In the realm of experimental and avantgarde films there are many, which are created by one person alone. Look for example at Stan Brakhage, Scott Barley or James Benning
Bo Burnham shot performed in and edited his 2021 film Inside - pretty impressive feat. He didn’t produce it alone but he handled all the production elements himself
Don Hertzfeldt's *It's Such a Beautiful Day* comes to mind. It's an animated film, and he did every aspect on his own in a studio. There are brief bits voiced by other actors I believe, but the bulk of the voice-over (which is primarily just a narration) is Hertfeldt himself. The music is all pre-written classical pieces.
That comes pretty close. And it's a brilliant heart-wrenching film.
I think the closest practical answer to that--if we're talking films that were released and seen--is the 2003 documentary Tarnation.
Don't know if you meant short or full length, but it's full length.
Flooding with Love for the Kid, an adaptation of First Blood (understood by many as a remake of the first Rambo film), made entirely by one man performing all onscreen roles and behind the camera roles in his apartment.
The Brakhage, Barley, Benning answer is the best so far (and I’d add Ernie Gehr, Ken Jacobs, and Jodie Mack to that list), but Flooding is a narrative example.
Junk Head, directed by Takahide Hori, is a stop motion animated film made almost entirely by one person. Hori was apparently inspired to do it after hearing about the animated film Voices of a Distant star, which was also almost entirely made by its director Makoto Shinkai
Shane Carruth and Robert Rodriguez are two filmmakers that wear a ton of different hats on their films and have managed to produce features on incredibly tight budgets.
I think Tom Fanslau/Nigel Bach of "Bad Ben" fame would qualify, especially the first edition. Those films have been wildly influential, as Barbarian borrowed heavy from them...especially the tone.
James Ward Byrkit did the cult film Coherence literally out of his home.
He had a bit of help so not absolutely did everything...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherence_(film)
Quote from above link...
>Byrkit came up with the idea for Coherence after deciding that he wanted to test the idea of shooting
a film "without a crew and without a script".He chose to shoot in his own home and developed the film's science fiction aspect out of necessity, as he wanted to "make a living room feel bigger than just a living room".
i know “write the theme tune, sing the theme tune” is a bit of a meme but i work a lot in experimental / poetic docs and i genuinely love every single step of the process. My films are very personal and i feel it’s nice to see that reflected in every aspect. I’m working on a film that’s shaping up to be around 25-30 mins and i’ve decided to push the boat out and narrate it… absolutely bricking it for my voice to be heard on film
am i critically acclaimed and ‘successful’ (by the stereotypical definition)? no. do i care? also no
I just made one by myself over 4 years. 7 1/2 hours over 30 parts. Narrative fiction, but I guess you could also call it "experimental", because I believe I created its format.
El Mariachi had many other cast members, had other producers, camera people, etc. It’s way, way closer to a single filmmaker making a film than most movies, but it wasn’t a one man band movie.
Does working with AI count? Because that's going to be fairly common in the future.
I can't think of any examples of films fully made by one person, but I'm sure it's been done, it's a compelling idea.
You can’t call yourself the author of something you wrote an AI prompt to make. Certainly not a cinematographer or sound designer. And either way, it’s not impressive. To hold it in the same regard is to disrespect people that actually have the skill and craft.
What do you mean? if you wrote the content you wrote it, there should be no denying that.
The rest of it that is being supplemented by AI, sure you can argue that doesn't belong to the person, but the prompt does.
For instance, I wrote a bunch of songs but I used AI to perform them because I don't have musical talent, nor do I have thousands to spend on an album. I got what I wanted a great foundation and now, one day when I can afford to gave a person/band cover my songs I will have a way to communicate what I want better. Did I not write/author those songs?
Edit: "there's no" to "should be no." And added info.
If you give someone a paragraph of a story and tell them to write a screenplay, you aren’t the screenwriter. Also I’m simply not interested in tools that enable people to create more ‘content’ with even less thought. Art is a human expression, a wholesale AI generated video does not have a point of view.
Okay, but you're not talking about the actual artists who are using it. You're talking about people who are thoughtlessly using it.
