Billy the Bomb 3 by AtholForsyth - Short - A pimp a hooker and some cocaine, what could go wrong? 5 pages - pdf, format

Hey Athol,

Don't believe I've read anything by you so I thought I'd give this a look.

"EXT. GRAVEL ROAD - MORNING"

This is not how you want to establish a location. I get what you want us to look at with your first action line, but a gravel road can be in the desert or in a forest. I don't know which to imagine.

"A pair of feet in smart shoes walk along"

I would assume there's feet in the shoes had you written, "A pair of smart shoes"

"a gravel road"

You told us it's a gravel road in the slugline.

"until they meet a FORD MUSTANG."

Instead of using until, you're better off separating the two actions of walking and stopping and putting them on separate action lines for better flow, like so:

"A pair of smart shoes walk along it.

They stop at a FORD MUSTANG."

"INT. CAR - MOMENTS LATER"

Moments later really isn't necessary.

"He admires himself in the mirror, pulls out a little bag of
cocaine, snorts it off a spoon and drives off into the
distance."

Too much action for one action line.

"He admires himself in the mirror.

Pulls out a little bag of cocaine.

Snorts it off a spoon.

Drives off into the distance."

Not that I actually like it this way, but this would have been likely how you should have written it.

"EXT. INDUSTRIAL ESTATE - LATER"

Again, no need for later.

"ANGIE a hooker (35) mini shirt, long hair, high heel shoes"

Is her having long hair vital to the conflict in the story? My question is, can she live without it? And how is her appearance after you mentioned she's a hooker any different than what's likely the image I'm going to get of the stereotypical hooker of every other movie out there? Had you said she's wearing a pink panther costume, you have a point.

"Jackie, you’re young, you have your
whole life in front of you. You
won’t make the same mistakes as me.
I’ll make sure of that."

For some reason I imagine her saying this while chewing really broadly on a thick piece of bubble yum.

"and sends her on her way."

Where did she send her to? Is she walking home or what? I don't understand. Where was she coming from? Why were they together in this scene? Did she drop by after school to visit her mother after "work" or what?

"Keep Jackie out of this."

What????

"EXT. INDUSTRIAL ESTATE - AN HOUR LATER"

Again, I don't understand why you indicate this since there's no way to know precisely an hour past.

"Nice car but you can’t park here
Sir.
BILLY
Fuck off.
TRAFFIC WARDEN
I’ll issue you a ticket, the
vehicle is illegally parked.
BILLY
I’ll stick the ticket up your
fucking arse, Meter Maid.
TRAFFIC WARDEN
Don’t threaten me Sir, I don’t make
the laws, I just enforce them,
challenge the fine through the
council’s parking complaints
procedure if you don’t agree with
it.
BILLY
Last chance Hitler, fuck off."

So are the two just staring at each other during this dialogue because if so....... awkward.

"Billy gets out of the car, approaches the Traffic Warden,
noses touching."

The two actions need to be broken up.

"him just above the eye."

The forehead? The eyebrow? Use less words whenever possible.

"Angie who’s been watching goes over to clean the Traffic Warden up."

With a dust pan? Is he dead?

What was the whole point of this encounter with the traffic warden? And why is Billy just roaming around the building where he just beat the daylights out of the warden, to put it mildly. And there was a "pool of blood"?

"She’s around here somewhere."

Just the kind of answer I would expect from a sixteen year old who doesn't know where her parent is.

"In amongst all the commotion nobody notices the Traffic
Warden coming from behind. He opens Billy’s door, pulls him
out of the car, Billy falls to the ground."

Way too much going on. You shouldn't write action like this as it just kills the pacing of your script.

"The Traffic Warden pulls out a gun and pops one in Billy’s
dome."

I have no idea what happened in this thing. Everything was so vague. I had no idea why there was any conflict to begin with, but there certainly was conflict. It was like watching cats fight. Only I don't think I'd watch them do so for four minutes.

I don't really know what to suggest apart from learn to write action better and learn to write the slugs in a more understandable way.

-J.S.

