Shooting a short that focuses on the main character of a proposed feature, and sets-up some key element of the story, is a common fund-raising tool for independent productions. Productions as varying in tone from The Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple to Napoleon Dynamite have all started off as prototype shorts that were used to generate interest in the intended feature.

a) Technical limitations: Long-form video is not very much fun to watch over the kinds of connections most people have. Because of this the average length of video that people will watch, according to many self-proclaimed web video experts, is about three minutes. One result of this situation is that three to five minutes has become the standard length for “webisodes”. Anything that is longer than that is considered to be “pushing the boundaries”. Listening to music over the Internet used to be too much traffic for the network to reliably deliver, so this situation probably won’t last forever, but when the technical limitations for smooth streaming feature-length content will be overcome is really not certain.

b) User experience: The user experience for online film viewing is not great. Not only the technical limitations, but the viewing UI and context. Embedded browser video is often displayed too small, and surrounded by distracting advertisements and other ancillary content. The different user improvements brought to online music listening that were delivered by iTunes and Pandora, respectively, need to happen for video. Recent web-embedded players that can go full screen are a start, but the content location and management services for video are quite lacking.

c) Pricing: Torrents and other tools of the theftosphere have created the expectation in far too many people that everyone in the world will give their work away for free (except, of course, when you ask avid torrenters to give you the fruits of their own labor for free). The fallacious argument that is used for bands (that the downloads should be free so the band can make money attracting people to pay for live shows) doesn’t even have a prayer of holding up when it comes to filmmaking.

What video content creators need to do is split the difference: give away free trailers and short films that will create goodwill (because you’re playing the “give us something for free” game) and if it’s good enough also drive viewers to your premium content. Then you need to deliver to the viewer paid content that is as good as or better than the stolen goods available online (and you may be surprised at how high that bar really is — some torrentable video actually looks better than commercially available DVDs).

photo by Sasira (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sasira/3983753349/)

So far the Internet has been a good publicity vehicle, but has not been a very good place to distribute work in order to make money to support yourself as filmmaker. But progress is being made.

(read more “below the fold”)

YouTube and Vimeo may be fine for giving away short videos and trying to get “hits”, but they are basically useless in terms of (directly) making money to support your filmmaking. But iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster, and GreenCine are all making strides in delivering video over the network in ways that both pleases customers and provides a revenue stream for the content owners. Right now, it’s nearly as hard for true Independents to get into most of these distribution streams as it is to get a deal with a standard low-end DVD distributor (iTunes is currently the easiest), or far too expensive in terms of the cut the distributor takes (Amazon).

The lower cost of basic infrastructure for distribution means that someone with a sufficiently sizable system to be a serious contender will eventually provide distribution at a reasonable cost to anyone who wants it — but “anything goes” is not quite what a serious filmmaker wants. Lack of editorial control leads to the kind of wilderness of content that is YouTube, where a deluge of crap can overwhelm good content. Brands will need to be built which are founded upon providing a filter for users, some happy middle ground between the permissiveness of iTunes and the restrictiveness of Blockbuster. Right now, who will pull this off is unclear, though my money is on one or more of Netflix, iTunes, and GreenCine (if the latter can overcome the technical and partnership hurdles and at all catch up with Netflix).

What is especially exciting about all the aforementioned services is their various partnerships to deliver legal video content to various set-top hardware devices. Right now that market also lacks standardization, and who survives as an Internet-based distributor may very well be related to what hardware partnerships they’ve created as some companies win and some lose the hardware wars. Hopefully, standards eventually emerge to weed out the various proprietary systems that thrive in order to attempt to lock in customers to one system.

But the distribution medium that most people think has the greatest potential for short-term profitability for content creators is on-demand cable. This hybrid between traditional cable and the two-way data communications provided by Internet protocols (though it could have been done direct dial as well, and some early attempts tried that) is already in place and accepted by customers. One problem with it is that the user interface and selection of content for many on-demand cable systems is not great (and timeouts that start countdown from purchase are antithetical to current viewing trends — users prefer a system that runs the timeout clock after the start of the first viewing so they can build a queue and watch it in whatever order they want).

The other problem is that getting into this distribution stream is still difficult.  It is great for mid-to-large size distributors who already have relationships with the cable providers, but useless for true Indie and NoLo folks.  Once the customer experience hurdles are smoothed-out, and if the cable companies open up on-demand slots to Indie and micro-budget distributors, this could be a very good way for films that aren’t able to snag a theatrical release slot to get seen and make money in a world where DVD sales have fallen off tremendously.

Even though DVD sales are slow, they’re not quite dead yet.  And an Indie or NoLo entity has the luxury of printing small runs of DVDs as needed, an option which is too cumbersome within the pipeline of a large distribuor.  And especially for films with very limited or no theatrical release, landing a rental exclusive deal with Netflix or Blockbuster is a particularly a good means of distribution since those companies will then do some promotion of your title to their customers.

And in a noble attempt to try to save theatrical exhibition for non-tentpole releases, an exciting possibility is being explored by a few start-up distributors, along side digital cinema projection system providers, to deliver on-demand movies to cinemas. The idea here is to allow theaters to continue to provide the big screen, big crowd theater experience but have a more varied slate of films available without the expense (to both distributor and exhibitor) of shipping and holding prints.

Indie-friendly distributors emerging in this “digital distribution to the exhibitor” sphere promote the idea that this helps smaller audience films find a bigger audience by making it easier for exhibitors to offer longer runs (perhaps with fewer days each week) that can allow these films to “platform” over several weeks or months rather than trying to force Indies to make an opening weekend splash that their marketing budgets usually can not support. This seems quite interesting and exciting to me, but it is a relatively untested approach (some but not most arthouse and second run theaters juggle schedules in this way already, even with prints). Like any new approach, it may take some getting used to (and may not survive the start-up period, though I personally hope it does).

Even though the world of distribution online is still a mixture of user-centric chaos and the usual dominance by deep-pocketed players, it is not to be overlooked considering how difficult it is to get theatrical distribution at this time. Other aspects of the Internet are not to be overlooked, either: fundraising, publicity, and merchandising potential.

