Author: Brian Tolle

Action!

Getting ready for the first set-up, scene 69. Jôrge has just gotten dumped.

The original camera we had hoped to film with never shipped, and we ended up getting a different great little camera. We are filming with a Sony FS100, recording the images directly to Quicktime ProRes – bypassing the compression from the camera. We end up with pretty amazing images.

We’ve been able to get the entire camera package, sound equipment, lights and some grip equipment for less than it might cost to rent just the camera package for the four weeks of filming.
It helps that we’ve only gotten as much equipment as three people can carry, and the whole filming package has to fit into my Smart car.

But with this modest kit we are planning on capturing some beautiful images and funny performances in what is shaping up to be quite a unique little film.
We can’t wait to share it with you.

When Brian started writing All the Others Were Practice, he made the decision that the movie could go out into the world. Often small budget films end up being shot in a few locations, but there are so many great locations across San Francisco that is seems a shame to lock ourselves in a room.

We will be all over San Francisco from the Sunset to the Mission, not at the tourist spots but in the neighborhoods, on the streets. The city is reflected in the characters. It defines where they live where they eat and how they get around. Not a backdrop or a setting, San Francisco plays it’s part in shaping our characters futures.

Over the 22 days of filming, we will be covering the city. Seventy-nine locations. That’s a lot. A whole lot. Our online coordination tools will help us corral talent and crew as we move to as many as four locations in a day. By keeping crew to a minimum we can also minimize our foot print – with less cars to park and tents to pitch we can move quickly. Still it will be a bit of a feat to pull it off.

If you’d like to watch behind-the-scenes as we film All the Others Were Practice, be sure to join us as a crowdfunder.

One of the ways we plan to keep down costs on All the Others Were Practice is by owning as much of the equipment as possible. New camera technologies allow us to buy the equipment for less than it would cost to rent it. Plus we save on insurance costs and the equipment is always available to us with no extra rental fees. If we have to re-schedule a day or get a pick-up shot we can schedule it around the actors and locations and not the equipment.

The downside of using new cameras is, well they’re new.

In Early January, we ordered a Blackmagic Digital Cinema Camera. The camera seems to be a perfect fit for our production, with RAW images captured directly to solid state drives. But the camera is still back-ordered, and we have no way of knowing if it will be shipped in time for us to complete our tests before production begins.

We have a Plan B camera package, but we’ll wait until the beginning of April before we abandon the Blackmagic.

In the spring of 2011, I decided that I was ready to make a feature film. It was a simple idea – make a funny, beautiful film on a budget that will allow it the best chance of breaking even.

I had just finished a script. We’d had some readings and gotten good feedback. It’s a film that I’d like to see, the comedy of an average guy looking for love. He’s thoroughly queer but doesn’t fit into many of the typical stereotypes seen in film.

As the summer started, I began working with a producer. We tried a crowd funding campaign, held a few rounds of auditions, and applied for some grants that seemed a sure bet. We planned on filming in the fall.

Well, fast forward a little more than a year.

Every source of funding that I had hoped to tap has proven much harder than expected. It’s been frustrating, because we know we have a great film, and the only thing stopping us from filming it has been a lack of money, which is a lame reason.

While we’ve been working on funding, I’ve been lucky enough to make some short films. With The Beginning and Obit, I’ve been able to refine the production methods that we’ll use in All the Others Were Practice. I’ve also been able to use their productions as a template to make All the Others an even leaner production than it could have been a year ago.

I’ve been able to whiddle the budget down to a point where I can cover the basics. We’ve built this site to help us share the film with people like you, in the hopes that you can help us fill in some of the gaps in the budget. In return, you’ll be one of the first people to see the All the Others Were Practice.

We begin filming in April 2013.

If you’ve read this far, consider becoming a Crowd Funder.

Share this film with all of your friends. Tell them to share it with their friends.

Thank you,

– Brian Tolle

San Francisco Bay Area comedian Charlie Ballard has joined the cast of All the Others Were Practice as Jôrge.

Charlie has been seen nationally on Logo, Comedy Central and NBC – locally he regularly performs stand-up, and produces the Hella Gay Comedy Show.

Our shirt store is a fun way to support All the Others Were Practice.

The shirt store let’s you choose the style, color, & artwork to create your own unique shirt. There’s thousands of combinations, which one are you?

All the Others Were Practice is a human-scale production, an independent film in the truest possible sense. Our small, talented cast and crew use our efficient production pipeline to achieve clean, sharp images – with aesthetics driven by the story.

Our production budget covers all expenses related to the 24 day filming schedule: development and pre-production; actor and crew wages, location rentals, props, wardrobe, food and camera & lighting equipment.

This week, I’m in New York City for the IFP Independent Filmmakers Conference. The sessions are very informative, and I’m meeting filmmakers from all over the country that are making films of a similar size to ours.

I can’t wait to get back to SF and our production team to start implementing some of what I’m learning.