Quoted from J.S. What was the whole point of this encounter with the traffic warden? And why is Billy just roaming around the building -J.S.

The point of the traffic warden is to show Billy's a nasty bastard.

There is no building but he's roaming around the street because it's his patch.

I've changed the slugs and action lines so they read better, I think.

I know certain things seem vague but I meant it this way so people have to think a bit, also I think it will be easier understand visually.

It's only a 4 or 5 min short and I'm trying to squeeze as much as I can into it.

Thanks for the feedback tho and it did help as now my slugs are changed and action lines split up.

Love the log-line, and you're getting some more emotive angles in which is cool -- not sure about the ending???

New ending.

I've been working with a script editor who has given me a better idea of how to shoot this, like how to show emotions using cut-aways.

The script up here now is before his input,  he recons it's better if I show Billy to have a human side? I'm not sure about that.

Anyway, I'm going to start shooting this on Saturday and I'll put some clips up to show you what it's like to shoot a first short film.

Any input before Saturday would be good.

Cheers

You've transformed Billy the Bomb into a complete A-hole.  Now if you could just get Vinnie Jones to play the part.  Being that you're flming it yourself I won't bother to point out typos, but still...

All in all, I like the new ending, it fits, but is there any redemptive value to this story?

I guess fact that the prostititute has him at gunpoint is a good cliffhanger.  If it were me shooting it I'd cut to black, then have the sound of a GUNSHOT.

Bye-bye Billy.   Justice served.  

I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Hey Athol - I think this works - it feels a little cleaner than before, and having it set in the docks will make it easier to film rather than being in town.

The only thing for me was Angie's rather melodramatic 'Noooooooo' - I'd have preferred to have her cover her mouth, or her eyes widen with horror or something, causing Billy to spin his head round to face the barrel.

If you do film it, cutting to black and getting the gun sound in is easy; you could test it with/without the gun sound -- I'm tending toward the sound of gunshot, as it still leaves things open... (potentially he could grab the gun and the shot could go amiss) so it doesn't close things off too much.

Let us know how you get on - planning to film it soon?

I don't get this one. With the title and the line about smart shoes walking I thought it was an animated short. Then I thought maybe it was some 50's gangster story.

I got through to the end not understanding why Billy is doing any of this, it makes even less sense if he's a cop. The way he's acting it's lucky he's still in a job and alive.

It may help to understand why Billy has suddenly become this a*hole bomb that's gone off big style. What has made him go psycho, what is his motivation? Just coz he can is not enough, nor is it believable.

I see you are filming this though so good luck and I hope you learn a lot from it.  

After reading this, my immediate thought was "Yeah?  And...?"  Nothing really happened here.  You're characters were pretty two dimensional.  I felt no attachment to them.  And when you don't care about the characters, you don't care about what happens to them.

I don't understand why you called this script Billy the Bomb.  You never explained the name, or even mentioned it in dialog.  If I watched this on the screen, I would know him only as Billy.  You might as well have named him Billy the Dripping Faucet.

Billy's confrontation with the traffic officer was simply gratuitious.  You want to show him as a nasty bastard, but he just came off as an asshole to me.

One of your headers state that it's AN HOUR LATER.  How are you going to show this passage of time on film?

You say you're going to shoot this short on Saturday?  IMHO, I think you should hold off.


Phil

007

I had a meeting with the actors and they think that the ending should be left open  , so I'll shoot both and see what works best.

One option is that Jackie is the one that gets shot.  She needs a blood transfusion and as it unfolds, Billy is her dad. He's the only person that can give her one.

He doesn't know this,  Angie has kept it a secret for all these years, but now she has no choice.

What does Billy do? is he that fucked up that he doesn't care or does his conscience kick in?


Mark

I can see where you'r coming from about the smart shoes walking along the road and how that could be confusing.  I meant that you see the bottom of a guys legs walking along a gravel road outside his house.

Billy is an asshole and that's it, he doesn't need a reason, in westerns, do gunslingers tell you a back story? prob not, you don't have to know.  Do you really think that he would care about his career? He's not all of a sudden became an asshole, he always has been.