On the fundraising front, great sites like Kickstarter are creating platforms for Independent artists to bring project pitches to the general Internet public. A number of projects have been funded through Kickstarter, though naturally the majority of these are very small budget productions — I’ve yet to hear of even a $50,000 film funded entirely via nontraditional means, never mind a $5millon one.  But for your early micro-budget projects, things like Kickstarter can be great.

Merchandising opportunities run the gamut. At one end is producing your own materials through a place like PsPrint, Discmakers, CustomInk, etc. and selling them through your own website (using PayPal, Yahoo! Stores, or any other shopping cart and/or credit card processing provider). On the other is on-demand services like CafePress, Zazzle, Printfection, Spreadshirt, etc.  The advantage of on-demand is the low up-front costs, though what percentage of the sales price you get to keep varies from place to place, and your profits on merch sold through these sites can be very poor — so research the options and choose carefully.

Online publicity is the subject of many books, and I’ll do a round-up review posting of those at some point, but some of the opportunities here are obvious: blogging, participating in forums relevant to your film’s subject and/or target audience, purchasing ads on relevant other sites, link exchanges with other sites relevant to your target audience, and mailing lists (opt-in only, please).

Though there is some doom and gloom looming when digital copies of the films you slogged away to create are floating around the Internet, there are actually plenty of people out there willing to pay for content (and to help the little guy) if you give them interesting content for a reasonable price that is easy for them to receive and play back in some format that looks good and works with the player they already have. And with the lower startup costs offered by some online merchandising options, and services like Kickstarter, you might even be able to partially subsidize your next project.

It may seem like everything is happening all at once, and that on-set production is total chaos rather than a pipeline.  But this is only true if you let it get out of hand.  When you’re inexperienced, your production simply will get out of hand at times and you’ll just need to get it back on track.  To help you do so, it helps to understand what things basically ought to look like if they’re going right, so here’s an overview of on-set production as a process.  What is especially helpful about this is that while the actual on-set activity may sometimes seem overwhelming and frenzied, when looked at as a process the structure of on-set production is relatively simple.  Knowing this pipeline can help you focus and bring things back under control when something goes wrong.

On-set production process

Crew Call; Location, Grip and Lighting Work

The day starts with a crew call.  On many sets, the Director and Producer may not even be on set at this point — particularly if there is a location move involved.  The First A.D., Line Producers, Location Manager, Key Grip, and Gaffer are responsible for getting the location moved and equipment ready.  Other services, such as portable toilets if needed and craft services, are also expected to arrive early.  The camera crew (often without the D.P.) arrive to start prepping and testing the camera.  When the D.P. is scheduled to arrive, the camera crew, grips, and gaffers are expected to be ready to start putting lights and cameras onto the proper grip gear and into position for the first shot of the day.  If sets need to be constructed, the Set Foreman heads this up, and the arrival of the Art Director is the cue for set dressing to begin.  All the mechanical aspects of prepping the set are expected to more or less be done before the cast arrives.

The Director (and Producer) may choose to oversee any and all of this, of course.  It depends on the level of trust you have with your crew.  Very experienced Directors with experienced crews, particularly ones they’ve worked with before, trust everyone to work from the boards, previs, set blueprints, art packets, and so on that the Director has already approved in preproduction — and the Director makes occasional walkthroughs during initial setup to make sure all is well, or decide on last minute changes when inspiration strikes.  Otherwise, the Director focuses on working with the actors (and, if necessary, the writer — see below).

Script and Storyboard Revisions

On-set script and storyboard revisions happen for one of two reasons: the Director has a flash of inspiration, or disaster has struck.  In the former case, it is dependent upon the Director’s personality (and the extent of the change) whether to bother with script and board changes or to just give verbal adjustments to the cast and crew.   In the case of disaster — whether it’s a scene or sequence that just isn’t working, a cast member has quit (or, God forbid, become too sick to work or passed away), or the production has fallen so far behind schedule that major portions of the script need to start getting cut — it is best for all involved to get the changes down.  It will help mitigate the chaos of the disaster, and the comfort of seeing the changes committed to paper will enable you to more easily get back on track.

Cast Call and Cast-Director Check-in

By the time the cast is scheduled to arrive, the set is expected to be ready for them.  The First A.D. and Production Assistants will check the arrival of the cast, make sure they get call sheets, answer questions, bring them water and snacks, and generally get them settled-in before the Director arrives to go over the day’s shooting.  Not all sets bother to (or can afford to) give the cast and Director time before the shooting starts, but if you can make it happen, it’s a great idea.  It allows the cast to ask questions and give suggestions to the Director in a more intimate environment.  Some actors don’t feel comfortable either seeming to need help, or giving suggestions to (or being critical of) the Director, in front everyone.  Time spent alone can enable a freer exchange of ideas, and help diffuse potential issues before they become a big deal.

Wardrobe, Hair and Make-Up

Once a cast member is on-set and informed of the day’s work, they will get their hair and make-up done, and wardrobe fitted.  This may happen before or after the Director check-in, and if the preparations are especially complicated (which may be the case for special effects make-up or elaborate period costumes), the cast call may be at exactly the same time as the crew call (unless, of course, a location move has happened and the wardrobe, hair and make-up trailers or rooms are being prepped), and the actors may be in wardrobe, hair and make-up the whole time the technical set-up is happening.

Actual Shooting

Before the cameras roll, five main things happen:

Lights (1), Camera (2), and Grip gear (3) are set-up.  For the first shot, things are supposed to be pretty close when the cast arrives, but the D.P. still needs to visually inspect the shot with the actual cast in-place, take light readings, and make any necessary adjustments to the lighting and camera rigs before shooting.  When a new shot is started, things may change radically.  This is when the cast and many other members of the crew get a break (or, in the case of the cast or a crew lead who needs Directorial input, perhaps go talk with the Director) as the camera crew, gaffers and grips work fast and furious to get the next shot ready.

Sound gear is set-up (4).  This basically consists of the boom operator getting into proper position, and the recordist doing level checks.  To make this work as it should, the boom operator has been in rehearsals with the cast, is present for all on-set warm-ups, and gets informed of any updates to dialog and timing.  If that’s happening, an experienced boom operator can get set-up without having to ask for run-throughs  before the actual shooting.

All the parts of this set-up that requires interaction with the cast are expected to happen very quickly, so the cast spends minimal time worrying about technical issues and maximal time acting.

