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Archive for July, 2010

Jul 22

Commandments for Ultra-Independent Filmmaking

Ted Hope posted a list of “No-Budget Commandments” on Truly Free Film yesterday, which he put together with his colleagues when his production company, The Good Machine, was starting out. It’s interesting to see how many of these we abided by when making Stranger Things without ever having encountered the list or even many people who think along these lines.

Adeel Akhtar (Mani) between takes, STRANGER THINGS

Bridget Collins (Oona) on location, STRANGER THINGS

Some of the principles we followed included writing to direct and writing for what we knew and what we could obtain. Writing for our location and for our actors also helped us enormously with co-directing, as we hadn’t imagined up vastly different versions of the characters or locations from each other. We knew we had to be flexible filmmakers and we always wanted to make an intimate film, so that one came easily. For anyone planning to make an independent film without a huge amount of money behind them, I would definitely recommend checking out the full list of commandments.

Jul 20

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"Stranger Things" Locks Picture

It’s been a long road to get here, but thanks to the amazing talent of Michael Taylor, who came aboard as editor this spring, we are delighted to announce (albeit belatedly) that Stranger Things has reached picture lock. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to our test screenings and gave us such good feedback and helpful notes. Extra special thanks to Brian Kates, Lou and Andy Ford, Iyabo Boyd, Rose Vincelli, Tom Wallin, Ray Rizzo and Nick Ordway. Also, big thanks Gretchen McGowan at Goldcrest and Frank Green for hosting screenings. Biggest thank you of all to Michael!

This process has really taught us the importance of test screenings. After putting so much love into your film, it’s hard to expose it to criticism. But obviously that’s the whole point and the way to make it into the best film possible. Watching the film with an audience feels so different to watching alone in the edit suite. It’s wonderful hearing the audience react to the surprises, funny moments and emotional beats of the story.