$8000 INDIE ACTION SHORT (100 VFX SHOTS) SHAKE/MAYA

[BROKEN2005]

Hey Everyone,

We just finished shooting an action/thriller short film called BROKEN. Shot on the DVX 100a and did all the over 100 VFX in SHAKE.

Click here to check out the trailer: http://www.whatisbroken.com/broken_trailer_enter.html

Also, check out our web docs w/ VFX Breakdowns: http://whatisbroken.com/webdocs.html

I really want to know what you guys think. Thanks for taking a look.

Alex
http://www.whatisbroken.com
http://www.enigmafactory.com
http://www.alexferrari.com

[el Morro]

That's a rather shameless self-promotion...

Maybe I should add though it doesn't look bad at all.

[malducin]

Welcome to the boards BROKEN2005. I actually saw some of the clips for Broken when it posted at Deathfall. Didn't finish seeing all the webdocs though. But I thought it was very impressive, the kind of thing I would like to be involved with.

Hopefully there will be more info, I'm curious how you went from HDV to Shake. Any approximate time as of when the whole piece will be online (I'm guessing it'll make the festival circuit first)?

[BROKEN2005]

Welcome to the boards BROKEN2005. I actually saw some of the clips for Broken when it posted at Deathfall. Didn't finish seeing all the webdocs though. But I thought it was very impressive, the kind of thing I would like to be involved with.

Hopefully there will be more info, I'm curious how you went from HDV to Shake. Any approximate time as of when the whole piece will be online (I'm guessing it'll make the festival circuit first)?

Thanks for the kind words. We shot BROKEN on MiniDV 24p and used Final Cut Pro to edit and setup the VFX plates. As far as putting it online, we decided not to do that and release on DVD. It will ne doing the festival circuit and has already been accepted into a few. Check it out: http://www.whatisbroken.com/press.html

BROKEN will be available on DVD in August 2005 and we went into GREAT detail on how we did everything, especially the post production.

The DVD has almost 3 HOURS of Special Features:

6 Commentary Tracks covering...

Directing
Producing
Visual Effects
Music Score/Sound Design
Cast and Crew
Film Geeks Unite

---------------------------------------------------------

Pre-Production

Concept Art / Location Comparison
Costume Design Gallery w/ Commentary

Storyboards: The ENTIRE Collection for BROKEN ( 9 Edited Sequences )
Storyboards: Comparison with Final Shots

Rehearsals:
Rehearsal Comparison with Final Scene
Blocking Action in a Scene w/ Commentary
Evolution of an Action Sequence w/ Commentary
A Director's Best Friend - Finding Your Shot

---------------------------------------------------------

Production

Head go BOOM: "The Guacamole Gun" w/ Commentary
Recipe: "How to Make a Guacamole Gun"
Mister Tony's Neighborhood: "A Technical Advisor's Job" with Tony Gomez

Special Effects Make-up Breakdown with Megan Graham
Anatomy of Scar
Anatomy of a Tatoo
Anatony of Burnt Eyes
Bonus: Brain Matter Recipe

Anatomy of a Stunt: w/ Commentary
Shotgun Blast
The Dive for Life

Guns, Guns, Guns: "How to Get Pro Looking Guns with Little or No $$$"
The Weapons
Getting Guns to Look Real
Where to Get Them

Tips on Producing an Indie Film: with Jorge F. Rodriguez
Reverse Budgeting
Insurance: Weapons and Stunt Work
Locations
Feeding Your Crew
Stunt Work
Production Design
Tips and Tricks
Props
Go Make Your Movie

Being There: The On-Set Experience
12 Behind the Scene Vignettes on the set of BROKEN as we shot it !