Shot Direction is given (5).  Once the set-up is finished, the Director gives the final directions to the cast and crew.  If it’s not the first take, then refinement directions are given — or the call is made that a good take has been achieved and it’s time to move on to the next shot.

Once all the set-up is done, and Direction given, the First A.D. calls “action”.  Then the cameras roll, almost always for a very short period of time, and then the Director calls “cut”.  That’s it.  You just shot a take.  This process happens again and again until the shooting day is done.  In between takes, it’s just the Director giving direction and occasional technical tweaks (and/or touch-up on wardrobe, hair and make-up).  In between shots, it’s just somewhat longer versions of the same thing.  Sure, throughout the day there are meal and restroom breaks, longer set-ups during which some people get to take a break, and so on — but a shooting day is basically this over and over again: technical set-up / adjustment, cast and crew direction given, and roll cameras.

Once you’ve done that for as many days as scheduled for shooting the entire film — have a wrap party, because now you’re ready to go into post production.

Production — before going on-set

Production before going on-set includes the tail end of pretty much everything in preproduction.  Indeed, the distinction between late preproduction and early production is debated.  If you mark a production greenlight as the start of production (as some studios do), then it’s early production.  But if you mark the first shooting day as the start of production (as others do), then it’s late preproduction.  Either way, the tasks you must perform are the same.

Casting, Wardrobe, Make-Up Tests, Rehearsals, Camera Tests with Talent

Sign those final contracts with all your remaining actors as quickly as you can, because your schedule depends on it (and depending how large a percentage your casting cost estimate is relative to the rest of your budget, you may not be able to budget for crew and materials until you do this).  The final casting is also needed so you can start rehearsing (and doing those last script tweaks before hitting the set), fitting costumes (and working with the production designer to refine any costumes that aren’t working now that the real talent is selected), doing make-up tests, using real talent in camera tests to start finalizing lighting and film stock choices (some talent, particularly big names, won’t allow this — and/or you can’t afford it), getting to know people so you can develop a working rapport with them, and (and this is serious with regards to primary cast and crew) finding out about dietary restrictions before starting the process of hiring a caterer.  Rehearse as much as you can (unless you or your lead are the kind of folks who absolutely hate rehearsing — in which case, I hope you’re both excellent under pressure).

Crew Casting

You’re about to go shoot a movie.  On-set work is the post people intensive part of the filmmaking process, and now you’ve got to go out and hire the entire rest of the crew (actually, the production staff and department leads you hired in preproduction do).  For a large budget film, you may be about to hire and schedule several hundred people.  Everyone from the most senior craftsmen and technicians to the lowliest P.A. need to be signed-on now so that legal and payroll can get them on the books, and production (First A.D. and Line Producers) can get them onto the schedule, and production accounting can start itemizing this part of the budget.  In reality, big productions do the entire budget and pre-assign salaries and schedules, and then people either agree to take the jobs or not.  No-budget shooters on the other hand need to be more flexible with timing and compensation because you’ve got as much of the latter as you can squeeze out of people and very little of the former, and crew casting will drive the budget and schedule rather directly.

Lock Locations, Build Sets, Get Props

You need to finalize your locations both for the budget and schedule (getting the final budget and schedule right is the driver for much of late prepro / early production), and so that your art department can start translating the Production Designer’s vision into reality by building and buying sets and props based on the images and measurements gathered during location scouting.  You may not be able to build full sets for some locations (be it extensions and dressing for what is properly called a location, or a what is properly called  a set to be used on a soundstage) at this point, because they’re too large and/or site specific to be built in a workshop, but everything else is fair game.  You want all the props and as many of the set pieces as possible to be done before you go on-set / on-location.

Finally, you need to just stop getting ready at some point.

There is a saying in the business: no project is ever finished, it merely gets released.  (And many variations thereupon.)  Script revisions, storyboards, production design, previz and camera test tweaks need to end some time, and probably some time before you spend more on them than you should have is a good time to do that (especially if you’re observing diminishing returns in terms of making the storytelling — visual and textual — better).  You really need to stop changing these things as soon as possible so that all the rest of this stuff can get locked down — especially the schedule and budget.

Movies usually go over budget and off schedule because of ongoing changes.  Indecision, second guessing, infighting amongst power players, and so on can be the cause of these changes, but if they’re not curtailed it can mean financial (and artistic) disaster.  Some studios, like Pixar, have spent years (and huge amounts of money) figuring out how to carefully balance the need for ongoing and sometimes very late changes to make the film better with knowing what not to change, and fitting those changes into a carefully crafted whole.  Pixar has a well developed system for doing this, and a large, talented staff who have learned over many years how to pull it off.   This approach provides great results for a few studios, and is an unmitigated disaster for others.  And even for the experts, it is neither easy nor cheap.

I’m not talking about on-set inspiration taking a scene or a sequence in a new direction.  I’m talking about big structural changes.  You need to go on-set prepared so you can deal with flashes of inspiration, actually necessary changes, and a million disasters of varying sizes by having a well-laid foundation you’re building on.  If you go on-set with everything still in flux (or so recently having been finalized that you haven’t had time to internalize your own vision and decisions), you’ll get confused knowing what piece goes where, and things can easily spiral out of control. If you find yourself continually making major changes throughout late prepro / early production, maybe your film isn’t really ready for production.  And if your film isn’t actually ready for production, why is it in production in the first place?  If more executives (and producers, directors, etc.) asked themselves this question seriously (paying it lip service is easy), there would be more quality films coming in on-time and on-budget.

Film production, like screenplays andanything else that is initiated, proceeds, and then completes, can be (and is) broken down into a three act structure: preproduction, production, and postproduction.  Simply stated, preproduction is everything that happens before you start shooting, production is all the stuff that happens while you’re on-set and shooting, and postproduction is everything that happens afterwards.

The diagrams and summaries I’ll present are influenced by my big budget feature work, but the way to apply them to smaller budget films is to simply scale them down.  In doing so, some pieces may fall off if you don’t have a friend who can do them for low enough cost (storyboarding and previsualization being the main pieces of preproduction that are most easily cut).

