watch Out Hollywood! at DVinfo.net

Sina Basy · August 10th, 2006, 07:43 PM

an interesting article on digital moviemaking

http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...tml?page=1&c=y

Nate Weaver · August 10th, 2006, 07:56 PM

"Hollywood" isn't scared of kids with cameras. If kids with cameras are posting videos on Myspace that get a million downloads, then have no fear, "Hollywood" will find a sure way to make a buck off that, too.

They ARE scared of losing control of the money flow on their existing distribution channels, and they're also afraid of the product they spent millions to produce being traded for free.

People outside the business are convinced that cost of producing content (fancy cameras, expensive special effects, etc) are what is keeping them out, and what "Hollywood" doesn't want them to have. What's really keeping them out is quality of content. "Hollywood" will beat your door down if you make something good that people want to watch (and you can demonstrate it). Doesn't matter if you shot it with an Elura or 35mm.

Anyway, the author of the article is confusing issues.

Rob Lohman · August 11th, 2006, 01:49 AM

Thanks Nate, excellent reply!

K. Forman · August 11th, 2006, 02:30 AM

I agree, Hollywood is desperate for good content. However, The Dukes of Hazard was still produced. So the lesson for today is, when Hollywood doesn't have decent scripts, they'll butcher another show fom my childhood.

Adam Letch · August 11th, 2006, 02:48 AM

agreed Keith, sometimes the movies that come out today leave this huge, how on Earth!! question lingering in your mind.
The only thing I can think of is people at the top are letting mates get into the industry and supporting them in whatever they come up with. I mean I accept sometime its good to bring the classics back so this generation will know what they missed out on. But I suppose it goes two ways:
1) Our memories are dim, and when we watch those old TV/movies, we think "Crikey what junk". Or
2) You watch the remake and think, "Boy they missed it, how could they not have got it right with so much resource material to work from".

Anyways, my 10c worth.
Cheers

Ash Greyson · August 16th, 2006, 08:54 PM

If Sony decidec to give every hack "film maker" a free F950 Hollywood would remain 99% unchanged. I say it repeatedly but it is about ONE thing in Hollywood, the perceived marketability of the product, nothing else. If you shoot a movie on super35 with a decent script and a bunch of no name actors then you have 1/100th the chance at decent distribution than a film shot on a one chip DV camera that has Gary Busey in it. Dont bother listing all the exceptions because they are just that... exceptions.

Think of it this way... go to the user forums on all the film maker sites... watch everything... would it being shot on an expensive camera make a difference in how marketable it was? No...

ash =o)

Nate Weaver · August 16th, 2006, 09:55 PM

Ash understands...

The technicalities of making movies should be the least of the average filmmakers troubles. And if they're not, then...

Steve Roark · August 17th, 2006, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

I agree, Hollywood is desperate for good content. However, The Dukes of Hazard was still produced. So the lesson for today is, when Hollywood doesn't have decent scripts, they'll butcher another show fom my childhood.

I think you disproved your first sentence with your second one. Ash nailed it. Hollywood is a business, and the primary motive of any business is profit. Dukes grossed something like $80 million while Munich grossed about half that. People like to blame Hollywood for shoveling cr@p at us, but the reality is most people are choosing cr@p and Hollywood is giving the customers what they want.

Cheap production equipment will not bring Hollywood to its knees. It justs offers the chance for budding filmmakers to produce movies for the art of it, before they move on to Hooter Vacation III to pay their bills.

K. Forman · August 17th, 2006, 06:00 AM

I think that if you add statement A and statement B, you'll find out it equals Hollywood has no idea what is good, and they don't care. They just want your money.

Steve Roark · August 18th, 2006, 02:00 AM

getting off topic:

You know, it takes a special kind of person to butcher a show based on a hill-billie family solving crimes with a creek-jumping car.

Although...
As much as I like to criticize pretty much everything around me, I have to be the first to admit: If I was a Hollywood executive who had to commit millions of dollars to either a script with car chases and hot women or a script about the moral rammifications of revenge killing, and I had a family to feed...there's only one safe choice: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhaaaaaaawwwwwwww!!!!!

Its a paradox that only the poor can afford a soul.

K. Forman · August 18th, 2006, 07:41 AM

Steve- It's just too funny, the way you butcher hillbilly! It's yeehaw!

And if I were the same studio exec, I would look at the script, throw it back, and say "Now... make it not suck." Instead, said exec says "What the hell do I care? They're pretty much brain dead from all the garbage we've fed them over the past few years, they'll pay to see this too."

Ash Greyson · August 18th, 2006, 10:31 AM

Until the general public stops going... things wont change. Watch my documentary about Hanson and the music business, it is the same in Hollywood. Executives dont know what is good, they only know what they "think" can sell. They almost always choose the safe choice.

Think about it... there were probably 20 executives who passed on Napoleon Dynamite and greenlighted something like Deuce Bigalow 2. In that case, we have the mormon church to thank, who funded the movie up front, because that movie never would have been made thru a studio... EVER...

ash =o)

Bob Zimmerman · August 18th, 2006, 11:32 AM

[QUOTE=Ash Greyson]Until the general public stops going... things wont change. Watch my documentary about Hanson and the music business, it is the same in Hollywood. Executives dont know what is good, they only know what they "think" can sell. They almost always choose the safe choice.

Think about it... there were probably 20 executives who passed on Napoleon Dynamite and greenlighted something like Deuce Bigalow 2. In that case, we have the mormon church to thank, who funded the movie up front, because that movie never would have been made thru a studio... EVER...

ash =o)[/QUOTE
the mormon church funded Napoleon Dynamite? Or your doc?

Joe Carney · August 18th, 2006, 11:35 AM

Unfortunately, it is the public not hollywood who makes the ultimate choice. A good movie about this is John Cassavetes 'Faces', sort of a loose autobiography of what he went through during his brief time working for a Major. Initially he hated them, but in the end forgave them for being all to human. Pretty much the film version of what Steve Roark said in his post.

newsflash...I heard when Jessica Simpson moved from Texas to Hollywood the average IQ of both places went up.

Curtis Rhoads · August 18th, 2006, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ash Greyson

In that case, we have the mormon church to thank, who funded the movie up front, because that movie never would have been made thru a studio... EVER...

This part seems to bother me for some reason. It's not like the LDS Church to put forth money for something that they can't have some kind of creative say in. More than likely, the producers were LDS, and that started a rumour about the church providing the money. If the church was really in a position to fund production up front, then why haven't more LDS filmmakers (such as myself) heard of it?

IMO, Hollywood wouldn't know a good movie if it came up and slapped them with an Academy Award. The good movies that do come out of Hollywood are rare, especially when you compare it to all the schlock they release in a year.

August 10th, 2006, 07:43 PM	#1
Sina Basy Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Diego, Ca Posts: 37	watch Out Hollywood! an interesting article on digital moviemaking http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...tml?page=1&c=y

August 10th, 2006, 07:56 PM	#2
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	"Hollywood" isn't scared of kids with cameras. If kids with cameras are posting videos on Myspace that get a million downloads, then have no fear, "Hollywood" will find a sure way to make a buck off that, too. They ARE scared of losing control of the money flow on their existing distribution channels, and they're also afraid of the product they spent millions to produce being traded for free. People outside the business are convinced that cost of producing content (fancy cameras, expensive special effects, etc) are what is keeping them out, and what "Hollywood" doesn't want them to have. What's really keeping them out is quality of content. "Hollywood" will beat your door down if you make something good that people want to watch (and you can demonstrate it). Doesn't matter if you shot it with an Elura or 35mm. Anyway, the author of the article is confusing issues. __________________ My Work: nateweaver.net

August 11th, 2006, 01:49 AM	#3
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Thanks Nate, excellent reply! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

August 11th, 2006, 02:30 AM	#4
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	I agree, Hollywood is desperate for good content. However, The Dukes of Hazard was still produced. So the lesson for today is, when Hollywood doesn't have decent scripts, they'll butcher another show fom my childhood. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

