Thesis about indie filmmakers

[Czakó Adorján]

Hi,

I'm up to write my thesis in the next month.

It's gonna be about the "newly" appeared filmmaker society between professionals and amateurs. They are far from amateur, but also doesn't have the luxury of a professionals budget. Let's just call them independent filmmakers. I would like to find out as much as i can about this new and very exciting uprising "movement".  What effects was made by the internet, torrent, tons of tutorials, DIY, youtube, vimeo, facebook, twitter, web2.0 (etc) on the filmmaking industry/art?
What tendencies can we observe in the camera/film developer market in the past few decades? (red, arri,canon, bmc, sony etc)

Since my thesis has to be 60 pages, and i have to use a lot of quotes from the literature I'm looking for any kind of help such as: opinion, experience, suggested literature, or any kind of useful source.
So basically anything serious.

 

(I'm not new in this field, I'm working as a photographer and editor since 6 years or so, and in the past 1-2 years I have my own equipment for DSLR filmmaking. And also I'm a weekly-daily followers of this kind of sites, like EOSHD ... and some others more :) )

 

spoken languages: hungarian, english

Thanks for your help!
Adorján

[Escapist]

Without a doubt, see the film "Side by Side" to give you some inspiration for the last few decades. It's pretty basic but it covers the transition from film to digital. And indeed, digital is a big part of the independent movement due to affordability and ease of use. You will have to do research into before the DSLR movement (might wanna ask the DVXusers forum). But for DSLR this is what I know:

 

Canon

 

As for DSLRs, it started with the 5D Mark II when Canon added a video function. Vincent Laforet released a short piece called "Reverie" that was supposedly the first to make it popular. People say it is because of the shallow depth of field that made it popular. But it was a number of things combined that made it an attractive package- a small form factor, price, accessibility, hybrid between stills/video, and interchangeable lenses.

 

Canon Community

 

Since then, one of the major contributors to independent filmmakers is the group Magic Lantern. They hacked the Canon camera's firmware to give features (peaking, zebras, custom ISOs, etc.) that normally are in video cameras only. You also have picture profile creators, the unsung heroes that have made the cameras sensors respond much better. See Cinestyle picture style, Visioncolor picture style, Cinema picture style, FLAAT, Marvel picture style, etc.

 

Panasonic Community

 

Then there's a group that hacked the Panasonic GH2, another well liked camera for pretty much the same reasons as the 5D Mark II except cheaper. This hack made the camera's bit rate very high, and it was exceptionally good quality for the price at that time.

 

Equipment manufacturers

 

You can't just have a cheap camera and save money. Filmmaking equipment is notoriously expensive. A number of American, Chinese, and even Indian manufacturers have created low budget alternatives. Kickstarter people have funded such projects too - see the $50 follow focus by Hondo Garage. 

 

Social Media

 

YouTube is known for showing a lot of DIY equipment and tutorials for filmmaking. Vimeo is obvious - its a platform that allows people to distribute their material in an artistic space immediately and not wait for approval of distribution. Facebook/Twitter have lots of communities, but I can't name anything special that is different in this industry.

 

Software developers

Just as an example, Technicolor Cinestyle Assist released a $99 grading program. At that price, you can guess who they are targeting. There's a ton of plugins as well that are pretty cheap. Other than that, NLE /editing software is expensive.

 

ARRI

I don't think ARRI does anything here.

 

RED

RED once promised 3K resolution for $3K, which was never fulfilled. Their cameras are still too expensive for independent filmmakers.

Blackmagic

 

Blackmagic, normally a camera accessory/software company, soon became a camera maker to fulfill this gap that RED left open. They released the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, 2.5K for $3K. They also added RAW capability, and what is basically considered the most beautiful image for the price (with compromise for other things).

[Sean Cunningham]

There are plenty of independents using RED.  Either rental or purchase, whether that was made alone or by pooling resources with one or more fellow filmmakers.  A minimal Scarlet kit is ~$14K and change and I've seen PC gamer rigs that cost this much in both magazines and online.  

 

"Independent filmmaker" is a term that covers a wide gamut of people and budgets.  From the 48hr folks all the way to Sophia Copolla, Kevin Smith and Steven Soderberg and from what you've got in your pockets up to millions.  This isn't a new phenomenon at all it's just that never before has so much power and control been accessible and in the hands of so many.

 

The indie movement peaked into the common vernacular by the early 1990s and a new wave of filmmaker who turned the term into a culture as much as it was a simple, factual, socio-economic description.  They were maybe the first to politicize their business but there were plenty of success stories and precedents set for a burgeoning phenomenon reaching back into the 1970s, the main catalyst for the eras incredible explosion of creativity being the collapse of the "Studio System".

