Here is a short we made a year & half ago and we just released. I hope you will like it. Please feel free to comment and share. Thank you in advance

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Please give it a like via vimeo if you err... like it!

I recommend listening with headphones!!!

Once again I am pondering a decision to which I would like to inquire on this forum's awesome knowledge of all things GHack2 related.

So what is this all about? You see, I am in pre-production for a no budget webseries called JÄSØN (http://creativemonkeys.org/jason/), a satire about a failing wannabe serial killer klutz. The style I am going for is grimy dark and dusky narrative. A lot of Se7en and 8mm. The first episode has a long low steadicam shot going through several rooms of Jäsøn's trashy apartment, showcasing his failed and broken life. There are moments of serenity, when light breaks through barred windows and plays with dust in its path, there are many dark corners and an overall low saturated, mid/hard contrast range and a wicked eeriness I want to achieve. Then there is a low light scene in a bathroom with flickering fluorescence light, and one ultra slow motion moment.

Our DoP will light it properly, I have no doubts, but I would like to have the proper Hack for the right shot prepared. I thought about getting a couple of cheap and slow SD cards and store different hacks on them and use them on set as we need them.

But here is my problem: My DoP is not familiar with the GH2 - he has a 5D MKII he suggested to use, but I think the GH2 has a nicer film look - and I want to make it as easy for him as I can, by having the best settings ready. And since I am not so good with cameras to understand the finer details as much as many of you do. This is why I am turning to you for help.

I need a set of 3-5 hacks that I can swap on set when needed, to accomplish the best shots. The premises are:

Best Quality - The best possible image quality. Is 2k HD MotionJPG an option? Any other suggestion? Film Look - as close to narrative cinema (80/90ies) as possible. I am considering to use anamorphic lenses here and there, so that should work too. Slow Motion and Ultra Slow Motion - I don't mind using 720p and upscale it later for those shots. How much difference is GOP1 and GOP3. Good Low Light - I do have light, so I am not too worried about low light situations, but I might want a shot were we deliberately do not use any light and for that, I would like to be prepared. Equal Quality/Equal Style - All the hacks need to work and/or work together flawlessly. 25FPS - Living in Europe, I have to adjust to the 50Hz issue. This is why I am opting for 25FPS, but IIRC it should work just as well with 24FPS as long as the shutter is set to 50/100 etc. right? [Edit] Greenscreen - For some effect shots, we will use a greenscreen and a good setting for that, to preserve as much color and details as possible, would be great too.

I am looking forward to your suggestions (including in-camera settings, workflow etc.) and thankful for your help.

PS: I forgot to mention: I have a 64GB 45MB/s SanDisc Ultra and currently no budget to buy the 95MB/s version, as I have to put the few bucks I have into other things, but spanning is irrelevant for me, as there are no shots that should be longer than 3-4 minutes. Thoughts?

I've been frustrated for a while about how much of the internet discussion on filmmaking revolves around gear and is often in a consumeristic way (what to buy). I decided to do something productive about it and have started writing a series of articles with what I hope is helpful points on producing a micro-budget short. I titled them:

"From a Vimeo clip to a narrative short"

because I imagined them for somone who is experimenting with their dslr and making some test videos but wants to try to do a scripted, narrative short. Here are the first three posts:

INTRO

A lot of people are making camera tests and small experimentation with the gear they bought and uploading that to the internet. There is nothing wrong with that, but the kind of approach is very different from the one needed to produce something scripted. In these cases you need a more conscious, prepared approach, and work in a more organized and linear fashion. You also need to work with other people, and if you don't have the budget, use a lot of creativity to achieve what you need.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=187

WORKING WITH OTHER PEOPLE

I don't believe any advancement in technology will make a significant change in the process of making narrative content. I'm very skeptical about all this rhetoric about a new camera coming out and "evening out the playing field" between the low budget and high budget guy. Films are for the most part a sum of the amount of human talent you put into them, where technology used is a secondary concern. The big focus then, of the aspiring filmmaker, should be to form relationship with people and find ways to mobilize them. But it's a big challenge to get talented and disciplined people to work with you, from a professional to a family member, and this proposes different concerns and also ethical questions. When should you work for free or low pay, and when should you ask others to do the same?

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=189

LOCATIONS

It's really important to get the locations early on, because in the linear process that pre-production is, a lot of things depend on the locations to be finalized. Art department, camera, lights, etc need to know what they are working with before they can proceed with a lot of things. The relationship you have with the locations owner is also crucial because of how important the location is and the stakes it would create if you lost it last minute. I actually advise in some situations to push for paying for a location, even if you could get it for free, just to establish some sort of moral right on using it. It's also very sad, that most filmmakers would not want to lend their apartments up for shooting, because accidents do happen. So there are also a lot of moral concerns about not ruining the reputation of the rest of the film community and being really careful with other people's property.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=196

SCRIPT BREAKDOWN

In it’s simplest form, it’s about making a list out of each scene about the stuff that needs to be taken care of. If you’ve ever tried shooting something longer tha 5 pages – you’ll know this has to be organized. With experience, you will learn to translate a written scene into a list of problems. These lists will then form the basis of your budget and your scheduling. You can use standard methods or even some software, but the basics are all the same: Look at a script and break it down into small little problems to solve.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=244

BUDGETTING

The budget is a necessary tool to prioritize where you put your limited resources to make them count the most. To be useful, the budget must be a blueprint of the making of the film, where there is a real relationship between the plan and the execution. I also discuss how you assess and understand your budget when most of the costs are covered with favors and deals.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=269

PRODUCTION CHECKLIST

Working on a micro-budget project with an understaffed crew and often a lot of first-timers in the mix, the producer has to stay on top of a lot of small and big things, making sure they are being dealt with. To facilitate that mental task, I'm collecting a checklist of items that you can go over in the pre-production phase to make sure your not forgetting anything.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=304

I have a few years of experience in filmaking, but as I say in the intro, I'm not claiming to be the most experienced producer out there. I do think that I have some experience to offer on the micro-budget level (unfortunately!).

If I think this is helping someone, I'll cover more topics.

Sadly, the graded version of our film didn't export in time and we were forced to submit the ungraded/non-color corrected version of the film. I'm still quite proud of the results. We shot it on the GH2 and the 5DMark III. I'll post the graded version after the contest ends.