Phil

What do you mean ' Nothing really happenes here?'  he's a coke head, a pimp, he beats up a traffic warden, tries to get the hookers daughter 'into the game' and in then end gets shot. Is that not enough for 4 pages?

He's called Billy the Bomb because he's a ticking bomb waiting to go off, cant you see that?  Do you know what pulp fiction means? and if you do, where does it tie in? and do people really care.


You think I should hold off? you only live once and time waits for no man, you learn as you go along.

Live and learn... you can only do it by doing it. Yeah, I like the option of maybe Billy grabbing the gun and it going off at Jackie - builds a new dimension in, but one that's also probable as well, given his relationship with Angie.

Don't get too fussed about what people say -- you're starting out with this and there's a couple of nice levels working here, with Angie's daughter getting drawn into something that Angie started, but never wanted her daughter involved with - a sure fire emotional tug.

Best o' luck with it

Thanks 007, I'm starting to shoot this on Saturday. I'll let everyone know how well or bad it went and the problems that I came across.

Cheers

Quoted from AtholForsyth What do you mean ' Nothing really happenes here?'  he's a coke head, a pimp, he beats up a traffic warden, tries to get the hookers daughter 'into the game' and in then end gets shot. Is that not enough for 4 pages?

When I say nothing happened, I mean nothing happened of significance.  Nothing left an impression.  You throw a bunch of things into a four page script but, in the end, it's 'so what?'

You could just as easily have thrown in fighter jets taking out a church in the background.  It would've meant nothing.

Quoted from AtholForsyth He's called Billy the Bomb because he's a ticking bomb waiting to go off, cant you see that?  Do you know what pulp fiction means? and if you do, where does it tie in? and do people really care.

No one refers to him as 'Billy the Bomb.'  If someone saw this in a theater--and he didn't see the title--would they know your character was Billy the Bomb?

Quoted from AtholForsyth You think I should hold off? you only live once and time waits for no man, you learn as you go along.

There's nothing wrong with grabbing a bull by the horns.  But you should atleast know what a bull looks like first.


Phil

Phil, I jet fighter bustin up a church would be awesome but the budget can't reach that, maybe Billy pissing in the holy water would work? what you think ?

Well Billy the bomb is the only guy called Billy in the show so If they cant work that out maybe they should watch other shit, like paint dry.

I know what a bull looks like....YOU ....oops I'm getting mixed up again, bullshit was what I meant to say.

On an honest note, I treat this script like an instruction manual but it's still a script, if you want me to fill the gaps in , Ill send you the answers on a postcard.

The first version is still the coolest one .  Your third, this  script, improved definitely with regard to the second one...

Best of luck at the set Athol.

Good luck with your script.


Phil

Thanks Prussian Mosby, I know you liked the first one but the way I'm thinking is that the more I shoot, the more options I have in the edit.

There's now way more people involved so the ideas are flying around all over the place.

I'll keep you posted as to how it's going , cheers

So, just shot the first part of the film today. The first thing I noticed was that a 'dead cat' doesn't work if it's windy.

The more heads that you get involved the better.  You don't have to take all their ideas onboard but if the actors have an input, they feel the 'vibe' and make it their own.

Make sure that you don't see the 'boom in the frame , but  if you don't see it now and then, it means it's to far away.

Give yourself plenty time. I never.  and endid up shooting without using a clapper board, so it going to be a head fuck trying to match things up.

IMPORTANT- continuity, it's so easy to forget if someone is smoking with their left hand or their right, or if when their drinking  and it suddenly fills up without going to the bar.

Lock your  F-stop after you get a good exposure if you're panning or tilting.

Look out for reflections from you're lights on glass or mirror

Focus zoomed in then pull back.

Check White balance if you're changing lights or moving location

HAVE FUN... that's the most important part.

I'm sure I've missed bits but that's just what I can remember

Hope this helps someone.


'Slimboye'      the Scottish connection.

Congrats, man - you've got to see what I meant now about your first script...  

