COMPLETED: premiering Tuesday, June 24, at 6:00 pm
filmmakers will be present for Q & A following the movie

[project diary] [production still] [movie clip]

Ryan Liverman
PolyVinyl Films
Saomerville, MA
USA

project title: Money Shot

producers: Labid Aziz, Ryan Liverman, Daniel Kopec, Arnie Reisman

director: Daniel Kopec

writer: Daniel Kopec

 

director of photography: Labid Aziz


tagline: Throughout the vast world of inbred movies this will be the penultimate marriage; combining American Movie with Spinal Tap and adding all that makes the porn industry loveable.

treatment:

Some would argue that with the bursting of the porn star sparkly sticker and tee-shirt industry bubble during the late nineties that now is not the time to delve into the world of the pornographic film. We would disagree. Through the lens of the documentary filmmaker's camera Money Shot follows a filming of your average porno by a sub average crew and proceeds directly into the annals of history. Though Money Money Shot's position in lore is secure, it's journey will not be without obstacle.

Perhaps the greatest hurdle that needs to be overcome in our concept is the legendary standard of quality maintained by pornography. We feel that the attention needed in this area is balanced by the hackneyed standards of documentary film. This clash of cultures benefits us by creating a balance in production quality that is wholly attainable within the parameters of the 72 Hour Film Project as well as providing contrast within the movie itself. In reality the pornography is a very small part of Money Shot, the meat of the project resides in its voyeuristic pleasure. If the rise of Reality television and the rampant success of recent documentaries have taught us anything it is that the world loves to see what goes on behind the scenes. While the veneer of this genre was worn away long ago we intend to harness what energy is currently being wasted on the latest crop of fabricated reality sitcoms and redirect that awe into a new venue. The intent of Money Shot is to show the audience the people behind Debbie Does Dallas in all of their resplendent glory.

Through on set footage and interviews with the cast and crew, Money Shot brings the audience into our constructed reality of the porn world through the veil of big black bars and introduces them to the motivations of those involved, both on and off the set. As with any documentary though, the crew becomes linked to their subject and begins to influence the outcome of what they see both through direct and indirect action. The resulting maelstrom is our gift to the world.

Various exciting scenes involve the unexplained absence of the fluffer and the indoctrination of the film crew's P.A. into the world of adult entertainment; the proper stretches needed to limber an actress up before the pile driver; profound discussions between the D.P.s concerning their methods for filming; the recruitment of the stylist to aid in the porno's production; the arrival of the ubiquitous pizza delivery guy; and how the director can handle seeing his lover sleep with a woman, even if it is for art.

We intend to create a world where the Porn Star is poet and the filmmaker the scribe. Money Shot will be the window to a world many have enjoyed but only a privileged few have lived.

Throughout its seventy some odd minutes Money Shot will pay homage to at the very least: American Movie, Spinal Tap, Living in Oblivion, and whatever the most recently viewed porno happens to be. It is worth noting that references to Boogie Nights are a possibility as well.

Up for current consideration is filming the porno on either 16mm, Pro8 or Super 8 in order to give it a feel distinct from the Mini DV footage that will comprise the bulk of the movie. Whether arrangements can be made for the transfer to digital within the time span of the production will determine if this is possible or if we need to either Soderbergh our way out of it with colored filters, remove tint or just make it look old within the computer.

In summation we will have the documentary crew being filmed while filming the crew filming the porno who will also at times capture the documentary crew on film while they film the porno and everyone is being filmed by the Porn Stars themselves. All neatly tied together through various stylistic techniques and approaches ranging from the incompetent to the beautiful

-Technical Considerations-
We are fortunate enough to have a member of our crew who has a very large condo with enough varied space that we can film and edit Money Shot in one location virtually eliminating any time wasted by running the tapes between the set and our post facility. All of our locations are wrapped into one; our only pitfall is avoiding cabin fever.

With the material and our approach most notably through incorporation of our crew we have cut down drastically on the number of actors needed for this shoot . The nature of this project calls for success with as few takes as possible. Through editing "on set" and establishing a certain level of incompetence for our imaginary pornographers we have more built in leeway than would be typical; allowing us the opportunity to use a lesser take without any loss of final quality.
Due to the distinctly separate styles of the porno and the documentary the two segments will be edited separately at the beginning and compiled later on in the process.

Editing will take place on a LAN comprised of 5 Powe Mac G4s running Final Cut Pro. Networking the Macs on a LAN will allow us flexability in the use of our clips. Upon completion of the script and storyboards the structure of Money Shot will be 90% complete, however in order to foster the environment of inspiration and off the cuff creation that made our inspirations such great films we need to be flexible as well as organized. Networking our computers will allow all of our editors access to the footage in its entirity. Titles and compositing will be done as well on Power Macs.

timeline:
Friday:
8:00 am First call. Final on set preparations and pep talks to prepare everyone for the undertaking at hand.
Also Breakfast.
9:00 am begin shooting (actual order to be determined upon completion of the script)
10:30 am first batch of tapes handed over for logging and preliminary editing. This process will continue
for the duration of the shoot.
10:00 pm crew takes a nap for 4 hours while the producer and director review as much of the day's footage as possible in preparation for Saturday before they succumb and join the crew in slumbeer.

Saturday:
2:00 am Principal members of the crew who are involved with editing will review high and low lights with the director and producer before editing begins
4:00 am TIme to start slaving away in Final Cut Pro.
10:00 am Lunch and 2 hour nap.
12:00 pm begin second day of shooting in good light while principle editor organizes the days work, continues to edit and prepares for tomorrow.
8:00 pm Wrap shooting and add more editors to our LAN.

Sunday:
12:00 pm scheduled pick ups, actors return. A rough edit should either be complete at this point or darn
close to it. Color correction and black bar application begins while editing continues.

Monday:
8:00 am begin drive to drop finished tape in the mail.
9:00 am drop the tape off at Mail Boxes etc. #1520 for their Fed-ex pickup.

score: 18 out of 30 possible points

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