---------------------------------------------------------

Post Production

How to Make DV look like Film! with Alex Ferrari
Why Shoot MiniDV?
Filter Packages for Post
Production Design
Costumes & Color Palette
Lighting
Color Correction
Shooting 24p: The Camera
Getting the Cameras

Color Correction Lab: The Overview w/ Commentary
Color Correction Comparison with FINAL FOOTAGE

Visual Effects Breakdowns
w/ Commentary from Sean Falcon & Dan Cregan

"Marquez Explosion" w/ Commentary
"Shaking Things Up" w/ Commentary
"Muzzle Fire" w/ Commentary
"Bonnie's Eyes" w/ Commentary
"Matte Painting/Sky Replacement" w/ Commentary
"Knife Throw" w/ Commentary
"Scoping Things Out" w/ Commentary
"Digital Blood Hits" w/ Commentary
"Digital Spark Hits" w/ Commentary

VFX Breakdown: The Title Sequence w/ Alex Ferrari & Dan Cregan

Visual Effects in Indie Film: with Sean Falcon
Pre Production
MiniDV and Compositing
Why Shoot 24p?
1 Chip vs 3 Chip MiniDV Cameras
Practical and Digital Effects
Compositing Before or After Color Correction
MiniDV Blowup to Film
3D Animation in Indie Film
Gun Muzzle Blasts
Compositing: The Details
Digital Matte Painting
Shaking Things Up
Bullet POV
Blowing Up Someone's Head
Where Do I Find Visual Effects Talent for my Film?
I Want to Composite Too...
Where Can I Get Training?
Apple's SHAKE
Doing It Yourself

Cinematography in Indie Film: with Angel Barroeta
Planning BROKEN
Challenges on BROKEN
Tools: The Camera
Tools: The Lights
Tools: Moving the Camera
Shooting: Digital or Film?
Panasonic's DVX100a
Some Advice

Sound Design/Composing in Indie Film: with Mark Roumelis
Original Music in Indie Film
Composing BROKEN
Doing It Yourself
Recording Sound for 24p on DAT: The Sync Issue
Doing Audio Tests

---------------------------------------------------------

After the Short

The Making of BROKEN
The Origin of BROKEN
First Impressions
Actors: The Rehearsal Process
On-Set Experience
War Stories
The Future: A Feature Film

Marketing: Promoting a Short Film
Promotion: 50% of the Creative Process
Film Festivals and Sundance
The Internet: Even Playing Field
The Trailer

Marketing: Poster Gallery
Alternate Ending w/ Commentary
Art of BROKEN: The Nick Monaco Experience
The BROKEN Shoot: Gag Reel!

---------------------------------------------------------

MASTERED in Dolby Stereo & Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound



Also, we will be putting up a trailer with previews of the DVD soon. Check: http://www.whatisbroken.com/dvd.html
for more info.

Thanks again for the support and any advice is welcome.

Cheers!

Alex
http://www.whatisbroken.com
http://www.enigmafactory.com
http://www.fortuityfilms.com

[BROKEN2005]

That's a rather shameless self-promotion...

Maybe I should add though it doesn't look bad at all.

Thanks man!!

[el Morro]

You say it's a short. What is the exact running time?

Also, 8000$ seems like a REALLY small budget, the camera alone would take up a quarter of that budget if you buy it...
The production values look much bigger. And judging from the trailer, it doesn't have the dreadful "video" look most of these productions have, a credit to the 24p I guess.
Again, it looks very impressive.

The only complaint I have is the terrible music that plays during the clips.

[malducin]

Seems like a very comprehensive DVD. I'll probably have to order this along with the Radius movie. Anychance it'll be sold at SIGGRAPH?

[BROKEN2005]

You say it's a short. What is the exact running time?

Also, 8000$ seems like a REALLY small budget, the camera alone would take up a quarter of that budget if you buy it...
The production values look much bigger. And judging from the trailer, it doesn't have the dreadful "video" look most of these productions have, a credit to the 24p I guess.
Again, it looks very impressive.

The only complaint I have is the terrible music that plays during the clips.

Thank for the kind words. The film runs 19:30 min. We made a deal to get the cameras for the shoot. The look is credited to good lighting by the DP, 24p, and major color correction.

Sorry about the music ; )

Thanks,
Alex

[BROKEN2005]

Seems like a very comprehensive DVD. I'll probably have to order this along with the Radius movie. Anychance it'll be sold at SIGGRAPH?

I wish we were going to SIGGRAPH. You'll be able to buy it at: http://www.whatisbroken.com/dvd.html. It'll be avaiable in August 2005.

