any other Christian film makers here?

[Mona05]

anyone else here into film making?

as of right now, i'm working on writing a script for a film i want to make next school year called Judgment Day. it show the different lives of a girl completely devoted to God and a girl that is a "believer" but really doesn't do anything for God and kind of "whores" herself out, does drugs and a few other things that a true, devoted believer wouldn't do.
it's only about 2 pages long right now, but message me your email or something and i can send it to you to read. i want opinions about it. =)  

[Matt Pniewski]

I don't make Christian films. I make films with morals, yes, but I'm not interested in making religious films.... The best religious films have always been movies that could be watched and enjoyed from a secular standpoint.

Look at "Dogma" or the "Oh, God" series. Actually, I find "Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter" despite all it's blasphemy, leaves you with more to think about than the Left Behind series or Passion of the Christ.

The goal is not to give a direct point of view, but to let people think about their own. That's why Passion of the Christ turned people away, but Dogma brought them in. Dogma had a Poop Monster and it got people more interested in Christ than Passion... Passion brought in people who were already religious and idiots who would buy out entire theaters even if nobody was going....


www.halffishmovie.com

That's my current film. We film in October. It's costing ten thousand to produce.


It's got violence, partial nudity, and implied sex... As much as you can have and still be a PG-13 level film (because I want to make movies for people like me, and most people like me are twelve and thirteen). If you want to look beyond the hilarious dark comic element, it's about people's relationships... We have two people pretty much self destructing unnecessarily when a third person ruins their balance.... We have that third person, a beautiful woman, getting in the way of the two friends DESPITE her technically being the only honest person in the script. Surely you've seen when paranoia about the "Third Person" destroys a friendship.

You don't want a story about that, well, that's okay, because this is STILL a story driven around the plot, which is a couple of scam artists trying to sell gullible saps what they claim to be "Mermaid Fetuses".


Your movie sounds terrible because it's obnoxiously preachy and lacks any sort of subtlety. You have to get us more interested in the character than that, and THEN have her take a downward spiral.....

What's her goal? What does she want to accomplish by the end of the movie? And what gets in her way..... You have a "character of convenience" who exists just to demonstrate a point, not a character who has a struggle we can get behind. And if you have all this about her, but only two pages, your script is WAY too expository....


Maybe I'm quick to judge. Or maybe I've been working in the Chicago Independent film Industry since I was nineteen and have worked on over twenty films as an Assistant Director, Production Manager, Second Unit Director, Script Supervisor, or Production Assistant and actually know what I am talking about.  

[Mona05]

Matt Pniewski

Your movie sounds terrible because it's obnoxiously preachy and lacks any sort of subtlety. You have to get us more interested in the character than that, and THEN have her take a downward spiral.....

What's her goal? What does she want to accomplish by the end of the movie? And what gets in her way..... You have a "character of convenience" who exists just to demonstrate a point, not a character who has a struggle we can get behind. And if you have all this about her, but only two pages, your script is WAY too expository....

i completely understand where you're coming from. and i guess the thread topic wasn't to clear, by Christian film makers was Christians that happen to be into film making. haha

as of right now, like i said, it's only 2 pages long right now and i don't have it completely developed yet. all of the things that i mentioned in my first post was for the overall script, that's not all in the first 2 pages. the thing about it though is that the devoted believer, Grace, is not pushy and you can't really tell that she's a Christian just yet in the story. the only real thing that gives out that she's a believer is when she goes to youth group. there are parts where she is praying, worshiping, or reading her bible, but it's not entirely clear what she's doing. when she prays, it'll look more like she's upset or something along those lines, where she just rests her forehead on her hands. when she's worshiping, it'll look more like she's dancing to the music she's listening to. when she reads her bible, it'll look more like she's just reading a normal book.

i'm thinking that the film will more follow the second girl, Audrey, showing a sort of change of heart in her. Grace is there to be more of a 'mentor' to her as this happens. the only real thing i have planned for the end is that it will take place when Jesus returns and both girls will just be in amazement of Him. i'm not wanting this to be really pushy, but i want to make people think about if Jesus is real, what will happen to them the day he returns. i'm still working out a lot of the kinks.

plus, i've only really been into film making for about 3 years and i'm only 16.  

[Matt Pniewski]

Alright. Sounds like you didn't take offense to what I said and are actually thinking, trying to adapt the story into something better.


Trust me, I was writing terrible things for a while too. If I ever show people my second short film, it'll show I still am....

You gotta tear apart your script constantly. Send it to other people (I have cowriters because I can't make needed changes, because I fall too much in love with my characters).

Sounds like a bit more of a developed character study now that you expanded on it. Heavily thematic, too. Think you might be a bit better off than I once thought.

