their crime.

Pandemic
An unidentified disease that has swept across
the planet in the near future has claimed the
majority of the population. The film follows our
protagonist, Lauren,
who leads a party of
four doctors to unearth
the truth behind the
outbreak.

Director Jeremy Saulnier

UK Release
May 2016
Language
English
Duration
94 minutes
UK Certification
18

Hotel Dallas

This documentary begins in the late 1980s, when

the country of Romania was shown the TV series,
Dallas, for the first time. It was so popular in the
eastern bloc country, that
a Dallas-themed hotel was
built, where guests could
play out the fantasy of
living in 1980s America.
Director S.Huang, L.Ungur
UK Release
2016
Language Romanian, English
Duration
74 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

112

Director
John Suits
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
91 minutes
UK Certification
18

Intruders

Short Stay

Daringly shot on 35mm film, Short Stay tells

the story of Mike, who seeks to change his
mundane life and heads to Philadelphia, where
friends, colleagues, and
potential love interests
prove that the grass isnt
always greener on the
other side.
Director
Ted Fendt
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
62 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Tale of Tales
An anthology of three twisted tales, all set in
the same macabre world. A world filled with
mythological beasts and tyrannical kings. From
a queens bitter quest, to
two sirens who seek the
passion of a king, to a
mans obsession with a
giant flea.
Director Matteo Garrone
UK Release
June 2016
Language
English
Duration
133 minutes
UK Certification
15

High-Rise
A man moves into a newly designed, futuristic
building, home to only the wealthiest of society.
He soon finds that his new life is controlled by
a secret society from
the stories above. A
black comedy about the
absurdities of wealth and
social classification.
Director
Ben Wheatley
UK Release March 2016
Language
English
Duration
119 minutes
UK Certification
15

Backgammon

After her brothers passing, Anna inherits all of

his money, but when word gets out, thugs enter
her home with the intention of stealing the cash.
Anna cannot flee because
of her acute agoraphobia.
But agoraphobia isnt her
only psychosis. A thriller
with a twist.

After a house party is broken up after an argument,

two remaining revellers find their feelings for
one another may be more than platonic. Soon
noises are heard from the
darkest corners of the
house. Could one of the
angered guests be hiding,
waiting to seek revenge?

Directors Adam Schindler

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
90 minutes
UK Certification
15

Director Francisco Orvaanos

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
89 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

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No Home Movie
An experimental documentary, No Home
Movie follows the life of the filmmakers aging
mother as she goes about her life in Belgium,
often frustrated and
only interacting with her
daughter via the internet
as she travels the world.
Directors Chantal Akerman
UK Release
June 2016
Language English, French
Duration
115 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Knight of Cups
Knight of Cups tells the story of the slow
deterioration of Los Angeles womaniser, Rick,
who lives off the memories of a past care-free
life in Las Vegas - a life
that he still longs for
- whilst undertaking a
series of love affairs with
six different women.
Directors Terrence Malick
UK Release
May 2016
Language
English
Duration
118 minutes
UK Certification
15

Almost Holy
A documentary in which self proclaimed
superhero and maverick clergyman, Gennadiy
Mokhnenko, acts as father figure and lawman
to a drug and povertystricken neighbourhood in
Ukraine. Helping as many
as he can, but using
controversial methods.
Director
Steve Hoover
UK Release
June 2016
Language
English
Duration
100 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

No Men Beyond This Point Borealis

This comedy documentary-style film looks at
an alternative world in which men have become
obsolete. In fact no male has been born since
the 1970s. 37 year old
Andrew Myers is now the
youngest man on earth,
in a battle to keep men
from going extinct.
Directors
Mark Sawers
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
80 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Miles Ahead

Jonah, an addicted gambler, and a man who

has made a series of life-changing mistakes,
takes his teenage daughter on a dangerous
road trip to Churchill in
Canada to show her the
Northern Lights before
a disease renders her
completely blind.
Director
Sean Garrity
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
95 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Demolition

A biographical feature about the life and music

of jazz musician, Miles Davis, focusing on his
mission to retrieve a session tape stolen by
greedy music producers.
The films finale is a
reenactment of his final
performance in 1991,
shortly before his death.

An investment banker struggles to cope on his

own after he loses his wife in a sudden accident.
As his situation worsens and his life spirals,
he finds friendship and
solace in the unlikely form
of a customer service
rep of a vending machine
company.

Director
Don Cheadle
UK Release
April 2016
Language
English
Duration
100 minutes
UK Certification
15

Directors Jean-Marc Valle

UK Release
April 2016
Language
English
Duration
100 minutes
UK Certification
15

Hello, My Name is Doris 3rd Street Blackout

Doris has been inspired by a recent self-help
seminar. The 60-year-old Staten Island woman,
in the wake of her mothers death, pursues an
unlikely courtship with her
much younger co-worker,
John. A bittersweet tale
of loneliness and the
acceptance of aging.

Director Michael Showalter

UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
95 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

During a New York black-out, a couple

are forced to concentrate on their flawed
relationship, rather than the technology around
them that has always
been a constant
distraction. As they
become closer, secrets
are revealed.
Director N.Farsad, J.Redleaf
UK Release
2016
Language
English
Duration
87 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Soy Nero

Closet Monster

Nero, a Mexican deported from the US,

returns to his spiritual home illegally in search
of his true identity. In an attempt to legally gain
US citizenship, he joins
the US Army as a Green
Card Soldier, but finds
himself fighting his own
battle in order to stay.

