Gallery Update [Reply To All]

While post-production continues on comedy short Reply To All, taking on board some very helpful suggestions from our producer's trip to Cannes, you can check out the film's website here - including lots of new photos from the production weekend. It's been a long journey from the Kickstarter campaign to here, and there's still a lot of hard work to come, but based on the most recent cut, I can confirm that thanks to some excellent editing, the final film will be around 10 minutes long, and it will be awesome.

Milestones [Reply To All]

There are so many little milestones in the making of a film. After another day of work with the Reply To All editor and animator, we've finally got a rough cut that goes from the beginning right to the end. There is still a lot of work to take this rough cut to a polished final version, but for now this is our Golden Spike moment.

We've also replaced the scenes that Premier Pro decided to delete randomly. Everyone's a critic! And even in placeholder stills our family of animated co-stars are looking great.

 I've also completed a couple of other projects: my London Mechanism animation (a whim that became a minor obsession), plus a transformation scene that will appear soon in a promo video. I'll post more about that project soon. So there will be a short breather before our producer returns from Cannes and work continues on Reply To All.

"Reply To All" Post Production

Work continues on "Reply To All" - following the live shoot we've had two voiceover recording sessions and I've been working with our editor Oliver Cross on the rough cut. Watch out for more detailed updates on the Caramie Films website and facebook page very soon.

Crowdsourcing Part II: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

Some more thoughts about crowdsourcing, based on my experience as part of the “Reply To All” campaign team, my first experience of Kickstarter fundraising. This is part II - you can read part I of this article here.

Get All The Money

Fourth lesson: remember that you will not get all the money to spend on your project. Even if successful, a percentage is paid to the crowdsourcing website, and another large bite will be needed to pay for the rewards.

You Are A Filmmaker, Damn It!

Fifth lesson: Use your talents for the campaign. You are a filmmaker, damn it! (unless you are something else) and I’m fairly sure a Kickstarter campaign video is a kind of film. So produce it like a film – write a script, use locations wisely, rehearse, shoot in decent quality with good lighting and sound, and pay attention to editing and post-production. We had lots of lovely feedback about our campaign video in particular.

If you are not a filmmaker but, say, a graphic artist or musician – the same applies, make sure you incorporate your own artwork or music into your campaign, and give it the best production value you can.

Dive Straight In

Final lesson: before you dive straight in, I would recommend studying successful campaigns, particularly for similar projects. Follow or back one or two interesting-looking projects yourself so you get a feel for the process, and watch plenty of videos before making yours. We learnt a lot, particularly about choices of reward, and the importance of keeping the updates flowing, from other short film campaigns.

Thanks to our backers, we’ve already been able to shoot “Reply To All” at a standard that wouldn’t otherwise have been possible, and I can't wait to see the final result once the edit is complete. As director I found that the involvement of backers was a great motivator when we were under pressure, I felt I wanted to  keep going and create something worthy of all the support.

Crowdfunding is definitely an option for funding an artistic project provided you have the stamina and organization. There’s very little to lose and everything to gain. However at time of writing the Kickstarter success rate is about 43% (up to date figure here) so a Plan B is a good idea – despite all the hard work we put into achieving our result I know luck also played a part.

You can find out about “Reply To All” on the Caramie Productions website or Facebook page.

Crowdsourcing Part I: Get Your Kicks On Route 66

Some reflections on raising money through crowdsourcing, following the successful “Reply To All” Kickstarter campaign. I've been asked several times how we did it and I have to say I'm no expert, this is my first campaign, and these are just my thoughts and opinions. You can also find out more about “Reply To All” on the Caramie Productions website and Facebook page and I will continue to post updates on the production here.

Free Money From Strangers

First lesson: Kickstarter is not a way to get free money from strangers. Unless you already have a global brand or are lucky enough to go viral, you will be raising money by approaching people and asking them to give you stuff, just like any other form of fundraising: mostly this will be friends, family and colleagues and you will need to campaign hard through all your online or offline social networks.

And by hard I mean hard. I thought I was working hard until I saw the dedication some of my team-mates were putting in. Being part of a team will work in your favour – you will have more social contacts, and you will be able to push each other to succeed. We finished with 103 backers most of whom are known to at least one team member.

Watch The Money Roll In

Second lesson: you can’t just post your video then sit back and watch the money roll in. The aim is to engage with your backers and keep them up to date with your progress. We posted updates (text, written, photo or video) every few days. The campaign was planned in advance although we also updated on some events, such as the casting process, as they happened.

Hundreds Or Thousands Of Pounds

Third lesson: most backers will not sign up for rewards costing hundreds or thousands of pounds. Our high end rewards such as signed art materials, VIP screening tickets, being included in the film as an animation, and producer credits were of interest to a few backers - it's certainly worth offering these premium rewards, but it’s probably best to assume you will do most of your fundraising through lower level rewards. Most backers do want some level of access to your finished project, in our case digital download or DVD, and we had good take-up on coffee mugs. Everyone seems to like coffee mugs.