Thanks for the kind words!

Alex

[malducin]

I guess my question was more about the Shake version you used, mainly what format you exported between Shake and FCP. Version 4 can use 10 and 16 bit QT, but I think HDV support was added in 4, maybe 3.5 (my memory is fuzzy). I was just curious how simpe or not was the workflow between FCP and Shake. Maybe it's on the DVD, if so I guess I'll wait till I watch it.

[BROKEN2005]

I guess my question was more about the Shake version you used, mainly what format you exported between Shake and FCP. Version 4 can use 10 and 16 bit QT, but I think HDV support was added in 4, maybe 3.5 (my memory is fuzzy). I was just curious how simpe or not was the workflow between FCP and Shake. Maybe it's on the DVD, if so I guess I'll wait till I watch it.

The work flow was simple. We used Shake 3.0 and we shot MiniDV 24p and used quicktime animation Codec at 23.98 to export back and forth between the systems.

BTW, did you get the email I dropped to you?

Thanks,
Alex

[malducin]

That sounds simple enough and painless.

I got your PM, but I have the suspicion that my email is not working right. My ilmfan address gets redirected to my home account which might be at fault. I might have to do some adjustments tonight to fix that once and for all.

If anyone has emailed me and not hard from me in more than a couple days it probably means I didn't receive it.

[BROKEN2005]

Hey Everyone,

First off, thank you all for your amazing patience. After an overwhelming amount of requests and many death threats, we are now accepting PRE-ORDERS for the BROKEN: Special Edition DVD.

We are selling it for $19.99 and will be accepting credit cards through Paypal.com. It is simple, just click on the link below and follow the easy steps. We estimate shipping the DVDs around August 21-25, 2005 and yes, WE WILL BE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

Click here to pre-order the BROKEN: Special Edition DVD: http://www.whatisbroken.com/dvd.html

Large orders of 20 or more can contact us at: info@enigmafactory.com for discounted prices.

Thanks again to all your amazing support and good wishes for our little project.

More news on the feature film version will be coming soon.

Sincerely,
Alex & Jorge
The BROKEN TEAM
http://www.enigmafactory.com
http://www.alexferrari.com
http://www.whatisbroken.com

[BROKEN2005]

BROKEN on DVD: http://www.whatisbroken.com/dvd.html

THANK GOD! You can stop with the death threats already!!! ; )

Well it is finally here!!! Thank you SOOOOOOO MUCH for your patience! We will be shipping out all the pre-orders for BROKEN the DVD this week. In the US standard First Class mail, International will vary depending on location.

Thank you all again for purchasing our DVD and supporting a couple of indie film guys with a dream....tear. Please drop us a line and tell us what you think of the DVD (tell your family, friends...strangers.....your dog ; )

Also, we will keep you up to date on the feature film version of BROKEN. Some really exciting stuff happening, wish us luck!! Keep checking the BROKEN Press page for the latest on BROKEN: http://www.whatisbroken.com/press.html

Here is the BROKEN trailer: http://www.whatisbroken.com/broken_trailer_enter.html

BTW, here is a link to the BROKEN DVD: The "BOOTLEG" Preview Trailer:
http://www.whatisbroken.com/broken_dvd.html

We hope you enjoy the BROKEN: Special Edition DVD and that is helps you with you future projects.

Cheers!

Alex & Jorge
The B R O K E N Production Team
http://www.whatisbroken.com/dvd.html
--------------------------------
http://www.whatisbroken.com
http://www.enigmafactory.com
http://www.alexferrari.com

[malducin]

I'll try to post my thoughts soon enough. I did watch the stuff about the color correction which was pretty neat.

[BROKEN2005]

I'll try to post my thoughts soon enough. I did watch the stuff about the color correction which was pretty neat.

GREAT! Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Alex

[BROKEN2005]

Hey Guys,

We just got back from the Toronto Film Festival and we met World Famous Film Critic Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times. He did a review of BROKEN on his site (we are still trying to revive Jorge ; )

--------------

A festival like Toronto attracts hopeful filmmakers eager to pitch projects and find financing. Here, for example, are Alex Ferrari and Jorge Rodriguez, the director and producer of “Broken,” a 19-minute, $8,000 horror film containing, by their count, more than 100 visual effects.