Yeah - different dead-cats work differently, but right now knowing the British weather, probably none would really do the job. What camera are you working with? And don't forget you can always dub - suprisingly effective. One last thing... you're using lights outside? So what's your power supply?

Oh bless, you've brought back memories of the few times I shot my shorts. Don't that say that too fast.

It's always quite funny to watch back the rough footage then see yourself holding a camera and looking at your reflection in glass with a stern expression. Also heartbreaking.

All good advice. I hope it turns out well for you.

R

I could definitely tell this wasn't set in Texas, because that traffic warden would've busted a cap in Billy real quick.

Hi 007

I am shooting on a  JVC GY-HD101E with a Firestore 100 gig recorder. It's an old thing but the quality is really good and they come with a fujinon lens as standard so it's all good.

My mates parents have a bar and they are away holiday so we decided to do a shoot there, it was too good to miss.

So now Billy goes into the bar to pick up his weekly protection money, then sees one of his girls drinking at the bar, he says 'what the fuck are you doing here? you should be working. When she fully turns round, she has a black eye.

It turns out that it was the traffic warden that gave her it over an argument about payment for sex. So that gives Billy a good reason to fuck him up.

The lights I was talking about were used in the bar.  3 redheads 800W bounced off the ceiling, a 1000W LED with a warm up gell for fill in, and a couple of little battery operated LED's

I met Billy at 10am and give myself 2 hours for the first scene as another 5 actors were arriving at 12.

First problem was the jib crane, it was so windy the thing was wobbling about all over the place so it wasn't a good start, we struggled with it till about 11 then moved onto the car scene where Billy takes coke . We used one of the little LED's sat in the passenger seat to light Billy up. I've not seen the footage yet but it looked good on cam. In reality I should have gived my self 4 hours but now I know.

Up to now, we haven't stuck to the script much, as I'm a believer that if someone comes up with a better line than mine, we use that instead.

But all in all, the actors were amazing, I just hope I can do them justice.

I've shot the first couple of scenes, I've put the opening scene on youtube.

It's just a rough edit and it seems a bit juddery on youtube, the file must be to big or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1IYikRG1DA

Hey Athol;

Had a boo at this on Youtube. Looks really good so far, not much to go on, but the quality, and sound came off as professional. Loaded up fine in my browser too, no 'judders' as you thought there might be.

Did you use a post processing filter on this scene? Looks something like a cross-process at about 10-20% or so?  Works well for the mood whatever it is.

Instead of the slow transitional cross fade, I might have actually 'smash cut' to him doing coke after the car door was slammed shut, might play out better to give the scene a crunchier swing, as it stands, the cross fade comes off as looking too choreographed. Other than that, looking good! Can't wait to see this full throttle 'Billy' doing what he does best.

Cheers... Rick.

Thought about the coke scene, and how it could play out as a good pre-cursor to Billy's radical behaviour.

Instead of shooting off on a tangent here with a crazy explanation of what I mean, here's a clip from a movie that I remember having a really good smash cut montage whenever the primary characters consumed their narcotics.

Although the cut scenes only last a few hundredths of a second, it makes for a really powerful statement in the medium that we're about to transition into the world of, or mind of the characters, and their frightening behaviour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzk-lmU4KZ4

It's from 'Requiem for a Dream'; I managed to find the trailer, which uses a few of the cut scenes to bring it to life. You'll understand what I mean by watching the beginning of the clip.

For what it's worth, hope this helps in some way, take care... Rick.

Hi Rick, I love the way those little clips work and I'll add some in for sure.

It was me that edited it and I'm feeling my way as I go as I'm normally a photoshop man.

The clip wasn't cross processed, I shot this yesterday and being in Scotland, the weather changed from sunny to dull so I tried to match the shots up using the colour corrector and desaturated the sunny bits.

I'm using Sony Vegas and and the cross fade thing sucks. I can't get it to do it in under a second. It jumps from zero to a second. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

Anyway Rick, thanks for putting me in the direction of the smash cut montage thing. It really fits into this kind of thing.

