Filmmaking is not for the weak of heart...lets face it, with all those "filmmaking is cheap and easy" websites...it makes you wonder why so few independent films hit the ground running.. Filmmaking is a craft. It takes a lot of people with a lot of diverse skills to have a final product...then it takes money to get it off the ground.
A lot of people are trying to make films. A lot of people are making films because they own a camera and computer...and they want to be filmmakers and the fact that they made a film and did not spend a lot of money is Marvelous...The equipment is more accessible, affordable, and achievable today then ever in human history. Yet, like all things..this rash of everyone lets make a movie fad will produce "The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY".
This fad is confusing for the audiences..and its hard on the filmmakers..this accessible atmosphere places more pressure on the industry then ever before. How would this be confusing for the audience you say? Well, its simple. We all want to see the little guy make it. We all want to give him a chance..Yet there are a lot of independent films and more Indie Filmmakers crawling out of the wood work competing with the same audiences the big blockbuster films compete with. This is a tough challenge for the independent filmmaker. This can leave an audience confused with what to expect with each film produced depending on the budget. Since there are lot of films getting made, most of them are marketed really well..regardless how well they are produced..and a lot of times, it can trick the consumer into renting or buying something they did not expect. We have all felt the let down after renting a film that did not quite meet our expectations. Yet, in its own unique way we learn. As filmmakers, renting or buying a film that may or may not be what we want can teach us how to make our films better. Independent filmmakers love independent films because regardless of their lack of budgets there is always something to be learnt weather it is how something works for a story..or how it doesn't work. It is easier to learn from an Independent film because they typically will be grassroots about the production and their budget won't allow for but the most minimalist vantage point. I am not against Big budgeted films..some stories MUST be told epic.... Yet, as an independent filmmaker, you learn a lot from watching other independent filmmakers and you know how hard it is to achieve something with a shoe-string budget....
Indie Filmmakers all want to be the next Robert Rodriguez or produce the next "Paranormal Activity"....The only problem is, I'm not Robert Rodriguez nor do we want to produce a film like "Paranormal Activity" .. What we want to do is produce stories that can touch the world...
Our Production Company, ALPHA WOLF PRODUCTIONS, commits ourselves to storytelling..unfortunately you cant just tell a story simply for today's audiences..what we need to do is work on the craft of filmmaking to bring a good story to a modern audience. In the old days, Native Americans used to sit around the campfire and share stories that became legends..some of which we can still find today. This was an oral tradition passed down from grandfather to son to grandson. With the same stories being told for hundreds of years..they became legends. Can you say that a film made today is a legend, or teaches anything? A few. And at the very best, maybe we as independent filmamkers can make a film that touches society the way oral traditions used to teach tribes. This is our HEART of Filmmaking.
There are MANY sources that distribute stories - the Internet, the news, books...yet out of all the types of media why do you think people really draw into the deliverance of a story via the movie?
Movies, are the closest medium to our DREAMS.
Yes, that is right. Our subconscious speaks to us in dream state. Dreams are meant to bring you all the information needed to adjust what is out of balance in your life, to read more deeply what it is you truly want and to learn from ourselves. When you dream at night, the feelings from your Unconscious are translated into dream images or stories..and what we get out of those stories is what we choose to learn from them. In a way the dream could be thought to be an in-between expression between your deepest feelings and the feelings you feel are acceptable. This is the amazing part of filmmaking...the connection we have when we watch a film is similar to that of how a dream works with us. And that is why, filmmaking is so important. Movies have the power to teach, communicate, share stories, and give us new perspectives that we may have not been able to achieve before. Movies can allow us to see though another person's eyes, transport us to a distant land, or teach us something new.
Our first film we produced was "Shadow of Crime". It was not easy. With a three month old and a shoe-string budget..while working two jobs..we are proud of our first production. It was not easy, but it was most definitely worth it. We made the commitment and found the right people. The story was designed for a very small budget..and we were really grateful with the actors that choose to be part of this production. A lot of first time filmmakers start with documentaries, yet we have it set in our hearts to tell compelling stories. The stories we create are character driven, with the hope that the audience will connect with the characters and maybe learn a little bit about themselves or others. The actors that where chosen for "Shadow of Crime" are as passionate about filmmaking as we are. Our hope is that we can pull together a bigger budget, because we want to progress with our next movie and we will need to have a larger budget to do so. We are also trying to improve our techniques as well. Our equipment costs for "Shadow of Crime" was $6500..and it limited us to how we could shoot the film. Now after making "Shadow of Crime", we know what equipment we need and know what it will take to make a much better film. Along our path, it is our desire to learn with other filmmakers and to share from our triumphs and mistakes. This is what this blog is about. To establish a community of filmmakers and film goers that are as passionate as we are about bringing storytelling to life via filmmaking.
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