Distant Moon

I shot a “choose your own adventure” movie. I figured it was time to share the trailer. The Moment: Part One is an interactive feature And I’m super proud of what we created with a small crew, hard work, and great vibes. Definitely a unique experience, I think one night we shot 25 pages. Thankful for @ianareid and @distantmoonhq for the experience. Link in Bio. Red V-Raptor / Tokina Vista Primes Production Company: @distantmoonhq Agency: Prolific EP: Brent Huffman Producer: @kacie.lynn_ Director: @ianareid DP: 🙋🏻‍♂️ 1st AC: @joshua.camera G&E: @dougglepuff @acorbi12 @stuhaightvideo Intimacy Coordinator: @movement.witch #Cinematography #Cinematographer #DirectorOfPhotography #DP #Filmmaking #Filmmaker #SetLife #OnSet #tokinavista #shotonred #ShotOnFilm #VisualStorytelling #CineLife #IndieFilmmaking #BehindTheScenes #StorytellingThroughLight #CreativeDirection @reddigitalcinema #ArtOfFilmmaking @zerogravitybtl

I (@ianareid ) get asked occasionally, “why shoot on expensive cinema cameras? Can’t you use an iPhone nowadays?” My response: “yeah, but iPhone will actually cost more money in production, time, and crew.” Here’s why… “Shot on iPhone” is a brilliant marketing tactic, but it’s not entirely honest. While the footage is technically captured with an iPhone, these campaigns involve professional cinematographers, controlled lighting, high-end stabilization rigs, external lenses, and extensive post-production, not to mention incredible amounts of post production to get the footage looking good. That’s why apple spends millions in production and post on their “shot on iPhone” commercials. The average consumer won’t achieve the same results by simply pulling out their iPhone and recording. My friend and cinematographer Mike Curry and I discuss in more detail in the video below.

Merry Christmas from Distant Moon! We feel so blessed by all of you and especially our partners who’ve trusted us this year to tell stories that bring about Human Flourishing! Happy Holidays to you all!

Day 3 of our doc shoot on technology’s impact on humanity. So far we’ve interviewed one of internet’s three inventors, the real life Ironman, and an author/technologist who specializes in human centered technology.

The responsibilities of a film maker: Developing a story, securing funding, managing the budget, hiring the cast and the crew, directing, camera movement, scene pacing, ensuring the final product aligns with the original vision, post-production, editing, marketing, distributing, and the list goes on. We love every moment of it. What is your favorite part of the process? - Film, cinema, movies, photography, film photography, filmmaking, cinematography, films, filmmaker, video, director

Always be Testing! Over the last couple years, we’ve come to realize the importance of constantly experimenting and pushing the boundaries. We try to run at least a few creative experiments/tests with every project we run and then incorporate lessons learned, new techniques, and revised processes into all the following projects we take on. For several years now we have used static backdrops outside of windows or doors of our practical set builds. And everyone has been talking about the benefits of LED walls and Unreal, but there are always two issues with LED walls. First: they’re crazy expensive. We’re talking 500k-1mil to build good ones. And as much as 30k a day to rent the technology. Second: relying entirely on led wall backdrops usually actually still feels fake (unless you’re lucasfilm). So our thought: what if you could blend the old school technique of projection with modern digital media and resolution and incredible set builds. Benefits? It still feels real AND at a fraction of the price of LED walls and volume stages. The clip above is several different shots simply testing out the resolution, color, and mix of projection behind talent. The next test will be doing this sort of projection outside of practical sets and set dressing. That’s when the magic is going to really happen (or at least that’s our hypothesis).

My favorite section of the edit that encapsulates the entire journey. All I remember while filming these moments was that I knew we captured glimpses of magic, I just didn’t know how it would work together. This short doc has opened doors for a tiny church community in Fairfield, AL to plant more churches with a mission to reach fatherless youth and give their lives a new trajectory. It was the first time I experienced tangible impact from my love for storytelling. And I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. @distantmoonhq DP: @johnkopec

When in New Orleans.

“Awards shows are pay to play.” “Awards don’t mean anything anyway.” “I don’t care about the recognition, I know my work is good.” We’ve heard it all. And to be honest, we were the people saying this a year or two ago. But our opinion has changed recently. Why? So glad you asked! Because over the past couple years we’ve realized that Distant Moon is not primarily in the business of “just making cool stuff.” We’re in the business of reaching hearts and minds and building up our partners for success. Often a big component to success for our partners is to begin building momentum around awareness of their brand and the important work they do. And like paid advertising or word of mouth or viral videos, awards shows help build brand recognition. At the end of the day, incredible storytelling and content accomplish little if nobody ever sees that storytelling. So over the past year our team has gone on a journey of discovery and internal reflection to realize that awards do matter because the clients, partners and people we serve matter and awards/awards shows help build up those people. We’re testing the waters by submitting only a handful of projects to awards shows and industry events this year. But look for much more to come. This is only the beginning.

Let’s talk light rays. We always see them (even if we don’t consciously notice them) in films, commercials and TV shows. But why are we pesky filmmakers always putting light-rays in shots? And even moreso, HOW? And for all you long-suffering clients we’ve had the privilege of serving over the years, consider this our belated explanation to your very valid question of “Are you sure it’s VITAL that we wait for the haze machine to warm up?” Filmmakers often use haze in film lighting to enhance the visibility and aesthetic appeal of light beams and rays within a scene. From a scientific perspective, haze, typically created using haze machines or smoke generators, consists of tiny liquid or solid particles suspended in the air. These particles scatter light, making it more visible to the camera and creating a visually appealing effect known as volumetric lighting or “god rays.” The scientific principle behind this phenomenon lies in Rayleigh scattering, which occurs when light interacts with particles smaller than the wavelength of light. In the case of haze, the particles suspended in the air are smaller than the wavelengths of visible light. When light passes through these particles, it scatters in various directions, making the light beams visible to the camera. This scattering effect creates a sense of depth and atmosphere in the scene, enhancing the visual impact and creating a cinematic ambiance. [continued in comments]

Finish the quote: “A Gramme is better than a …” and bonus points for those who know what the quote comes from. This shot is early concept art for set dressing our team is developing for an upcoming project. Final hint: any dystopian novel fans out there?

A lot of people ask why we build sets. “Doesn’t it cost more money than shooting in a real location?” Short answer? No. In fact often it’s more affordable. In real world locations like hospitals, high-security facilities, and expensive/exotic locales, the cost to rent is often cost prohibitive for clients. On top of that there are often high insurance fees and strenuous restrictions that limit shooting times and require more days of filming. A common producing maxim is cost of production = days of filming multiplied by daily gear/crew/talent/location rates. This hospital set cost $15k to build all in. To rent an equivalent real-world location would have cost about $7K a day minimum, not including additional insurance and It saved at least a day of filming. All in for this $15k investment in a set, it saved the client about $30k which resulted in a net savings of $15k after everything was said and done. And it gave us unlimited control to make daytime, nighttime, and every element in the lighting and sound and set dressing. This is why set-builds have become a major strategy for us in helping agencies and brands scale their production value without massively scaling their budgets. Hit us up with you have questions about accomplishing this for your shoots and campaigns. Our goal for 2024 is to help as many partners find creative and financial success as possible. Let’s go!