D.M.Weiss

Hey Salim.
Thank you! I will do my best to outline some of what I experienced. First off, I looked at making the film as my film school. I had done short doc work and commercial work before, but nothing as big and complex as this. We are fortunate in the middle of America that a lot of people love to be involved in filmmaking. We had a ton of volunteers, but we signed contracts with each of them offering everyone a piece of the pie, if the film made money. For me, it's really about creating enough revenue, so that I can keep making films and share with the people who help make it happen. When we first started we had many delays, we would shoot one weekend and then it was two weeks before we could get back together. Everyone had their regular jobs, so it took us about 6 months to complete the film. If I had any type of budget I would have everyone take off two weeks and we would knock it out, but I didn't have that option. The cameras were great, but I did have a few issues with the lenses and NX1 manual mode when I first started. We finally got it down properly and it was good to go. We only had a Arri 1K and Arri three light kit when we first started. I bought a ton of c-stands and 2 Digital juice Flag kits. That really helped control our lighting setups. Most of the lighting on actors is bounced light, which I love the most. I wish I had known more about actually directing talent. That was something I have studied ever since. Jason Levering and I co-directed and that was complicated as well, but we both adapted and kept pushing each other. 
When it comes to festivals, I would say enter the festivals that you think the film will fit in the best. Have people watch it and have them give you their honest opinion. I had a fantastic editor give me some amazing insights and I ended up re-cutting part of the film. It's nothing personal and you have to look at it that way. We were fortunate to sign with Circus Roads Films who is a sales agent. They reviewed the movie and liked it. I would recommend them if you have a solid film. They took it out and got us a couple offers, but they didn't fit what we needed, so we went back to the festival circuit to build the film. Then we signed a deal with Indie Rights. They have a fantastic reputation with treating their filmmakers well, so we were happy to sign. There is never any guarantee on money. I think if you are going to make any kind of money you need someone taking your film to AFM and Cannes, which Indie Rights will do. They will sell the rights to different countries and that can be a nice revenue stream. On the other hand, if you have a massive following, it could be better to self distribute online. It just depends on the film and where you want to go with it. I hope this helps out. It is a little vague, because I have no idea how much money the film will actually generate. 
Best!
David
 

Ok, so how does that all add up? Simple, I started reading Andrew's site a few years ago and learned everything I needed to know about the Samsung NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x adapter. I decided to use them on our first feature film. After numerous film festivals and special events our film, Black Luck, signed an International distribution deal with Indie Rights. Yes, we probably would have done the film without this knowledge, but I'm not sure it would have had the same look or feel. The camera and adapter worked amazingly well and proved that a no budget indie thriller can still have a high production value. I can't thank Andrew enough for educating me and so many other filmmakers about the possibilities of shooting a feature film with these great tools.
Cheers!
David 
P.S. If you want to check the film out, it just launched on Amazon Prime. Read the reviews as well. This isn't some masterpiece of cinema, but it is a satisfying movie created with passion. 

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Luck-Garrett-Sheeks/dp/B0764KD2K8/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1507185936&sr=1-2&keywords=indie+rights
 

Hey Salim.
Thank you! I will do my best to outline some of what I experienced. First off, I looked at making the film as my film school. I had done short doc work and commercial work before, but nothing as big and complex as this. We are fortunate in the middle of America that a lot of people love to be involved in filmmaking. We had a ton of volunteers, but we signed contracts with each of them offering everyone a piece of the pie, if the film made money. For me, it's really about creating enough revenue, so that I can keep making films and share with the people who help make it happen. When we first started we had many delays, we would shoot one weekend and then it was two weeks before we could get back together. Everyone had their regular jobs, so it took us about 6 months to complete the film. If I had any type of budget I would have everyone take off two weeks and we would knock it out, but I didn't have that option. The cameras were great, but I did have a few issues with the lenses and NX1 manual mode when I first started. We finally got it down properly and it was good to go. We only had a Arri 1K and Arri three light kit when we first started. I bought a ton of c-stands and 2 Digital juice Flag kits. That really helped control our lighting setups. Most of the lighting on actors is bounced light, which I love the most. I wish I had known more about actually directing talent. That was something I have studied ever since. Jason Levering and I co-directed and that was complicated as well, but we both adapted and kept pushing each other. 
When it comes to festivals, I would say enter the festivals that you think the film will fit in the best. Have people watch it and have them give you their honest opinion. I had a fantastic editor give me some amazing insights and I ended up re-cutting part of the film. It's nothing personal and you have to look at it that way. We were fortunate to sign with Circus Roads Films who is a sales agent. They reviewed the movie and liked it. I would recommend them if you have a solid film. They took it out and got us a couple offers, but they didn't fit what we needed, so we went back to the festival circuit to build the film. Then we signed a deal with Indie Rights. They have a fantastic reputation with treating their filmmakers well, so we were happy to sign. There is never any guarantee on money. I think if you are going to make any kind of money you need someone taking your film to AFM and Cannes, which Indie Rights will do. They will sell the rights to different countries and that can be a nice revenue stream. On the other hand, if you have a massive following, it could be better to self distribute online. It just depends on the film and where you want to go with it. I hope this helps out. It is a little vague, because I have no idea how much money the film will actually generate. 
Best!
David
 

