Two Approaches

I've seen two flicks in the past days that come at filmmaking from opposite ends of the spectrum. On one had, you have "Reverie" which is a super high-end image piece shot on a Canon still camera. On the other side, you have "Primer"--a film shot for $7,000.


Reverie


Primer

One film was full of color, depth of field, and all the other "filmic" pieces that make it a very artistic piece. The other looked like it was shot with a VHS camcorder that didn't have manual focus.

And while "Reverie" is fun to look at, I enjoyed my experience with "Primer" a whole lot more. Why?

Story.

"Primer" had one. Okay, "Reverie" has one too... but it's not very interesting. The images are interesting, but the story? Not really. "Primer" is a fascinating look at indie filmmaking. This piece was written, director, edited, and starred by one guy. He had a crew of five. And his movie went to the big screen and grossed over 60 times his budget.

That's good.

"Reverie"? A cool demonstration of the ability of a digital SLR to make pretty video clips.

There's absolutely a place for both, but as an independent filmmaker, I'd rather have "Primer" under my belt.

~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor