Random Movie Thoughts

Here's a list of random movie, superhero, and filmmaking things I've been thinking about lately.  I might write full blogs on these in the future, and maybe not.

Indie filmmaking is becoming more and more like a regular business.  This is actually a good thing.  

I have no desire whatsoever to watch "Boyhood".  If I want to see child, pre adolescent, and teenage angst, I'll visit my cousins, nieces, and nephews.

DC should make the next Green Lantern movie with John Stewart, not Hal Jordan (and definitely not Ryan Reynolds again).

Don't post your indiegogo/kickstarter campaigns in your local filmmaking Facebook page.  Everybody else there is trying to get their own project off the ground. Figure out who your audience is and get them to donate. 

After a second viewing, I still think Guardians of the Galaxy is the best Marvel movie yet.

What crazy stunt is Tom Cruise going to pull off in Mission Impossible 5?  My money's on parachuting out of a space shuttle.

Overheard shots of someone screaming has become unintentionally funny to me (see X-Men Origins:  Wolverine).

A good movie with no marketing will never be as successful as a bad movie with lots of marketing.

Due to Robin Williams' passing, "Hook" will be included in my personal 25 days of Christmas movie rotation.

I watched Watchmen again last week.  Making Dr. Manhattan the "enemy" is 10x better than the monster in the book.  

I'm really looking forward to Dead Snow 2

As Above, So Below?  Not so much.   Found footage movies need to die a quick, but painful death.

If you have to "settle" for a location that wasn't part of your vision, don't sweat it.  Do a rewrite that makes the story sync with the new setting.

The Expendables 3 really shot itself in the foot by being PG-13.  It's the biggest reason I haven't watched it yet.

When is Neill Blomkamp going to make District 10?

I'm still nervous about Age of Ultron.  

I see more actors in commercials than ever before.  The reason?  In my opinion, youtube. Back in the 80's, actors would get millions acting in stupid commercials in Asia.  It wouldn't hurt their image here since no one could see them.  Not anymore.  Might as well avoid the long plane ride and get the easy check here in the states.

Don't pitch your courtroom drama to a small time production company that makes action and sci fi movies.  We have different audiences.

Do offer to help other filmmakers with their projects, no matter the genre.  The good ones return the favor.

I wonder what details Agents of Shield will "borrow" from The Photon Effect this season?  

If A Movie Is Made And No One Knows About It, Is It Any Good?

One of my old hobbies was to browse the selection at the local video store.  Most of the time I'd run to the back and see if at least one copy of the new release I wanted was out.  When none were available, which happened a lot, it was the perfect time to look around for something a little different.  

It was during these times that I found new personal favorites such as My Name Is Bruce and Green Street Hooligans .   Sure I found a lemon or two (ok maybe more than that), but that risk was part of the fun. 

Nowadays, we really don't have that experience anymore. Physically touching the art and reading the paper cover of that unknown movie is gone.  Walmart usually just has the big hit movies, so there's no new discovery there.  You can still do it at genre conventions, but those are at best few and far between. At worst, there aren't any near where you live.

That leaves us with the internet, where that tactile connection is long gone.  With the loss of touch, I've lost that sense of adventure.  I'm much less inclined to take a gamble on a movie I haven't heard of, and will only do so if it's gotten more peer reviews than a heart disease study endorsed by the American Medical Association. 

What doesn't help is the amount of content out there.  It's ridiculous!  It's virtually walking into a video store the size of an entire city.  I always have that feeling where if I pick a movie with no reviews and that no one talks about, I might miss out on one that's better.

So what must they do…what must we promoting Photon do…to get people to take a chance on our movie?  From what I've been reading, the consensus is to just be available online.  Pump out social media content like crazy and always let fans know what you're up to. 

We haven't been great at this in the past, but we changing our tune.  And frankly, we're seeing too many movies that outright suck get more attention.  So we have to do it. 