Preproduction

Preproduction starts when a project is greenlit.  In some studios, a greenlight is first given to go into first phase prepro / advanced development in which only script revisions, storyboarding, early production design, and preliminary budgeting are happening.  But once the film is put into real preproduction, a number of other things quickly follow in order to prepare to go into full-blown production.  Here is a visual guide to preproduction, followed by a summary (various aspects of which will become more detailed posts in the future):

Preproduction Pipeline (click to see larger)

Casting Crew Leads and Actors

Depending on the approach at the particular studio or production company, the very first person cast may be a Writer, a Director, or a Producer.  In order to proceed from development into preproduction and have it be maximally successful, all three of those positions need to be cast before moving on.  And in order to proceed with certain tasks in preproduction, you then need to cast your Cinematographer, Production Designer, Production Accountant, Location Scout, Casting Director, and First A.D.  You will need these people to do the first script breakdown (Producer, Director, and First A.D.), and then begin technical / craft preproduction as well as scheduling, budgeting and financing.

Casting your on-screen leads will have a very direct impact on both script and story development and budgeting and financing.  If you cast someone with enough stature relative to your film’s budget, you will be required to give them some say in the development of the story in return for the fact that their signing-on will be a major step towards securing financing (and may increase your budget, too, depending on how big a name they are relative to your project’s size, balanced against how friendly they are towards you and your vision).  And, the earlier you cast, the earlier this input can be gathered, which means better preproduction results, as well as an earlier opportunity to start rehearsals.

Script Breakdown

The usual meaning of a script breakdown is taking the pre-shooting style script and breaking it into shots in the style of a shooting script.  People generally think of the first shooting scrip breakdown as happening right before going on-set, but it really needs to happen before you can start budgeting and scheduling, which you’ll need a first pass on before you can start to go out for financing.

The first script breakdown also helps the Cinematographer design appropriate camera tests, and the Production Designer, Location Scout and Casting Director to start finding the look, key places and key on-screen talent for your film.  A different kind of breakdown is needed to go into the Story department (if you’ll have one), but the first pass at a shooting breakdown is essential for Previsualization (if you’ll do it).   All these people will be working off the script breakdown, so it’s crucial to do a complete pass on this before moving forward with the rest of preproduction.

Budgeting and Scheduling, Financing and Legal

Money, time and contracts all must be managed in order to actually produce a film.  Budgets and schedules are simple to conceptualize, and difficult to get right.  A schedule is just a detailed list of things you want to do, with how long each will take and who (cast and crew) and what (locations, equipment, sets and props) needs to be there.  The budget is derived from the schedule by figuring out how much each of those things costs per day, and adding it all up (remembering to include preproduction and postproduction as fully scheduled and budgeted aspects of making the iflm, as well as overhead, with potentially substantial fixed costs like permits, fees, film duplication, etc. called-out as line items).

You then use the budget and schedule to help determine financing needs, and plan the actual production.  The early budgets and schedules will be used as part of the financing process, so the producing staff knows how much to be asking for.  As cast member salaries (and, sometimes, story demands) boost the budget, this must all get revised.  Early design, scouting, previs, and camera tests will also influence the budget and schedule.  As you refine what it is you’re trying to do, you will almost certainly be forced to repeatedly decided between something you really want — a cool shot, a great location, an expensive cast member, etc. — and the realities of your budget.  Sometimes, if you’re early enough in the financing process and sufficiently skilled at getting people excited about your project, you might be able to boost the budget once — but usually not.

It’s best to keep the very first iterations of all this stuff to yourself for as long as you can financially afford to do so with whatever seed money you bring to the project (and whatever free time your crew might give you).  If you’re lucky enough to be doing a big studio project, all of this happens on their dime, though how it then may get deducted against gross and therefore any back end you may be lucky enough to have negotiated (though probably not) is something for the lawyers to work out.

And, indeed, there are a lot of things for lawyers to work out in terms of financing agreements, cast and crew contracts, rights agreements, and so on.  It’s crucial to have a professional, full-time entertainment lawyer with extensive film experience available to you throughout the process, especially if it’s your first feature film.

Script Revisions, Storyboarding, Production Design and Previsualization

Script revisions come from notes received from big name cast members, the Director, the Producer, and if it’s a studio film, the studio executives (either they read it alone, or from table reads and rehearsals — though rehearsals often don’t start until the moment after preproduction because on-screen talent often won’t commit the time until on-set production is greenlit, so there’s often at least one prepro iteration after prepro has officially ended).

They also come from other phases of the preproduction process, because the major reason for the preproduction process other than the budgeting and planning of the shoot is to do things that reveal problems in the film before you start incurring the high costs of being on-set.  Storyboarding and Previsualization processes are in fact specifically designed to do this very thing (and because of this, they are often omitted, particularly by Directors who — right or wrong — believe they don’t need to incur the expense as they’ve already “got it all in my head”).

Production design is the development of the visual look of the film.  The Director and Cinematographer are generally the only ones participating in this other than the Production Designer (and sometimes, not even the Cinematographer, who may come in after design is basically finished).  Production design establishes the basic look of the film, drawing, painting, and finding reference for major sets, costumes, buildings, vehicles, and even characters.  All this feeds into the production art department, as well as location scouting, camera, and casting departments as the production design packets are the physical embodiments of the Director’s visual goals.

Storyboards (and animatics cut together from boards) are a way of working out structural, character, and visual storytelling elements before more expensive stages of production begin (camera tests, previs, and real production).  Story iterates with the writer(s) on the script side, and production design and the camera department on the visual elements.  Boards are like  a first pass at both rehearsals and camera tests, without having to hire any actors or camera crew.  Camera tests may then be done on specific shots that have been boarded (and/or previsualized) in order to find the best looking, most efficient and effective way to achieve them, whereas finding the shot during a test can incur higher costs due to space and equipment rentals (and finding a shot on-set can be project killing if you haven’t done enough prepro work to make the changes happen within a solid framework of production, and know enough about your own goals to get the changes done quickly).

Previsualization is a 3D computer graphics approach to exploring shot composition.  Some people use this instead of storyboards, but generally boards have better “acting” in them (skilled board artists draw more relevant and convincing character emotions than you’re going to get out of previs-grade 3D chracters).  This makes them superior to previs for acting-driven sequences.  3D previs is particularly useful for shots with complex camera movements, staging, and choreography.  In those cases a board artist may make shots look feasible that aren’t (or, at least, aren’t on your budget).  A cost effective, simple 3D previs with a system that models real cameras and real grip gear (such as Frame Forge) is a good way to test for this.  Very complex, expensive films also use (high end) previs extensively just because there’s so much going on it becomes an effective way to establish and communicate all the on-set needs for very complicated shots.

