How To Make a Movie... For TikTok?

Lately, we keep hearing the advice to grab an iPhone and just start shooting a movie. Well, that’s exactly what the team behind The Mountain Murder Tapes did. Not only was filming very simple, but they kept post-production really scrappy and distributed their project on TikTok!

In today’s episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins speaks with Jacob Seltzer, Benjy Steinberg, and Spencer Levin to discuss:

• The inspiration behind the project - “Blair Witch meets Ski Mountain”
• Why the actors were the cinematographers
• The natural progression of events from different character perspectives 
• Having a digestible number of POVs in the project
• Using improvised versions over the scripted versions 
• Their very low-tech process of filming and editing
• Using a hook in each episode versus a cliffhanger 
• Why a project like this is so accessible for scrappy filmmakers 

Memorable Quotes

• “We were in touch with the creepy nature of nature.” [3:35]
• “We wanted to get back to the roots of our indie filmmaking and get scrappy.” [4:19]
• “It was an experiment in cinematography as much as storytelling.” [5:15]
• “So many shots were stolen. We upped the production value of the project by going into places we probably shouldn’t be.” [14:17]
• “Within the first second, you have to hook the audience.” [22:56]

Mentioned:

The Mountain Murder Tapes on TikTok

Follow Benjy on IG

Follow Spencer on TikTok 

Follow Jacob on IG

#ChadGetsTheAxe

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