Filmmaking Journey Insights: Featuring Austin Shell from Crucible Media
I had the opportunity to sit down with Austin Shell and interview him about his job and other insights about working for Crucible Media. Austin Shell is a director, producer, and videographer at Crucible Media from Dayton, Ohio.
Crucible Media gets their name from Austin Shell’s brother, Dylan’s time in the Marine Corps, Shell said, “and he said there was a part of the Marine Corps where they call it the crucible, and it’s like the toughest challenge that they need to face in order to come out on the other side better.” He and his brother have had to face several tough jobs throughout their career, and he likes to think that those experiences gave them the opportunity to come out on the other side better than before, just like during the Crucible in the Marine Corps.
Shell got into filmmaking from watching shows and movies as a kid. He used to skip soccer practice when he was younger just to make sure he could watch a new episode of a show when it came out. Shell said, “My thing is that I’ve always loved a good story. I’ve loved making stories, like hearing stories. So when the opportunity came for me to make that my job, I was like, Oh, absolutely. That’s the way to go.”
One of Shell’s favorite things about his job is how rewarding it can be. Shell claims that there are a lot of jobs in the artistic scene that are solo jobs, like a painter with a paintbrush, but with filmmaking there are several different jobs for people to choose from. Shell said, “So when you finally get a team that is cohesive, and you can just really vibe with the end product, it always works better, and it’s very, very rewarding to make sure to have a big team that ends up doing everything right and all the pieces fall into place in the right way. And then the product ends up reflecting that as well.”
Other things that are rewarding are the opportunities that Crucible Media has had where they get to work with nonprofit organizations. Shell stated, “I helped them raise a lot of money to do their work, which is always really rewarding, and I think that’s probably done the most good for the world, as far as narratives and stuff go.”
When it comes to being a filmmaker, things turning out to be rewarding isn’t always the case. There are always shots that you hope will be better but don’t go as planned. Filmmaking can be thought of as three different parts: the shots that you want to get based off the storyboard, the shots that you actually got, and then the stuff that happens when you edit.
“Kill your darlings is a writer’s term,” said Shell. You can’t always get the shot you want because of multiple factors such as time, location, or budget restraints ect. Sometimes you have to work with what you have got. Sometimes it just depends on what is available to you.
On the flip side of the coin, sometimes you get shots you thought were going to be horrible, but sometimes they turn out better than you imagined. Last year, Shell started working on a Sasquach film in New York, where he had a lot of budget and team restraints that were frustrating. Shell stated, “I’m finally starting to see some cuts. And I’m like, You know what? Some of these are kind of scrappy, and they kind of worked out.” He knows they aren’t perfect, but it is okay because, although it isn’t up to industry standards, it is pretty good for a low-budget film.
Shell is currently working on a couple of films. One named “Oscar Shaw”, which is an action cop movie featuring Michael Jai White, Tyrese Gibson and a ton more actors. It is being shot in Louisville, Kentucky, because of a tax rebate that attracts many filmmakers by reducing the cost of funding.
Currently, Shell is in the middle of writing a 1970’s themed summer camp horror movie that is based in Ohio. It was inspired by his time helping run a summer camp and the location that they have available to them. They are working on a better pitch deck that they can use to try to get more investors involved.
Some advice he would give to younger people who would want to become a filmmaker is to look up Facebook film groups like Ohio Film, South East Ohio Film, Mid Ohio FilmMakers Association and see if you can get a job as a Personal Assistant (PA) and network your way up the ladder. The pay won’t be great or, it might be voluntary, but you can look around and see what you vibe with, whether it is lighting, art/props, sound, camera, acting and talk with those groups and ask if you can join in on the next thing.
If you’re interested in what Shell and Crucible Media will be up to next, don’t be afraid to check out their Social Media:
Austin Shell’s instagram: @_atshell_
Crucible Media on Facebook and Instagram: @crucible_media
Their Website: https://www.crucible-media.com/
Wow! Crucible Media sounds like a great group of folks.
And that Austin guy is a real looker 😍