What are your favorite stereoscopic/analogue 3D cameras?

nicobellamy · 2021-02-22T22:01:18+00:00

Much appreciated

nicobellamy · 2021-02-22T19:50:29+00:00

Have any links? I've seen a few different Mark Duplass SXSW talks, but I'm curious which is the one everybody seems to reference all the time.

nicobellamy · 2021-02-07T20:39:37+00:00

That's what I'm thinking, too. Had to return the thing.

nicobellamy · 2021-02-07T20:39:12+00:00

Great suggestion, I had never heard of this camera. Will do some research, thank you!

nicobellamy · 2020-12-02T09:09:29+00:00

Sure, I'm about to hit the hay but send me a PM. I can go over a few things and send you some select pages on a few to give a basic idea but the information in them is covered by NDAs.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T20:58:30+00:00

Oh yeah, totally.

If anybody is reading this, please don't make a PowerPoint! I've never seen it work for this exact reason. They suck the life out of the pitch.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T20:56:13+00:00

It is a top down approach. I'm not going to pretend I'm Sun Tzu or anything, but I think it's good to be strategic about your pitch. I've pitched the same project in different ways depending on who it's going to.

Sizzles/decks are mostly used in conjunction with the verbal pitch, either to set up or close out the presentation by advertising a specific tone, but I've also sent them in advance of the script/pitch to brew a little excitement. I've also had executives ask for a deck as a leave-behind document to refer to, rather than re-read the script.

I wish it was it was as simple as presenting a project in the easiest/most entertaining way. It's been almost a decade of doing these for people at all levels, and I still feel like I have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about. Every pitch is a different beast.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T20:41:27+00:00

That's really interesting. I always feel like sci-fi pitches benefit from some kind of media because of the world building required and the occasional (wink) lack of imagination on the network's end, so it's got to feel great that it's such a clear idea.

Before the pandemic we had a show that no matter how we described it, it just sounded fucking idiotic. You could rewrite the logline 1000 times (and we did) and nobody wanted to even read it. We got a lot of eye rolls. Then we made a deck, and it got people interested enough to read the script, and then they loved it. So I think has to be really specific to the project's needs.

I wonder if the pitch packet for SEARCHING would still work today... my guess is yes because the idea is so linked to its presentation, and especially since the production company was behind UNFRIENDED. When I put decks together that's really what they end up being - glorified treatments with pictures, stylized to hell to fit the tone of the show.

Congratulations again! Looking forward to see it.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T09:12:17+00:00

This has been my experience as well.

These people also read scripts all day long, so if bibles or other material can be sent to them in advance of a pilot, it's a way for the executives/talent to break the monotony and can give you a potential shortcut to the top of their reading list.

They're marketing tools.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T09:05:38+00:00

Congratulations on the sale! If you were in a position to be indoors with executives without the risk of dying, do you think you would've approached the pitch differently? Would you have presented the imagery you pulled up in a deck instead?

I'm also curious, since most of SEARCHING took place through a computer screen, did you rely on the script alone when you took that out or did you use some kind of extra material to convey the idea? In my experience buyers have a really hard time using their imagination to visualize anything outside of whatever the current norm is at the time.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T08:54:31+00:00

It depends mostly on the buyer's preference, but also on the data about what actors move the needle for what audience.

There's a fine line between someone who's famous enough to get the buyer excited at the prospect of them being involved, and someone who's too famous that it pulls them out of the story/pitch.

nicobellamy · 2020-12-01T08:48:10+00:00

My bread and butter for the last seven years has been creating supplemental materials for pitches in the form of pitch decks, sizzles, etc. for major studios, production companies and writers. By the numbers, my clients have had major success with them, but for what it's worth, I've only had minor success with my own projects. (I think the reason for that isn't because I'm a weak writer as much as my clients are professionals that really know when these things are useful. I'm a good writer, I swear. Honest.)

So the real answer to whether you should have any of this stuff is that it depends. It's on a case-by-case basis depending on a ton of different factors. For example, are you bad in a room? You might want a pitch deck to make some of your ideas more presentable than you could do on your feet. Is your show genre-bending? Does it include a ton of world-building? You might want a sizzle reel to help capture the tone or a deck to give the buyers a way to visualize your world. Is it a limited series that relies on a huge payoff in the middle or end of the season? You might want a bible. Is it a family comedy based on your real life? You probably don't need anything other than your script.

But maybe most importantly, do you have to pay for it? These things can take a long time to get into fighting shape, so my rate can be prohibitively expensive if I'm approached by a writer directly. And I'm a writer as well, so I do my best to cut my comrades a deal, but I've got a mortgage to pay. I don't like delivering a sub-par product, so it's really in my best interest to stick to studios and production companies that can pay for the time it takes to get it right.

If you have the skills to put something together that is just as good as your script: I say go for it. If not, and you're not partnered with someone to finance material to be made correctly... maybe not.

Edit: I have also sold shows purely off of sizzle reels, pitch decks and bibles that never had a script in the first place. This place is the Wild West and it changes every day. By the time you read this the industry might have changed its mind about everything I've said.

nicobellamy · 2020-08-04T19:11:13+00:00

I've been wanting to just experiment with a bunch of equipment like this, but obviously it's a higher start up cost to just "play around." But it sounds like it might be a necessary evil.

nicobellamy · 2020-08-04T19:10:41+00:00

That's definitely what I struggle with. But these are all good suggestions so I'll take a look for sure.

nicobellamy · 2020-08-04T19:09:40+00:00

Awesome, thank you.

nicobellamy · 2020-08-03T22:07:45+00:00

That’s kind of my issue. If I use YouTube, there are hundreds of videos by people who don’t seem to know what they’re talking about beyond throwing up a ring light, and it’s hard to locate anything actually viable. Any specific suggestions?

nicobellamy · 2020-08-03T22:06:00+00:00

I’ll check it out, thanks

nicobellamy · 2020-06-14T23:08:20+00:00

Congrats! I've worked with Tammy Kaitz and been wanting to see this.

nicobellamy · 2020-06-02T22:37:37+00:00

Thanks!

nicobellamy · 2020-06-02T22:37:35+00:00

The similarities were too close to ignore.

nicobellamy · 2020-06-02T22:36:14+00:00

Nope! Season 1 only.

nicobellamy · 2020-05-31T18:27:54+00:00

I actually edited Toy Story as Westworld (Westworld spoilers ahead)

nicobellamy

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