Oh, and for those that want that experience of reading the cover of  The Photon Effect in person, I'll be at the Baltimore Comic Con on Friday Sept 5th with copies to give away!  To get a free copy though, you're going to need 2 things.  Your email address so we can keep you up to date on our webisodes.  Don't worry, we won't flood your inbox or sell your address. You'll also need the code word.  Keep tuning in to our Facebook page and twitter handle @thephotoneffect to get the code word!

The Photon Effect Webisodes: Meeting Minutes Debrief #1

It's tough for DP and I to get together and have face to face meetings.  Between day jobs and family obligations, we both just run out of time most days.  BUT, when we do have face time, you're getting an inside scoop on what we talk about.

The Story

First, there's going to be a slight tweaking of our storyline.  The ideas we came up with for episodes are great and we're going to use them, but the timeline will be backed up a tad.  

Instead of Photon being on top of the world with everyone loving him, we're starting in a time where he's not doing so hot.  To get his mojo back, he needs to rebuild his business and relationships with his friends.  And stopping a criminal or two won't hurt either.  

The Props

We're in contact with a couple very talented artists to help us out with the construction of Photon's helmet and gloves.  They might not be ready for the first webisode, but Photon will finally be fully geared up, fulfilling Dan's vision of the character.

The Website

Our website thephotoneffect.com is getting migrated from html to Word Press.  This will make it easier for us to update it with, you know, promotions for free stuff!  If you have any ideas for other stuff we should have on the site, now's the perfect time to let us know!

Filmmaking Tip - Pick The Best Crew You Can

Hey everyone,

My blog entry for today was originally published on filmmakingstuff.com .  Check it out!

Pick The Right Friends For Your Movie Crew

Filmmaking Tip- Budget Your Time

Thanks again for checking out the blog!  

To help out the prospective filmmakers out there,
I'm going to share some tips and tricks I've discovered
while promoting The Photon Effect and developing
our upcoming webisodes. If you have any questions about 
marketing your project, let me know in the comments.  

When inspiration strikes, it's always easy to spend time
creating content or interacting with fans.  One problem
I've found is, how much time should I spend coming 
up with new webisode ideas?  How much time should
I spend writing webisodes?  How much time should I spend 
talking to you about the upcoming webisodes?

Fortunately I just read an article on LinkedIn that's
a big help.

The 60:30:10 Rule

Author Jeremy Waite explains the principles behind
the rule and how different businesses and people
have successfully used it.   Two of the best examples
are Steve Jobs' announcement for the iPhone and Rovio
releasing that somewhat successful Angry Birds franchise.
Give that a read in a new browser window and come on back.
I'll wait.

*Playing Angry Birds on my iPhone.  This leaning tower of Pisa level is too easy.*

Welcome back!

So, how can we apply this to our filmmaking project?  

Like this:

Spend 10% of our time thinking up with 
new film/tv show/webisode content

Spend 30% of our time creating that content, 
be it writing, shooting, and/or editing

Spend 60% of our time talking to you guys about
the content, seeing how much you liked it or 
what you want us to make next.

This can also apply to money.  Over half your budget seems
like a lot for getting the word out about your movie.  But hey,
it doesn't matter how awesome it is. If no one knows about it,
they're not going to watch.


Written by Douglas S. Adams, producer of The Photon Effect

Guardians of the Galaxy: Best Marvel Movie Yet

So far, all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies have had at least one positive trait that immediately comes to mind. Iron Man has the over-the-top charismatic, quick witted lead. Thor and Captain America can both take a break from saving the universe for a comedic break or two. The Avengers were at their heroic best when they overcome their differences and work together. And Hulk? Well, nevermind.

Marvel studios and director James Gunn have taken all of these high points, fit them together perfectly, and added a few more in Guardians of the Galaxy. While a few several more viewings will need to confirm it, right now this movie is up there with Star Wars as a peronal all time favorite.