[Escapist]

I was hoping someone would fill in the gap. To be fair though, I've rarely seen a PC rig over $3,000 or even $2,000 meant for games.

 

 

There are plenty of independents using RED.  Either rental or purchase, whether that was made alone or by pooling resources with one or more fellow filmmakers.  A minimal Scarlet kit is ~$14K and change and I've seen PC gamer rigs that cost this much in both magazines and online.  

 

"Independent filmmaker" is a term that covers a wide gamut of people and budgets.  From the 48hr folks all the way to Sophia Copolla, Kevin Smith and Steven Soderberg and from what you've got in your pockets up to millions.  This isn't a new phenomenon at all it's just that never before has so much power and control been accessible and in the hands of so many.

 

The indie movement peaked into the common vernacular by the early 1990s and a new wave of filmmaker who turned the term into a culture as much as it was a simple, factual, socio-economic description.  They were maybe the first to politicize their business but there were plenty of success stories and precedents set for a burgeoning phenomenon reaching back into the 1970s, the main catalyst for the eras incredible explosion of creativity being the collapse of the "Studio System".

[Sean Cunningham]

I was hoping someone would fill in the gap. To be fair though, I've rarely seen a PC rig over $3,000 or even $2,000 meant for games.

 

Go to your local newsstand.  Buy a copy of Maximum PC.  Mind=blown.

 

PCs are only cheap when they're generic beasts built from lowest-common-denominator parts.  The serious gamers I know have spent almost $2K on just the graphics cards for their rigs.  They're building their systems with cases that nearly cost what you can get a whole Dell or other BestBuy brand for.  Plus, serious gamers went SSD well before camera guys.

 

Anyway, there are people on this board that have bought cameras nearly as expensive or more expensive than the Scarlet-X (or who have a collection of cameras that might equal the cost of an Epic).  It's cheaper than several Canon cameras (while simultaneously destroying them).  It's comparably priced if not cheaper than some Sony gear (the Scarlet "brain" is about a grand more than an FS700).  Just saying.  Someone could easily save up a decent downpayment for new car but drop that plus a new credit card on a RED and I'm sure they have.

 

Rednecks spend more than the cost of a Scarlet on stuff like bass boats and jet skis and then you have the weekend Harley crowd that spend Epic money on their hobbies.  I see folks that spend RED cash doing turbo upgrades for their SR20 or JDM RB26 or 2JZ motor swaps for their hobby cars and daily drivers.  Independent filmmaking, even at RED level, isn't the most expensive hobby out there.

 

Just saying  :D

[hmcindie]

I agree with BurnetRhoades. I am a gamer and my gaming pc is pretty darn good compared to some "professional editing stations" that cost more and suck more. I do editing as a living and my gaming rig beats up a bunch of silly macs I've been using in different studios. Everytime I get to edit at home, I feel gooood. And also, it games pretty ok.

 

And yes, this place for some reason has some quite cheap people. Indies regularly use Epic and evenmore expensive stuff. Being an indie doesn't mean being completely broke.

 

That said, I LOVE how cheap stuff has become. 10 years ago...it was so different.

[Chrad]

I think this site is really aimed around the (economic) lower end of the indie scene: people who are trying to achieve as much as possible while spending as little as possible.  It's named after Canon's EOS line, not Red or Arri.

[markm]

There has always been a group in between pro and amatuer and they were called semi pro or enthusiasts. This is not a new phenomenen video cameras have been affordable for a long time. Back in the 70's I had a cine camera bought for £5 that shot super 16mm on kodachrome 40 film and shown on a projector Even then I spliced my own films together I wasn't rich but I was an enthusiastic kid.

[Czakó Adorján]

I think this site is really aimed around the (economic) lower end of the indie scene: people who are trying to achieve as much as possible while spending as little as possible.  It's named after Canon's EOS line, not Red or Arri.

Well I also have only Canon equipment (5d mk III, 70-200 f4 is, 17-40 f4, 50 1.4, mattebox, shoulder rig, tripod, sliderdolly , followF, editorPC) since photo-video multifunction is more than handy.
And as much as i agree with you, and looking for the eos line users experience, other experiences with higher-end equipment comes useful :)

Also my term "new line: the independent filmmakers" is not optimal. But my focus is still in this area, the fact it's not new "movement" only makes it more interesting.
So I'm aiming to those filmmakers who are related to the digital revolution what dslrs brought  (5d mk II). The fact they were already involved to the industry, or the availability of digital technology lured them in, is not an excluding point, only makes it more and more complex and interesting.

ps.: I know.. sorry for my English...