August 11th, 2006, 02:48 AM	#5
Adam Letch Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 414	dukes agreed Keith, sometimes the movies that come out today leave this huge, how on Earth!! question lingering in your mind. The only thing I can think of is people at the top are letting mates get into the industry and supporting them in whatever they come up with. I mean I accept sometime its good to bring the classics back so this generation will know what they missed out on. But I suppose it goes two ways: 1) Our memories are dim, and when we watch those old TV/movies, we think "Crikey what junk". Or 2) You watch the remake and think, "Boy they missed it, how could they not have got it right with so much resource material to work from". Anyways, my 10c worth. Cheers

August 16th, 2006, 08:54 PM	#6
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	If Sony decidec to give every hack "film maker" a free F950 Hollywood would remain 99% unchanged. I say it repeatedly but it is about ONE thing in Hollywood, the perceived marketability of the product, nothing else. If you shoot a movie on super35 with a decent script and a bunch of no name actors then you have 1/100th the chance at decent distribution than a film shot on a one chip DV camera that has Gary Busey in it. Dont bother listing all the exceptions because they are just that... exceptions. Think of it this way... go to the user forums on all the film maker sites... watch everything... would it being shot on an expensive camera make a difference in how marketable it was? No... ash =o)

August 16th, 2006, 09:55 PM	#7
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	Ash understands... The technicalities of making movies should be the least of the average filmmakers troubles. And if they're not, then... __________________ My Work: nateweaver.net

August 17th, 2006, 06:00 AM	#9
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	I think that if you add statement A and statement B, you'll find out it equals Hollywood has no idea what is good, and they don't care. They just want your money. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

August 18th, 2006, 02:00 AM	#10
Steve Roark Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Vilseck, Germany Posts: 89	agreed getting off topic: You know, it takes a special kind of person to butcher a show based on a hill-billie family solving crimes with a creek-jumping car. Although... As much as I like to criticize pretty much everything around me, I have to be the first to admit: If I was a Hollywood executive who had to commit millions of dollars to either a script with car chases and hot women or a script about the moral rammifications of revenge killing, and I had a family to feed...there's only one safe choice: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhaaaaaaawwwwwwww!!!!! Its a paradox that only the poor can afford a soul.

August 18th, 2006, 07:41 AM	#11
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Steve- It's just too funny, the way you butcher hillbilly! It's yeehaw! And if I were the same studio exec, I would look at the script, throw it back, and say "Now... make it not suck." Instead, said exec says "What the hell do I care? They're pretty much brain dead from all the garbage we've fed them over the past few years, they'll pay to see this too." __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

August 18th, 2006, 10:31 AM	#12
Ash Greyson Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,689	Until the general public stops going... things wont change. Watch my documentary about Hanson and the music business, it is the same in Hollywood. Executives dont know what is good, they only know what they "think" can sell. They almost always choose the safe choice. Think about it... there were probably 20 executives who passed on Napoleon Dynamite and greenlighted something like Deuce Bigalow 2. In that case, we have the mormon church to thank, who funded the movie up front, because that movie never would have been made thru a studio... EVER... ash =o)

August 18th, 2006, 11:32 AM	#13
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	[QUOTE=Ash Greyson]Until the general public stops going... things wont change. Watch my documentary about Hanson and the music business, it is the same in Hollywood. Executives dont know what is good, they only know what they "think" can sell. They almost always choose the safe choice. Think about it... there were probably 20 executives who passed on Napoleon Dynamite and greenlighted something like Deuce Bigalow 2. In that case, we have the mormon church to thank, who funded the movie up front, because that movie never would have been made thru a studio... EVER... ash =o)[/QUOTE the mormon church funded Napoleon Dynamite? Or your doc?

August 18th, 2006, 11:35 AM	#14
Joe Carney Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Centreville Va Posts: 1,828	Unfortunately, it is the public not hollywood who makes the ultimate choice. A good movie about this is John Cassavetes 'Faces', sort of a loose autobiography of what he went through during his brief time working for a Major. Initially he hated them, but in the end forgave them for being all to human. Pretty much the film version of what Steve Roark said in his post. newsflash...I heard when Jessica Simpson moved from Texas to Hollywood the average IQ of both places went up. __________________ Boycott Guinness, bring back the pint!!!