Camera Tests, Location Scouting and related work

Technical and craft scouting and tests are essential parts of preproduction that are fed by and feed back into both story development (can’t get a crucial location on time and budget?  need to change it) and production design.  Camera tests in particular develop and refine the look, both in terms of the production design aspects of color and value in frame, as well as the compositional and pacing goals established in storyboarding and previs.  The purpose of camera tests is to establish what camera, lenses, stock, and light kit will be the foundational basis of the shoot by proving that the combination can actually achieve the desired look by doing it.  Going ahead with a shoot without doing any camera tests is foolish, and any Cinematographer who suggests this isn’t worthy of the title.  Every film has differences, and they need to be analyzed and understood before huge costs are being incurred on-set.

Location scouting can be as essential as casting, especially in films where locations are basically characters (a chase across Mt. Rushmore is much different than a chase across “a big hill”).  Location availability and cost also has a potentially big impact on budgeting and scheduling, and the physical aspects of the location impact production design and the work of the camera, electrical, and sound departments.

Related tests and scouting may be done on some films where there are particular needs in terms of on-set sound (sound tests), music (bringing on a music director early to start establishing rights), or particular costumes, set pieces, vehicles, or other props that are key to the film and need to be established during preproduction in a manner other than merely being designed by the Production Designer.  But generally most or all of this sort of thing happens during early production — the part that secretly isn’t actually on-set despite going on-set appearing in the most common definition of production — because that’s when you’ve actually received all the money and go-ahead needed to go on set (which is really when production starts).

Iterate

If you look at the diagram, you’ll notice lots of arrows that show one phase feeding into another, and that phase then feeding back into the prior phase.  That’s because preproduction (and really all filmmaking) is an iterative process.  The results of taking the results of one part of the process and refining it in another may cause something in that prior part of the process to change.  Filmmaking isn’t an “all at once” process.  Think of iterating in preproduction a bit like doing takes on-set: with all the “moving parts” involved in making a movie you’re terribly unlikely to get anything right the first time, so you need to actively plan to fail to do so.  Iterating during preproduction is the least expensive opportunity to iterate and get more things right, and it is by doing so that you’re able to effectively plan to fail to get things right on set and still manage to make the film you actually want to (or something close to it, anyway).

Preproduction is the most overlooked, downplayed, and underappreciated part of filmmaking.  That’s because it is actually the most essential step in making a film, yet people generally want to skip most or all of it.  Without sufficient preproduction, you’re going into production and postproduction with no real idea of what you’re doing.  Even if you’ve made films before, at the beginning of every new project you should just assume you have no idea what’s going to happen and why, and set about developing an good idea about that before you go on-set.  You really, really don’t want to be figuring all these things out for the first time when five, fifteen, fifty, or five hundred people are all staring at you, wondering and asking: “what’s this scene about and how should it look?” (And all the hundreds of details that implies.)

Actors have the right to expect two key things: for you to be professional and respect them as professionals, and for you to know enough (about acting, directing, and your own material) that you can actually direct them.

Getting to Know Acting

Every Director should set out to learn something about acting.  After all, how can you Direct something you don’t know anything about?

Anyone who wants to Direct should really take at least one improv class.  Why improv?  Because every aspiring Director needs to experience the feeling of how difficult it is to be thrown in front of a bunch of people and told to perform right now.  It’s miserable.  And the best improv teachers start off this way, so you can experience the fear.  But you’ll soon realize that everyone starts off terrified, even the ones who seem natural at it, and that what ultimately makes improv possible is developing rapport and trust relationships amongst the participants.  That is also what makes a positive, productive film set possible.

Most of you won’t be doing Christopher Guest style improv films, but improv will teach you a lot about how to make actors (and crew) comfortable on-set — and do so by letting you experience first hand how terrifying it is if you’re not comfortable.

It is also advisable to take at least one acting class, and as cliché as it may seem, you should probably take a method acting class.  Many actors have been trained in one of the method schools (in the U.S., usually Meisner or Strasberg styles).  Even those who don’t practice method acting have generally studied Constantin Stanislavski’s acting “ABC” books, and so should you.

Finally, stick yourself out there.  Go act.  Do a community theater performance, or a role in a friend’s short film.  I don’t consider myself an actor at all, but I’ve done some voice acting, and played minor roles in a few short video productions, to make sure I have some first-hand understanding of what the actors are going through.

This level of exposure won’t make you an expert actor, nor will you become totally fluent in the academic methodology and terminology of acting, but you’ll have enough of a foundation that through repeated exposure to actors you’ll develop a shared language with them.

Expectations Before the Shoot

Most actors like to rehearse.  Some don’t, but most do.  And pretty much all actors would like to at least do a table read before shooting.  If you think you can’t afford rehearsals on your budget, try to think of other things you might cut before making that decision.  But even if you genuinely can’t afford the actors’ time and space for rehearsals on your budget, at least do a table read.  Whenever I’ve neglected to do table reads first, getting scenes right has always proved to be much more difficult.  This is especially true for no-budget shooters that are working with inexperienced actors, even those with a lot of raw talent.   Rehearsals and table reads allow the actors to become familiar with the material, and you with their performance style and Directing needs.  It is the beginning of developing trust and rapport.  But don’t over-Direct the rehearsals.  You don’t want the best performances off-camera, and you don’t want to burn out your actors.  Allow the rehearsals to be fluid, fun and imprecise.  Everyone should know that this is just a way to get familiar with the material and each other, not a pressure situation where they must “nail it” — and then be expected to exactly duplicate that performance on-set.

Actors also like not to be forgotten when updates to schedules, locations, shot breakdowns, and script pages are being circulated.  New Directors and Producers that have been struggling to figure out the technical how-tos of making their film can become obsessed with making sure the camera and sound crews are kept in the loop about everything, and completely forget about the actors.  But the actors care just as much as the technical crews if schedules, locations and shots are changing, and even more so if the script is being modified.  Don’t leave your actors out of preproduction updates.  (Another good thing about rehearsals and/or table reads is that it’s harder to forget about someone that’s right there in front of you.)

