Craig Ross Jr. – the director of such urban classics as MOTIVES, BLUE HILL AVENUE & the low-budget fabled film that is hard to find anywhere and one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES, the film noir CAPPUCCINO, and a Network TV Director (NCIS, BONES, PRISON BREAK, COLD CASE) – has taken to Kickstarter to fund his next project, titled THE AFFAIR.
“THE AFFAIR is a film about infidelity and how far two people will go to heal. A cinema verite expérience shot solely on the IPhone 5!” http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/633012328/the-affair- the-movie
Shooting a film on the iphone, a feat only attempted by Park Chan-Wook (OLDBOY, the Original), and that was for a 33 minute short, NIGHT FISHING. Night Fishing created a large scale buzz in South Korea for even attempting this effort. Since then there were modifications to create hand grips, light mounts and other added bonuses to shoot for this device that makes phone calls. Park Chan-Wook was coming off of major success of his previous works plus he had a full scale production value of lights and rigs that felt forced. Wook was thrust into the limelight after Tarantino championed OLDBOY which saw cult status.
For Ross Jr., a man I have long respected, looked up to and have profoundly studied his works, I am looking forward to this piece. The true art and nature of a humble director that allows for his work to speak for itself and allow his passion to shine through.
And as the debate wages on as to if Spike Lee, an Oscar Nominated film director with a long resume of films, working with many of the greatest Cinematographers, Actors & Composers in the world, even needs Kickstarter – a discussion that continues – to help fund this film is to promote a filmmaker that has proven his filmmaking independence, with small budgets, but providing action and visuals that match big studios.
83% funded with just over 2 days to go. Details in full below:
WHO: Husband & Wife team Craig Ross Jr & Caryn Ward Ross! Craig is an award-winning Indie Filmmaker. Caryn is an actress-dancer. She is known for portraying Erica on four seasons of BET’S THE GAME, as well as guest starring roles on such tv shows as LINCOLN HEIGHTS, LOVE THAT GIRL, THE SHIELD, and STRONG MEDICINE.WHAT: A provocative feature film shot exclusively on the Iphone 5 using only existing light. We are shooting for 10 days. The film is a drama about two people, each married, who after a chance encounter have a tumultuous affair and have their lives changed forever.SEE the teaser below that we shot exclusively on the IPhone5 using only existing light.WHERE: We are shooting on location in Los Angeles. Since we live in LA, all of our resources are here which makes it easier to call in the favors we need to help us with the film.WHEN: We plan to shoot the film in early September and have a finished cut by February 2014.WHY: There are so many reasons for us to do this but the two biggest reasons are ultimate creative freedom and being able to connect and collaborate directly with our audience. For us it’s a an opportunity we’ve been waiting for our whole careers!HOW: An iPhone 5 creates a digital file, which is much simpler to get a competitive image from vs. an analog file. In many cases anything other than just natural light is not needed. So we felt we wanted to be ambitious and make a whole feature film using the premise that digital can create a good image without the use of external lights as a guideline for our project. Sound will be recorded on a separate digital video recorder, and the actors will be mic’d using wireless lapel mic’s. Picture this; without lights we have no need for a lighting crew, shooting on the Iphone we have no need for a full camera crew, mobility is key, so there is no need for trucks or drivers, and actors have the opportunity to just blend in with the crowd. I don’t think anyone passing by will even know that a narrative feature film is being made!If we become so lucky as to go over our pledge goal then the extra money will all go into post-production. Anything we make above the goal will be put into professional services; sound design, music, graphics, sound mixing, and DCP mastering. This will help us make a better showing of the film in theaters, as it takes a more traditional post production work flow to create a film that can be projected in a standard movie theater. If we don’t go over our pledge then the initial 15K will still get us a finished movie but the finishing process will take much longer.
