Entertainment desk
< February 15	<< Jan \| February \| Mar >>	February 17 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 16

Help to get a film made

Hi

Is there anywhere within wikipedia where there are people involved in the film industry who might be able to help me get something off the ground?

I hope that this article from Lancaster Online - History journal publishes 233-year-old-letter, appearing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 26 January 2020, will give readers some idea of the subject.

Any advice welcome.

Many thanks. Arbil44 (talk) 21:16, 15 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Ugh, no, the industry only deals with insiders, or at least not beginners. You can make a movie without the industry, of course. You used to need a movie camera, then later a video camera would do, and now you can just use your phone. You might enjoy The Unkindest Cut by Joe Queenan about his adventures making a low budget indie horror film. Its main lessons iirc were 1) have a good script, 2) don't try to be "professional", 3) supply plenty of food on set. His original budget was $7000 most of which was for film (i.e. actual celluloid) and processing. He ended up spending around $35K. He didn't have to do that but he got caught up in it. Shooting to video you can keep things super cheap.

I once helped a friend start making a zero-budget documentary with a crappy camcorder and imho it was working fine, but he got obsessed with fancy equipment and bogged down. Don't let that happen. You should also probably read J. Michael Straczynski's book about scriptwriting before getting started. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:7AC0 (talk) 06:49, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

For reference:

Straczynski, J. Michael (December 2005). The Complete Book of Scriptwriting (Rev. and expanded ed.). Writer's Digest Books. ISBN 1582971587. --2606:A000:1126:28D:4D5C:8AA9:C63B:2D9B (talk) 07:57, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I recall Steven Spielberg once saying that to get started, get a camera and make a film. In other words, focus on the craft of filmmaking. Don't get ahead of yourself. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:24, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Aw, thank you Baseball Bugs, it was kind of you to go to so much trouble. I never got a notification about your post, so missed it until now. Regrettably, there are two obstacles (amongst many) the first being I'm 75 years old and it is a bit late to start in the movie business myself! The other major issue is that this film is about the American Revolution (see the Charles Asgill 2nd Baronet page) and would be a very high budget film. There is so much more than appears about it on that page, so I know it would be amazing. But you are so right about it being a closed shop where outsiders are involved. I've never understood that - the industry misses out on knowing of really good stories that way. Anyway, thanks so much for your reply. Anne (talk) 19:47, 18 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

If you have a few hundred million lying around, you could produce it yourself. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:07, 19 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

New Mutants and the X-Men film franchise

The lead of The New Mutants (film) states that the film, "will be the thirteenth and final installment of the X-Men film series". What is the evidence for this? I'd heard that the connections with the X-Men film series had been removed from the film. Freeknowledgecreator (talk) 04:44, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

One of the linked references is this recent article.[1] As to the "final" installment, never-say-never-again when it comes to filmmaking. "Intended to be", maybe, but that could change tomorrow. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:08, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Earlier stories claim the series could continue in some minor forms, possibly including the Deadpool ones [2] [3] so I'm not sure about the statement, but I haven't looked carefully at recent sources. Also in case there's some confusion, the series coming to an end does not mean there will be no new X-men films. Rather with Disney having acquired the rights, they will become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and so will have new continuity connected with the other MCU films, but not the older X-men films (such as they had continuity). (A reboot of the series if you want.) Nil Einne (talk)

As for the claim any connection to X-men has been removed, well sources like [4] [5] suggest that characters and backstories shown in the recently released trailer are taken from the X-men universe. And it's also explicitly branded as a Marvel work. So it seems a weird suggestion. However it does sound like it has not real continuity with the older series and instead is going to released a standalone work. So even if it was mostly made under the old Fox set-up, it is in some ways weird to say it's the final film in that series. Nil Einne (talk) 17:19, 16 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I am not entirely satisfied with these answers. The article here states that "It’s not intended to continue Fox’s X-Men franchise", which contradicts what appears in the article ("It will be the thirteenth and final installment of the X-Men film series"). Freeknowledgecreator (talk) 05:05, 18 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

If in doubt / Take it out. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:25, 18 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Could just be a difference in usage of "film series"/"franchise". As a film made by Fox based on characters from the X-Men (and related) comic books, it could legitimately be described as part of the "Fox X-Men film series" from a real-world point of view, whether or not it was (or was meant to be) part of the series in a continuity-based sense. --Khajidha (talk) 10:59, 18 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]