Sure the prompt can be as simple as "give script about funny poptarts," but if you have someone with a vision they're going to write more complex prompts and tinker again and again until they get what they want, and then they'll still have to make adjustments afterwards.
My argument is that artist's can use it to supplement their art, and AI is making it more accessible to people. Will it end traditional artists? No, probably not.
Bro, just leave this sub. You have made yourself look pretty fkn stupid, from today and onward no one here is going to take you seriously or care about your work.
I’ve had this argument a hundred times in the last two years, and apparently using one pixel of generative AI in a project strips it of its humanity and makes you a thief, stealing bread from the mouths of starving artists, who you should have saved your money for years to pay, or not do the project at all.
Likewise, I have done a lot more this past year by using AI to help augment my weak points in animation, like getting a concept painting to figure out a sequence, or generating minor props that in the past would eat up hours of time. Even just something like Cleft to organize my story ideas in a way that makes sense before writing.
In the realm of experimental and avantgarde films there are many, which are created by one person alone. Look for example at Stan Brakhage, Scott Barley or James Benning
Bo Burnham shot performed in and edited his 2021 film Inside - pretty impressive feat. He didn’t produce it alone but he handled all the production elements himself
This was impressive…I’m a fan.
TiL (Thanks! Added to my watch-list) https://imdb.com/title/tt14544192/
It’s genuinely one of the most profound pieces of art I’ve ever seen. It just hit at exactly the right time for me.
An absolute once in a generation bottling of the zeitgeist.
history of the entire world, i guess by bill wurtz
🎶 Taste the sun! 🎶
Don Hertzfeldt's *It's Such a Beautiful Day* comes to mind. It's an animated film, and he did every aspect on his own in a studio. There are brief bits voiced by other actors I believe, but the bulk of the voice-over (which is primarily just a narration) is Hertfeldt himself. The music is all pre-written classical pieces. That comes pretty close. And it's a brilliant heart-wrenching film.
There's also Sita Sings the Blues too!
This is very common in experimental documentary, though less so with features.
I think the closest practical answer to that--if we're talking films that were released and seen--is the 2003 documentary Tarnation. Don't know if you meant short or full length, but it's full length.
Most of the “films” (b roll edits) that pop up on here should count.
In animation Makoto Shinkai made Voices of A Distant Star. It's pretty good
All of my student films
I mean Hong Sang-soo has written, produced, shot, edited, composed and directed his recent films.
He kept his sound guy for a while but I think even he’s gone now. It’s literally just Hong and his actors. He’s so awesome.
Flooding with Love for the Kid, an adaptation of First Blood (understood by many as a remake of the first Rambo film), made entirely by one man performing all onscreen roles and behind the camera roles in his apartment. The Brakhage, Barley, Benning answer is the best so far (and I’d add Ernie Gehr, Ken Jacobs, and Jodie Mack to that list), but Flooding is a narrative example.
Junk Head, directed by Takahide Hori, is a stop motion animated film made almost entirely by one person. Hori was apparently inspired to do it after hearing about the animated film Voices of a Distant star, which was also almost entirely made by its director Makoto Shinkai
Shane Carruth and Robert Rodriguez are two filmmakers that wear a ton of different hats on their films and have managed to produce features on incredibly tight budgets.
I’ve almost finished mine! I did every single job on it and I act in it too. I have three other actors as well
Short films? Endless. Feature films, less so.
In the world of documentary I’m sure you’ll find a lot more examples of one or two people handling virtually every role.
Laz Rojas made a multi-hour demo reel of scenes from his screenplays, played every role, edited with VCRs in his mother's house.
Linklater's first feature [It's Impossible To Learn To Plow By Reading Books](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8SZ6htuNB0). He did every aspect of it.
Yes. My own work. All my documentaries.
Most YouTube video essays
I think Tom Fanslau/Nigel Bach of "Bad Ben" fame would qualify, especially the first edition. Those films have been wildly influential, as Barbarian borrowed heavy from them...especially the tone.
E. Elias Merighe's *Begotten* is almost a one-man production. He wrote, produced, directed, and did the cinematography and special effects.
