Special features or value
added content as film distributors often call it are a great thing to
have. These elements can be packaged with the home video release of
your movie. Whether it is a DVD, Blu-Ray or Holo-Disk (I made
that last one up), this will give consumers a reason to buy your
movie instead of renting it through video on demand or downloading it
illegally. It often makes a difference to me as I look at all of the
options up on the DVD rack. Making a feature film is a lot of work,
so why not spend a little more time to make your movie more appealing
to retailers and the eager movie watching public.
That is why I knew bonus
materials needed to be made for Cam-Girl, my first feature
which I wrote and directed. Producers and filmmakers should just
plan ahead for this the same way they make sure promotional stills
are taken during the production. On high budget movies they
interview the actors during the long stretches of down time while the
Director Of Photography makes sure the lighting is perfect. I
interviewed one of the actors, Bjorn Jiskoot Jr. while the two leads
were going over their lines. At the end of one of our days I asked
our make-up artist, Sarah Okun a few interesting things about her job
as she was cleaning her brushes. None of our production time was
wasted. Months after we wrapped on the movie, I took the opportunity
to interview our two lead actors Erin Nicole Cline and Joe Coffey
when they came in for an ADR session.
We also had about 30
minutes worth of video I shot on the set. I left the behind the
scenes camera running while we shot an action sequence. It helps to
have a camera that is only used for behind the scenes filming so you
can get footage of the camera and crew. People like seeing this
objective point of view, it really helps re-create the feeling of
being on set.
This footage was all used
by the editor of the movie, Curtis Norton to create an entertaining
behind the scenes documentary which is 30 minutes long. The last
thing I recorded was an interview of myself as the writer-director.
This was after everything else was edited so I was able to fill the
gaps and elaborate on things said in the other interviews. I also
recorded a writer-director commentary for Cam-Girl which was
so much fun since I have been listening to every commentary I could
get my hands on over the years. Commentary is the easiest bonus
feature to produce but there are two rules for making commentary
worth listening to.
- Do not comment on what we can see with our own eyes or know just from watching the movie. We don't need you telling us this is the scene where the character does this or that.
- Silence is deadly, just like in radio. So please do not stop and watch your movie. I know it's your baby, it is hard not to but just don't do it.
Look out for the home video release of the thriller
Cam-Girl, which will be packed with special features.
FOR MORE UNFORMATION ON Cam-Girl visit www.webcamthefilm.com
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