On-Set Expectations

These on-set expectations are not strictly limited to actor expectations.  Everyone on-set will benefit from good production and direction, and the film will be better for it.

Be professional.  Stories of tantrums and tyrannical Directors and Producers abound in the industry, but there’s really no benefit to unprofessional behavior.  The only possible outcome of on-set tantrums and other mistreatment of cast and crew is wasted time and resentment that leads to people not giving your production their all.  Losing your temper is never good, and should it happen in the heat of the moment, accept responsibility for getting everyone back on track.  Being professional also means being punctual and organized, and sticking to your schedule as much as possible — and/or working with a Producer who will enforce all that on you if it doesn’t come naturally.

Know your material.  Many new Directors go on-set with insufficient knowledge of the film they’re actually making.  (Doing so on your first production or two is basically inevitable, which is one reason why it’s good to start small for your first few projects.)  Good Directing requires having ideas about everything from camera angles to character motivations, and you need to know the material inside-out in order to make sensible decisions about all those things.

Actors will expect you to be able to discuss every scene in-depth, from a variety of aspects: tone, theme, character goals, character motivations, blocking, etc.  Preproduction exists to allow you to build a strong foundation of knowledge of and ideas about the material, so that inevitable on-set changes aren’t overwhelming.  It’s easier to make on-the-fly changes that don’t wreck the final product if you know the material.  You will have a very difficult time, and your end product will suffer for it (if you manage to finish at all), if you don’t know your material and have ideas about how everything should look, sound, and feel.

Be flexible.  Knowing what you want is essential, but so is realizing when you just can’t get it under the given circumstances, and being knowledgable and creative enough to quickly make a change that you can live with (good news: sometimes it turns out even better than your original idea).  If you become obsessed with how things were in rehearsals, and what you saw in your head during preproduction, you can grind your whole production to a halt by trying to do something that’s impossible with the time, budget, and level of experience your cast and crew have.

Even Directors of hundred million dollar films don’t get every shot and every performance to come out exactly the way they dreamed it would, and you’re not going to either.  The job of the Director and Producer is to get the best work out of everyone on-time and on-budget, without burning them out or destroying the produciton by being intractable.  Actors particularly like the opportunity to try out an alternate read or blocking if material isn’t working for them.  Flexibility doesn’t mean straying from your vision or letting your film get hijacked by your cast and crew, but rather being able to deal with the real world in which things sometimes go wrong and an alternate approach is needed.  Creative adjustments to on-set problems often lead to better films, and insisting on something that’s clearly become impossible is a good way wind up failing to even finish shooting.

Let the actors settle-in.  Give the cast and crew time to get to know each other at the beginning of the shoot, and schedule the easiest set-ups for the first 10% of production.  Then, during each scene, leave time for the physical set-up (dressing, lights, etc.) and line-ups (reintroducing the cast to the scene and how it’ll play out, including changes necessitated by differences in the actual set to the rehearsal space, or new ideas you had on how to make the scene play better).  Start each day with an easier scene, as well.  Building a groove before trying the most difficult scenes will always give you better results.

Listen.  Actors want to be a part of the creative process, not just puppets.  You’re under no obligation to take all of, or even any of, their suggestions.  But you’ll have a much better time on-set if you give them the opportunity to be heard.  The phrase “let’s try a take of your idea, but I’d still like to get one of this other approach” can buy you a tremendous amount of goodwill with your cast.  And if you’re any good at managing your set, it will do so without wasting time and sending you off schedule.  Again, you don’t want to let someone hijack the set with their own personal baggage, but don’t assume someone will just because they ask to be heard.  Most actors will be very professional and collaborative if you treat them the same way.

Don’t give line readings.  When fixing performance problems, never read a line and tell an actor to do it like you just did.  There are two reasons for this: it’s patronizing, and “if you’re such a good actor why aren’t you up there doing it yourself?”  There are plenty of other ways to fix line readings.  General hints, such as angrier, are ok but often inadequate.  Talking about character motivation is popular, and necessary, but not always sufficient.  A more visceral and specific hint is often better, such as: “say it like he just punched your mom in the face.”   If you have time, having the actors do a short scene that isn’t in the film as a character warmup can get you some good traction, and if people are having a particularly hard time staying in character asking them to do so all day, even between takes and on breaks, can also be helpful.  In general, you need to work with your actors and see what approaches work best for them as individuals — yet another good reason to have rehearsals.

Food, toilets, and breaks.  It sounds hyperbolic (I’m not sure how one would get such data, or how to verify it), but in a producing class I was once told that 80% of all low/no-budget productions fail because the Producer didn’t provide for decent food and toilet facilites, and/or the Director wouldn’t ever let anyone off set to use them.  Whether or not it’s true that 80% of productions fall on this sword, you don’t want yours to be one of them.  Especially when you’re not paying people (or not paying them well), you really had better find a way to budget for food, facilities, and breaks.

The basic take-home point of all of this is: Well treated people will work those 16–18 hour days needed to squeeze out a decent production within a tiny budget and schedule, and mistreated people will walk off set and never reutrn.

But not all Cinematographers lord over their Gaffer. Many rely on the Gaffer’s experience to help them achieve the look they’re going for, giving general directions rather than micromanaging the placement of every light. The best Cinematographers develop the same kind of trust relationship with their Gaffer that the best Directors do with their Cinematographers. By learning each others’ styles and how to work together, a Cinematographer and Gaffer can develop a shorthand for quickly creating the right look for every shot.

Grips tend to get even less respect than Gaffers, even though they are essential to pulling off complex shots. Dolly grips, TechnoCrane operators, and the like are critical for Directors and Cinematographers that want the most sophisticated camera moves they can get. The rigging that Grips do ensures the safety of the cast and crew who are all standing beneath potentially tons of lights and light modifiers. Rigging problems can be quite vexing, and require some very creative solutions. A smart, talented Key Grip is just as critical to a shoot as any other lead role.

For no-budget shooting, lighting and rigging can become very creative. Even on a big set that creative problem solving can be the difference between hitting the look or not, but because no-budget shooters are always running low on time and money, there may be no second chances or backup plans.