Set in the 1990s, this film follows Oscar, a

young tortured genius, desperate to move
away from his small hometown and the awful
memories of the troubled
childhood he suffered.
An often psychedelic
coming-of-age film with
a twist.

A Thailand nurse cares for local soldiers who

have been struck down with a mysterious illness,
bringing with it a coma-like state. Her long days
are spent discussing
their ailments with other
nurses, but the arrival of
an American soldier sees
a new relationship bloom.

Director
Rafi Pitts
UK Release
2016
Language English, Spanish
Duration
117 minutes
UK Certification
TBC

Director
Stephen Dunn
UK Release March 2016
Language
English
Duration
90 minutes
UK Certification
15

Directors A.Weerasethakul
UK Release
June 2016
Language
Thai
Duration
122 minutes
UK Certification
12

Cemetery of Splendour

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best of
the rest...
A Birders Guide...

Despite his fathers constant pleas, a birdwatching obsessed teenager and his friends
steal a car and take to the open road in pursuit
of an extinct duck, the day
before his father weds the
nurse of his late mother.
Director
Year
Language
Duration
UK Certification

Rob Meyer
2013
English
86 minutes
12

The Road Within

After the death of his mother, young Vincent who
suffers with tourettes, is left with his estranged
father. But his right-wing father is running for
political office and doesnt
want Vincent ruining his
chances on the campaign trail.
Director
Year
Language
Duration
UK Certification

A young man with Aspergers syndrome,

struggles to cope with the death of his brother.
With his parents in denial and unable to deal
with the loss themselves, a
new group of friends come to
the rescue.
Quentin Lee
2012
English
93 minutes
12

A sex addict becomes disillusioned with his

playboy lifestyle, preferring the false intimacy
he experiences whilst watching pornography.
But his attitude towards
sex changes when two very
different women enter his life.

After visiting an ATM cash machine in the

dead of night, three friends find themselves
in a desperate fight for their lives when they
become trapped in a
small kiosk by a potential
murderer.
Director
David Brooks
Year
2012
Language
English
Duration
90 minutes
UK Certification
15

A group of teenagers with varying sexual

orientations join an after-school club to reveal
their most intimate secrets in confidence, but
will their stories be revealed
to the peers they are trying to
hide the truth from?
Director
Year
Language
Duration
UK Certification

An unlikely romance blossoms between an avid

thirty-something toy collector and black sheep
of his family, and a damaged, self-loathing
woman, still raw from her
recently failed long-term
relationship.

Gary Entin
2012
English
84 minutes
12

Dear White People

A long-waging culture war comes to a

head between black and white students
at a predominantly white school when the
college radio station begins
a controversial debate
regarding cultural differences.

Directors Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Year
2013
Language
English
Duration
90 minutes
UK Certification
18

Dark Horse

ATM

Geography Club

Gren Wells
2014
English
100 minutes
18

Don Jon

White Frog

Director
Year
Language
Duration
Certification

Releases by inspirational
filmmakers that may have
passed you by

Director
Justin Simien
Year
2014
Language
English
Duration
108 minutes
UK Certification
15

Whiplash
An ambitious young jazz drummer, desperate
for fame, suffers under the tutelage of his
ruthless new teacher. Known for his savage
methods, he pushes the
musician to the brink of his
ability and his sanity.
Director
Damien Chazelle
Year
2015
Language
English
Duration
107 minutes
UK Certification
15

Director
Todd Solondz
Year
2011
Language
English
Duration
85 minutes
UK Certification
15

Keeping Rosy

Listen Up Philip

When Charlottes once-promising life

disintegrates, and she fails to gain respect from
the media agency she once worked so hard
to create, she sets out on a
journey of redemption and
danger.

Hits

A troubled author, reluctant to publicise his

latest book, is pushed out of his troublesome
neighbourhood and takes up residence at
the home of his literary idol,
where finds peace and quiet
and time to reflect on his life.

A talentless teenager from Upstate New York

believes she has what it takes to succeed in
the music business, and with the help of her
loud-mouthed father, will do
almost anything to get on to a
televised talent show.

Director
Steve Reeves
Year
2014
Language
English
Duration
93 minutes
UK Certification
15

114

Director
Alex Ross Perry
Year
2015
Language
English
Duration
108 minutes
UK Certification
15

Director
Year
Language
Duration
Certification

David Cross
2014
English
96 minutes
R (Region 1 only)

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URSA Mini lets you shoot true digital film quality

thats dramatically better than a DSLR!
Blow your clients away with URSA Mini 4.6K, the only camera that lets you
shoot with the true digital film quality of a high end Hollywood feature film!
You get a handheld, Super 35 digital film camera that works with your
existing Canon DSLR lenses, has a 4.6K image sensor with 15 stops of
dynamic range. URSA Mini 4.6K records video as camera RAW and ProRes
so you can edit, color correct and deliver results that are far superior and
look better than anything you can shoot on a DSLR!

Record in RAW, ProRes and more

Dramatically better than DSLR Video

Includes DaVinci Resolve

URSA Mini features a custom 4.6K digital film sensor that shoots up to 60
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your images will retain shadow and highlight detail simultaneously without
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a DSLR or regular video cameras! Imagine shooting indoors with the correct
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URSA Mini includes DaVinci Resolve 12.5 Studio, the same professional
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Blackmagic URSA Mini From

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www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk
Electronic Viewfinder, lens and accessories sold separately. *SRP is Exclusive of VAT.

You never have to stop recording because URSA Mini features two CFast
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Learn more

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