To be continued…

Reply To All Production Weekend - Update 3

Job done! (for now...) We wrapped the Reply To All shoot on Sunday evening after two full-on days in a hotel suite in Richmond. The biggest challenges were the time pressure - we had a lot of material to get through and it was a constant battle to get everything done while there was still enough daylight, and the continuity issues: our heroine Becki accumulates damage of sorts throughout the film so her appearance had to be right for each scene.

Actress Tracey Pickup prepares for a tricky POV shot

High points of the weekend were several difficult shots we managed to pull off, some in the original plan, others improvised on the day. A low point was on day two where, running out of time to complete the shot list I found myself demanding that Nick, the scriptwriter, come up with a shorter re-write of one scene on the fly. He came through - we completed the shoot and the rest will soon be cinematic history. Having the writer stay on as an integral member of the production crew is worthwhile even if it's not the Hollywood way...

DOP Oliver Cross sets up for a dolly shot. The Indie Dolly system seen here is far superior to my own homemade version (description here and here, tracking demo here). 

I'll post more thoughts and pictures from this shoot soon, and watch for more news on the Caramie website too. Meanwhile production continues - the next step is the voice-over recording session, then animation and editing will be taking place over the next few weeks and months. Thanks again to all the backers who made this production possible.

Reply To All Production Weekend - Update 2

On my way home from first day of shooting. It's been a challenge, we've achieved a lot today and I'm particularly happy with some of the shots we've had to improvise. However there's still a lot to do and we will have to pick up the pace on day 2 if we're going to complete the shot list. I'm exhausted right now but will post more tomorrow.

Reply To All Production Weekend - Update 1

With thanks to all our lovely Kickstarter backers, Reply To All goes into full production this weekend - our hotel-room shoot starts early tomorrow morning. We're as ready as we can be - we held a productive rehearsal earlier this week, and since then I've been busy finalising the shot list. Really looking forward to directing with an extremely talented cast and crew. I'll post more updates as we go. In the meantime there's more about this film, and others in the pipeline, over at the Caramie Productions website.

Can't track kicks quicker than a quick Kicktraq kick tracker tracking trick [Reply To All]

Audition Video [Reply To All]

Tracey Pickup, who will star as Becki in Reply To All - clips from audition video.

The Reply To All fundraising campaign is in it's final 6 days. Thanks to the generosity of those of you who have already backed us, and to those of you who have been spreading the word, so far we have raised £2,000 in pledges but still have some way to go: the clock is ticking and, under Dragon's Den Kickstarter rules, we will only receive the funds pledged if we reach our goal. Please check out our campaign here and, if you like the idea of Reply To All then please consider backing us. And of course please get in touch if you'd like to know anything about the film or the campaign.

A selection of the rewards available to backers: but check out the campaign for the full list.

Message from Becki our bride-to-be [Reply To All]

A video message from Tracey Pickup, the actress who will be playing Becki, the lead role and only non-animated character in our short film "Reply To All." To find out more about Tracey, our film and the rewards you can get by backing us, come join us over at Kickstarter

http://kck.st/1aX5EL0

and help us make this film awesome!

"Reply To All" Campaign Trailer

Crowd-funding campaign videos aren't supposed to be as funny as this! Watch our chucklesome 3 minute trailer for "Reply To All" and:

i) if we make you laugh once, maybe consider backing us

ii) if we make you laugh twice, give some serious thought to backing us

iii) if we make you laugh three times, reach down the back of the sofa and give us whatever you can spare After all, if we can be this funny in the campaign, just think how hilarious the actual film will be :-)

And please, please, please share us with your friends....

http://kck.st/1aX5EL0

- the "Reply To All" production team

Disaster Movie Competition [Reply To All]

Ever had a REPLY TO ALL disaster? 

Were you able to save the day?

Please share your story with us: info@caramie-productions.co.uk

Share the pain, spread the love.

We will select the 10 best stories, with the winners receiving an exclusive RTA-branded T-Shirt.

End of competition: 10th November 2013 at midnight (London, UK time)

The Reply To All Team x

Coming Soon To Your Inbox [Reply To All]

Coming soon: "Reply To All" - a short comedy written by Nick Boocock and produced by Sophie Caramigeas / Caramie Productions. I will be directing, and working with artist Jeremy Hay to produce the animated sequences. There's a main shoot in January 2014 and the film should be complete March 2014. There's more info on the Caramie website here: no poster yet but watch this space.

There will be a Kickstarter campaign for this film. I directed a campaign video a couple of weeks ago with the production team and it's with the editor now for some final touches - we're planning to go live in the next couple of weeks. So you'll be spoiled for choice - you can follow progress on this film here at the Sci-Fi Gene, on the Caramie website, on Twitter and on Kickstarter.

We've been auditioning for the main part as well - somehow we managed to get the original 450+ applications down to just the 6 we met with yesterday. I'm impressed by all of our final 6, it will be difficult to choose. Meanwhile I'm also working with our artist to develop the animated supporting cast.

More updates on this project soon.