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What Kind of Films Do you (want to) shoot?


Zach Ashcraft
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I enjoy being a part of this community, and would love to hear more about the films you are creating and/or are wanting to create.

What do you think are your biggest obstacles to creating the content you want to be creating, if you aren't making it already? 

I'll start - I started with documentary work for a non-profit, shooting on a canon t2i. After about 2 years of weddings I've wanted to move to bigger documentary projects and commercial work. My biggest struggle having not gone to film school has been connecting with other filmmakers to collaborate with, though i'm making more friends with each project I work on. 

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I went to film school, decades ago, but having been too young then, having had too many distractions and too little ambition, I dropped out. I kept film as a hobby, making wedding videos, test videos, nothing worth mentioning. Edited some music videos for local bands. Last week I gave my whole equipment to a friend, who is a better camera operator anyway. I am currently selling camera, lenses and other stuff on Ebay. The things you own end up owning you.

But I don't give up trying. I cut my expectations and my many projects down to manageable size. Let my friend worry about gear. Instead, I concentrate on scheduling the shoots. He is busy, so I have to prepare every project in such a way that 'principal photography' can be done on one weekend. 

What kind of films? Short films, mostly one scene, one unheard-of event with two or three key moments. Emotions, action, humor and some sex. Hopefully enjoyable, entertaining, touching, intense and extraordinary.

Before there was the much-ignored subforum CREATIVITY AND IDEAS, someone founded CreativeCrit, another forum, where I posted three of my plans to let others comment. I still think this is a good idea, but the forum died for lack of interest. No one listens (good title) to your ideas. We must accept that.

 

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We need more Zach's in here!

I mostly gravitate toward crime fiction. Started a production company with my childhood buddy called The Sabi Company nearly a decade ago. We've made 7 or 8 features in that time. As well as a handful of shorts. Our latest, Down and Dangerous, was our first genre picture and the first to not lose money.

We've also created Artis Entertainment to distribute our titles directly and through partnerships with other distributors. Most recently, we signed with Paramount to distribute Down and Dangerous internationally. To a filmmaker like me, that is an unforgettable milestone that I'm very proud of, even if it is a bit like winning the lottery.

The next movies include more action, a sci-fi survival story, a neo-noir, and hopefully countless others. I have no other creative or professional ambitions in life other than to make movies until i'm dead.

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Primarily, I consider myself a writer, where I have had a few successes in the horror genre, with a couple contests.

I made one short film that I entered in a few festivals... Haven't heard anything yet. 

With a little luck. and a lot of perseverance, I hope to be making indie horror and thriller features in the future.

In the meantime, I have a few ultra short films in preproduction. 

We need more Zach's in here!

I mostly gravitate toward crime fiction. Started a production company with my childhood buddy called The Sabi Company nearly a decade ago. We've made 7 or 8 features in that time. As well as a handful of shorts. Our latest, Down and Dangerous, was our first genre picture and the first to not lose money.

We've also created Artis Entertainment to distribute our titles directly and through partnerships with other distributors. Most recently, we signed with Paramount to distribute Down and Dangerous internationally. To a filmmaker like me, that is an unforgettable milestone that I'm very proud of, even if it is a bit like winning the lottery.

The next movies include more action, a sci-fi survival story, a neo-noir, and hopefully countless others. I have no other creative or professional ambitions in life other than to make movies until i'm dead.

If you're looking for some material, I have a few scripts I'm doing a final pass on. 

Sorry... I just figured I'd put it out there. 

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I'm also more of a writer than anything. Going for really human stuff, kind of like Cassavetes or Joe Swanberg, kind of episodic, but making sure to keep it all significant. I don't know if I'd be as comfortable as those guys with the actors improvising as much with my scripts, but don't have much experience there yet. With amateur actors and not being able to pay them much or anything, improvising a little might be necessary. I'm pretty much adding scripts to a drawer for now, tweaking them slightly and writing treatments for them just to be prepared. Actors are a big obstacle, and production budget. Though a slightly low-fi feel could be pretty great if I can get great performances. Like a bit of a documentary feel, emphasizing the acting even more. I have a really simple short that only needs two actors. I figure I should definitely try to do that one as soon as possible. This forum helped me feel more confident as a cinematographer, which is good considering I'll probably be my entire crew most of the time. Also, I've been interning for a friend's company, and his boss just sold a script to Clint Eastwood, so that'll hopefully lead to a lot of contacts, which is exciting. Sorry, trying not to use this as a rant about yourself thread, but it maybe kind of is for that ;) , which I'm not complaining about

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Swanberg is one of those directors, you almost want to hate. When I heard about the mumblecore movement, I saw Big Puffy Chair first and really enjoyed the minimalism, then I heard about this Swanberg guy and what I heard made me roll my eyes, but when I watched Hannah Takes the Stairs, I had to tip my hat. Somehow he was able to recreate not just the scenarios of ambivalent heart break but also that pit in the stomach emotional loss behind it. 

