Would you take a RED camera into the wilds of Vietnam

[Brigham Edgar]

For real? Ok 'Nam just got wiped off my list of location shoots forever. No one should have to approve of my scripts, f-them. I understand nearly every Vietnam-set film from the U.S. was shot in the Philippines anyways... :sorcerer:

-Noah

Settle down...'f-them'...i mean really. That's just the way it is and not just in Vietnam. Your gonna find countries all over the world with restrictions and conditions, you may not agree with em but if you want the location bad enough just get on with it. Plenty of films have been shot there and i'm sure they didn't say 'f-them, they can't read my precious script'. hmy:

 

[I. Wilson]

Shooting right now in the Melbourne winter and no ice packs here

Keeping the camera shaded will be the issue; definitely have cool packs on standby but unless ambient temperature is over 35° or so, I don't think you'll need them as long as you're shaded.

Thanks Cail, we are also Melbourne based, and its been pretty cold of late.
Ian

 

[I. Wilson]

Hey we're all a little shameless here.

Just out of curiosity, where do you sell these movies to? How do your investors make their money back so fast?

Hi Tom, the film we have just completed only has a AUD$1.5M budget, We have a 40% rebate scheme set up by Government providing the audit meets the criteria. The balance is easily covered with a local TV sale and the rest is cream.

Ian

 

[Dylan Macleod CSC]

Roar

I just did a doc with the RED where we shot in CHILE, AUSTRALIA, INDONESIA and AFRICA.

Everything from hot and humid (Indo) to dry and hot (Chile).

We had aerials in almost every location. In Indonesia we got up to 15,000'.

The only time the camera overheated was in CHILE when we bagged the camera (and the heat vents!) because of dust. We learned that lesson...don't block the vents!

Flawless from then on.

Be not afraid!

Dylan Macleod
Cinematographer
Toronto, Canada
www.dylanmacleod.com

 

[Dan McCain]

I just finished a commercial shoot in northern nigeria. Very hot days, probablly 110 degrees. The camera did over-heat one day but was fine after a brief rest.

I shot with build 16 and the only problems i experienced was a locked shutter to 1/24 which was resolved with a build upgrade. I also often had to boot the camera up to 5 to 10 times to get it to load. Amazing to have a problem solved over the internet!

 

[jpp]

For real? Ok 'Nam just got wiped off my list of location shoots forever. No one should have to approve of my scripts, f-them. I understand nearly every Vietnam-set film from the U.S. was shot in the Philippines anyways... :sorcerer:

-Noah

After the U.S. dropped more explosive tonnage on Vietnam than all of WWII combined, in addition to chemical weapons and napalm, with estimated casualties at 3-5 million people, the "victorious" North Vietnamese followed the usual pattern of decimated countries: internal repression and fear and rejection of outsiders. The war was only 35 years ago, and the U.S. applied crippling economic sanctions for years more, with demands for reparations (going to the U.S.!), so the suspicion level of "foreigners" is understandable.

Besides, they're Commies, they don't love freedom of expression the way George Bush does. And it goes without saying that if you need government assistance in the U.S. to make a movie (say, cooperation of the military or law enforcement agencies), they never, ever demand to read the script first or require "positive" portrayals.... Unfortunately, that's a joke. If you want U.S. government assistance, you'll need government script approval.

 

[DanWood]

After the U.S. dropped more explosive tonnage on Vietnam than all of WWII combined, not including chemical warfare and napalm, with estimated casualties at 3-5 million people, the "victorious" North Vietnamese followed the usual pattern of decimated countries. Internal repression and fear and rejection of outsiders. It was only 35 years ago.

Besides, they're Commies, they don't love freedom of expression the way our government does in the U.S. of A. And it goes without saying that if you need government assistance in the U.S. to make a movie (say, cooperation of the military or enforcement agencies), they never, ever demand to read the script first or require "positive" portrayals....

India is the largest movie making market in the world: about 10 times as many movies as Hollywood, produced every year. Every movie has to be approved by Govt. The Govt officers will stay with your set while shooting to make sure you follow the approved script. In fact many countries in the world require permits. Obviously, you do not have much experience shooting overseas.

As far as freedom goes, can you say or do what you want in USof A? If you think so, you are so naiive about USof A as well. Sorry for being blunt. That is MHO.

 

[jpp]

As far as freedom goes, can you say or do what you want in USof A? If you think so, you are so naiive about USof A as well. Sorry for being blunt. That is MHO.

I guess the irony of my post got lost, or maybe you read too quickly. Anyway, try again.

EDIT: okay, more bluntly. The notion that George W. Bush values free expression is a joke, and the U.S. government routinely demands script approval, when U.S. government resources are at play. This has been going on for years. And it's not that long ago that no studio would make a movie featuring FBI agents without clearing the script with J. Edgar Hoover.

 

[Jason Sinclair]

try making a film about the 911 terrorists from their POV...

 

[nguyenduy]

we are shooting with RED CAMERA in feature film. We have a problem with it. when the camera is hot, it can not run. Please give us the advise. Thanks.

 

[Noah Kadner]

F-them? Are you serious?

I don't know where you are from but I'm sure you have some form of regulation too. Tone down.

um- in terms of some gov't entity having any sort of say over what I put into my script before I shoot it- that would be a big hell no... Stand by what I said 100%. Fear no one thanks very much. The truth will set you free.

Noah

 

[Ramesh Jai]

um- in terms of some gov't entity having any sort of say over what I put into my script before I shoot it- that would be a big hell no... Stand by what I said 100%. Fear no one thanks very much. The truth will set you free.

Noah

Um..I absolutely have no problem with you sticking to your script. We all have a right to. It's your 'F-them' attitude that I was against..um. I'm not going to respond anymore to this. Thanks.

