- Posts tagged Distribution
- Explore Distribution on posterous
Crouching Tiger, Stolen Moments
So I turn on my computer last night, head over to YouTube, and imagine what I see? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was on. That’s right, it was ‘on’ the internet. Apparently, YouTube is now featuring full length feature films, and as the comments section clearly illustrated, everyone was flocking to watch the movie in question.
Obviously there are all sorts of ways to watch movies online, and anyone handy with an IP address can figure most of them out. Generally the internet has served to dramatically increase the flow of all kinds of media across the globe. Even a person sitting in a shack on the remote outskirts of Budapest has access to all the splendours of Hollywood, Bollywood, and Motown.
Sharing Lions
Link to film at bottom of post.
I saw this independent film a week ago and I can't seem to get it out of my head, so I thought I should share. After all, I tell my faithful readers every other damn thing that rolls around in my noggin, right?
Below is a link to a streamed version of the indie feature 'The Lionshare', directed by Josh Bernhard. It's actually an earlier effort from the team that eventually brought us Pioneer One, and like that film it was intended for free distribution on the internet.
I won't colour your experience with my opinions too much, other than to say I found it subtly but powerfully moving. In Bernhard's first pair of efforts I've enjoyed his ability to capture the authenticity of conversations between friends, and his appreciation of mood. While it's unapologetically indie, low budget, and slow moving, it more than makes up for all this with a huge helping of heart. I think the writers at Open Attitude got it exactly right when they said that The Lionshare was the "'Slacker’ for the file-sharing generation”
Vacation Inspiration - Internet Encouragement
The weekend past was spent at the cottage with my boys, bro, and parents, and good times were had by all. There was much consumption of guy-food and beer, laughs were shared aplenty, and the weather was kind.
However, in the midst of this near utopia something else was going on. My brother and I used the weekend together to continue developing an idea we had started fleshing out a few nights previous. It's a movie concept based loosely on an idea I had when I was 17 years old, and while I won't go into the specifics of what that idea was, I will say that to us it was an idea worth staying up until sunrise for.
We talked and imagined and got very excited about where the story could go, and then we eventually took it there. By the conclusion of our final brainstorming session (aka the drive home) we had laid out what we think is an exciting and impactful story with a solid beginning, middle and end. If we have the first clue what audiences respond to, we're thinking this one could work. It's action packed, dramatic, fantastical, sad, poignant, and shocking.
Now don't worry about me hurting my arm with all the self administered back-patting. There's some other points to consider. For example, here's point A: It's entirely possible that we don't have a clue at all.
The plan we discussed is to develop the details a bit further, formalize the structure, and then lock me in a room with a copy of Microsoft Word. Then I am to turn our movie idea into a book, (although I'm still debating the direct-to-screenplay avenue) which is an endeavour I can imagine being beset on all sides by the perils of hard work. That's point B.
A + B = a high probability of either an incomplete or substandard product, and that's the kind of math that scares me.
I have a great ability to start things and not finish them, exceeded only by my talent for just never beginning them at all. Equations like I mentioned leap readily into my mind, and more often than not prevent me from taking the very first steps towards trying to accomplish something. Surely it's a phenomenon unfamiliar to few, so hopefully there's some sympathy to be had from some of you. Nevertheless, the common reaction to this admission is more akin to something like "Just write it!" or "What do you have to lose?" It seems people are way better at giving advice than taking it, and I suppose that's not an earth shattering revelation in and of itself.
No matter what degree of coaching I were to receive, whether or not this idea goes any further depends on the outcome of a personal struggle. I'd like to think it will happen, and if the ideas continue to flow as freely as they have so far I don't really doubt that it will. Nevertheless, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that once the initial creative rush wore off I started asking myself questions. "Who am I to try such a thing? I can't write like that. I wonder if the idea isn't as good as we thought?" Such questions need not defeat you, but they certainly aren't encouraging.
Then I stumbled across Pioneer One. It's an indie series made on the cheap by some aspiring filmmakers, the first (and thus far only) episode of which was posted recently for all to enjoy, free of charge. The creators decided to fund the pilot themselves and seek donations towards the eventual production of the whole series, meaning the show could be largely free for everyone and distributed over the internet. It's very low budget, as anyone can tell by looking, but at the end of the day it has something going for it that nobody can take away. It's good!
My previous blog-post is a copy/paste of their own write up, so I won't bother attempting to summarize the film here, but I did walk away from it entertained and inspired. It's well written and performed, and has a cool premise at it's heart. It made me wonder if these folks could commit so much time, effort, and money to a story they thought was worth telling, couldn't I at least write mine down? Their film, while admittedly not as 'out-there' as ours would be, is a testament to the wonder of this information age.
That wonder is this; for every bone-headed opinion monger with his own blog, such as yours truly for example, there exists an equal number of talented people missing only an outlet. The world of media I grew up observing was an exclusive club, and it left those who didn't know the secret handshake on the outside looking in. The folks on 'Pioneer' knew the chances of their idea being seen by anyone but their mothers was incredibly slim, so they boldly sacrificed their own resources to get it out there. The internet provided them the outlet they needed to ensure that their sacrifice would at least be seen.
Now I'm not willing to go as far as making my own film from the material we've developed, and I know myself too well to believe that this one shining example could provide me enough energy to see through the long process of simply writing it. I may not even start the thing for some time. But it at least gives me the inspiration to not give up just yet - to keep the dream alive. I'll plug away at the ideas and refine them, write when I can, and try to keep in mind that in this day and age, anything is possible.
It's certainly worth staying up for another sunrise or two, and finding out a little bit more about where our imaginations might take us.