Hey Salim.
Thank you! I will do my best to outline some of what I experienced. First off, I looked at making the film as my film school. I had done short doc work and commercial work before, but nothing as big and complex as this. We are fortunate in the middle of America that a lot of people love to be involved in filmmaking. We had a ton of volunteers, but we signed contracts with each of them offering everyone a piece of the pie, if the film made money. For me, it's really about creating enough revenue, so that I can keep making films and share with the people who help make it happen. When we first started we had many delays, we would shoot one weekend and then it was two weeks before we could get back together. Everyone had their regular jobs, so it took us about 6 months to complete the film. If I had any type of budget I would have everyone take off two weeks and we would knock it out, but I didn't have that option. The cameras were great, but I did have a few issues with the lenses and NX1 manual mode when I first started. We finally got it down properly and it was good to go. We only had a Arri 1K and Arri three light kit when we first started. I bought a ton of c-stands and 2 Digital juice Flag kits. That really helped control our lighting setups. Most of the lighting on actors is bounced light, which I love the most. I wish I had known more about actually directing talent. That was something I have studied ever since. Jason Levering and I co-directed and that was complicated as well, but we both adapted and kept pushing each other. 
When it comes to festivals, I would say enter the festivals that you think the film will fit in the best. Have people watch it and have them give you their honest opinion. I had a fantastic editor give me some amazing insights and I ended up re-cutting part of the film. It's nothing personal and you have to look at it that way. We were fortunate to sign with Circus Roads Films who is a sales agent. They reviewed the movie and liked it. I would recommend them if you have a solid film. They took it out and got us a couple offers, but they didn't fit what we needed, so we went back to the festival circuit to build the film. Then we signed a deal with Indie Rights. They have a fantastic reputation with treating their filmmakers well, so we were happy to sign. There is never any guarantee on money. I think if you are going to make any kind of money you need someone taking your film to AFM and Cannes, which Indie Rights will do. They will sell the rights to different countries and that can be a nice revenue stream. On the other hand, if you have a massive following, it could be better to self distribute online. It just depends on the film and where you want to go with it. I hope this helps out. It is a little vague, because I have no idea how much money the film will actually generate. 
Best!
David
 

Ok, so how does that all add up? Simple, I started reading Andrew's site a few years ago and learned everything I needed to know about the Samsung NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x adapter. I decided to use them on our first feature film. After numerous film festivals and special events our film, Black Luck, signed an International distribution deal with Indie Rights. Yes, we probably would have done the film without this knowledge, but I'm not sure it would have had the same look or feel. The camera and adapter worked amazingly well and proved that a no budget indie thriller can still have a high production value. I can't thank Andrew enough for educating me and so many other filmmakers about the possibilities of shooting a feature film with these great tools.
Cheers!
David 
P.S. If you want to check the film out, it just launched on Amazon Prime. Read the reviews as well. This isn't some masterpiece of cinema, but it is a satisfying movie created with passion. 

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Luck-Garrett-Sheeks/dp/B0764KD2K8/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1507185936&sr=1-2&keywords=indie+rights
 

Ok, so how does that all add up? Simple, I started reading Andrew's site a few years ago and learned everything I needed to know about the Samsung NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x adapter. I decided to use them on our first feature film. After numerous film festivals and special events our film, Black Luck, signed an International distribution deal with Indie Rights. Yes, we probably would have done the film without this knowledge, but I'm not sure it would have had the same look or feel. The camera and adapter worked amazingly well and proved that a no budget indie thriller can still have a high production value. I can't thank Andrew enough for educating me and so many other filmmakers about the possibilities of shooting a feature film with these great tools.
Cheers!
David 
P.S. If you want to check the film out, it just launched on Amazon Prime. Read the reviews as well. This isn't some masterpiece of cinema, but it is a satisfying movie created with passion. 

