My previous film was called MISSION X. A mockumentary style film about a young film student that hangs out with a gang of mercenaries.
I only made the film to get my spirit back for filmmaking after a long gap. So to be honest, i didn't care about the heavy scots accents, rough gritty dv camera, and dodgy sound. In a way, it suited the story, as it made it feel more authentic that this really was a film student's POV. Thats also the feedback I got from most people who saw it.
Many top distributors were interested in the film as they loved the story, even though it had a limited market because of the accents. However, I wasn't willing to give it away for almost free. I made it for almost nothing, so it was a good film that I could use to experiment with. Share online, give away free downloads for a mail list etc.
REMAKE POTENTIAL
Some industry people said MX had the potential for a remake, which I realised after I made it, but I also knew nobody is just going to give me the trust and millions to do that. So I have kept on moving at the moment. I also saw the opportunties to make an action movie that could branch off to many stories via headcams from 50-100 mercenaries, and hundreds of camera phones from the public after an attack.
The thought of all these micro stories that splinter off excite me. If you are making a 90-120 min action movie, you have to keep it moving. There's not much time for character development, and to me that's just important to the heart of a film. But if you release dozens of soldiers bodycam and phone footage, and footage from the public before a release, you fill out the characters before and after the movie is released. So you inject it with humanity before you see the rollercoaster. THAT's the kind of modern day blockbuster I want to do.
The remake story is not mockumentary style, as I have all these bodycams and phone footage videos to bring that angle too. But it would be shot handheld in the style of The Hurt Locker. Saying that, there will also be a whole movie version through the students own camera too. I'm greedy, I cover it ALL, as that's what we do in 2011 now!
3D SHOOT
I am not a big fan of 3D, but I could see how if done right, it could be a pretty wild rollercoaster ride in this type of film. Following gangs of men and female mercs trying to escape the city through tube trains, traffic jams, buildings, tunnels, got my heart pumping as I shot it in my head. This films core market is the global military gamer market, so if I can give them an experience like their game, but much more real, thats the objective.
I dislike most action movies because they don't give you a real sense of danger. When Tom Cruise flies through the air after an explosion and lives, it kills the film for me. Ridley Scott talks about this. Too much CGi and too slick kills the thrill ride. I want to make the audience feel as if they are in that war zone, as if they are in a blender! I want them to feel it, touch it, smell it, be shaken by it. I want to give them an assault on the senses. They already know the characters from released micro teasers, now they are going to go on that hell ride with them.
There's also many areas to create a whole universe for this, so this is why I am also pushing to get this remade into a bigger film. This is also why I am going to Cannes. When producers ask "What have you been doing?", at least I can bring out SCREEN. At least I can show I am a doer, and it also reminds them I won't be sitting around waiting for their permission. They either get on board with someone who has a vision for film, or I do it without them. And they also have to let me do it my way. Which is a way that could also make them what they want. "Money"
That's why you have to do the math in terms of how you approach the business. If a company offers to develop MERCENARY, then they can have SCREEN for almost free. It cost me almost nothing. I make small films to show my potential, not with the delusion that I am going to make lots of money. If you get good at what you do, if you become the best at what you do, your money problems get sorted. If you just try to make money, you fall into the mass crowd who have no real focus or passion for what they do.
I am out to be a filmmaker with a small and large canvas. I am not on a crusade, I am simply out to make exciting content that audiences enjoy. And I want to tell stories in a different way. A way that can satisfy people that like thrill rides, but stories that can also be enjoyed by people who like characters stories, and for people that like to consume content on large screens, and phones.
The indie world sometimes sounds like they are on a crusade to bring down Hollywood. We know Hollywood is about money, but indies can also be just as lost, as many also have an agenda that is based on gaining greatness, awards. That's just as self grandising to me as Hollywood's ethos. Both of these type of pursuits kill REAL creativity.
I think if we can get a healthy balance, and a balance that is always based on giving the "audience" great content, whether entertaining, or thought provoking, or both, then we might have something. That's where I want to go. On a small or big canvas, or both. It''s all about making great content and evolving with new ways to attract the audience to that content. I want to bend and redirect how stories are told. I have no desire to hold on to the past. That's for people that can't see the potential that lies ahead.
SELF FUNDING
Industry money could kill this type of film I want to do. They could want to iron it all flat like "The Expendables". There's an audience for films like that, and I can respect that, but I would never make a film like that. Even if I had access to the money. It's not who I want to be. That's where I really don't care at all about Hollywood.
I either get a deal to make the film I want to make or I continue to make small films to show later that I also have the potential for a bigger canvas too. I am cool taking one step at a time. I have passion and patience. However, I also have a plan B.
Crowdfunding is working, so if I don't get a deal I want, I would try and build up a large following with the global gamer market. Possibly even partner with some military game companies or xbox, and try and crowd fund the film globally. If I have a $1m in my pocket, I can make something look like it cost $50m. I also recruit all the best people in the world via the internet who believe in what I am doing.
I would also shoot the film all over the world, so that people could have small roles and extras roles in the film for a donation to the film. I would shoot in UK, US, and a Euro city. This can work in my new story, as 6 government buildings in various cities get attacked in the one day. If people can be part of the film itself, I think that could attract interest for lots of donors.
I have had a lot of people asking about this film, so I thought I would update my plans. A remake is possible. It's seriously on my sites to make. If I get serious interest at Cannes, it could take a while, so I then make a smaller Vegas movie I have in mind. For the moment, getting SCREEN out there is the goal. I will give weekly or monthly updates about MERCENARY through 2012.
If you beleive in what I am trying to do, check out the site for my projects. Sign up for the mail last, and "like" both of my film pages. And please share, tell your friends. The more people that beleive in this project and my projects in general, the more they become real.
Thanks
David
http://www.twitter.com/davidpbaker
PS. This is a pitch video I made last year for online, before i decided to go and shoot SCREEN for the time being. A better video will be made if I have to take the self funding route. Please also like the facebook page here. https://www.facebook.com/pages/MISSION-X/122376404250
You can download the film for free from the site.
