By Joe Aliberti, Matthew Helderman, & Luke Taylor
Technology is permanently advancing.Even while reading this post — technology is getting smaller, faster, and less cluttered. A film set is no different – as the tech space increases in productivity, yielding smaller and more efficient products, so too the film space moves in a parallel fashion. Today, there are more ways than ever to utilize technology in the filmmaking process & business alike.
Roughly 50% of films produced today fall under the $3 million budget mark. Film sets have less people, less equipment, and make less of an impact on the communities where they shoot. The tools needed to make a film today are smaller and cheaper than ever before, leading to: (1) Individual film sets becoming less dense and less populated (2) while at the same time the number of film sets in general are multiplying exponentially. Again we see a very similar trend happening with technology; An iPhone, equipped with computing capacity of super-computers twenty years ago – is small enough to fit in your palm.
Clearly a shift is occurring. Hollywood studios are financing and producing fewer films, while independent filmmakers are finding ways to make more films for pennies. Technological advances & altering economic conditions are responsible for this shift. Filmmakers today are taking advantage of small digital cameras in a similar way that the “New Wave” directors did in the mid to late 60s.
In decades past, solutions came from studios providing more money to their film productions – a practice that was feasible in the film industry years ago (e.g. Heaven’s Gate, Jaws). Today, most of these same studios still exist, but no longer solely finance productions – instead relying on outside investment to off-set their risk and liability. Under this new model, studio directors have to find creative solutions on set, on a whim and on the fly in order to make their day – let alone deliver a final picture. If studio directors have to adhere to this protocol, just imagine what independent low budget directors are having to do? Luckily, technology simplifies the process.
At any point in time – pre-production, production, or post-production – problems will most certainly arise. Technology has provided a streamlined way to deal with many of them, and most of the time remotely. An Assistant Director can open up a scheduling & timing application on an iPad to see where the production stands in terms of set-up times, how long an actor have been in the makeup chair, and how many more shots they have before dismissing said actor for lunch. The Assistant Director can instantly view a snap shot of pertinent information provided through a streamlined software application slim enough to fit in their palm.
The call sheet, directions to set, and script sides are sent out via email at time of wrap each day. It’s virtually impossible to misplace any document associated with a film set today – one simply performs a spotlight search on a mobile or desktop device to quickly locate.
Similarly, a script supervisor can work wirelessly from a laptop connected to the Director’s monitor, and take continuity screen shots without having to take their eye off the script. During post, the Editor can then access the script supervisor’s lined script & adjoining notes from a Dropbox file without having to contact anyone.
At BondIt, we’ve worked on a collective 50+ feature films & have experienced changes in the ways in which technology is re-shaping day-to-day protocol.
Taking our previous project experience in dealing with these entertainment unions on, we’re utilizing a similar methodology for simplifying the processes.
Building tools for both the film producers & the union representatives to alleviate, streamline and simplify the process is the ultimate goal here at BondIt. Taking a process that previously required countless hours, personnel and correspondence and replacing it with a simple tool to guide & complete all union tasks.
The film business has seen radical overhauls time & time again – most obviously, the overwhelming change from photochemical cinematography to digital technology has played the biggest part in the changing technological landscape of the film industry. Traditionalists will rant and rave about the low-quality “amateur” films being made with Red, Canon & Alexa platforms, but the reality of the situation boils down to economics and additional options. Digital cinematography is another look or style of filmmaking that adds to the now never ending visual discourse we have access to. Economics & options are the basis for many changes – the film business being no different.
In the end, what does all of this change suggest for the film business? From what we can see – a never ending process of new & exciting opportunities. Budgets will continue getting smaller leading to more films being produced on an annualized basis. Distribution methods will continue globalizing and aggregating through big companies (Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu) and smaller start-ups as well – leading to accessibility for larger audiences.
The new film business & filmmaking process is an exciting place to be — we’re proud to bring BondIt to the ever changing environment of solving problems through advancing technologies.
BondIt was founded by independent film producers Matthew Helderman & Luke Taylor of Beverly Hills based Buffalo 8 Productions. Having produced 30+ feature films, the team recognized a dilemma in the production process — union deposits — and launched BondIt to resolve the situation to assist producers & union representatives alike.
