Mancattan (Restored & Revisited) - Feature Film
Yes. We made a feature film once.
"Mancattan." Just a Word.
For a long time, that Word held an all too important place in my life. In fact, it was my life for a number of years; for better or worse. What started off as an ambitious and exciting dream, became an adventure of a lifetime, and then slowly turned into burden, albatross and behemoth, before slowly (very slowly) turning full circle and becoming something I could take a joy in once again, if in small doses...
"Twenty Thousand." Just a Number.
This was the number of hits "Mancattan" acquired when it was first released online, courtesy of web-based distributors Renderyard and Dailymotion. Twenty Thousand people had sat down and watched (or at least started, if not finished) our self made and entirely independent feature film. This was beyond any of our wildest expectations. What started off as "Hey, shall we make a short film?" was now a full length feature film, that was on the face of it, a "success." We never made the film for money; only for people to watch, and for the love of the craft.
Twenty Thousand? Mission Accomplished.
But then Time and Technology caught up. Online streaming platforms and cameras had made the leap to 1080P. Digital SLR Cameras gained the ability to shoot video which looked like god-damn cinema film. Although grateful at the time for Renderyard distributing the film, they had presented Mancattan without our opening credits and logos, and in the wrong aspect ratio. It also ended up on YouTube, against our wishes. I didn't complain at the time; I was green and just thankful that the film was out there. But with "Mancattan" being the only major piece of work on my Film CV, and with DSLR, H264 and 1080P videos dominating YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix and the like... "Mancattan" quickly became out-dated; both on it's own terms, and for me personally.
I made the decision to take the film offline. I reasoned that I needed to focus on developing and showcasing new material, I had after all not long since bought my own DSLR... I also thought that Mancattan had gained all the viewers it was likely to get. It simply had to go. Until today.
So why bring it back online now?
A few reasons. The first being personal; I now have more than enough work and confidence in my "showreel" to not have to hide Mancattan away. If my Film and Camera CV doesn't stand on it's own two feet by now, then it never will. Secondly, I fixed the errors that were inherent in the Renderyard presentation. Thirdly, I have managed to improve the film by adjusting a few gamma settings and adding some "film-grain" to help hide gloss over some of the original MiniDV digital noise. Fourthly (is that a word? Quadrilly?) I now have a Vimeo Plus account; I can control and ensure the quality of the film is exactly how I want it to be.
Finally, and the absolute main reason, is because someone said to me the other day "Hey. I've still not seen Mancattan yet, where can I go to find it?" A fair question which required a rather obvious response.What on Earth is a Film for, if not for watching?
I couldn't answer the question at the time, but today I can. Where can you watch Mancattan? You can find it here. Or here (http://www.mancattan.co.uk)
As originally intended, I think I can finally and honestly say I am proud to present Mancattan; a humble Feature Film that got made many moons ago. Enjoy (Again) - Captain Col
PS - Did I mention it is about Manhattan, Manchester, Love, Life, Tea and Woody Allen
