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Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

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Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#31

Post by voidfunc »

bigmattystyles wrote: post #20
scop wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently watched The Godfather 1 and 2 for the first time as an adult and was floored by the two movies (really a single movie, broken into two parts). A complete tragedy executed to perfection. The full arc of the tragic downfall of a man, like something out of the Greek tragedies or Shakespeare. I then made the horrible mistake of watching Godfather 3, which basically seemed to have 90s romantic comedy vibe with…

People always say that about Godfather 3, I always wonder if it’s just a thing to say because he put his own daughter in a lead role. Like the critics, I liked it. Not nearly as much as II or I but still. It is a nineties movie though, it’s even different media wise, less grainy. Casting his own daughter when I think, Winona Ryder, dropped out was very nepotistic; and she’s a better director than actress. For me Garc…

Bingo. Gf3 is a good movie, the problem is Gf1 and Gf2 are to put it simply, masterpieces. Short of a masterpiece, there was no way for Gf3 to compete.

For what it is worth, the recent remaster of Gf3, Gf3: Coda improves the storytelling of Gf3 significantly and I would say makes the movie considerably better, but it is still not competitive with Gf1 and Gf2. That said, I really recommend everyone watch the Coda remaster at this point and do it with an open mind.

Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#32

Post by s-lambert »

germinalphrase wrote: post #24
e4e78a06 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so sure about post-production rendering, if anything movies are moving to real-time rendered CGI environments [1]. Unreal/Epic have been a big player in this space. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk

It’s unclear to me why that transition would mean that writers/directors/storytellers would win. Lower costs make creative risks more viable?

It's not about costs, it's about getting tight feedback loops because you can see exactly what the camera is filming straight away instead of having to wait for the green screen -> post processing loop.

Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#33

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

AmVess wrote: post #6
avl999 wrote: post #5

I am shocked he has to put his own money into this movie. It must be really off the wall for a studio to not invest in that. Studios are generally willing to raise money for movies by big name directors even if they haven't had a hit recently (see how Terrence Malick keeps getting to make big expensive movies, most with a-list stars despite not having had a commercial or widespread critical hit since the late-90s).

Spielberg has said a few times that it is hard for him to raise money for projects. Other big names have said the same thing. Studios want superhero movies or reboots and nothing else.

No post body was provided.

Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#35

Post by echelon »

germinalphrase wrote: post #30
echelon wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eventually teenage kids will be making Star Wars at home. Or Star Wars meets Scarface. GPUs will surpass 2010's Pixar. This, coupled with real time motion capture and photogrammetry, will enable more creativity than ever before from more people than have ever been involved. A democratization that even Disney won't be able to counter. But to directly answer your question, the process of writing moves off the text edit…

I believe it. That’s wonderful. Though I’m teaching now - in a previous life, I was a Local 600 2nd AC. The storytelling industry fascinates me, but I would love to see user generated, interactive fiction become prominent. All the better if talent can be the central stakeholder. Unreal/Epic got a shout out above. Can you point out anyone else who is working seriously in the space? That’s exciting.

> I was a Local 600 2nd AC

That's awesome! I know a bunch of IATSE folks and they're all super cool.

It's such a unique industry, and the excitement on set is totally palpable.

> The storytelling industry fascinates me, but I would love to see user generated, interactive fiction

I'm working on exactly this now! Collaborative motion capture and environmental control with audience participation. I haven't launched publicly yet, but used to demo my progress with a live audience on Twitch. They loved it, but I think I loved it even more.

This workflow beats film by miles and opens up so many new and unique storytelling techniques that have never been explored. It's incredibly fun, too.

I bought the domain name "storyteller.io" to launch with. I should be releasing two minor tangentially-related pieces this week: Twitch TTS for audience monetization and a 3D volumetric/voxel camera that can be injected directly into games. The motion capture, face animation, and interactive world pieces should follow early next quarter. (I need more people - I'm barely getting sleep and keep missing my own deadlines.)

I've had a few people that heard my "this is the future" pitch tell me I should join YC, but I'm trying to release more stuff before the deadline. As a backup I have animated "deepfake as a service" versions of Garry Tan, Justin Kan, Alexis Ohanian, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, and Palmer Luckey and was thinking of cold emailing them. You type something, and they say it in a video. As a service. It's stupid, but I think it'd get their attention.

I want this because I'm a storyteller that hates film. Not the creatives and the excitement, just the mundane, repeatable work. And the projects that seem out of reach for budget and practical reasons.

Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#36

Post by [deleted] »

mhh__ wrote: post #23
AmVess wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spielberg has said a few times that it is hard for him to raise money for projects. Other big names have said the same thing. Studios want superhero movies or reboots and nothing else.

Superhero movies aren't even cheap, is the sad thing. Dune cost less than Black Widow to make, and that's a fairly wide-scope space opera with lots of practical effects making up large amounts of the movie.

[deleted]

Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#37

Post by [deleted] »

echelon wrote: post #27
germinalphrase wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s unclear to me why that transition would mean that writers/directors/storytellers would win. Lower costs make creative risks more viable?

Eventually teenage kids will be making Star Wars at home. Or Star Wars meets Scarface. GPUs will surpass 2010's Pixar. This, coupled with real time motion capture and photogrammetry, will enable more creativity than ever before from more people than have ever been involved. A democratization that even Disney won't be able to counter. But to directly answer your question, the process of writing moves off the text edit…

[deleted]

Re: Francis Ford Coppola’s $100M Dollar Bet

#38

Post by jowday »

e4e78a06 wrote: post #14
chrisseaton wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as more projects move to post production rendering pipelines I don't understand - what are they currently doing if not rendering in post-production?

Not so sure about post-production rendering, if anything movies are moving to real-time rendered CGI environments [1]. Unreal/Epic have been a big player in this space. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk

In practice, for digital production backgrounds like the volume they actually set the part of the screens that intersect the camera frustum to a green screen in case they want to change anything in post. The main benefit you get from digital volumes like this is immersion for the actors and lighting conditions that match the CG environment.
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