On Hitchhiker, we had to shoot long dialog sequences inside a car. The actor was rightfully worried about trying to act while actually driving, particularly with a camera rig hanging off the car. Since we had nowhere near the budget for a truck or trailer rig, even a jury-rigged one, we decided to shoot indoors and do rear projection.

Erick built the rear projection screen using PVC pipe and translucent plastic from Home Depot. One interesting thing that we didn’t even think about until I noticed a problem on-set was whether or not the translucent material was color neutral.  It wasn’t, and I wound up having to adjust the color of all of our footage in Final Cut Pro in order to compensate for the fact that the plastic caused a color shift towards green.

Because the original plan was to shoot more footage in a moving car than we ultimately did, a substantial part of the budget had been used to purchase a car rig that wound up not getting used much in its expensive configuration).  But its suction cups became the basis for a cheap setup that Erick rigged to allow the camera to move with the car (which was jittered by someone pushing on the bumper — subtely, to make it seem as if it was hitting minor road bumps).

Car Rig and Rear Projection Screen with Emma, Dani, Austin, Danielle

You can see above that the car rig involves a long straight bracket (actually, two of them) bolted to the suction cups and stuck to the car.  The camera is then mounted to the bracket with a metal L-brace, and reinforced by being strapped to the bracket by the handle (one strap holds the long, heavy homebrew 35mm lens adapter Emma built, so it doesn’t torque off).  The image below has the straps outlined in red so you can see the basic idea (assume one of the straps runs down and is hiding the bracket, which is the case in that bad photo):

Me and Erick hamming it up for the camera, next to the Car Rig and the Rim Light Rig (and Danielle, Brandon and Austin)

To keep the camera from jittering/swinging side-to-side or front-to-back, a simple counterweight and stabilization system can be added to the rig: a tripod.

The bracket also helps prevent this — if you only had straps and no L-bracket in your rig, you’d need the tripod even more. But even with the bracket, because of some of the parts not fitting together perfectly, the whole rig was a bit loose.  So the tripod also generally served to help generally maintain the camera angle even though the bracket was also doing part of that job.

Loosening the vertical lock to allow the camera to travel vertically is the trick, and the tripod does the rest in terms of helping maintain camera position, preventing swing and saving your camera if your rig fails (ours didn’t).

Car Rig with Dani, Danielle, and Austin

You may be wondering: “What is that mess at the opposite end of the rig bracket?”  Part of it is a jacket taped to the bracket with masking tape so nobody injured themselves on the bracket.  In building the bracket, we forgot to include any kid of safety cap.  Oops.  Another part of what you’re seeing is a clever and obviously no-budget lighting solution.  Here is a close-up:

Rim Light Rig on Danielle

Dani, the DP, wanted a rim light on Danielle to give her head some separation from the background.  Fair enough, but we didn’t have the most appropriate fresnels.  We had no 150s at all, and a 300 was just too bright (we had used up all our C-stands and modifiers elsewhere).  However, we did have these little Ikea accent lights that had been purchased to create a dashboard lighting effects.

They weren’t all being used, because a dimmed, diffused Kino Diva was quite adequate to get most of the particular look that was desired in the conditions at hand. Had it been a higher contrast lighting setup lighting Austin and Danielle’s faces with nothing but small, dim, focused lights could have been quite useful, but as it was, only two of the several little lights we’d purchased were being used — one taped to the windshield on Danielle’s right side, and one taped to a piece of PVC pipe beneath her to fill a shadow on her neck).

I took a piece of scrap PVC pipe, and taped it to the “safety jacket” on the bracket, creating a perpendicular support.  Then Erick and I used masking tape to attach 3 of the little Ikea lights to the pipe. Two are seen in the image above, and here is the third (outlined in red so you can see it — and with an arrow indicating where the light is actually pointing):

Me and the Rim Light Rig

We positioned the lights in 3 ways: by their position on the crossbar, by controlling the length of their cables (how low they hung), and by angling them into precise position at Dani’s request.  That was done quite simply: we ran masking tape along the cable and taped pieces of it together until it twised the cable into the necessary position.  Note the twisted tape on the middle light:

Me, Erick, the Rear Projection Screen and the Rim Light Rig

(We’re repositioning the crossbar in that photo.  It wasn’t held up by someone out of frame in the actual shoot.  That was considered, but even something very light starts to cause discomfort or even pain if you have to hold it up for a long time.)

The entire procedure took about 30–45 minutes, starting with the request for a rim light, deciding the Arri 300 would not work, telephoning someone that I know who has Arri 150s (but wasn’t home), my spotting the scrap piece of PVC, presenting the idea, and then Erick and I rigging the entire crazy solution.  It was possible because we were both luck enough to have some equipment in the kit that could possibly be made to work (the little lights) and we were willing to “think outside the box” to come up with a nonstandard solution.

I think it worked so well that I’m going to buy some of those little Ikea lights, PVC piping, and clamps (using tape was annoying) to permanently keep in my own kit.   Versatile gear, even if it’s not “proper” film gear, is a no-budget shooter’s best friend.

Preproduction Is Your Friend

Many a no-budget project has failed by simply falling apart due to lack of planning. My ongoing serial project has had problems with preproduction which I’ve been trying to address, but it is difficult to get collaborators excited about that phase of production, so it can be slow going. But it’s worth the time. Every hour spent on preproduction may very well save you two hours in production.

Creating things like script break downs, call sheets, location scouting reports, storyboards, and so on may seem like a luxury, but they are in fact a necessity. Good preproduction involves nailing down all the variables you can think of, so that you’re not completely out of your depths when something comes along that you didn’t think of. And, contrary to what some believe, preproduction doesn’t limit your on-set creativity. Rather, only through proper planning can you truly get creative on-set and make radical changes, because your planning gives you a stable base to fall back on when the new ideas go haywire.

Beat-boards (storyboards with only one key panel per shot) are an excellent and cost-effective preproduction tool that can make not only on-set life so much easier, but many other aspects of preproduction (selecting lenses, lights, and grip gear; spotting for props; making call sheets for cast; location scouting; and in our case, planning the rear-projection shots and acquiring the plates) and postproduction as well. Even simple beat-boards like the ones Emma did for Hitchhiker can give you a lot of bang for very little (or no, if you can draw your own) bucks:

All the “boring” up-front planning is part of the filmmaking process, not something that gets in the way of it. The better (and more complete) job you do in preproduction, the better your results will be.

