From: J Travis (dagobert@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Thu Aug 12 2004 - 05:21:14 PDT
Hi. Been enjoying the thread (even though its lacking our usual
political debates) and was curious to know- IF a person were interested
in cobbling together something for the movie rental business, such as,
say, a fake Tiger that would look OK from a distance and run, but be the
sort of thing that not being "real", wouldn't be such a risk to use on a
movie- i.e., when Mikey the new PA is pulling cables and accidently
yanks a great big spot light over and dents the fake muffler covers,
they aren't made of genuine unobtainium and don't mean a 6 month
expedition to shift through the desert sands or wading through the
Ukraine swamps trying to find the remains of an original replacement-
would something like that stand to generate enough income over time to
pay for itself, or maybe even make a profit? Just curious to get the
view from someone who has been there.
Thanks,
Jay
chance wolf wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Convoy Magazine" <convoymagazine@yahoo.com>
>To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 8:42 AM
>Subject: Re: [MV] Renting for a movie ??$
>
>
>
>
>>A couple of quick points
>>First you have to understand your truck/jeep (that you
>>love and cherish) is JUST A PROP to them.
>>
>>
>
>The important thing is always going to be getting the shot. It's the be all
>and end all of why everyone's there. If the WC-63 they rented of some
>hapless collector would play better stuck hip-deep in mud while the
>terrorists frantically scrabble trying to get it free - that's what's going
>to happen whether you stipulated to the guy on the phone that stuff like
>that was to be given your approval or not. I have seen it play out
>sixty-plus times in real life.
>
>
>
>>Second (amazingly!) a lot of younger people- extras
>>and actors- cant drive! and of them many cant drive
>>standard..so that becomes a real problem when they
>>HAVE to drive your vehicle.. (those were your
>>gears..and that smell? the clutch!)
>>
>>
>
>Not only the actors. An inexperienced actor driving your collector beauty
>through shot isn't the worst nightmare that could happen - but an
>inexperienced stuntpuppy driving your vehicle through a fence or building
>is. It's only funny if you're not paying the bills. I have seen that more
>times than I care to relate, and in each instance, the owner was never
>notified.
>
>
>
>>Also military vehicles get jumped into and out of a
>>lot..its the nature of "military" movies..this is hard
>>on paint surfaces...in fact with the heavy boots and
>>often rifles and such.. hard on a lot of your vehicle.
>>
>>
>
>Yup. Typically whoever is supposed to get in and out of your vehicle will be
>dressed to the tits with webbing and what-not just to make it look that much
>more impressive on camera, so if you have that beautiful Beachwood
>upholstery that you just installed last Wednesday and you're thinking Movie
>Bucks to help offset your investment - maybe think again.
>
>
>
>>Chance is correct about "movie mud" whatever you do
>>DONT LET THEM SPLASH IT ON YOUR CANVAS...it can be
>>damned hard to remove from your matte paint... MUCH
>>worse from the canvas..
>>
>>
>
>Impossible, actually. A couple of productions have had to replace our M35
>canvas for exactly the scenario that convoymagazine is talking about.
>
>
>
>>As for prices..you should get a littl more for your MV
>>than a car antique coz they're rarer. Trucks should
>>get more than jeeps, big trucks and esp armour, even
>>more.
>>
>>
>
>Generally, yes. Armour is King, immediately followed by anything Joe Q.
>Public isn't likely to have like anything on the SME list or WWII stuff in
>respectable condition or foreign stuff like WWII German, postwar Eastern
>Bloc, or Soviet/Iraqi/Libyan. If you have that UAZ-69 and some movie
>company comes to you with some Eastern Bloc border guard scenario, don't let
>them talk you into giving it away. You can always suggest that they go to
>your closest competition with a UAZ-69 which, of course, will be some
>unpronouncable berg in East Germany. Don't rip them off royally because you
>can, of course, but don't let them do it to you either.
>
>
>
>>You drive in the shot, you're a "special abilities
>>extra" which is a bit more than just "extra" and you
>>should also get to eat at the better food table ;-)
>>and not the "riffraff" extra food (not always though)
>>
>>
>
>Mostly the SAE category is a union permitee category, which means you're not
>dining on the stale carrot sticks that most of the cash extras get as an
>excuse for lunch. It varies *dramatically* from set-to-set, and while most
>times the SAE drivers get to eat with the crew, on some shows you're still
>second class citizens and forced to act accordingly. That latter
>eventuality comes up very, very rarely nowadays - especially if what you
>expect is all spelled out to the Picture Car Coordinator or someone in
>Transport before you even show up.
>
>
>
>>BUT BOTTOM LINE IS...if you have a "presentable" MV,
>>like just a daily driver sort of thing that youre not
>>overly concerned about movie work might be for you.
>>
>>
>
>That's the key pretty much. I remember reading way back when of some guy in
>Army Motors or Supply Line talking about his GPW or MB that he just cobbled
>together for movie work, and within a few short months he'd been in some
>industrial portable scale commercial and a few other things which didn't
>care one whit that the entire back end was a wheeled ad for Bondo Inc. In
>terms of a business plan that's really all you can afford to give them. The
>other thing is that they don't like "pretty" vehicles. Hand them something
>that supposed to play the CO's jeep in the battlefield in Ardennes with nice
>armour-all'd paint and chrome wheel-nuts and you're soon going to find it
>"tech'd down" with all manner of stuff you're going to find really hard to
>remove before that parade or airshow or carshow or club event the weekend
>following. I wish that was a joke but it's not.
>
>
>
>>If you have a wonderfully restorated vehicle ...then I
>>wouldnt do it!!!
>>
>>
>
>Truer words never spoken.
>
>
>
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>
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