“We’re here to talk about a development deal for a feature based on the short,” Rodriguez tells me, before the screening of “Twelve and Holding.” “Who you talking to?” I ask. “We’d better not say,” Ferrari says.

He gives me a DVD of their short: “We’ve already sold 1,000 copies online. It contains six commentary tracks and like three hours of information on how to shoot low-budget digital films and how to do the special effects. It’s like a training course.” They refer me to their web site, http://www.whatisbroken.com, and back at the hotel I view the film and visit the site.

The film is effective and professional and the ominous sound track works with the images to create the desired effect. Whether the plot quite rises above the level of “it was only a dream” I am not prepared to say. Whether the short will someday grow into a good film we will know only if the development deal goes through.

But that’s not really the point. The point is that gifted and ambitious young filmmakers can, with very little money, use the new digital technology to make a presentation that gets attention from industry pros. Kerry Conran’s “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” (2004) was floated the same way, with a home-made demo made on his Mac. Whether this is better than the old-fashioned method of submitting a screenplay is a good question; “Broken” is essentially a demonstration of the mastery of horror imagery and techniques. A screenplay has to also have dimensional characters (one, two or three dimensions, depending on its ambition) and a story. In an industry so impenetrable for newcomers, any way you break in is the right way. Then it depends on what you do. Looking forward to “Broken: The Feature.”

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 50301/1023
------------------

We are truly amazed! We were sooooooo excited that we had to share the news. Thanks again for all the support from everyone!! Good Luck with all your projects.
__________________
Alex
http://www.whatisbroken.com
http://www.enigmafactory.com
http://www.alexferrari.com

[BROKEN2005]

Hey Guys,

Just dropping some news that AMAZON.COM is carrying BROKEN: Special Edition DVD and can be purchased at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000B7TH92/qid=1127962181/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-3424559-2716103?v=glance&s=dvd

Hope this isn't to much of a shameless plug ; )

I just thought it was cool that amazon.com is carrying our little short film. Thanks again for all the support. Good luck with your future projects.

All the best,
Alex
http://www.whatisbroken.com
http://www.enigmafactory.com
http://www.alexferrari.com

[malducin]

OK it was long overdue, but I had my own problems to contend with. SO here's my review:

As you can guess Broken is a straight action movie about a woman abducted under mysterious circumstances, good guy comes in, gunfight eruptes, yada yada yada...

What I actually enjoyed most about Broken was its style. It reminded me of the old 80s B action movies. If you have fond memories about Golan-GLobus and the Cannon Group movies and many others like that from that area, you'll be pleasantly surprised. You have the prototypical slick and totally evil bad guy, who loves to talk, surrounded by colorful looking henchmen. Actually his was probably the best performance since he plays that sort of badie to the T. Sofia Amadi who plays the damsel in distress, while a bit green, does a good job as well. Msot other actors play background characters. The movie does have a twist ending. Whikle maybe not completely original, since I didn't expect it (just enjoying it as an action film) it was a welcome addition as well.

The film is tightly plotted and the action fast paced. It's certainly much better than what passes by action in Hollywood for action these days (it easily surpases what Uwe Boll or Paul W.S. Anderson could achieve with 1000 times more budget). What is especially comendable is the high production values involved, particularly notable with the locations and sets, which usually are very restricted in low budget fare, but also there is good direction, cinematography and editing that doesn't have to rely on gimmickry.

Being a VFX afficionado I was particularly interested in this aspect. While the VFX are limited, mostly confined to the gunfight by adding gun flashes and the like, they were very professional and for the most part seamless. The color sorrection was good, while not looking exactly like film it's well art directed and certainly broadcast quality. They are, along with the rest of the film, a testament to the power of digital tools and how they can help low budget productions and neophyte filmmakers the tools to craft and tell their stories and craft their stories.

The only big downside was that I had problems playing the promotional DVD, which was a bit frustrating but in the end I was able to play it.

Overall 2 tumbs up.