Three West » actress

New Short Flim

Tressa Sanders — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:37:10 +0000

I’m taking a break from working on my two documentaries to make a new short film. I was going to film a short called Old Wounds but I’ve had to re-evaluate the project. I spent all last night going over the script and determining what would be needed to film the movie. Ultimately now isn’t the right time. We have Winter weather right now and this movie needs to be filmed when it’s Spring or Fall. Sometimes you can work around things like that but due to the subject matter, shooting it in the Winter would make the storyline less believable. So, Old Wounds will have to wait again. Now, I’m looking for a new script but I think I may end up writing it myself. I still would like to make a short with little or no dialogue. I look forward to spending some time creating the atmosphere and mood for this film without having to worry about dialogue delivery. I’ll be making this film under my film and production companies, Still Guerrilla Films and High Contrast Media. I love doing documentaries but honestly I would much rather do one every couple of years and balance it by filming one or two fictional films in between. The first fiction film I did was called Sociopathica. I filmed it when I got my new DVX100B and I wanted to learn how to use the camera. I can not tell you how valuable it was for me to have done that. The film is definitely your typical “B” movie but it was a lot of fun to do and I learned so much from the experience. I learned how to create a workable shooting schedule, to have a much better understanding about lighting, how to film shots based on an editing plan, how to create cool special effects, and best of all, how to really use Adobe After Effects and become a much better editor. I was amazed at how much better my editing had become when I started creating the trailers for my two new docs. Had I not worked on Sociopathica first, I would have spent way too much time learning all of the things I learned from making that film instead of being able to push my new docs onto a more professional creative path.

So, now I’m committed to creating quality films with Still Guerrilla Films and High Contrast Media just as I have with Ijaba Films.

Still from Sociopathica:

Setting The Standard: Reclaiming the Art of Filmmaking

Tressa Sanders — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:29:54 +0000

What does the future hold for the art of making films? I’ve recently been visually consuming mass amounts of films from the 1950s to 2008 and all I can say is … WOW. It was quite disturbing to see the incredible decline in the quality of films in such a short time period. Equally disturbing are the amount of butchered remakes of past films. If you are going to make a bad movie, it should at least be original. This drastic change in movie quality is directly related to changes in the filmmaking community as well. My own interaction with the current filmmaking community has lead me to some thoughts about issues within the community contributing to the decline of the art. They are as follows:

1. Purposeful Content
The first thing for filmmakers to consider is the purpose of their content. If your content has no social purpose, then why are you making it? Responsible filmmaking is entirely in your hands. Don’t get me wrong, this social purpose can be purely entertainment, have deep meaning, or both. I’m just saying filmmakers need to make sure the films you make are not hurting society, but enhancing, educating, and/or entertaining it.

Examples of responsible filmmaking:
The Color Purple, Nuts, Bin Jip, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Signal, American History X,The Accused

Examples of irresponsible filmmaking:
300, Birth, Training Day, Halloween (2007), Bastard Out of Carolina, The Professional, Tropic Thunder

2. The Money Crisis
This is by far the fall of the art of filmmaking. When filmmaking went from being a grassroots art to big business … I take that back, when filmmaking became about big budgets and box office sales is when we began to see the incredible decline in filmmakers’ abilities to tell good stories on film. It’s funny, when filmmakers first started using more CGI in films, they always claimed it significantly brought down the cost of making films. That wasn’t all it brought down. It brought down the quality as well. Also, while this may have been true initially, why is it the cost of making films have reached such astronomical numbers? Compare the cost of the movie Aliens to any major box office sci-fi movie since 1996 and you will find an astronomical increase in production costs. When we decide to perfect the art of making great films with less money, only then will filmmaking resurface as a true art.

3. Gear Rip Off Madness
Ahhhh the great gear rip-off. This is the insanity where manufacturers and sellers of film gear convince filmmakers that great films can’t be made unless they own the latest and greatest equipment that they make and/or sell. But here is where your critical thinking has to kick in. Were great films being made prior to this new and improved “must-have” gear? And even more importantly, did you enjoy these films made prior to this new and improved gear? Of Course! So it’s important to realize when you are being brainwashed for the sake of profit. Folks can argue you down about gear and format quality but none of that matters if the film itself is of poor quality or exceptional quality. I enjoy movies on film, I enjoy them on VHS, I enjoy them on DVD and I will enjoy them on whatever else they make them on. Likewise, for what they were created with.

