Nothing is wrong with politely requesting money. It's not like he's being mean about it or anything, nor is he forcing anyone to do anything.

If you don't want to donate to something, then just don't, but please don't be so rude.

(Also, this is the general film discussion, anything pertaining to film can be discussed here)

Wow, it's a wonder you can even walk with a chip that size on your shoulder.

Also, we're considering implementing a donation requirement to get into the Community forum. You in?

I'd love to donate. I shall be getting my pay check from work soon, however I will have to request my parents permission as I'm only fifteen.

Thank you to everybody so far for the support! Any contributions or help with getting the word out about the project is much appreciated.

I know from experience that there's not a lot of money in this community, anyway, and that's fine. It's mostly kids. I figured since this project is based on a brickfilm that was well-received here and I'm not the only brickfilmer working on it, it might be of interest to some people here. I don't get much out of running this site, so I don't feel guilty for promoting one of my own projects, as we've done for other people here, on the front page for the first time. Self-promotion isn't always fun, but it's often necessary when you're just starting out.

For the record, though, I'm not really begging for money here. We're selling pre-orders, posters, etc. to raise money for the film. Crowdfunding like this on indie films is a fairly common thing, so you're in the minority to describe it by saying I "pray [sic] around the forums looking for cash."

It's all about da merchandise!

Dwalsh, you are trying to make yourself look like a martyr by portraying the moderators as some sort of tyrants. Plenty of non-moderators have also looked for fundraisers here, notably mobdeli and Pagano (check the homepage!)

I am going to ask my parents if I can donate a few bits to the cause. I would absolutely love to see this film made!

Please tell me you're trolling.

1) Clearly you aren't that familiar with crowdsourcing.

2) This is the General Film Discussion forum, so it's completely OK to talk about live-action films here.

About how much moneyshould be expected to donate?

I agree with everything you've said about my pitch. I ended up having less time to create a solid pitch than I would have liked because of the limited time window available for shooting. My lack of publicly viewable live action work is definitely problematic from the standpoint of trying to pitch the film to people. I hope the long post that follows will be a sufficient approach to presenting my case, since it's true I don't have a lot to show to back myself up right now. Sorry this isn't more concise, but there really is a lot to address.

Budget

I chose IndieGoGo's flexible funding option, because I will be able to make the movie without reaching the $6k goal. $6k is the minimum amount of money I would need to do everything I would like, however. I've broken down what I'll be able to do within different budget constraints. If I don't raise a majority of the goal, I'll have to cut some corners, but the film will survive. The campaign, then, is really about raising as much money as I can in order to open up some possibilities with production values, post-production, and marketing of the film that I'd have to do without, otherwise. The film would benefit significantly from more campaign contributions. Some of the expenses at play are the possibility of shooting it with some more expensive (better) lenses, being able to afford some props and costuming that I might cut otherwise, and a larger run of festivals once it's completed. If we meet the full goal, I could probably go as far as hiring some additional crew with expertise in areas that the current group of people involved are weaker on, such as makeup or on-set recording, and a number of post-production elements.

Experience with Live Action

You're right, the pitch video and "Lunar Graffiti" are underwhelming. I shot the pitch video in about 30 minutes with a camera I'd never used before in the only time window the actor could do it. The actor was slated to play the lead character in the film, but it eventually became clear that he didn't have the motivation or the time necessary for the role. His performance in the video left quite a bit to be desired, though that's probably owing more to lack of preparation and post-work than his talent level. We had to ADR the audio due to a lack of a good microphone while filming, which made his performance suffer further. So, the main character in the film will be played by a different actor. I am excited about the casting in general for the film, it has gone well so far. The cast includes award-winning stage actor Steven Pounders, who has appeared in two feature films already.

Ultimately, there are a lot of reasons I'm not happy with the live action pitch video, which is why I didn't use it on the IndieGoGo page itself. The shortcomings basically boil down to not having enough time to polish it and make something better.  Perhaps it would have been better not to put the pitch video online, but I wanted a new video for my channel in order to let my YouTube audience know about the campaign.  "Lunar Graffiti" was put together in about two days for a class assignment, also with no crew and limited availability to actors. It was just a class exercise with limiting, dialog-based parameters that I tried to make the best of.

I have made a 30-minute live action film, but I haven't released it online yet. This was originally because of festival guidelines, but I think I would like to rework some of the editing before I put it online. That film is a little more uneven than I would like, but I learned a great deal about the process of live action filmmaking and certainly will be able to avoid many of the newcomer's mistakes that sometimes happen with live action, because My Father is a Tyrannosaurus Rex. will really be my second large live action project. The 30-minute film in question was a sci-fi film shot almost entirely in a studio on greenscreen, with computer animated environments and relatively sophisticated lighting, making for a more complicated shoot than I expect for this film. Similarly, my most recent animated film, Cave, is not online yet because of festival rules. Rest assured that I make an effort to bring the same attention to detail to live action as animation; I storyboarded the entirety of my 30-minute live action film, and I intend to do the same on this film.

Although I have some live action experience, I am very much aware that I have a lot to learn yet. Because of this I am making an effort to surround myself with as many talented crew members as possible. I have hired a director of photography who has shot a number of music videos and short films. Unfortunately most of his recent work (ie his GOOD work) is not available online right now as most of it has been for paid commissions, commercial video productions, and things of that sort. I've worked with him before, though, and I have confidence in his sensibilities for the kind of naturalistic look we'll be aiming for in this film. Here's a music video he put together a while back. I don't expect we'll use much hand-held in this film, though. We'll be going for a somewhat less "modern" look on this film, I know 1960s new wave cinema (such as Bonnie and Clyde) is something we've both expressed interest in drawing from stytlistically.

The Story

The premise that "my dad is a Tyrannosaurus rex, and it's really not very much fun" is really just a starting point for this film. There's no way that would hold interest for an hour and a half. When I began working on the story, I knew that I would have to expand and reinvent well beyond the original concept. The feature film is not so much about having a dinosaur dad as it is about a young man who falls into the trap of living a life of regret and self-pity over his circumstances, instead of making the most of what he has and being able to appreciate life like a normal human being. He is surrounded by a cast of characters with problems of their own, albeit problems that exist in the real world. I believe that comedy generally works best when it is grounded in a more sobering dose of reality, because of the contrast.

The film has a lot of comedic elements in it, but I am aiming for something deeper than that. I am a fan of Kafka's The Metamorphosis, and I think that an absurd, humorous premise can be a really intriguing gateway to exploring serious themes in an abstract manner that makes them all the more powerful and universal. The dinosaur dad does get a significant amount of screen time in the film, but he is not the focus of the plot. Tim's Tyrannosaurus rex father is a shadow that hangs over the rest of his life. Despite the absurd premise, the film is mostly realistic in its approach to other story elements. The best way to classify it would probably be magical realism.

Texas has a lot of beautiful and interesting shooting locations to offer, and I plan to take advantage of that. It'll be refreshing not to have to build the entire world of a film from scratch, though I do intend to use miniatures and other practical effects for a series of sequences set in prehistoric times. No time travel, I promise.

Thanks for reading.

We're going to be shooting the film with a Sony NEX-5n. It's a relatively new camera, and despite its compact size, it produces video significantly superior in most respects to any other video DSLR currently on the market. Better encoding algorithms than other DSLRs, higher dynamic range, and some of the best performance in low light conditions of any video DSLR mean that we should be able to have exceptional picture quality for the film.