Cheers man

Hey Athol;

No worries man, glad I could help.

With respect to Sony Vegas, I'm unfortunately in the dark. I've always used After Effects for layer composition, and then passed all the clips to a friend who works in Final Cut Pro for editing. But that was many moons ago. I probably couldn't even find my way around the newer version of AE if my life depended on it, LOL.

Anyways, I hope it works out for you, best of luck!

Looks good - super cool car BTW. Does look like a filter, but it works well. And a nice steady camera for once

I watched this the other day. I've been out though so didn't get chance to respond at the time. It looks professional. Acting was well done. I think though the coke scene could benefit from some more visual. Maybe a shot of he chopping some white powder, or snorting glucose. It's perfectly fine, lots of people sniff it every weekend... or you could get some real sniff... just kidding. Be great if the actor was up for it though, eh. Grab realism by the balls and give them a tug.

Editing and everything done well. Nice work.

Just read the script and watched the scenes.

It's dynamic, it's forceful and it has twist. I woulld disagree that nothing happens, but I get the point that it lacks something. Lots of action and drama don't mean a decent short. The twist is not foreshadowed, or coherent, and although it works the consistency of theme, if any, seems weak.

It's good, but feels like the scene of something larger, rather than a short. If a short it should be self contained.

Theme, or underlying meaning, is what makes one short stand out from another.  This needs a tweak to acheive this, otherwise the best films would just be pure action, pimps and drugs and guns etc it's not. That alone is boring.

The first thing that jumps out to me is ... Who's story is this? To me it's either the mother or young girl. Start with them. It's their day. How's this day going to work out? What's it mean to them? What did they hope for at the beginning? The bald ganster, policeman is the catalyst, the driver, but of their story.

The filming looked good.

I think this has something, it may just need a different rotation, IMO.

I wish you all the best.

Cheers

Bill

007 I'll sell you the Stang  after the summer if you like.

I agree Dustin about the coke thing being more visual so I'm going to take Rick's advice and put in tiny cut scenes which will have a punch.

Hi Reef and I hear what you're saying. As it stands now the actors want to turn this into a mini series so that's the way we are going to go.

At the end now , you hear a BANG then it fades to black.

The start of the next episode will be in a hospital. Jackie is the one who has been shot and needs a blood transfusion. Her mum can't give her one as she has fucked up blood. Maybe HIV or Hep c.

It turns out that Billy is her dad, Angie hasn't told Billy or Jackie but now she has no choice but to tell Billy.


Anyway Ive shot another scene which I'll put here. It's just a rough edit and the sound has not been done yet, It's only the sound from the camera as appose to the Rode mic.

I wasn't going to put this clip up yet but I think it's good for people to see it from the start so they can maybe learn something from it should they be in the same position as me.

Thanks for all the comments especially Rick with the smash cut Idea.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhWr33ZSjEY

Can you edit in stuff like background noise? This one seemed a little more staged, but like you said it's a rough edit. A bit of music going on in the background may help too...

How are you for music? You can get free stuff.. but it's better to know a producer. Plus it's hard to know what music goes with what unless it's a real passion of yours. Just like any other part in this game... you're only as strong as your weakest link. One area wrong (that includes the script), and the film is pHucked.

I'm going to be filming All About Janet and The Man this year. Well, I'm not... I haven't got much of a clue about anything aside from writing.

Dustin, You can put any audio in you like, I've not done it yet and it'll prob be the last thing I do.

Someone phoned me today saying that they knew an editor that does stuff for TV, but thats missing the point of this whole thing. I'm doing this as a challenge to myeslf.

But I would say, if you plan on shooting 'All about Mary' this year, you better get your head around camera angles, wide shots, mid shots and close ups. Do a story board, make sure you use a clapperboard. Don't zoom in shots, Don't pan unless you need to. A locked shot is more powerfull,  let the actors walk out of shot.

First get your edit done then worry about sound. You can put in a temp track with music you think is suitable for the scene, if you want to. But ultimately you'll want to get a composer to compose music for you. And make sure you actually own it, if you want the short to have any chance at the festivals.