4. Reclaiming the filmmaking community
The sooner the filmmaking community gets rid of elitism the better. Film snobs have no place in art. Nothing ruins a film community faster than the seeds of negativity and arrogance. Either you are in it to create something fantastic or you need to walk away. You won’t find a painter needing his ego stroked by his brushes will you? How many film projects have fallen apart because of egos and attitudes? How many have gone to ruin because of directors, cast and crew, who thought they were too good to listen to a good idea or creative criticism? You’ve all seen it, felt it, heard it. Solution: When you find these people, drop them. Let them go create by themselves like the little kid in school who couldn’t get along with others. Cast, crew or talent think they are too good to show up when scheduled or on time? Drop ‘em. What about the contract? Add attendance and attitude clauses. This may sound harsh but we are talking about an art that takes collaboration from entire groups of people. The last thing this art needs are internal knives when there are many external ones every step of the filmmaking process.

Filmmakers Beware: Giving Away Your Work For Pennies

Tressa Sanders — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:57:34 +0000

Filmmakers beware! I recently decided to explore the idea of being paid for video content. In doing so, I came across an article, Getting Paid for Content, by Sheila Curran Bernard. I’d originally been out searching for filmmakers who had actually been paid by Current.com for their work. I found none. Current TV was requesting cut downs from my documentary, Charise: A Portrait of an African American with Albinism, and I wanted to be careful about handing over footage I’d not only worked hard on but that I’d also financed entirely on my own. So I stumbled upon Mrs. Bernard’s article.

She’d written about this emerging business model where on and offline companies, including broadcast and cable networks are essentially paying filmmakers less than what they deserve for creating digital content. In addition to paying less, they are also offering less supportive services to these filmmakers as well such as covering licensing fees and insurance, etc. She mentioned that the end result will be that it becomes the norm that filmmakers make little if any money from creating films and digital media and even worse; we come to accept this.

One only has to take a look at the book publishing industry to see what the true end result of this can and will be if we allow it to continue. Publishers, particularly vanity publishers, have been robbing authors in this same fashion for decades. They have taken it a step further, requiring authors to actually pay them to publish their work. So filmmakers should beware and take this very seriously. The next step is being asked to pay to give some company world rights and total ownership of our footage.

Mrs. Bernard’s article made me give more thought to the entire process of not only being paid for footage but also thinking about the worth of the work I do. For instance, there are many such websites out there offering a mere $100 or less for video you create and edit. In addition to that, they own all the rights to the video footage. So if you think about it in terms of labor, they are paying you $100 or less for a completed video that will take at least a few days for you to finish. To break it down even further, you may spend on average 6 hours a day on the video getting it finished. And based on what I know about artistic filmmakers, the real number of hours one would spend on the video would be closer to 10-12 hours a day.

Let’s take a closer look at this. let’s go with the very least amount of hours you would spend on it; 6 hours. Then let’s say it takes you 2 days to complete the video. If you are being paid $100 for the finished video, you are being paid $8.33 /per hour. That kind of hourly rate may be fine if you are working at McDonald’s but that is not OK at all when you are making any type of film or video. The amount is even more ridiculous if you spend longer hours and/or more days to finish the video. Imagine having to add a voice over or motion graphics to it as well…

$100 is actually being pretty generous from the sites I’ve visited. Many only offer $50 or less per video. If you upload some clips on free sites, you still own the clip. So there is a difference. You can upload your work for free and then do whatever else you want with it; including create your own DVDs to sell. Trust me, you would make more money selling your own DVDs than you would giving your footage away for peanuts to these companies. They need to pay according to licensing. If they want world rights, they need to pay for world rights. It is unethical to pay filmmakers $50-100 for world rights for any footage. Period.

Why so many business models that resemble that of the plantation, slave master and slaves relationship? Why are executives being paid obscene amounts of money relative to those who create the content? Their business and organizational skills are irrelevant if they have nothing to organize. Like any group being taken advantage of, we have to assess our collective self esteem and our egos as well. We can’t be so hell bent on seeing our work on TV that we give away the rights to it for less than what should be paid for those rights; thus making it impossible to make a living as a filmmaker and to get it to the audience for which it was intended. This is exactly what happens to authors; hence the term “vanity press” is used to describe publishing services that mainly attract authors who are more hell bent on seeing their work in print than they are with effectively managing a writing career.

