Posted by Chris | February 15th, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Behind The Scenes, Development, Feature Films, Learning, Play It Safe, Pre-Production, Writing | Tags: Andrew Bujalski, Blake Snyder, Chris Pahlow, Jack White, Mumblecore, Robert McKee, The Duplass Brothers

For the past twelve months, Chris and I have been developing the script that has turned into PLAY IT SAFE. As the project now approaches the production phase, we occasionally remark with wonder that, “Hey, we’re making a movie!” Though a lot of work remains – really, the bulk of it – to get to the finishing point, reflecting on the project’s humble origins to the broad, collaborative task it has now become is quite inspiring.

Posted by Chris | February 1st, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Articles, Behind The Scenes, Development, Feature Films, Play It Safe, Production Stories, Tips, Writing | Tags: Chris Pahlow, Embracing Limitations, Jack White, Voltaire

When Jack and I agreed to write the screenplay, we both knew that realising that (seemingly simple) and was going to be very challenging. Neither of us had written a feature length script before, and we both enjoyed procrastinating as much as the next writer. To combat this, we decided to set up a bunch of commandments or rules to help us along the way.

Posted by Chris | January 31st, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Behind The Scenes, Development, Directing, Feature Films, Play It Safe, Quick Updates, Writing | Tags: Chris Pahlow, Jack White

Over the next few months I’m going to do my best to not only keep you updated with our progress as we begin shooting Play It Safe, but to also fill you in on its development during 2011. The first step in charting our journey must be a discussion of the aims I had when I set out to make Play It Safe.

Posted by Chris | January 30th, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Behind The Scenes, Feature Films, Play It Safe, Producing | Tags: Chris Pahlow

Yesterday I received the first batch of “pitch cards” for Play It Safe. I’m not sure if this is a standard practice for indie films. I’ve certainly never seen one before (at least not when a film is in pre-production), but it’s something that I think makes sense and that I’m really excited about.

So what the hell is a pitch card?

Posted by Chris | January 24th, 2012 | 2 Comments | Categories: Articles, Behind The Scenes, Directing, Feature Films, Learning, Play It Safe, Working With Actors | Tags: Chris Pahlow, VCA

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent a lot of time last year trying to learn as much as possible about the different aspects of my craft as a filmmaker and director. One idea that I came across again and again was that a director cannot work well with actors unless they have some acting experience. It’s a simple idea that I think holds a lot of truth. Would you get up to conduct an orchestra if you had never played an instrument?

Posted by Chris | January 23rd, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Directing, Feature Films, Play It Safe, Pre-Production, Quick Updates, Stills | Tags: Chris Pahlow, Daniel Gregg, Jaque Fisher, Maia Tarrell, Nick Kato, Spencer Gigacz

Just a quick update today. The last few weeks have been very productive and all the pieces are starting to fall into place. This culminated in our first big workshop / rehearsal / gear test on Friday night.

Posted by Chris | January 14th, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Cameras, Other FIlms & Videos | Tags: Cinema 5D, Koo, RED, Scarlet-X, Sebastian Woeber

Back when RED first announced their Scarlet camera it caught a lot of people’s attention with the promise of 3k resolution for $3000. Before it was released I secretly hoped that they would keep their promise (even though I knew it was unlikely) so that I could buy two Scarlets to shoot Play It Safe. [...]

Posted by Chris | January 13th, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Inspiration, Other FIlms & Videos | Tags: Dylan Wiehahn, Seagull, Young Magic

The other day I caught the new music video for Young Magic which was Directed and DP’d by the very talented Dylan Wiehan. I’ve been following Dylan’s work since he directed the video for “Company” by Melbourne band Seagull about a year ago. I thought that the “Company” video was really gorgeous (as is all [...]

Posted by Chris | January 10th, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Cameras, Cinematography, Learning | Tags: 5D Mk II, 7D, AF100, C300, F3, FS100, GH2, Philip Bloom

Camera virtuoso Philip Bloom recently posted a christmas shootout he did comparing a variety of large sensor cameras including the usual DSLRs (including the 7D, 5D, and a hacked Panasonic GH2), as well as camcorders like the Sony FS100 and the Panasonic AF100, and some more expensive ones like the Sony F3 and the new Canon C300.

Posted by Chris | January 8th, 2012 | No Comments | Categories: Articles, Directing, Learning, Play It Safe, Tips | Tags: Chris Pahlow, Jaque Fisher

When I decided to make Play It Safe back in early 2011, I knew that I had a great challenge ahead of me. Even though I finished my first festival short back in 2005, the fact that I had never attended a proper film school weighed heavily on my mind. I’ve worked on many different projects over the last few years, but for the most part the production processes were nothing like what might occur on a Hollywood film set…