Some things, you just gotta leave to the experts...
The concept of low budget indie film-making is one of great creative flexibility and control, sacrificing the kind of budgets that help you realise your creative and artistic ideas, contrary to high-budget film-making, in which you often have the budget, but not the creative flexibility or control.
Such is the life of a Film-Maker.
I much prefer the former but would also like a bigger budget, in fact, I'd like an actual budget! All the editing, colouring, grading, sfx, graphics, marketing, music, sound design, everything in fact, is being done for zero pay, almost exclusively by one person, myself, although I owe a huge debt of thanks as always to Kris, Mark and Liam for their help along the way and continued support on various things.
I have had to teach myself Direction, Production, Cinematography, Editing, Colouring, Grading, Graphic Design, Photoshop, Web Design, pretty much everything involved in the film-making process but there are some things which are just better left to people who are naturally good at them and have the technical skills one can't just pick up using tutorials on Youtube. One of those things is the art of graphic animation.
I have a dilemma. Firstly, one of my biggest bugbears is the fact that an inordinate amount of people in the world expect that if you have a creative talent and the tools to realise that talent, then you should work for free or at least if not free, less than you'd get paid to work in Burger King. I refuse to tiptoe around it, it really, really pisses me off. I committed with the formation of Scarlet View Media that I will charge clients a fair valuation for the work they want doing, purposefully avoiding the lower quality jobs because to be honest, I value the amount of effort and enthusiasm I put into each job higher than to compete solely on trying to be the cheapest. I'd rather clients pay the going rate because I give the best value for money.
I have a dilemma. Firstly, one of my biggest bugbears is the fact that an inordinate amount of people in the world expect that if you have a creative talent and the tools to realise that talent, then you should work for free or at least if not free, less than you'd get paid to work in Burger King. I refuse to tiptoe around it, it really, really pisses me off. I committed with the formation of Scarlet View Media that I will charge clients a fair valuation for the work they want doing, purposefully avoiding the lower quality jobs because to be honest, I value the amount of effort and enthusiasm I put into each job higher than to compete solely on trying to be the cheapest. I'd rather clients pay the going rate because I give the best value for money.
And herein lies my dilemma, I feel a bit dirty by admitting that because "Of Shark and Man" has no post-production budget, I have to address the possibility of asking if there is someone talented, professional, creative and enthusiastic out there who might just be interested in having their considerable talent showcased in a high quality film on a global platform without the compensation of guaranteed payment. Let me explain...
The other night, whilst editing and going through the OSAM script, I had a brain wave, something which would be really, really cool, a bit different, creative and would really bring to life a hugely important part of the story. Immediately, the first thing that came to mind in regards to the style was the Japanese anime, and animated, graphic novel style, used to brilliant effect in the example above from Kill Bill, basically, something very similar but softer, obviously a lot less violent, about a minute long and which illustrates a story to ensure it is easily understood to audiences from a variety of cultures.
The problem is I cannot do this myself and the quality absolutely must be of the highest standard possible and that usually means a pro and pros charge money, money I don't currently have.
That leaves me two options:
A) Find a super talented person to do the animation to my exact spec in return for exposure for their work in the film, association with the project, potential for future properly commissioned work and a caveat that you may actually receive payment for your work retrospectively in the event the film gets distribution (contractually agreed beforehand of course!)
B) Carry out a crowd funding campaign to raise the money to pay the artist up front, something which would ultimately put the project back considerably in respect of when the first rough cut can be completed.
I only very occasionally do work for free these days, in fact it's extremely rare and only in special circumstances, I am actually doing something for free at the moment for a very special lady and a very good reason, the reasons being the same as here, the project has no money but I am an admirer of hers and the work she does and I am sacrificing payment for credit. For that reason I can totally relate to the issue raised for you, the talented animator I am hoping will contribute your talent to this film, essentially for free and I don't feel great about asking to be honest.
Let's do something cool together!
The other night, whilst editing and going through the OSAM script, I had a brain wave, something which would be really, really cool, a bit different, creative and would really bring to life a hugely important part of the story. Immediately, the first thing that came to mind in regards to the style was the Japanese anime, and animated, graphic novel style, used to brilliant effect in the example above from Kill Bill, basically, something very similar but softer, obviously a lot less violent, about a minute long and which illustrates a story to ensure it is easily understood to audiences from a variety of cultures.
The problem is I cannot do this myself and the quality absolutely must be of the highest standard possible and that usually means a pro and pros charge money, money I don't currently have.
That leaves me two options:
A) Find a super talented person to do the animation to my exact spec in return for exposure for their work in the film, association with the project, potential for future properly commissioned work and a caveat that you may actually receive payment for your work retrospectively in the event the film gets distribution (contractually agreed beforehand of course!)
B) Carry out a crowd funding campaign to raise the money to pay the artist up front, something which would ultimately put the project back considerably in respect of when the first rough cut can be completed.
I only very occasionally do work for free these days, in fact it's extremely rare and only in special circumstances, I am actually doing something for free at the moment for a very special lady and a very good reason, the reasons being the same as here, the project has no money but I am an admirer of hers and the work she does and I am sacrificing payment for credit. For that reason I can totally relate to the issue raised for you, the talented animator I am hoping will contribute your talent to this film, essentially for free and I don't feel great about asking to be honest.
I like this ^^^ A lot!
OK so there it is, is there anyone out there who would be interested to get involved? I want to pay you, I genuinely do and in the event I can pay you retrospectively, that would probably bring me almost as much joy as it would you! On the other side of the issue, if you're a millionaire with a little bit of cash you are desperate to spend, get in touch!!
Contact me at david@officetoocean.com
Contact me at david@officetoocean.com
Let's do something cool together!
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