Deception

I have just viewed an interesting talk on TED.com by Marco Tempest. It can be seen at

http://www.ted.com/talks/marco_tempest_the_magic_of_truth_and_lies_on_ipods.html

In this video the speaker makes some excellent points about the positive uses of deception. It really goes back to the basic concept of suspension of disbelief. This is the psychological technique of temporarily engrossing the attention of the audience to the point where they briefly forget that they are viewing a work of fiction. The deeper the suspension of disbelief becomes, the more enjoyable the audience finds the production.

People will believe what they want to believe. The key to developing a successful strategy for using deception in a positive manner is to provide a nonharmful method of conceptual reorientation that leads people to a conclusion that they would have reached on their own. Or, more specifically, it’s about giving people what they don’t know they want before they realize that they want it.

The concept of using deception tends to have a negative image attached to it. This is only exacerbated by books like The Art of Deception in which Kevin Mitnick describes his use of personal deception to cause damage to individuals and businesses through computer hacking.

The concept gains further notoriety through the expansion of ideas like social engineering as described by Sarah Granger. Social engineering is an specific methodology for following the negative example initially established in The Art of Deception.

This then leads to larger issues of corporate deception such as the clean coal ads described in Dirty Business. This represents the common practice of corporate funded special interest groups that parrot the message that the company itself would like people to accept.

The important thing, however, is that all of these techniques can be used to encourage a positive message rather than a destructive force. By following the message of Marco Tempest it is possible to help people to help themselves in a way that seems to them as a matter of their own volition.

Film Office

            The film office is an invaluable asset to the production community. More importantly it is an asset to the entire area by bringing in jobs and millions of dollars in revenue annually. However, the film office is in a constant war to maintain its’ existence. The terrifying thing is that the enemy that is constantly trying to eliminate the existence of this beneficial service provider is a group who think they are doing the right thing by limiting government spending. The problem is that they are all “early exiters”.

            An “early exiter” is a person who jumps out of their seat at the theater and runs for the door the second the credits start to roll. If you ask them why, they will tell you that the credits are long and boring. That is where we have a problem.

            The people who want to eliminate tax incentives for production companies and cut the budget to the film office always say that providing for the film industry is just a matter of handing tax dollars over to rich movie companies. But, the people who say this are all “early exiters” who have never stayed in the theater long enough to see just how many people are actually employed by an individual film production.

            It’s a bit of juxtaposition. First, they say the list of people employed by a production (the credits) is too long to sit through. Then, they say that film production doesn’t benefit the community. How is this possible? If the industry creates so many jobs that you can’t even sit through the list of people who work on one single project, how can the industry not be financially benefiting the community?

            This then leads to the second problem. Those who fail to see the benefits for the community then try to eliminate the office all together. That’s where you end up with situations such as what happened to Lisa Strout. 

            Lisa Strout was the Director of the New Mexico Film Office for seven years until she was let go

during an administrative shake up where the “early exiters” decided the film office wasn’t needed. Fortunately, she was then hired as the Director of the Boston Film Office where they obviously have a better grasp of the benefits that can be provided to the community.

            In the end, the only suggestion I can think of is this: Anytime a politician suggests tampering with their local film office they should be required to sit through the credits from every movie ever shot in their area. Seriously, the only thing that brings in more money is tourism. Getting rid of the film office is like destroying everything in you neighborhood that the tourists might want to see. It is nothing more than an ill informed attempt to shoot yourself and your neighbor both in the foot.

            If you are unsure where your local film office is check this link HERE. And, don't hesitate to send them an email just to show your support. The more people there are in the community who show support for the film office, then the more support the film office will be able to provide for that community.

Multi Tasking

            With the never ending stream of projects and oddities that I seem to be perpetually swimming in, I have decided that it would make more sense to cover everything I do in this blog rather than just the one specific project.

            The scooter documentary will still receive full coverage as it progresses. But, I will now be covering every other facet of my preoccupation at the same time. This should lead to a far more entertaining experience for everyone. It will also provide a deeper look into the weirdness that effects everything I work on.

Road Rash

They say an image is worth a thousand words.

Yeah. That pretty much speaks for itself. And, what is says is,"ouch".