Some filmmakers try to fit their movies into different genres, and ultimately don't fit in any. Their movie isn't funny enough to be a comedy, not dramatic enough to be a drama, and not actiony enough to be action. They end up just being...there. James Gunn doesn't have that problem. Like he did with "Super", James made a movie that's a hysterical comedy, a thrilling action movie, and a heartwarming drama all rolled into one.

Save for one or two scenes that were a few beats slow for my taste, the pacing was perfect. What was even better were all the little comedic setups and payoffs. They took a funny joke, then waited awhile, put a little twist on it, and told it again for an even bigger laugh. There was even a dramatic setup, a scene where I was left scratching my head a bit. Then when the payoff happened, and subsequent exposition, I was completely taken off guard. For the football fans out there, a perfect comparison would be that they knew how to use short running plays to set up the 50 yard bomb for a touchdown.

Personally I think a younger Nathan Fillion would've been a slightly better fit for the serious side of Peter Quill, Christ Pratt still does a remarkable job. Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista had their moments, but Bradley Copper's voice and the animators who created Rocket stole the show. And Groot was Vin Diesel's best work since Iron Giant!

While thinking about this film, it makes me a bit sad about the upcoming Ant Man project. Edgar Wright is right there with James Gunn in terms of talent and style, so I fear I'll be comparing Ant Man to a version of the movie that doesn't exist. Oh well, if that isn't a first world problem I don't know what is.

Even though there's a couple scenes for more mature audiences, I highly recommend taking kids to see this movie. For people in my age range, we had Star Wars. Guardians of the Galaxy can be that experience for the kids today.


Written by Douglas S. Adams, producer of The Photon Effect

Might "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" End Up Being Crap?

Since I didn't feel like getting in line for Hall H at 1 in the morning last Saturday, I didn't get in and I'm not privy to any of the footage released at Marvel's Comic Con panel.  This is only based off the few pictures and plot points released on the Avengers: Age of Ultron imdb page.  If I'm clearly incorrect about something, please speak up!

Gotta say,  I'm concerned we might have a "Hangover Part II" situation on our hands.  Based on the images I'm seeing (more in a sec), the film looks like it might be reusing the same plot points as the original.  The only difference this time being there's even more heroes in it, potentially making the inevitable 3rd act battle bloated beyond excess.  If this keeps going, by the 3rd Avengers movie they might be out of Galaxies/Dimensions/Universes to blow up.  Sometimes a rehash of the old movie can be fun, but not in this universe.  At least not yet! 

Exhibit A: The Poster Unveiled at Comic Con  

Really, another horde for our heroes to battle?  I mean, it's fun to have A sequence where the Avengers smack down common henchmen, but where's the "boss" type characters?  The Leviathans in the first one don't count - once Cap wrapped his mind around the scenario and gave everyone orders, those flying lizards got taken out as easily as the rest of the Chitauri.   Leave those minions to either the military, the new S.H.I.E.L.D., or Asgardian soldiers, and let our heroes stick to foes more on their level.  One of the bright moments of Thor: Dark World was Loki and Thor having to sort of work together in taking out the Kursed.  Who's that going to be in this movie with 5 times the heroes?


Exhibit B: Hulk Vs. Hulkbuster Image

All I saw there is Hulkbuster taking Thor's place in a 2nd act conflict amongst the team.  How's Hulk going to unintentionally get angry this time, another infinity stone just happens to fall into their lap again? Come on, pick another avenger to cause the internal conflict.  

Still Optimistic

It kills me to write this stuff, and I want nothing more than to be wrong.  Maybe the horde battle is somewhere in the second act.  Maybe the Hulk vs Hulkbuster scene is right at the beginning - another training exercise if you will.  These were just the first thoughts running through my head after seeing the pictures.  Instead of a jaw drop, I winced.

Hopefully an after-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy will put my mind at ease.  Can't wait for tomorrow night!


Written by Douglas S. Adams, producer of The Photon Effect