Last week we told you about Dan Gaud’s trailer for LEAP, a VFX driven work-in-progress that caught our eye. We weren’t alone. io9.com picked the story up with a very nice link back to our blog (thanks io9!)

Dan was kind enough to give us the first official LEAP interview. We listened carefully to what he had to say. Dan’s in an exciting, precarious place in his career where the right moves may launch him, but the wrong moves could definitely sink him!

Dan Wants the be a Filmmaker

In his interview, Dan talked about wanting to work full-time as a filmmaker, and hoping to launch himself as a director–a goal many share. Our readers know that here at Joke and Biagio we believe the best way to break in to Hollywood is to become a Hands-On Producer, and Dan is a prime example of this philosophy at work.

Keep in mind, from a producing perspective, there’s two reasons to do a project like LEAP:

1. To sell LEAP as a feature film.
2. And/or to sell yourself as a filmmaker.

Dan’s Doing a Lot Right

1. Playing to His Strengths

Dan has a visual FX background (as seen here on his awesome demo reel). He’s taken that skill set and placed it front and center in LEAP, making his small, home-brewed movie look like a Hollywood blockbuster.

2. Not Going Broke

This amazing piece of work cost Dan $900 out of pocket! People have spent 100 times that on projects not nearly as epic-looking as LEAP. Dan pulled this off because he did almost everything (writing, story-boarding, shooting, editing, visual fx) himself. When he needed help, he called in favors. Just starting out? That’s the way to do it.

3. Building a Following

To launch a video and get to 5,748 views in less than a week (current count at Dan’s YouTube page) is impressive. Dan reached out to us on Twitter, and hasn’t been afraid to promote his project in online forums. He believes in LEAP, and is pointing people to it.

Advice: The Trailer

It’s clear this is a teaser more than a trailer. Dan said he didn’t want to give too much plot away and spoil the story. There’s nothing wrong with being mysterious, but in this tease, there’s practically no hint as to what the story is about.

This tactic is working to drum up internet buzz, but Dan wants to make big, Hollywood movies. Hollywood execs should watch his teaser and feel like they could play it on the big screen tomorrow.

However, the LEAP teaser, in it’s current state, would never be put into theaters. Rarely, if ever, is a blockbuster film teased with nothing but amazing imagery. A story element, no matter how mysterious, is always front and center. Further, voice over, title cards, or dialogue sound-ups help make sure the audience “gets” what the movie is about.

In our previous article, 5 Rules for the Hands-On Producer Making Their Own Reality TV Pilot, we discuss the importance of looking to the best of the best for inspiration. We’d recommend Dan checks out this post on the 10 Greatest Movie Teasers Ever, and finds a creative way to “Hollywood-ize” the LEAP trailer (if not for his main web audience, at least as a tool for meetings he might get with execs.)

Tweaking the teaser could be as simple as adding a couple of well written title cards. Perhaps hinting that LEAP is a story about finding the key to a parallel universe, but turning that key opens Pandora’s box.

Again, while the LEAP teaser is an amazing piece to look at as is, we offer the above advice in the spirit of helping Dan attract Hollywood execs with his teaser.

Advice: The Short Film LEAP

Okay, Dan, listen up! You’ve got a whole lot of people excited about your movie. It’s time to deliver. I can’t stress this enough: history says at this point, promising projects fail. Many of these amazing teasers turn into lousy movies. We sincerely hope yours succeeds. So pay attention!

First of all, remember that a movie is not a trailer. Directing a movie, (even a short one) and making a teaser are two very different skill sets.

A teaser is a commercial to sell a movie, period.

A movie is a visual story.

A film director, especially one directing blockbusters, should put story front-and-center. Every visual effect, explosion, virtual set piece, and breathtaking camera angle must serve one thing…the story.

Story is king (and it seems like you have a really cool story to tell here.)

The worst thing you can do for your career as a movie director right now is to make your film feel like a 6 minute movie trailer.

That doesn’t mean your movie can’t be fast paced and exciting…it just means that, even in six minutes, you have to make sure you tell a story first, and dazzle us with amazing imagery and flashy editing second.

A feature film director makes movies, not trailers. Please make the LEAP SHORT MOVIE, instead of the LEAP EXTENDED TRAILER. Do this, and people will take notice.

Advice: Dan’s Career

Mr. Butchko, my 12th grade economics teacher, said one thing I’ll never forget: Our most precious resource is time.

Dan has spent over a year on LEAP. While it’s lead to a beautiful teaser (and hopefully an amazing short film), has this precious time he’s spent really been maximized to help launch his career?

