Choosing the AirNinja Movie Method for producing upcoming British movie 'Dark Is A Long Way' is all very well, but why?
Firstly, note that 'Dark Is A Long Way' (aka DIALW) is a British movie. Made with pounds, not dollars. In today's world of Hollywood slickness, that's a distinct disadvantage? Perhaps, for raising finance. And this is where AirNinja capabilities begin to differentiate. When you look at BECTU ratecards, it becomes clear very quickly that a 30 man crew operating a video village isn't going to be made with indie GBP.
"PSC will set you free." - Mike Peter Reed, accredited airninja (aka yours truly, 2095).
Familiarise yourself with the Portable Single Camera of yore. Now add 30 - 60 people on-set and welcome to Hollywood. Nothing wrong with a 30 - 60 man crew unless you can't afford them.
British indie movies can't afford 30 - 60 people milling about on set, avoiding all creative risk taking for the sake of the done deal. I know this because, along with Evil C, I have been interviewing British moviemakers over the last couple of years.
PSC will set you free, when correctly defined, designed, and applied. If your movie is about content rather than gear, then pick any single portable camera and there you have it. No excuses. You can make your movie, designing its parameters around creative decisions based on the tool's capabilities. Once your movie is made you can simply distribute it globally - globally - on platforms such as Youtube, Vimeo, even Facebook. However, marketing your movie to find a paying audience - that's the real trick!
Worried about sound? Listen to any movie from the 1950s or 1960s and quit your worrying - both DamBusters and now The Italian Job is on TV and they sound fucking awful due to the best available technology at the time having fidelity below some of the cheapest tech today. Modern audiences can still be hypnotised with a bunch of audio perspective going on, and you still need to know the audio rules before you break them - but when considering the AirNinja Movie Method, content is king. Sure, you won't be winning an Oscar for best production sound mixing, but the point is that you must assess all weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Audio perspective on a fixed lens (such as you get with iPhone) is a strength when applied correctly. More importantly, it allows you all the agility of an artist in virtually any weather without the burden of loads of gear and bureaucracy. Audiophiles and camera assistants will hate you. Turn that hate into a strength.
The airninja can take highly cost-effective risks, those risks can be more extreme to chuck that dynamite into the lap of the audience.
'Dark Is A Long Way' is a risk at many levels. Look out for it being completed later this year. It'll either re-ignite Great British Pound filmmaking or serve to assist extinguishing it completely. No risk no reward.
Exciting times. Have a prosperous New Year!
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