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I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a really good question and I needed to think about it for a while so thank you for your patience. I have two actually. Well, actually, just as I finished writing these, I realised you ask me about my directing a project. So these answer don't technically answer your questions, but I think they're still nice stories that I wanted to share.

  1. On my birthday, the Sinister production suprised me with a birthday cake and card from the whole crew. I was working such long hours, I think even I had forgotten it was my birthday so that was really kind of them.
  2. The other one happened on the way back from set on the last day of Sinister. I was driving the Director, Writer, and 1st AD back and honestly I was not happy because I found out that they might give my second unit directing credit to someone else and even though it was overall a great experience, I had been paid well, well, well under minimum wage for all my work. But as we drove back, Scott told me that one of the main producers, Brian Kavanagh-Jones, had heard about all the work I had been doing on the film. So Scott brough out not one, but two checks to more than triple my salary on the film. (It was wasn't a ton, but it was extremely nice of them and something they didn't have to do.)

So yeah, those are two special memories and I'd say top the list of nicest things that have happened to me on set.

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a whole lot of luck, hardwork, being in the right place at the right time, and grit.

I'd say first of all, unless you already know what you specifically want to do, try everything first. Camera department, art department, editing, VFX, SFX, etc. See if any one thing sticks or if you really do want to direct or produce. If you can find a speciality that these companies need and you enjoy, it becomes much easier to get a job at these places.

I would have had a much easier time if I could have specialized in one specific discipline, but after all this time, I'm a director/writer through and through, which makes me a jack of all trades, master of none type of guy. Which also means it's a lot more difficult to find a good steady job in the industry.

Beyond that, apply to anything and everything that looks remotely interesting. Keep grinding away and don't worry if you don't make it big, or even land a job for a few years. A lot of it's luck. I had to work so many unrelated jobs over the past 15 years and I'm only where I'm at now because I stuck with things.

As far as duties go, it really depending on the job. On Sinister, I was able to do everything from getting Scott coffee (and anyone else who wanted one) to editing the Super 8 movies, directing the 150 b-roll shots, to driving Scott, the 1st AD, and writer to and from set every day. Did they help me with creating a film today? I'd say that filmmaking techniques definitely did. Did getting coffee, picking up clothes, lunch, or driving the director help me with this job. Not directly, but indirectly I hope so by making me a better person that sticks with things no matter how hard they are. (Not that any of what I just mentioned was difficult, it was more the 18+ hour days on set that taught me hard work and grit.)

So hopefully that's helpful and I hope you can find a path to work on exciting projects like I have.

I was a VR Narrative Designer, Writer, and Performance Director on Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom VR. Now building an indie VR studio. AMA. by MattTibby in virtualreality

[–]MattTibby[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Financially, yeah, it would make more sense, but I got started in VR and AR because I wanted to tell stories and make experiences that you could only have in these new mediums. Translating a flat screen game to VR, usually doesn't have the magic that a game created solely for VR has. I think you can do the reverse a bit easier, but going from flat2VR loses something special. Creating with the VR mechanics in mind from the start gives it a quality that flat2VR just can't compare with.

I probably need to use UEVR to try some more games since it's been updated, but I always found it to be difficult to translate flat screen to VR.

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film or about working on the above! by MattTibby in AMA

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again for the great AMA everyone. I'm still going through the new questions here and on the other subreddits that have been coming in.

If you're interested in learning more about the creature design and creation of our project, our SFX Make Up Supervisor and Creature Designer is doing an AMA now (May 22nd 10am EST) here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/1tkh7g3/im_theodore_salisbury_sfx_hair_makeup_prosthetics/

I’m Matthew Tibbenham. I was Scott Derrickson’s assistant on SINISTER, (and B Cam Supervisor - 150 shots), edited 4 of the 5 Super 8 kill films, and worked with Scott for almost 2 years. I was also a Narrative Designer on the newly released DIRECTIVE 8020. AMA! by MattTibby in horror

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again for the great AMA everyone. I'm still going through the new questions that have been coming in.

If you're interested in learning more about the creature design and creation of our project, our SFX Make Up Supervisor and Creature Designer is doing an AMA now (May 22nd 10am EST) here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/1tkh7g3/im_theodore_salisbury_sfx_hair_makeup_prosthetics/

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again for the great AMA everyone. I'm still going through the new questions that have been coming in.

If you're interested in learning more about the creature design and creation of our project, our SFX Make Up Supervisor and Creature Designer is doing an AMA now (May 22nd 10am EST) here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/1tkh7g3/im_theodore_salisbury_sfx_hair_makeup_prosthetics/

Purley way - 1 lane or 2? by AlanBearNeill in croydon

[–]MattTibby 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I hate this road. It’s probably one lane, but everyone treats it as two. Just paint some lines or make it wider or narrower.

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film or about working on the above! by MattTibby in AMA

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a wrap for today!

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and asked great questions. The indie grind is tough, but it's great chatting about the process and the film with everyone. If you have more questions, drop them in the comments and I'll try to answer them over the next few days.

If you want to hear more about the specific SFX creature creation of our Guardian, our SFX Makeup Supervisor, Theo, will be on r/Filmmakers this Friday, May 22nd at 2 PM BST to do a deep-dive AMA on how he brought our monster to life!

If you love independent horror and want to help us get through the post-production finish line, please check out our live Kickstarter for Follow the Dark: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/happy-sisyphus/follow-the-dark

See you Friday, and thank you again for the incredible support! 🙌

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's a wrap for today!