Not yet. Here’s why: Dan needs a strong end-game.

Ideally, Dan would have one of two things ready to go at the exact moment his short film is done:

1. The feature-length script for LEAP, so he could use the short film and trailer as tools to get the movie made. (By the way, this is how the movie SAW was sold. You can see the original short film here. Notice it doesn’t look anywhere near as polished as LEAP, but the overall story is crystal clear.)

2. Another project, complete with script, storyboards, and concept art that Dan desperately want’s to direct.

Dan said he’s working on a more low-tech script for a superhero movie, which sounds like a great idea. This could be Dan’s end game.

After all, it will be easier to get funding for something that can be done more cheaply than a feature version of LEAP. Dan can use the short film version of LEAP to demonstrate his abilities as a writer, director, editor, and visual FX genius, and to prove he has the moxie to take on a daunting project and finish it.

But at this point, Dan’s script is still in the early stages.

Dan needs to be aggressive–NOW–about finishing this script, or finding another project he wants to direct. Immediately.

If the buzz on LEAP continues, people will get interested in Dan. But nothing kills buzz faster than when a big exec asks “So, what do you want to do next?” and your answer is “I’m still figuring that out.”

So many artists miss their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capitalize on an amazing wave of buzz. Dan, don’t squander your chance!

Dan Gaud, Do These 3 Things to Get Hollywood Excited

1. Make a teaser that feels more “Hollywood.”

2. Be sure your short film feels like a movie and not an extended trailer.

3. Have your next project ready to go…don’t build up all this buzz and waste it!

We wish Dan the best, and have our fingers crossed for him. Many filmmakers have gone wrong at this point, but we think Dan’s a smart guy, not to mention a visual genius. Dan, do us all proud!

Dan Gaud defines himself as a DV Rebel, and in our book, he’s well on his way to becoming a Hands-On Producer as well. Dan’s story is full of real take-aways for every aspiring producer, whether for film or television.

LEAP

Dan’s just posted a mysterious, visually stunning teaser of a project called LEAP. It’s a short film he’s written, shot, directed, edited, is doing the visual FX for…the list goes on and on.

We think Dan’s case is an exciting, instructive one. As an aspiring producer/director, Dan’s doing some things perfectly, but there’s a few big picture items Dan needs to focus on sooner rather than later.

In this part 1 of this two-part series, we’ll interview Dan about the amazing work he’s done this far, and he’ll share some insight on his year-long journey to get LEAP to this point.

In part 2 we look at where Dan stands from Hollywood’s perspective. Both he and his project could have real potential, if he can make a couple adjustments to his overall plan, and avoid a few pitfalls. LEAP is a work in progress, and if Dan really wants to garner attention and launch his career, there’s a few steps that, in our opinion, he must take next.

Here’s the highly visual teaser for LEAP:

Here’s part 1 of this series:

An Interview with Dan Gaud on his short film LEAP

Here’s part 2 of this series:

Advice for Dan Gaud and LEAP

In our previous post, we introduced you to the visually stunning teaser for Dan Guad’s LEAP, a mysterious, VFX driven piece Dan has made almost entirely on his own.

In this post, Dan talks about the year-long journey he’s been on to get to this point.

What is LEAP about?

DAN GAUD: In a nutshell, It’s a story about a guy that discovers that he can travel between two parrallel worlds, but travelling between the two worlds has deadly consequences.

What responsibilities did you take on yourself on LEAP?

DAN GAUD: Well I did pretty much everything except for sound and music. Writing, storyboarding, 3D animatics, organizing the shoot, renting the equipment, lighting up scenes, on-set vfx supervision, setting up the greenscreen in my living room (rebel filmmaking my friends!), setting up the camera and lens, shooting, editing, color correction, all the visual effects.
My girlfriend Virginie Goulet gave me a hand keying the greenscreens and she comped 2-3 shots during the battle sequence. Music will be done by the extremely talented Maxime Goulet and sound mix will be done by Yan Doiron. And of course, Luc Godbout starred and gave a really good physical performance. It’s always a nice feeling to see your character come to life from page to screen.

How long will the finished film be?

DAN GAUD: It’s kinda depressing to say that, after one year of work (in between the long hours I do at my job), the finished film will only be SIX MINUTES. It started out as a 10 minute short film, but that extra 4 minutes was mostly full 3d vfx shots.

After a while, seeing that I was all alone, I decided to cut the film into something more dynamic and less time consuming. I didn’t want to spend two years on this. I want to shoot something else. I love the adrenaline of being on set way too much to spend my life doing visual effects. :)

The teaser looks amazing. What did you shoot on?