I'm twenty three, been doing this for four years, making next to no money.... Working on other peoples stuff to pay for my own. Just warning you about what's to come. Nobody goes into this business to make money.  

[Mona05]

no, not at all. =)

to tell the truth, i've not even been writing screenplays for a year yet (i just took the class first semester), and it's not even what i really want as a career. i just got this idea for a film and figured i should at least make one actual film that gets produced in my 4 years (more like 3 because i didn't take screenwriting til i was a sophomore) of tv classes. lol i'm more wanting to be a music video director.  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

I pretty much agree with everything that Matt has said. Though I'd be careful about stereotyping your main characters too much. Just because someone is a "devoted follower" doesn't mean they can't be involved in things they shouldn't be involved in- because it's a relationship and a process.

It's similar to a book I'm sort of working on now (though it's still in the character bio/backstory stages). The main character, Gabriel, is a Christian, but only sort of. He was raised Catholic, believes all the right things, but doesn't do all the right things. At the beginning of the story, he's just getting out of prison for involuntary manslaughter. And though he doesn't do any drugs, he has had sex outside of marriage, and struggles with anger on a daily basis. He is by no means the stereotypical "devoted follower."

Adding things like these to your characters gives them depth and dimension, and makes them seem more like dynamic people than two-dimensional ideas. 3nodding  

[Priestley]

I have neither writing nor film experience, but I do have an opinion on the responses to the OP.

Matt: I know you are experienced. You might be reasonably confident as a result, but I think you came off somewhat arrogant in your post. There's a time and a place to advertise your movie. Holding it up as an example of good filmmaking seems to me a little pretentious and in-your-face. Listing how much experience you have had doesn't necessarily mean you're good at what you do. Most of what you have said has seemed common sense to me and, as I said, I have experience in neither field. I don't even watch that many movies or read that many books, but I know a compelling storyline and character when I see them. The woman is not going to have a blockbuster right off the bat and especially not with 2 pages of script and little character development. She also won't use terminology familiar to you if she has been taking media classes for such a short time.

If you're going to give your opinion on what she has, at least ask her to send it to you and read it before you pass judgement. I think Mona shows promise. It'd be a shame to crush it under the weight of your ego.  

[Mona05]

Priestley

I have neither writing nor film experience, but I do have an opinion on the responses to the OP.

Matt: I know you are experienced. You might be reasonably confident as a result, but I think you came off somewhat arrogant in your post. There's a time and a place to advertise your movie. Holding it up as an example of good filmmaking seems to me a little pretentious and in-your-face. Listing how much experience you have had doesn't necessarily mean you're good at what you do. Most of what you have said has seemed common sense to me and, as I said, I have experience in neither field. I don't even watch that many movies or read that many books, but I know a compelling storyline and character when I see them. The woman is not going to have a blockbuster right off the bat and especially not with 2 pages of script and little character development. She also won't use terminology familiar to you if she has been taking media classes for such a short time.

If you're going to give your opinion on what she has, at least ask her to send it to you and read it before you pass judgement. I think Mona shows promise. It'd be a shame to crush it under the weight of your ego.

thanks =)
but i don't think he came off as really arrogant. and you're right the experience he has doesn't mean he's good at it, but it doesn't mean he's bad at it either. i don't know how well the final product will even come out because this is only the second full screenplay i've written and the first that i actually plan on producing.

let me know if anyone wants to read what i have so far. i've already talked to one of my other Christian friends about it and she told me to read Revelations to see what it says about the end times. so as of right now,it's staying 2 pages long until after i've read all of Revelations.  

[Matt Pniewski]

Priestley

I have neither writing nor film experience, but I do have an opinion on the responses to the OP.

Matt: I know you are experienced. You might be reasonably confident as a result, but I think you came off somewhat arrogant in your post. There's a time and a place to advertise your movie. Holding it up as an example of good filmmaking seems to me a little pretentious and in-your-face. Listing how much experience you have had doesn't necessarily mean you're good at what you do. Most of what you have said has seemed common sense to me and, as I said, I have experience in neither field. I don't even watch that many movies or read that many books, but I know a compelling storyline and character when I see them. The woman is not going to have a blockbuster right off the bat and especially not with 2 pages of script and little character development. She also won't use terminology familiar to you if she has been taking media classes for such a short time.

If you're going to give your opinion on what she has, at least ask her to send it to you and read it before you pass judgement. I think Mona shows promise. It'd be a shame to crush it under the weight of your ego.

As far as I'm concerned, I said what needed to be said. Because what I have most experience with (and being) is somebody who is going out with a half baked scripts and big dreams before getting royally kicked. Don't want that to happen to anyone.

And I take any chance to scream the name "Half Fish" around.