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The Rundown: Weeks 1 & 2
As of today, we have raised a grand total of $857. Good news! But we have so much more work to do…
DONATIONS
Asking people to make a donation is a very emotional for me. No one likes to ask for money, especially when the world is in such bad shape. And I’ll be honest, it stings a little when people say they have no interest in “funding my passion.” However, it truly warms my heart when people make a donation and I feel I can’t thank them enough. One of our first donations was for $2. This brought a tear to my eye. This friend didn’t have much to donate but still wanted to make a contribution to our project. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity and support of everyone who has made a donation or contributed their time to helping us. The fact that others have a vested interest in our film raises the stakes for us. We’re not just making this film for ourselves anymore, we’re doing it for them, too!
Most of the contributions have come directly through our PayPal link on our website, leaving our IndieGoGo campaign looking a little pitiful. But don’t worry, we’re working on something special to get more of the IndieGoGo community interested in our film.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Everything is hinging on this location, from shoot dates to crew members to budget. I would LOVE to secure a location this week. If you haven’t seen our video of the haunted house we scouted last week, check out our MEDIA page. You’ll get an idea of the kind of house we’re looking to shoot the film in. After speaking to my friend and professional locations manager Jeff Crandell, he gave us some ideas as to how we can find what we need. He put us in touch with his contact at the California Film Commission, whom I’ll call tomorrow.
I’ve also been going to open houses in certain areas of town that have Victorian or Craftsman houses, knowing that the owners have less of an emotional connection with a house they’re trying to sell and more likely to be open to filming, especially for a couple thousand dollars. We have an appointment on Wednesday that came from speaking to a realtor at an open house today.
CAMERA
The other huge decision we have to make soon is whether to shoot on the Canon 5D or the Red. I’ve been hearing an argument for both, but it seems that more micro-budget filmmakers have hailed the Canon 5D. For the lower price and accessibility, the camera delivers on a very high level. Potentially, we could save about $2,000 in our camera package if we use the 5D. However, I’m very well aware of the focus and depth of field issues, as well as the potential for “milky blacks” if the set is not properly lit. All things to keep in mind.
Check out this video to see some of the differences between the Red, Canon 5D, and Canon 7D. The truth is that if the story is compelling and the images are well-shot, you will be sucked into the film and forget about the quality/texture of the video format.
PITCH VIDEO
This week, our friend Ted Korsmo will be helping us shoot various videos with a pitch of our film campaign. We tried shooting something like this last week, but it just didn’t work (having a tea-party on Cecil B. DeMille’s grave at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery was perhaps a little too cute). Also, our personalities didn’t come through the video, not to mention we had really bad sound, as the mausoleum was under construction that day.
FUNDRAISING
As far as fundraising, we’re in the early stages of planning a night of live music and comedy with local L.A. bands and comedians. I don’t want to give away too much just yet, but we’re in talks for something special, possibly even a fashion show. So stay tuned…
Well, that’s it for now. Please help spread the word about our campaign by sharing our website www.violetathefilm.com and our fundraising campaign www.indiegogo.com/violetathefilm on Facebook. And if you can, please do consider making a donation. No amount is ever too small!
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