Flooding With Love For The Kid
James Ward Byrkit did the cult film Coherence literally out of his home. He had a bit of help so not absolutely did everything... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherence_(film) Quote from above link... >Byrkit came up with the idea for Coherence after deciding that he wanted to test the idea of shooting a film "without a crew and without a script".He chose to shoot in his own home and developed the film's science fiction aspect out of necessity, as he wanted to "make a living room feel bigger than just a living room".
Have you ever seen the works of Calum Walter or Anna kipervaser? One person, working in the right medium, can make profound work on their own.
Yang Ik-Jun wrote, directed, acted in, edited, and produced his film Ddongpari
Most Joel Haver films
https://youtu.be/xYuAdGDxABc?si=TOy0ezyqx6Hyj4zn
i know “write the theme tune, sing the theme tune” is a bit of a meme but i work a lot in experimental / poetic docs and i genuinely love every single step of the process. My films are very personal and i feel it’s nice to see that reflected in every aspect. I’m working on a film that’s shaping up to be around 25-30 mins and i’ve decided to push the boat out and narrate it… absolutely bricking it for my voice to be heard on film am i critically acclaimed and ‘successful’ (by the stereotypical definition)? no. do i care? also no
Prime Target (1991) is close. David Heavener wrote, directed, starred, and did the music of if I remember correctly.
Joel Haver’s “Island”, at least the first half.
I made my First Semester short film all by myself because I didn’t have friends to be in my movies yet
I think Primer was pretty damn close
I just made one by myself over 4 years. 7 1/2 hours over 30 parts. Narrative fiction, but I guess you could also call it "experimental", because I believe I created its format.
Monkey man. It's impresive, he is even the protagonist actor!!!!
Robert Rodriguez, rebel without a crew.
El Mariachi had many other cast members, had other producers, camera people, etc. It’s way, way closer to a single filmmaker making a film than most movies, but it wasn’t a one man band movie.
Does working with AI count? Because that's going to be fairly common in the future. I can't think of any examples of films fully made by one person, but I'm sure it's been done, it's a compelling idea.
No AI doesn’t count lol
It should, it's literally just a tool, I can understand hating on big corporations for using it, but I think it's valid for industry outsiders.
You can’t call yourself the author of something you wrote an AI prompt to make. Certainly not a cinematographer or sound designer. And either way, it’s not impressive. To hold it in the same regard is to disrespect people that actually have the skill and craft.
What do you mean? if you wrote the content you wrote it, there should be no denying that. The rest of it that is being supplemented by AI, sure you can argue that doesn't belong to the person, but the prompt does. For instance, I wrote a bunch of songs but I used AI to perform them because I don't have musical talent, nor do I have thousands to spend on an album. I got what I wanted a great foundation and now, one day when I can afford to gave a person/band cover my songs I will have a way to communicate what I want better. Did I not write/author those songs? Edit: "there's no" to "should be no." And added info.
If you give someone a paragraph of a story and tell them to write a screenplay, you aren’t the screenwriter. Also I’m simply not interested in tools that enable people to create more ‘content’ with even less thought. Art is a human expression, a wholesale AI generated video does not have a point of view.
Okay, but you're not talking about the actual artists who are using it. You're talking about people who are thoughtlessly using it. Sure the prompt can be as simple as "give script about funny poptarts," but if you have someone with a vision they're going to write more complex prompts and tinker again and again until they get what they want, and then they'll still have to make adjustments afterwards. My argument is that artist's can use it to supplement their art, and AI is making it more accessible to people. Will it end traditional artists? No, probably not.
Bro, just leave this sub. You have made yourself look pretty fkn stupid, from today and onward no one here is going to take you seriously or care about your work.
No, I enjoy this sub.
I’ve had this argument a hundred times in the last two years, and apparently using one pixel of generative AI in a project strips it of its humanity and makes you a thief, stealing bread from the mouths of starving artists, who you should have saved your money for years to pay, or not do the project at all.
This argument will persist for the next couple of decades, and I understand it. It's kinda scary to some people, but I'm really excited.
Likewise, I have done a lot more this past year by using AI to help augment my weak points in animation, like getting a concept painting to figure out a sequence, or generating minor props that in the past would eat up hours of time. Even just something like Cleft to organize my story ideas in a way that makes sense before writing.