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Luck-Garrett-Sheeks/dp/B0764KD2K8/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1507185936&sr=1-2&keywords=indie+rights
 

Ok, so how does that all add up? Simple, I started reading Andrew's site a few years ago and learned everything I needed to know about the Samsung NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x adapter. I decided to use them on our first feature film. After numerous film festivals and special events our film, Black Luck, signed an International distribution deal with Indie Rights. Yes, we probably would have done the film without this knowledge, but I'm not sure it would have had the same look or feel. The camera and adapter worked amazingly well and proved that a no budget indie thriller can still have a high production value. I can't thank Andrew enough for educating me and so many other filmmakers about the possibilities of shooting a feature film with these great tools.
Cheers!
David 
P.S. If you want to check the film out, it just launched on Amazon Prime. Read the reviews as well. This isn't some masterpiece of cinema, but it is a satisfying movie created with passion. 

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Luck-Garrett-Sheeks/dp/B0764KD2K8/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1507185936&sr=1-2&keywords=indie+rights
 

To be clear, I'm kind of unintereted in actual documentaries. But some of my favorite fiction filmmakers have taken a lot of inspiration from them. I'll definitely mostly have to practice, but it's clearly an artform I could stand to learn more about from the pros.
And thanks for all the input and resources so far

Ok, so how does that all add up? Simple, I started reading Andrew's site a few years ago and learned everything I needed to know about the Samsung NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x adapter. I decided to use them on our first feature film. After numerous film festivals and special events our film, Black Luck, signed an International distribution deal with Indie Rights. Yes, we probably would have done the film without this knowledge, but I'm not sure it would have had the same look or feel. The camera and adapter worked amazingly well and proved that a no budget indie thriller can still have a high production value. I can't thank Andrew enough for educating me and so many other filmmakers about the possibilities of shooting a feature film with these great tools.
Cheers!
David 
P.S. If you want to check the film out, it just launched on Amazon Prime. Read the reviews as well. This isn't some masterpiece of cinema, but it is a satisfying movie created with passion. 

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Luck-Garrett-Sheeks/dp/B0764KD2K8/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1507185936&sr=1-2&keywords=indie+rights
 

Great insights! Thx! So you did not use the log lut by andrew, for nx1? Which were your base settings for the flattest possible profile, in camera? Which iso for indoor shooting?
As to the lenses. 60mm is mechanically coupled for manual focus, but how did you work with 30mm? It's a gorgeous lens, but by-wire focus makes it hardly usable for video, in my experience (but I'm a 'dummy') :-P 
 
P.s. if you own it, try the 85mm. Gorgeous lens indeed.

If you have time, please share more of your technique (grading, stabilizing, lenses, etc). Thx!!!

Cool. We actually shot a feature film with the NX1 and the SLR Magic anamorphic adapters. Here is a link to the trailer:  https://vimeo.com/138589715  I hope the rumors about Samsung getting rid of the NX camera division are untrue. I love the imagery of the NX1.

Wow, congrats! I like the look of your shots, and the trailer is intriguing. What's the status of this, release wise?

Cool. We actually shot a feature film with the NX1 and the SLR Magic anamorphic adapters. Here is a link to the trailer:  https://vimeo.com/138589715  I hope the rumors about Samsung getting rid of the NX camera division are untrue. I love the imagery of the NX1.

Thank you Andrew for all of the knowledge you've passed along over the years. We chose the NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot adapters, because of your reviews. After some simple tests with different lenses we were able to really dial it in. Here is a link to the trailer. https://vimeo.com/138589715  Check it out, if you get a minute. 
All the Best!
David
 

Thank you Andrew for all of the knowledge you've passed along over the years. We chose the NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot adapters, because of your reviews. After some simple tests with different lenses we were able to really dial it in. Here is a link to the trailer. https://vimeo.com/138589715  Check it out, if you get a minute. 
All the Best!
David
 

Cool. We actually shot a feature film with the NX1 and the SLR Magic anamorphic adapters. Here is a link to the trailer:  https://vimeo.com/138589715  I hope the rumors about Samsung getting rid of the NX camera division are untrue. I love the imagery of the NX1.

1) I want to see the full movie!!! You got me hypnotised!
2) great colors, very professional cinematic look!
3) nx1 is a great, great camera.