Also, one thing I learned from the past: when picture edit is locked it is LOCKED. Re-recording studios hate it when they have to remix sound. Long story with this one but, fair notice.

-J.S.

J.S, I've already bought music for this from 'audio network' it's cheap if you're an indie film maker

Moby lets you use his stuff for free 'Moby gratis' . I don't like Moby but I had a look  and found a track called ;The Lonley Night' with Mark Lanegan doing the vocals, I might use it when the hookers are standing in the cold waiting for punters.

Quoted from AtholForsyth Moby lets you use his stuff for free 'Moby gratis'.

You still have to pay a licensing fee for it if your short is ever distributed or exhibit for commercial purposes. So if a distributor comes around to buy the short, hypothetically speaking, it ain't looking good for you. I don't know the fees, but be well aware and prepared for it.

To be honest with you J.S , I'm not looking for a distibutor nor trying to sell this. Its purely for self satisfaction and to give the actors a showreel.

As I've said before on here, I've only written two scripts and I'm going to shoot both of them this year. I'm not a great scriptwriter for sure but as the process evloves, the more heads become involved.

I'm in a better position than most people, I can shoot stuff for poeple to see. No pipe dreams here.

BTW Dustin I think ' Janet and the Man' sounds way better than 'All about Janet and the Man'  much better ring to it.

Looking good so far Athol, kudos. Hope all continues to go well.

* I believe Dustin means two separate scripts, "All About Janet" and "The Man".

Quoted from AtholForsyth Dustin, You can put any audio in you like, I've not done it yet and it'll prob be the last thing I do. Someone phoned me today saying that they knew an editor that does stuff for TV, but thats missing the point of this whole thing. I'm doing this as a challenge to myeslf. But I would say, if you plan on shooting 'All about Mary' this year, you better get your head around camera angles, wide shots, mid shots and close ups. Do a story board, make sure you use a clapperboard. Don't zoom in shots, Don't pan unless you need to. A locked shot is more powerfull,  let the actors walk out of shot.

Cheers mate... but like I said I'm bloody useless. I know when to let other people take over. We've got a good team almost ready to go. The only thing we may struggle with is a decent editor. But we intend to pay for that.

I know you want to do this as a challenge mate, but to be the producer, writer, director, cameraman, DP and whatever else is a tall order for anyone. I'm mainly just a writer and I'm helping to get them produced, but my role in that is actually quite small. I will throw some cash in too... but that's it.

If you know an editor... use the guy. You'll be much happier. Even get to know him and be there when he does it. Learn some tricks. He'll know things that will take a year or more to learn.

Making a good film is all about collaboration. I find that I rarely like films where the writer is also the director. Scenes are milked for too long, and generally the films run longer too. That's my opinion...

As far as I'm concerned we should always get the best man for the job that we can. Each job is a separate talent. Even make-up. Especially make-up, come to think of it. Takes years to master a new skill properly, at least a year, even if you're a quick learner, to be decent.

I understand though if you're doing this just to get a feel for everything... a taste of what goes into it, so then at a later date you will contract other people to do the stuff you're weak in.

Anyway, I wish you luck on your journey. We'll probably be bumping into each other soon at one of the festivals. I'm going to the Sundance next month. It's all about making those contacts. We're nothing otherwise, not even on the radar.

Dustin, I've only done the first two scenes but in that short time I've learned that I can't do everything myself nor do I want to.  When I started this project, I never really knew many people is this buisness so I just thought I'd give it a bash, nothing ventured nothing gained kind of thing.

As it pans out, the actor that is playing Billy is also a good scriptwriter, he's wrote the second episode already.

One of my mates run ' Ad-Lib theatre arts'  She teaches people how to act and sing. She is gonna direct it. (she is the barmaid in the bar scene)

So the moral of the story is  " Don't worry if everythings in place before you start coz It'll all fall into place on it's own.

Quoted from AtholForsyth So the moral of the story is  " Don't worry if everythings in place before you start coz It'll all fall into place on it's own.