    But, far be it from me to complain about a little bit of road rash. This may slow down my typing for a little while, but it won't slow down my life. It's not my camera hand. That's all that really matters.                                                       

Budgeting

            Accounting is an art form entirely in it’s own right. Most people in the creative fields approach it with a mixture of fear and awe. This is why the people who know how to create and maintain a budget are generally the highest paid people in a production company.

            However, if you are working on your own independent production it becomes your responsibility to draw up the budget proposal before anything else can begin to happen. Sadly, that’s where a lot of otherwise good ideas fall apart.

            The good news is that there are a variety of services and products that can help. Obviously the best method is to simply hire an accountant. But, if you’re working on an independent production that might be too expensive. Your second option is to research products specifically designed to help you. One of the best I’ve seen is Movie Magic Budgeting. You can find it at http://www.entertainmentpartners.com/Content/Products/Budgeting.aspx

            Your third (and cheapest) option is to do everything on your own. For a producer who has never dealt with accounting before that can be worrying. Have no fear! You are not alone.

            There are some amazing resources available to people with the determination to teach themselves how to cover all the bases. Of these, the best resource I have found is provided by Dependent Films. On their page titled Tools & Utilities for Filmmakers the have provided templates for almost every possible piece of documentation you will need during your production.

            As it just so happens, I have replaced several of my own templates with ones that I found on their site. And, as for this particular documentary, I just need to polish off a few final details and my budget proposal is complete. Hooray! One step closer to actually picking up my camera.

Crew

            The people who work for you are like kids riding in the back of your car. Sometimes they’ll make you question their sanity. But, no matter how good or bad they are it’s still your job to get them where they’re going, because you’re the one in the drivers’ seat.

            It is a well-known fact that hiring the best people is the way to make the best product. But, hiring is still an area where the well-known rules tend to slip by.

            The two biggest issues are hiring your friends and hiring talented people who think that they are too good for the job. The issues with both of these problems are covered extremely well in an article on Wild Sound that can be seen HERE.

            The problem with talented people working a low budget production is that they tend to forget that they are still employees, even if they are working below scale. The best way of dealing with this group is to make sure that you don’t coddle them at the very beginning. If you treat them like they are doing you a favor by showing up they will exploit you at every opportunity.

            I rarely recommend taking the dominant male monkey approach, but when you are dealing with a huge ego holding up your production the only way to get back on schedule is to put them in their place. Either establish the nature of the working relationship up front, or be prepared to fire them. They need to know that they are NOT indispensable.

            As far as your friends go, don’t do it. They may be talented and hardworking, but that will end the second you have them on the payroll. Friends are never afraid of getting fired. And worse, when your friends are on set it makes it incredibly difficult for you to maintain a professional attitude. You can’t play boss to someone who saw you drunk that one time in school when you got dumped. You can’t fire the person who drove you home after your car broke down.

            You can never maintain any serious level of authority over your friends. They just know too much about you.

            With all of that in mind, I am now attempting to put together a crew roster containing people that I have never worked with before, and have no solid references for outside of their portfolios. This, again, is something that you should avoid. But, hey. This blog would get pretty of boring if I didn’t take a few risks.

Viability

     I just read an article by William Gazecki posted on DVFormat.com. The article can be seen here. In this article Mr. Gazecki claims that documentaries don’t make money. But, they are a good way for filmmakers to practice and stay active.

     I couldn’t disagree more. Even if you discount the vast number of pure documentaries that turn a profit and can be found on sites like The Documentary Blog, there are still the “common” documentaries.

     By “common” I am referring to the made for television documentaries that can be found on The Discovery Channel or the BBC. These productions are absolutely required to turn a profit, or they do not get made at all.

     Going a step further we can even include Reality Television. While it may be abhorred by the artistic elements of the industry the fact remains that Reality Television is, in it’s essence, a form of documentary production. And, more importantly, it makes a lot of money while turning its subjects into celebrities.

     Mr. Gazecki made his error in reducing the entire medium into a single concept. The truth of his statement would only exist if it were rephrased, “Documentaries don’t make money unless they are entertaining”.

     This is the case with my current production. This documentary is founded on the idea of entertainment, and will be completed for the purpose of profit.

     If you can give the audience something they want to watch then you will have no problem turning a profit.