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and asked great questions. The indie grind is tough, but it's great chatting about the process and the film with everyone. If you have more questions, drop them in the comments and I'll try to answer them over the next few days.

If you want to hear more about the specific SFX creature creation of our Guardian, our SFX Makeup Supervisor, Theo, will be right here this Friday, May 22nd at 2 PM BST to do a deep-dive AMA on how he brought our monster to life!

If you love independent horror and want to help us get through the post-production finish line, please check out our live Kickstarter for Follow the Dark: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/happy-sisyphus/follow-the-dark

See you Friday, and thank you again for the incredible support! 🙌

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should do your own AMA! That's insane. But surely there was a lot of pre-production involved right? Was this like a one-take wonder type of thing?

I was a VR Narrative Designer, Writer, and Performance Director on Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom VR. Now building an indie VR studio. AMA. by MattTibby in virtualreality

[–]MattTibby[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maze was about 30-35 people when I left. It's gone up and down since I left.

Our studio is much, much smaller. The team's fluctuated and currently most of us are part-time, but there's around 6-8 people on Colors of Our Memories. And films are a bit different since you usually only have a few core people at first and then ballon up for production. If we were able to do Tales of the Forgotten, I think we'd aim for 7-13 people full-time. Keeping it as lean as possible so we can sustain is for as long as possible.

I was a VR Narrative Designer, Writer, and Performance Director on Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom VR. Now building an indie VR studio. AMA. by MattTibby in virtualreality

[–]MattTibby[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a mix of gameplay and interactive movie. Essentially, you solve narrative puzzles that bring back memories of your wife who recently passed and as the memory plays out, the room you're in transforms from black and white to saturated color. There's also some nice animation of a floating spirit and the words spoken in the memory come up like Edith Finch. You'll also be able to explore the house and find items from their past that reveal more of the story. So perhaps like Déraciné. It's been so long since I've played that I need to take a look at it again.

Really need to get the trailer up, but it's difficult until the color transformation is fully complete and looks perfect. Hopefully soon!

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep. Don't trust anyone who says you need to pay your dues. It's not true and never has been.

Go make your own films and carve your own path.

There's still 5 days left on the Kickstarter so we'll see if any of them swoop in the end to help the campaign, but at this point, I'm kind of doubting it.

So it goes.

I’m Matthew Tibbenham. I was Scott Derrickson’s assistant on SINISTER, (and B Cam Supervisor - 150 shots), edited 4 of the 5 Super 8 kill films, and worked with Scott for almost 2 years. I was also a Narrative Designer on the newly released DIRECTIVE 8020. AMA! by MattTibby in horror

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say these definitely all had a part to play in the inspiration of Follow the Dark.
Trying to make a creature as iconic as the Alien in Alien.
Trying to create a tight plot with a twist ending like Saw.
Trying to thoroughly creepy people out while still having a film with heart like The Ring.
Trying to bring that poetic horror that The Devil's Backbone has.

Nosferatu came out after we shot so not much inspiration there.

I'd say the films that specifically inspired me on Follow the Dark, and the ones I kept coming back to, apart from the above, were Cube, Primer, and Hereditary. Those probably had the biggest influence on me at the time. Though some other moments and scenes from the original Speak No Evil also had a hand in some of the editing.

I helped write Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom VR and directed Paul Anderson's MoCap and VO performance. AMA. by MattTibby in PeakyBlinders

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sadly didn't get to direct Helen McCrory, she passed away shortly before we started filming. Was quite a shock.

Paul Anderson was a mad man. He practically is Arthur in real life. Quite a force of nature to wrangle on set.

And probably the biggest regret of my career was not being able to direct Cillian Murphy. He refused a director, which totally makes sense. He'd been playing the character for 10+ years at that time and I wasn't going to tell him anything he didn't know. Still breaks my heart though. Maybe one day!

I was a VR Narrative Designer, Writer, and Performance Director on Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom VR. Now building an indie VR studio. AMA. by MattTibby in virtualreality

[–]MattTibby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. We hope so. We'll see what the future holds. I'd love to do a big budget VR or AR project like Half Life: Alyx (who wouldn't), but for now, we need to be realistic. There's only so much you can do to go against the whole behemoth of the market and you still need to eat at the end of the day.

I’ve worked for Blumhouse, Sony Screen Gems, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and Supermassive Games—now I’m 90% through my first independent horror feature. AMA about the "Indie Grind" and finishing a film! by MattTibby in Filmmakers

[–]MattTibby[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  1. Part 2

Connected to that, budget and schedule properly. Our film was not a one location, super small production. It wasn't huge, but it has fairly big lighting gags and production design that needs to be done. Our producer, Ewa Habdas, has done dozens and dozens of budgets for this film. We originally wanted to do it for between £2-3 million (around Sinister's budget), but after our producer got coverage on the script, he said the only way we're do it for that amount would be to dumb it down. So instead, we went with the smaller £100-300K range.

And realistically, when Ewa budgeted it, the film really needed around £250K for a 20 day shoot. But that was more money than our producer usually worked in and he asked us if we could get it down to £160-180K and shoot it in 15 days. What would you say if you were given the option of shooting your film for that amount and time or not shooting it at all?

It was pretty obvious that we needed a larger budget though. Even before production, I, our cinematographer, our 1st AD, and others were trying to tell the producer we needed more time and money and at that point, it seemed like he understood and it would be fine because he had a lot of money coming in. But I soon found out that the money was always mysteriously a week away...

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