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Swanberg is one of those directors, you almost want to hate. When I heard about the mumblecore movement, I saw Big Puffy Chair first and really enjoyed the minimalism, then I heard about this Swanberg guy and what I heard made me roll my eyes, but when I watched Hannah Takes the Stairs, I had to tip my hat. Somehow he was able to recreate not just the scenarios of ambivalent heart break but also that pit in the stomach emotional loss behind it. 

bingo! he's a little hit and miss I think - maybe has to be with his style. All the Light in the Sky is kind of a series of nothing events, but Drinking Buddies I thought was stunning. pardon me while I search for the films you mentioned :3

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Being the lone wolf I am, I'm probably not going to have anything going in the near future, but if I can get my shit together, it's probably going to be some short film that's either really disgusting and sick or something light, simple and revealing. Or all of that at the same time. Or none of it and totally different. I'm pretty open to the (probably) dark future and thus not too inhibited by great ambition or the will to please. What artists do I like: Noé, Buñuel, Lang, Bergman, Keaton and stuff. Probably won't be too polished work, not enough patience for that. Will see. Most likely it will just be a lonely death for me without all the shebang beforehand. :d

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bingo! he's a little hit and miss I think - maybe has to be with his style. All the Light in the Sky is kind of a series of nothing events, but Drinking Buddies I thought was stunning. pardon me while I search for the films you mentioned :3

I haven't seen Drinking Buddies yet, but I heard it was good. Learning about characters and their story through the mundanities of the everyday was very intriguing.

I could've done without the full frontal and the live action sex scene with him and his girlfriend, but I don't blame him for doing it. That realism, no matter how exploitative, is what made him the darling of SXSW. 

I, also really think he has a great model for independent filmmakers... Make as many movies as you can, as quick as you can, then reap the benefits from your catalogue of films. 

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My paid work is almost exclusively nature/landscape (non narrative).... But I am writing a few things... psychological drama sort of stuff based on some of the difficult things I have been through in my life, but also adding alot of fiction to it (and some dark humour, i hope)...  Probably will be a short story rather than a screenplay though.

Also really like indie sci-fi/drama too, like "Another Earth", "Coherence" etc... I have a good concept for this sort of story, but really struggling to flesh it out.

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I enjoy being a part of this community, and would love to hear more about the films you are creating and/or are wanting to create.

What do you think are your biggest obstacles to creating the content you want to be creating, if you aren't making it already? 

I'll start - I started with documentary work for a non-profit, shooting on a canon t2i. After about 2 years of weddings I've wanted to move to bigger documentary projects and commercial work. My biggest struggle having not gone to film school has been connecting with other filmmakers to collaborate with, though i'm making more friends with each project I work on. 

Wow, I couldn't have agreed more. I find people to collaborate with difficult to find too. Most people are just looking to find employment. 

 

I like complicated Thrillers, where there are different sub-plots and interesting back stories. Also, I feel the human mind is hardly explored enough in films or even documentaries. The kind of strange, curious or dark sides to humans could make some great films. I also love period dramas. 

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Really nice post

My bad paided works are always corporate videos, so nothing that I love there, but it helps to pay the equipment.

Just for fun, I want to recreate the intro sequence of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Ghosbusters" museum scene trying not to loose much money.

I have 2 friends at least as mad as me, I hope they help me ;)

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We need more Zach's in here!

I mostly gravitate toward crime fiction. Started a production company with my childhood buddy called The Sabi Company nearly a decade ago. We've made 7 or 8 features in that time. As well as a handful of shorts. Our latest, Down and Dangerous, was our first genre picture and the first to not lose money.

We've also created Artis Entertainment to distribute our titles directly and through partnerships with other distributors. Most recently, we signed with Paramount to distribute Down and Dangerous internationally. To a filmmaker like me, that is an unforgettable milestone that I'm very proud of, even if it is a bit like winning the lottery.

The next movies include more action, a sci-fi survival story, a neo-noir, and hopefully countless others. I have no other creative or professional ambitions in life other than to make movies until i'm dead.

That's pretty amazing that you've made a legitimate full length feature, with distribution, AND got a positive review from Chris Klimek!

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We need more Zach's in here!

I mostly gravitate toward crime fiction. Started a production company with my childhood buddy called The Sabi Company nearly a decade ago. We've made 7 or 8 features in that time. As well as a handful of shorts. Our latest, Down and Dangerous, was our first genre picture and the first to not lose money.

We've also created Artis Entertainment to distribute our titles directly and through partnerships with other distributors. Most recently, we signed with Paramount to distribute Down and Dangerous internationally. To a filmmaker like me, that is an unforgettable milestone that I'm very proud of, even if it is a bit like winning the lottery.

The next movies include more action, a sci-fi survival story, a neo-noir, and hopefully countless others. I have no other creative or professional ambitions in life other than to make movies until i'm dead.

The film looks very promising. What camera(s) have you shot the film on? 

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