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Level 1

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Producing an Indie film

My friend and I are looking into producing a ski film (a.k.a indie film) this year and we have a couple questions, we didn't really know where to post them so we figured since we use most of apples programs to edit our films we would start here. Some of the specifications about our film are that it will probably be no longer than 45 minutes, it will consist of both nordic skiing and alpine skiing, All of the footage will be shot in HD and edited in Final Cut Pro 7, we would only like to print 100 dvds, and we will sell the dvds online from our online store. Below are all of our questions.

1.) Where is a good place to get dvd's printed? we would like to print 100 dvds with custom artwork on the discs and cases along with shrink wrap over all the cases.

2.) What dvd burning program is somewhat cheap but also has plenty of templates to choose from or is idvd professional enough to create the master of your film? We do not have DVD Studio Pro but if thats what most people use when creating films on a mac then we could invest.

3.) Do you have to lincense your music in your film if so how do you go about this? We have done a bit of research on this topic but havn't found any solid post anywhere explaining exactly what you have to go through or if you even have to go through anything seeing that it will not be a film hitting the big screens.

Thanks,

Tyler

Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Dec 29, 2011 12:17 PM

Best reply

David Harbsmeier

Level 7

30,089 points

Posted on Dec 29, 2011 12:54 PM

1.) There are several places available for this (Discmakers.com comes to mind quickly), but for only 100 discs, you may want to consider printing your own with something like this: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?sku=C11CA45201

2.) Since FCP 7 was only available legally as part of the Final Cut Studio 3 package, you should have DVD Studio Pro as well since it was also part of that package.

3.) For smaller productions, most people use "buy out" music. Essentailly, you pay a one-time incensing fee and are allowed to use their music in film/video and radio productions. Some licenses will include both sync and mechanical rights, while others may require separate licensing for each. There are many production music libraries available online: http://tinyurl.com/bs3mfnz If you want to use a normal song, you must negotiate the rights with the copyright holder/administrator. It really doesn't matter if your production is not going to be 'hitting the big screen,' proper licensing is still required by law. However, that fact may influence the fee that is charged for the licensing.

-DH

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35 replies

skier1260 Author

Level 1

0 points

May 18, 2012 3:26 PM in response to David Harbsmeier

I read somwhere that if a song was created pre-1970s then you do not have license it, is this true? I can't remember where I read it.

Many Thanks,

May 19, 2012 10:52 AM in response to skier1260

skier1260 wrote:

I read somwhere that if a song was created pre-1970s then you do not have license it, is this true? I can't remember where I read it.

Many Thanks,

You must have the permission from the author to use any music.

In the UK, the duration of copyright for musical works last 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. Copyright is comonly held by many authors; music, lyrics, producers, performers distrubution comanies to name a few.

I implore you to check the law in your own country as a producer, you have a deplorable lack of understanding of copyright.

May 19, 2012 3:55 PM in response to skier1260

For what it's worth...

You also need releases from all your actors, agreeing for you to use their sound/image.

You also likely need releases from the owners of the locations you film in, and/or permits if filming in public places...

And contracts for the crew, I imagine in this case, stating that they volunteered their time, or will be paid should the film happen to make money.

These are the types of things that will stop someone from taking your film global, should they see one of your self-published DVDs.

May 21, 2012 8:30 AM in response to cosmichobo

Did someone mention error and omissions (E&O) insurance yet? Just soemthing else to have and keep track of along the business side of filmmaking.

May 21, 2012 8:42 AM in response to skier1260

Hi Tyler:

As the topic of this thread has bounced around, I noticed that no one seems to have addressed your field rendering order question.

If you want the DVD-Video content that you've authored to be to DVD specifications (which, well, you _should_ want this), then you need to conform your video stream (the MPEG2) to either NTSC or PAL standards. So, to comply with NTSC MPEG2, your video stream would need to be 720x480 lower field first. Your edited 24p master should go through 3-2 pulldown so that it's running at 60i. I allow for three files in my workflow: the 1080p24 HD master (usually Apple ProRes 422), then the 480i60 master (usually Apple ProRes 422, but sometimes DV-NTSC) and then the the MPEG2 480i60 encode.

On a side note, not all SD video is lower field first. D1-PAL, for example, is upper field first. Also, it's common to find older analog to digital transfers (VHS, Hi8, 3/4", and Beta to Radius VideoVision, Targe2000, or Avid AVR) to be upper field first.

-Warren

Producing an Indie film