How about making sure your leg is tied properly before doing a bungee jump. Or a parachute is attached before jumping out of a plane.

I worry. I like to make sure everything is going to be good before I jump. Think several moves ahead. There are a lot of guys all over the country doing this. We've got to stand head and shoulders above the rest. We ain't playing around. We're playing to win... or what's the point?

But what I'm saying is, when you start shooting is when you will meet all kinds of new people networking. He knows her, she knows someone that does bla bla bla.

I think making your first film is prob the biggest learning curve that you'll come across but you will also make plenty of mistakes but that is how you learn.

I've made tons of mistakes already and I've only done 2 scenes.

But I hope you do well with yours and don't worry about it to much, it'll all fall into place, and after the mistakes you will know what to do or avoid.

I know I'm no expert yet but by the time you start shooting, I'm sure I can give you a few pointers.

Quoted from AtholForsyth But what I'm saying is, when you start shooting is when you will meet all kinds of new people networking. He knows her, she knows someone that does bla bla bla. I think making your first film is prob the biggest learning curve that you'll come across but you will also make plenty of mistakes but that is how you learn. I've made tons of mistakes already and I've only done 2 scenes. But I hope you do well with yours and don't worry about it to much, it'll all fall into place, and after the mistakes you will know what to do or avoid. I know I'm no expert yet but by the time you start shooting, I'm sure I can give you a few pointers.

Cheers mate. I'll be grateful of the advice.

We have a guy who owns three red cameras and knows how to use them. A good mate of mine of over 30 years, is a music producer and actor. We have two more experienced producers on board and an experienced director. I don't want to say any names but we have someone on board - to at least give us advice - who is quite big in the British film and TV industry.

Here's something my mate did. He's the guy with the muscles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....u.be&app=desktop

Just a wee update, I'm still shooting Billy the Bomb, I've learned that when shooting a no budget film, you got to make the most of what comes up visually. The carnival came to my Town, we thought about using it on Tuesday and filmed it on Thursday. The script changes constantly but I think it's for the best.

There's still a couple of bits to be dubbed in but I tyhought I'd share it anyway.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFbECeKviZM

Hi,

I read this script when it was first posted, and have kept tabs on the thread -- mostly due to the entertainment factor of you and Dustin going at it!

But this film looks pretty well shot so far. A couple hiccups here and there (my personal taste), but overall not too shabby. Good luck going forward with this.

Steve

lLooks good so far Athol.

Your line about comes up visually reminded me of the kid film maker in Super 8 said about the train rushing through the station...

'Production values!"

Looking good. You're getting this thing down. Well done.

Not bad. Good job.

Thanks for the feedback , A couple of pointers for anyone doing the same as me.

When on location, remember and record a couple of extra mins of just audio. You will need it.

Use a clapper board. If you don't it will be a head fuck tryintg to piece it all together. If you dont have a clapper board, Stand in front of the camera and 'clap' this way when editing you will see a spike on the audio so you will know it's a clap, also after you clap, say what scene it is and take number, it will save you heaps of time.

Hope this helps someone

There's a lot of overdubbing going on these days. All sound, including dialogue, is added later. Not sure how that works exactly, but I've heard it's also a bit of a pain.

If you're looking for crew, try this place: http://www.mandy.com/ You get one ad free per month. And, if you don't know, cast can be found here quite easily: http://www.starnow.co.uk/

It's hard to think of everything. The more workload you can take off your back the better.

Yeah on the clapperboard, we've got one... but I just thought, we're going to need three. One for each camera.

The more angles you get on a shot the better too. If you could find an unemployed camera operator in the area, they may be willing to jump aboard your project. Who's directing, DoP? Is it all you?

No, Dustin . it's not all me, I have another shooter on board, also someone over seeing it. The actors often come up with good lines, even better story lines, so we all just go with what works best. At this level it's all about collaberation.

The sound think is a nigthmare if you don't catch it first time. It's easy to add music later but dialouge is a different story.

I checked out that site but not much happening in my neck of the woods on it.

I think I have all the people I need anyway.

I'll keep you posted