We also have to watch out for deception as well. As with Current.com, it clearly states on their website that compensation for videos selected to air on TV range from $2,500 to $60K. So why was I only offered $500 to put something together with cutdowns from my documentary for TV? I’m glad that I found Mrs. Bernard’s article because after having read it, did more research and given things more thought, I decided not to go the route of being paid for content unless what I am being paid is fair for the license use requested. Seriously, I used to be annoyed by what I thought were insane licensing fees charged by photographers for a single image. But I’m thinking filmmakers need to learn from them and begin to reassess our worth and the value of our art.

If you would like a general idea of what you should be charging for your time and work, please visit this reference article at NJ Creatives Network.

Our Side of Joy – Documentary Trailer 2

Tressa Sanders — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:16:51 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-FTo1o8hI

Charise: A Portrait … Documentary Trailer 1

Tressa Sanders — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:13:20 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKEuiAk_nYw

Our Side of Joy – Documentary Trailer 1

Tressa Sanders — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:07:32 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sul0c3gzodY

What Kind of Filmmaker Are You?

Tressa Sanders — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 23:06:05 +0000

So you’ve decided you want to make your own visual media or films. Well, now you have to decide what kind of filmmaker you are going to be. This is an introductory post and also appeals to home, small, and medium sized businesses who are considering making their own PSAs, Commercials and other promotional video.

There are three types of filmmakers:

1. Traditional
2. Independent (Hybrid)
3. Guerrilla

1. The Traditional Filmmaker – This is pretty straight forward. A Traditional filmmaker is one that makes films for major film studios.

2. Independent (Hybrid)- Independent filmmaking used to include all films created without financial assistance and distribution from major film studios. However, this is no longer the case. We see many independent filmmakers who obtain financing and/or distribution from major film studios and still consider themselves and their films independent. So its independent but not really. It’s independent with help. While in some cases you may still retain a lot of control over your project, you may still be subject to the will of those offering financing and/or distribution to some degree.

3. Guerrilla – This is my personal favorite. A Guerrilla filmmaker is one who creates visual media and/or films using ones own resources from concept to distribution and with or without large financial resources. How much better can it get? Some of the best films have come from Guerrilla filmmakers (also some of the worst but at least they are funny and still retain some entertainment value).

The Bad News:
There will be no posts on this site about how to be a Traditional or Independent filmmaker unless I turn into a Zombie and try to eat your brains or unless I suddenly become a Traditional or Independent filmmaker.

The Good News:
All of the filmmaking articles on this site are written to help you become the best Guerrilla filmmaker you can be. Some may even mistake you for a Traditional or Independent filmmaker. Fancy that!

Why I chose to be a Guerrilla Filmmaker over the other two types:
Isn’t it obvious? Complete creative control. Freedom. The chance to reach my full potential. These concepts are important in everything I do. So it is only natural that they are also important for my filmmaking. This is yet another time where one has to be self-aware. To be self-aware is to understand and make decisions about projects and career goals that reflect your personality and what works for you.

There are many processes involved in filmmaking and one of the biggest factors in being successful is time management. I’m a very “time aware” person. This is one of my personality traits. The thought of waiting on other people to make my ideas happen is out of the question for me. It is also important for me to produce visual media about subjects I can support. I refuse to participate in film projects covering subjects I don’t believe in or don’t wish to support. I really could go on and on but the bottom line about why I chose to become a Guerrilla Filmmaker is … complete freedom.

Guerrilla filmmaking requires your interaction in the filmmaking process from start to finish. It also doesn’t matter which role you decide to play. If you are going to be a Guerrilla filmmaker you may have several roles or just one. You may also have your own regular crew of any size (sometimes other guerrilla filmmakers, amateurs, and/or professionals), or choose a different crew per project. You would be involved in the following stages of the film production process: 1. Development, 2. Pre-Production, 3. Production, 4. Post-Production, and 5. Distribution.

If you are thinking, “Wow, that looks like a lot!”, think again. It really isn’t. I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m also skilled in the art of streamlining. I will teach you this art as well. This 5 step process of filmmaking can be streamlined with great efficiecy with a high quality end result (see case study post to follow).

For home, small, and medium sized businesses this also allows you to develop a small production department for your business to create your own promotional media at little cost to you. It opens up new ways for you to reach mass audiences and potential customers.

Take some time to think about whether or not guerrilla filmmaking is for you or if you’d be best suited for Traditional or Independent filmmaking (or using professional video services for your business needs). Also keep in mind that if you do good work Guerrilla style, it could also help you become a Traditional or Independent filmmaker or give you the ability to charge others for video production services. Think about it.