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I had planned on shooting Lazarus Rising on my own before I even entered the
contest. As a result of my success in the contest I was approached by a
producer who wanted to buy the script. They made a tempting offer, but I
decided I'd rather do it on my own.
I had already made one DV feature with my
uncle for under $500, so I knew I didn't need a lot of money. I budgeted the
movie at $3,000, which covered food and tape stock. The contest generated a
lot of interest in my script, which resulted in a lot more money coming in.
By the time I started production I had accumulated over $20,000. Most of the
money went into buying new equipment: a computer, camera, mics, etc.
I put up casting flyers at local colleges. The response was overwhelming. I
auditioned hundreds of people. In the end, I ended up using mostly actors I
had worked with before, but seeing so many people's takes on the roles helped
me shape my perception of the characters. The crew consisted of three people,
including myself. Normally I would run camera and have someone with a boom
mic, but since I also starred in the movie I needed someone else to run
camera.
We shot the movie over a four-week period. All of the locations were used
for free. It's amazing how people react when you tell them you're making a
movie. We walked into a cafe right before they closed, asked if we could use
it, and they gave us the key and told us to call when we were done so they
could close up. Everyone we met was incredibly enthusiastic about helping us
out. The lead actress not only worked for free, but she threw a fundraiser
and brought in an additional $2,000 for post-production.
I have been editing the movie for about a week. I large portion of the time
so far has been spent logging the clips into the computer. I anticipate the
editing process to take another couple months. I am tentatively planning to
self-distribute. The wonderful thing about shooting a movie for such a small
amount of money is that it's easy to recoup the costs by selling a few
hundred VHS tapes.
The movie was shot on a Sony VX-2000. I used a Sony Digital8 camcorder as a
second camera in a few scenes. The lighting was all purchased at a local
hardware store for about $70. I had two shotgun mics, one on a stand and one
on a boom. The sound was recorded directly into the camera. I shot with a
2.35:1 aspect ratio using the camera's built in 16:9 mode coupled with the
"slim" feature.
I am using BigFX filmfx software to add a film look to the footage. I highly
recommend using this method. The final result doesn't look quite like film,
but it doesn't look like video either. It has its own personality, which is
very beautiful and cinematic.
I have a website up and running for the movie (Lazarus Rising) now. The
address is www.nuisancevideo.com.
Eric "xyzeric"
Lazarus Rising
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