It is very difficult to produce a film of this scope completely on your own. In fact, even with a sizable team of producers and crew on board the amount of work involved is still quite daunting.
When it comes to real films, the first step after completing a solid draft of the screenplay is to enlist the help of other interested filmmakers as well as financiers. This is where the ‘production packet’ becomes handy.
Since we have elected to shoot our movie through the Emerson Film Program, our packet was put together as a formal proposal for a specific two-semester production class, which will give us access to essential equipment and other resources.
It is not unusual to print 50-100 copies of the production packet. The application for the program only required us to produce four packets, so we (DP Shant and I) decided to hand craft each one.
After I wrote the copy, Shant and I discussed a design for the packet. We wanted the packet to appear simple and elegant, while also incorporating colors and images relevant to our film.
A key part of the book’s design was the page dimension. We chose a 6.5’’x11 format to recall the 1.66 aspect ratio that will matte the film (this ratio was chosen for its similarity to the golden ratio, and has NOTHING to do with Nestor Almendros’ preference for it).
The pages were exported from Adobe In-Design and printed onto matte paper. Each page was cut individually. When the pages were assembled, with the photo title page and heavy black cover in place, Shant hand-sewed each binding using a simple but very neat stitch,
Here is the final product.
We have yet to hear back from the program to see if they accepted us…
Here are some progress pictures!
Cutting down the pages!
Scraps!
It's all about the Boar's Head
Pages all cut down.
Sewing pattern tests.
Ben. He did one thing, and he messed up. LOL
Hammering/punching-out the holes!
Some sewing.
TADA!
-Benjamin (pictures by shant!)
No comments:
Post a Comment