Ultimate Movie Trailer

Making of “Ultimate Movie” trailer

I realized that some of my new followers missed a cool project I did for Indy Mogul and Google at the start of 2012. So I thought I would post all the videos and tutorials here. This way you can easily find it. It’s about 40 minutes to watch. In the videos I cover everything from lighting to camera movement and color correction.

This was a project that I shot all in one day and in ONE location! Just to prove that you can do something cool even if you have limited time and resources. A lot of the props and costumes are cheap plastic Halloween decorations I bought at a party store (including the ZOMBIE and ALIEN outfits). I called a bunch of my filmmaker/actor friends to come help out and appear in the film. We just had fun for the whole day as we made up silly jokes and skits. That’s where building a community of filmmakers around you comes in handy. I always try to share my knowledge with others in the area and come out and help on their projects. I did obviously have a script that I prepared before hand and I also thought of most of the shots I would need. This way I knew what shots I had to get first. After that when time allowed we just experimented with the whole cast & crew.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

Finished FILM

4 thoughts on “Making of “Ultimate Movie” trailer”

  1. Hey Tom!
    I can’t express how much it means to me that you post these videos! I believe that sacrifice is greatness and you my friend do that every time you take the sacrifice and efforts to post these elaborate and entertaining videos/ tutorials! I have watched nearly all of your videos and will continue to do so. As a film student I respect everything that you contribute to the filmmaking community!

    On a side note: This video was so helpful! I love the way you got around in explaining everything! It really will help me for my future projects! Can’t wait to explore these new methods!

    P.S. : I have been considering in purchasing the new blackmagic pocket cinema camera! I was wondering if you had any inputs on this camera or could possibly review it.. I have seen many tutorials but I am not a person looking for a simple hand holding camera to take a video. I am trying to story tell like you do, so the issues that I have seen : (so that maybe you can give me a suggestion/input/alternative)
    Problems = Solutions [perhaps?]
    1) Battery life = Switronix pocket base seems to assist this situation to shoot continuously
    2) Memory = The SD cards are $100+ and can record like 20 min RAW if that & you cannot format the card while in the camera 🙁
    3) Audio = external device as most DSLR’s for optimum use
    4) LCD screen in the back = impossible to see out doors .. so I would need an EVF or external monitor
    5) Crop fator = Metabones solved that problem.
    (could an Atomos Ninja 2 solve most of these problems for me?)
    I do have a Digital Juice Master rig with a matte box, Follow focus, and Cage so go along with this camera or any other one.

    I’ve seen your review on Sony’s NEX 5r and loved it! Perhaps go with your fave 7D because you believe it suits my feature film/ music video needs?
    So all this in consideration I really don’t know whether or not to take this camera as a consideration
    cause the 13 stops of dynamic range and shooting RAW seems legit and looks like a camera that I could grow with and learn to push to its fullest potential.

    I know this is a very extensive article! & I apologize I am simply extremely passionate about filmmaking and your inputs/ opinions.

    Thank you for being a Hero!

    1. Those are all great points about the BB Camera. I’ve had similar issues. I was planning on doing an in depth tutorial on how to use that camera and how to overcome it’s problems in a real world scenario. But Im still waiting on the new 4K model. Its been delayed every month since July now.

  2. There are so many tips here that I couldn’t take them in all in one viewing. I’ve bookmarked this post and will re-visit it at least 3 times. Actionable tips and I’m impressed with your planning methods Tom.

    I am always astounded with how little attention is given to how much energy a producer must commit to even a small scene – there are locations to research, location agreements to sign, actors to research and recruit, then contracts, batteries to charge up, equipment to check, instruction manuals to trawl through, pre-planning shot scenes, story boards, research, learning and re-learning etc. A lone indie movie producer especially must be physically fit, willing to continually learn new skills and be also mentally solid in my opinion. I spent 7 hours filming a 30 second scene a couple of months ago, I was physically exhausted and spent another 6 hours editing the 6 second scene proceeding this scene and outsourcing AE special effects to reinforce the scene, which made me really appreciative of well planned cinematic scenes that are given TLC.

    A lot of your advice I’ve taken in or gained inspiration from for an indie movie I’m putting together at the moment. When I’m between shots, and I’m looking for inspiration or a window to think outside of the box or push my limits I always check out Tom’s website or Tom’s YouTube channel as there is sometimes a direction that I’m not familiar with that takes me to new challenges or areas previously unknown.

    Using lighting, gels, paying attention to perspective, (and I can see the rule of thirds in Tom’s footage plus the 180 degree rule) well thought out shots + a bunch of stuff that I can see Tom is doing, but really can’t put my finger on how this has been achieved without a lot of thought and research, makes Tom’s work always intriguing and surprising + worthy of looking at again and again to gain new insight.

    Excellent cinematography and thank you for sharing your tips and experience Tom.

    Cheers,
    Kevin 🙂

    1. Thank you Kevin for this wonderful post!

      Yes planning is the key. specially when working on a small production with a tiny team or if it’s just you behind the camera. Many people think you only need planning when doing big films because there you have a lot of people to manage. But its actually the opposite. In a big production you have all these talented people who just specialize in one thing and so if you hire the right people they will take care of all those details for you, making your work look better. But on a small production you have to take care of the locations, lighting, costumes, makeup etc, sound, etc and have it all planned out so that you make sure you get everything just right on the day of the filming. Because filming requires so much energy and so many things happen that you can’t possibly think of all these things then. Best to be prepared days in advance so on the day of the filming you don’t have to worry that you’re forgetting something.

Leave a Reply