Adventures in film...again

As some of you might know I am quite into film on an amateur basis.

My friend from back home and I had been talking for some time about getting a project going over the break. We finally settled on a prequel/remake based on a piece we did the summer after we graduated high school called "Lord Fingers". We are going to try and capture the same feeling of that peice, but now with better production values.

It has been a long two weeks. There are three knights in the movie. This required that we produce three suits of armor. Between building costumes, writing scripts, and working I've hardly had any time to myself.

We start filming tomorrow. The wide angle lens I ordered a week ago still hasnt come. We also have a very vague idea of what we are actually shooting in the morning. To say the least, I am very worried about this shoot. I'm hoping that the footage won't look too bad without the lens. If so, we will have to re-shoot.

Wish me luck tomorrow! Hopefully it will be a very productive day.

Good Luck! sounds like fun and hard work.
Start your day with a good shave and you'll do good.

Good luck Ed!

Well all of my worries from last night were unfounded.

We had a great day of shooting. The footage looks great. Our actors also got along great. Overall, a great start of principle photography. Even though our wide angle lens didnt make it, we managed to get some great looking composition.

We'll be getting back together in another hour or so to shoot some interior stuff. I'm looking forward to that. It was a lot harder this morning since we were shooting on location.

Thanks Joanna and Bob for your replies. I'm going to try and get some screen caps up if I have time.

Glad things went well, Ed. How did you get into filmmaking? Are you headed for Hollywood after Clemson?

Glad to hear that everything went well!! Hope it continues to go so.

TimmyBoston said:

Glad things went well, Ed. How did you get into filmmaking? Are you headed for Hollywood after Clemson?

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I got into it very innocently when I was very young. My friends and I wanted to make a "movie". Boy, I we didnt know what we were getting ourselves into! The more and more we researched, we realized how impossible it would have been to make that movie. I'm not currently in film school, but my best friend is. It is something I would love to be doing one of these days, but right now I enjoy it as a hobby.

Its kind of like how I started wet shaving actually. I'm searching how to improve my shave, and next thing I know...BAM, I have 3 DE's, and more soaps/creams/aftershaves/scents than I know what to do with.

Very cool, I hope we can see your movie when it's finished.

Just out of curiousity can you give us any idea what the movie's about or any other info?

Edcculus said:

I got into it very innocently when I was very young. My friends and I wanted to make a "movie". Boy, I we didnt know what we were getting ourselves into! The more and more we researched, we realized how impossible it would have been to make that movie. I'm not currently in film school, but my best friend is. It is something I would love to be doing one of these days, but right now I enjoy it as a hobby.

Its kind of like how I started wet shaving actually. I'm searching how to improve my shave, and next thing I know...BAM, I have 3 DE's, and more soaps/creams/aftershaves/scents than I know what to do with.

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Ed-- Are you shooting to film or to tape?

--Mark

mantic said:

Ed-- Are you shooting to film or to tape?

--Mark

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Or is it digital?

I'm NO expert, but I've heard some movies are being shot on a digital camera, I belive Tadpole was shot digitally. I could be wrong on this though.

To anwser some questions

Ed-- Are you shooting to film or to tape?

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We are shooting completely DV (digital video). Our camera is nothing fancy at the moment (panasonic GS-180 costs $500 new). We are probably going to spring for a Panasonic DVX100B this summer (costs around 4,000)

Just out of curiousity can you give us any idea what the movie's about or any other info?

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The movie is basically a Medieval type comedy. I guess you could compare it to Monty Pythons Holy Grail.

The original one we did after we graduated called "Lord Fingers" was filmed in one week on Edisto Island. The entire film was ad-lib. We went out with only some ideas, and let things grow from there.

This one includes the same characters as teh first one, although it takes place chronologically before it. We have more material written for this, however all of the dialogue is 90% ad-lib.

The story so far:

Two knights come back from the Crusades with the "Sword of Darkness". They bring it to Lord Fingers, the ruler of the kindgom Stevemore. After telling them the real king is dead, Lord Fingers demands the sword be given to him.

Lord Fingers is enamored with the sword. He takes it everywhere with him. He takes it in the shower (with its own tiny shower cap), cuts bread, feeds it, and plays with it.

Meanwhile, the two knights are given a quest by Lord Fingers to slay a dragon. They team up with a knight who was left to guard Stevemore, and a Rasta man named Jerry. The quest was actually Jerry's idea because Lord Fingers couldnt think of a good quest for the knights. The funny thing is, that the dragon doesnt exist. In the part we filmed today, Jerry tells the knights there is no dragon. The dialogue is pretty funny:

Jerry(with rasta/jamacian accent):Ok boys, we here.
Knight: So...where is the dragon?
Jerryragon? Theres no such thing as a Dra-gon, see its even got "gone" in its name. You see, that part where I told you about the dragon...well I been storying you. Its like when you be smoking a joint...and its gone.
Knight:...So you've been dragging us around for months, and this thing doesnt even exist.
Jerry: Yea...(then he runs off)

These arent the exact lines, but the best I could remember.

The other part of the story involves Lord Fingers stupid servant named Gabriel. Lord Fingers tries to set Gabe up on a date. He orders a girl to go out with him. Gabe is doing fine, and taking all of LF's advice, but LF still thinks Gabe is screwing things up. LF steps in and things go completely down the tubes. He then tells Gabe that in order to be a man and get girls, he has to go on a quest, like the knights.

Gabe tries to join the knights, but they just make fun of him. They steal his apples, call him "Gay Boy", and make him do ridiculous training exercises. Finally, the Devil comes to Gabe and gives him the "Helmet of Justice". When wearing the helmet, the knights think it is a great warrior (they are extremely dumb). They ask the "Great Warrior" to join them.

The "Helmet of Justice" also serves another purpose. Lord Fingers, who is pretty evil, really wants to go to hell when he dies. Lord Fingers decides he can seal his fate by killing the most innocent being, his dumb servant Gabe. The devil however cant stand Lord Fingers. He brings Gabe the "Hemet of Justice" which wont allow Lord Fingers to kill him. There is also a scene where Lord Fingers reveals to the devil that "I am your son!". The devil replies "No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!"


Sorry for the long post. You asked me for details though

Very cool