DAN GAUD: Thanks a lot, I’m glad you like it! Yes, all the visual effects and art direction done by me. It was shot on a RED One camera with a nice big Canon lens. I wanted a lens that could provide dramatic wide angles and good looking telephoto shots with a nice bokeh. Since I had very little time to do a lot of shots in 2 different cities, skipping the lens changing at every shot saved me a lot of time!

Did you have any crew?

DAN GAUD: I had a small crew, yes. Two good friends of mine, David Harrisson and Jo Tardif, agreed to help me out during the shoot. I needed help to carry all the equipment (compared to a HVX200 or a EX1, the RED is a beast and a real pain to carry around by yourself.) And I needed someone to hold the mic and to stabilize the dolly shots whenever I was pushing it so the camera wouldn’t fall off the rails.

What software tools did you use

DAN GAUD: Final Cut for editing. 3D was done using Softimage XSI (Now Autodesk XSI) and Mudbox. Compositing was done in Nuke.

What type of training have you had?

DAN GAUD: I went to VFX school for one year… and that’s it. There I learned what I needed to tell more impressive stories and generate shots out of nothing. As a filmmaker, I think it was a really important skill to have.. especially if you’re trying to breakthrough like me.

As for all the camera stuff, I have learned it all by myself. I actually had 2 hours before the shoot to figure out how the hell the RED worked. As a result, I made some really dumb mistakes during filming.. but hey…live and learn!

What is your main goal with this film?

DAN GAUD: The goal of this film is to sell myself as a director. This is what I want to do with my life, and I hope that someday I will be able to concentrate on directing and filmmaking on a “full-time” basis. In the meantime, I’ll keep doing short films.

What was your budget?

DAN GAUD: Well I paid 900 bucks to rent the equipment for 2 days. That’s about it, really. Everything came out of my pocket. It’s usually what happens when you are passionate about something and you’re the only one that can make it happen. :) Everyone involved in the film is doing it all for free and I couldn’t be more grateful about that. I have very good friends.

What was the shooting schedule?

DAN GAUD: 2 days. Saturday morning, woke up at 4AM to get the nice golden hour morning light with the slight blue hue. It was actually a really cool morning. Some of my friends came by to see how we we’re doing. They were still a bit drunk. “Hey man, we just got out of the bar…”. I had a blast. We wrapped around 6PM that day. On Sunday, we started shooting around 9AM and finished on Monday morning around 2AM.

How far along in the process are you?

DAN GAUD: All the visuals are done. Now I’m passing the torch to my sound and music guys so they make some audio magic with my footage.

The trailer is certainly mysterious. Was it your intention to tease more than convey story?

DAN GAUD: Exactly. It’s more a teaser than anything else. If I had done something longer than that, I would’ve spoiled the whole film. Basically, when people look at this trailer I just want them to think: “WTF is that?” I think the imagery of a guy dressed up in diving gear running around on a rooftop is pretty striking.

Do you have a feature length version of this script, or plans for a feature version?

Not for this project. I have a couple of ideas if, by some miracle, someone would like to make a feature out of this. The film itself throws in a lot of ideas without explaining them all, so the door is still wide open. To extrapolate this into a feature I would bring a couple of new characters and introduce a nice dysfunctional family dynamic. This could be cool. Parallel Worlds Traveler Family Drama.

Do you have a different feature length script that you’ve written, or one you have your eye on, that you’d like to be your first feature?

I’m working on the script for a really small scale hero drama. Nothing as epic as Leap. But it would still be quite stylish the way I see it. I’m only at around page 50, so there’s still a long way to go. I’ll try and finish it once Leap is done. Then again, I’ll probably do another short film after that… Which will take most of my free time anyway. The circle never ends! :)

When can we all see the finished film?

DAN GAUD: I’m trying to get it all done and wrapped into a nice press kit to send it to some festivals by next month. I’ll start with Sundance and try to compete with the 1,000,000,000 other entries that they must receive. I’m not getting my hopes up, but it’s a nice realistic deadline for me to kick my ass one last time to get this damn project out the door!

After that I’ll be sending it everywhere I can think of. I’ve saved around $1000 just for the Festvial submission fees…and after that I will finally upload it to the internet on a nice webpage to promote it a bit more.

So What do We Think about Dan’s Approach?

Overall, Dan’s off to a brilliant start. However, there are a few potential land mines ahead that Dan needs to avoid at all costs. We break these down in Part 2 of this series, Advice for Dan Gaud and LEAP.