 

[nirav shah]

India is the largest movie making market in the world: about 10 times as many movies as Hollywood, produced every year. Every movie has to be approved by Govt. The Govt officers will stay with your set while shooting to make sure you follow the approved script. In fact many countries in the world require permits. Obviously, you do not have much experience shooting overseas.

As far as freedom goes, can you say or do what you want in USof A? If you think so, you are so naiive about USof A as well. Sorry for being blunt. That is MHO.

hi Dan,
I have shot 12 features in India and have not seen any govt officers in the past 14 years!. the only ones i have seen are cops turning up to collect bribes ;-)

 

[jpp]

um- in terms of some gov't entity having any sort of say over what I put into my script before I shoot it- that would be a big hell no... Stand by what I said 100%. Fear no one thanks very much. The truth will set you free.

Noah

That's an odd thing to say in the movie business, where the "truth" usually needs to pre-approved by the investors, the producers, the stars, the bond completion company and (as the case may be) the studio executives and the focus groups.

Given the choice, it's probably wise to choose commercial censorship over government censorship as the lesser evil, but where's the purity of heart in letting money, rather than government, determine movie content, particularly when business and government interests often coincide?

 

[Chris Pickle]

um- in terms of some gov't entity having any sort of say over what I put into my script before I shoot it- that would be a big hell no... Stand by what I said 100%. Fear no one thanks very much. The truth will set you free.

Noah

If you want to shoot in New Mexico and apply for the tax credit, you have to submit your script for approval. It's mostly a formality, but you still have to get it approved, and they do have the right to disallow the tax credit if they found an issue with your script.

It's the same in most US states that offer tax credits.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Noah Kadner]

If you want to shoot in New Mexico and apply for the tax credit, you have to submit your script for approval. It's mostly a formality, but you still have to get it approved, and they do have the right to disallow the tax credit if they found an issue with your script.

It's the same in most US states that offer tax credits.

Cheers,
Chris

Right and I have no problem with that, *if* I'm asking for money from someone. Of course they have a right to know what they're investing in. But just for the right to film in a place and the wait is months- no way. Enough bureaucracy on a film set already without having the whole thing hinge on whether some official likes it or not.

Noah

 

[tj williams]

Just wrapped production on a TV series to be shown during Ramadan in the middle east.There is a big multimillion audience projected market for: "Days in America" The POV was certainly middle Eastern, as it was written and shot by a Production co. in Egypt. They had some permit problems, but they were never asked about the content! Their problems centered around not enough lead time for some location approvals. There was NO supervision of the content. No one asked them what the content was! Hey dude George Bush and his opinions are not America. I have shot in Vietnam and we had a govt. rep. right there, and it was all about content. The idea that Vietnam censors based on the war is difficult at best. They remember the war as primarily against the Chinese then the French, One Viet told us we were a pimple on the ass end of history as far as their independence from colonizers was concerned. This is the why of shooting Vietnam war movies in the Phillipines etc. If you shot a movie about the Huk (Phillipine communist insurgents for the history challenged) then maybe it would shoot better in Vietnam. NO one wants movies that denigrate their country, but you will not find the willingness to make movies against the govt. outside the first world Western countries. That is in fact what freedom of expression for artists is. If you want to make a move about the POV of the terrorists on Sept 11 you will not be prevented, although the govt. will probably not help you either. This is why we are free as artists in the US and the people in countries where the script must clear the govt. are not. Now, that said, this will not cover you if you want to make a G movie in the US featuring the amazing nude whatnots, and if it goes beyond the R rating then the distributors will not touch it. Thus blowing up the blds. in Ny fm the terrorist POV will be ok unless they do it in the nude.
Goes to show ya..... nowhere is perfect....

 

[DanWood]

hi Dan,
I have shot 12 features in India and have not seen any govt officers in the past 14 years!. the only ones i have seen are cops turning up to collect bribes ;-)

For foreign companies, permits are a must. It usually takes upto 3 months to get your script approved. That rule has not changed in the last 14 years.

NO one wants movies that denigrate their country, but you will not find the willingness to make movies against the govt. outside the first world Western countries. That is in fact what freedom of expression for artists is. ..

Every country has its own sensorship. For example, in these free First world western countries, you can make a movie without revealing the plot, but can you show it in public? Can you say in public that Holocaust did not happen? Can you say something bad about Israel? Can you joke about a bomb in an airport?

Freedom has been defined by Henry Ford long time ago: "You have the freedom to choose any color you want, as long as you choose black." You have all the freedom in the world, as long as you behave like they want you to behave.

 

[Jason Sinclair]

There's a different way to censor in democracies. It's called Media and it plays on public opinion. See the excellent documentary "manufacturing consent" Sometimes i think i prefer the straight up censorship because at least you know where you stand.

in the case of 911, George Bush introduced anto-terrorism laws that included suppression of the media, these would be still in play and if you went ahead and produced a film showing the 911 terrorists as human beings you will be shut down and no one is going to blink an eyelid. I know it's old history but look what happened to Charlie Chaplin... Same old stuff still happening today.

Speaking of hijackers, this thread has been fully... I hope you got your answers op.

 

[Tom Lowe]

The best thing we can do to encourage more freedom and openness from countries like Vietnam and China is to engage with them, and to set a good example ourselves. Over time, these countries will come around. China is changing so rapidly it'll make your head spin.

I recently lived in China for 2 years, and I have to say, in some respects, I felt MORE free there. Want to stay out at the night club until 4AM? Go ahead. There are no "mandatory" bar closing times. Want to ride on top of a moving van? Go ahead. Need a new pair of eyeglasses but don't feel that you need a whole new exam every 12 months (my prescription has not changed in 10 years!)? No problem - they will sell you a new pair glasses, no prescription needed. And so on and so forth.