Nic Barker

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WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
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Short Distance is my first feature film, a relationship drama about a long distance relationships. We see three different stories of long-distance couples which interweave and explore.


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HOW WILL WE DO IT?
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We have already produced a test scene of the film, which we have linked here for your consideration. Myself and cinematographer Filip Laureys are striving for an intimate visual aesthetic for the film, and will be making extensive use of the best cameras and lenses we can get our hands on that also allow us freedom of movement. These, along with lighting equipment, rigging and stabilisers, will be purchased to ensure complete flexibility and autonomy during production.

We aim to have finished rehearsal and begun shooting in early 2015.

The Deluxe Digital Package

The funds we raise from this campaign will be used on all aspects of the filmmaking process. These include:

PRODUCTION COSTS:

EQUIPMENT

We'll be shooting the film on two Canon C100 cameras, which luckily enough we already own. However we will need a fair bit of equipment to to get this film looking as good as it possibly can. This is equipment we've decided to purchase instead of renting, just so the production has the flexibility of schedule that we'll require. 
 

- We'll be shooting the film predominantly on the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 ART series lens, the world's fastest constant aperture zoom lens in its range. We'll need one of these for each of our cameras, and this quality glass will provide the production with speed and flexibility on set.
- Additionally, we'll be purchasing a 1x1 LED Lighting Panel as well as a few smaller panels for ease of lighting and filming our scenes. Camera rigging for stability such as the Zacuto C-Shooter will also be required, as well as necessary follow focuses, plus external video recorders for the highest possible picture quality. We have chosen this equipment due to its portability so we can shoot scenes on the fly with minimal setup - which is handy for the dynamic, semi-improvised scenes we're capturing.

In addition we also need to purchase hard drives and relevant storage media to ensure our hard work is well maintained and backed up securely.


CATERING

Everyone needs to eat, and the cast and crew of Short Distance is no exception. A chunk of what we raise will be used to keep the team nourished and hydrated, so we can concentrate on making the best possible film we can.

INSURANCE
No production is complete without it! To ensure the safety and financial security of our cast, crew and production, we will require both public liability and equipment insurance. This is a small, intimate film, but one can never be too careful.


POST PRODUCTION COSTS
A close to no budget feature film really requires a lot of dedication and work from the whole team, and thankfully for our budgeting, a lot of talented and generous people are donating their time to make our film better. But there's so many costs involved in post-production, including the production of masters, distribution, completion of colour correction and sound mixing as well as DCP deliverables and festival entry costs. All these things contribute to a fair amount of expense to finish the film.

Essentially, producing a feature film with a budget this small is HARD. REALLY HARD. Creatively, we have two wonderful actors working with and workshopping a nuanced, honest screenplay, supported an ever growing ensemble cast of great ability. We have a crew of equal ability to capture this magic and turn it into a poignant and moving story.

But it's the logistics, the planning, the scraping for everything we can get that is the real challenge. Our obstacles include filming in public spaces and just the execution of so many long, complex scenes - but with good planning, and the resources we need, we believe we can make an extraordinary film.