Keep It Simple

Something I’m particularly bad at is keeping my short films simple. Hitchhiker is quite simple, and it’s going much more smoothly than some of my shoots for it. There are four actors in the whole piece, only two of which have had to appear for more than two shoot days, and there aren’t any set pieces, period clothes, or stunts. The outdoor dialog (outdoor dialog being the bane of no-budget shooting) is less than half the dialog in the film, and more than half of it takes place in a single location (inside a car). To avoid the problems of shooting (and sound recording) in a moving car, those shots will be done with the car in a building and the world outside the car being done via rear projection (which is easy to do if you don’t mind it looking like rear projection).

One way in which Hitchhiker seems less simple is the number of shots. If you count the rear-projection plates, there are over 170 shots from 9 pages of script. Many of these are reversals and same-as shots. This reduces the number of lighting set-ups to something closer to 30 (though that can balloon as lighting is subsequently tweaked on a per-shot basis “just a little bit here and there”).

There are two ways to shoot a sequence that is a series of reversals: shoot long continuous takes and then create the cuts in editing (doing one side of a reversal first, then the other) or call cut at the end of each shot (again, focusing on one side, and therefore one lighting set-up, first). Which one you can get away with depends on your actors, your style, and your own abilities. While you’ll probably get through more footage in a day if you can do continuous takes and then create the necessary shots in editing, doing this requires that the Actors and Director can deliver on this. The natural pacing that stems from this approach can be good, but the Director needs to guide the actors to deliver the scenes in a way that allows the editor to actually cut-away. If the Director and/or Actors can’t nail the right balance of pacing, or the Actors can’t remember the lines for the whole sequence (not all no-budget films manage to score experienced actors), you may be forced to cut at the end of each shot. Some Directors prefer the less naturalistic feel you get from doing discontinuous takes. In a highly stylized film, that may work best. And given time and ability, some Directors will do the continuous takes and then go back and do some or all of the shots discontinuous. Doing both creates more editing options, but can definitely can wear out a cast and crew. Director and Producer must work together to find the right fit given the abilities of their cast and crew and the specific needs of a given project.

On Hitchhiker, since Emma is working with improv actors, there has been more of a skew to let things roll and do continuous takes when camera angles are exactly the same across cuts specified in the boards. We haven’t done the main dialogue sequences (in a car, with rear projection behind) yet, so it remains to be determined if this approach will hold up — but if it does, for this particular project, it seems like the right choice.

Sometimes, Weird Stuff Happens

Especially if you’re a no-budget operation, your shoot schedule will almost certainly be blown at some point by weird stuff. On Hitchhiker we lost a shooting evening because a building caught fire across the street from the gas station where we were shooting. There was no plan in place for shooting different sequences should something go wrong with the location, so we all went home. When we lost this night, we were already re-shooting some shots that were previously wrecked by equipment failure. Because no-budget cast and crew members have other jobs, we didn’t have the cast members on-call for alternate options. Add slop time into your no-budget schedule for weird stuff to occur (in other words, book more shooting time than you think you’ll need — but not too much more, because you need to maintain good will with your unpaid cast and crew).

An entire weekend also had to be rescheduled due to an error in location scouting, resulting in at least a one month delay in the shooting schedule (because everyone has other jobs and projects). With no-budget filmmaking, preparation time is the only luxury you really have. Not only should you do careful preproduction (which Emma and Brandon did), you should also come up with plans for how to avoid losing whole days to random events (like fires) or mistakes you made in the original planning (like missing some small details that make a location ultimately unsuitable when the time comes to actually use it). Even in bigger budget filmmaking, it is best to always have contingency plans and fall-backs (for locations, actors, scenes to shoot in a given day, etc.), but in tiny budget filmmaking it can be essential. You need to spend a lot of energy keeping the cast and crew going when you hit speed bumps like this (I know from an ongoing serial project I’m working on, which has had several long spells of stagnant momentum), and it can be draining, especially on the Director and Producer. It’s better to try to avoid it in the first place.

People Eat Food

No-budget filmmaking thrives on volunteer efforts. Without people’s willingness to chip-in to make your project, it’s just not going to happen. Failing to feed people is, according to a couple veteran Indie Producers I’ve talked to, the number one cause of No and Low Budget projects completely falling apart. Considering how important it is, that’s an easy lesson to learn: make sure that you always set-aside time and money to feed your cast and crew. Period. No excuses. Fortunately for the project, Emma and Brandon are all over the food thing (though making your crew have to submit receipts to get repaid for some meals can become quite a pain when the size of the crew gets over 4–6 people).

Your Crew Have Other Jobs

Another thing that Hitchhiker production (mostly) got right is to understand that your volunteer crew isn’t earning a living from making your movie for free, and to take that into account. Except for a couple late weekdays, we’ve shot almost entirely on weekends or Friday nights, and generally ended early on Sunday. It is essential to accommodate your all-volunteer cast and crew in terms of their paid jobs, and also to understand that there may be other “resume builder” projects they’re going to work on after yours. If you don’t accommodate their work schedules, you’ll quickly lose cast and crew who need their day jobs to pay rent and buy food. Exhaustion sets in quickly, the people who stick it out despite the excessive demands will inevitably do a worse job than they otherwise would — and your production will suffer. Going past your allotted calendar time will cause people to vanish off into other projects that they’re working on. Hitchhiker has done a good job of avoiding the former, but has stepped on the landmine of the latter. It will be a challenge to schedule the last two shooting days, which have been pushed-back at least a month.

So Give Yourself Enough Time

Take the number of locations, set-ups, and overall shots, and make a shooting plan. Then, if you’re in a no-budget situation, factor in the fact that most of your cast and crew are inexperienced and therefore will inevitably be slow and make mistakes. Add to that a buffer that allows you to let people enjoy themselves, so they’ll want to help you again (and you’ll want to do it again), and then buffer that based on the assumption that you’ll mess up enough to burn at least 20% of your time. Do all that, and you’ve got yourself a no-budget schedule. So long as you can afford to buy food for all those shoot days (and rent any equipment you need, which if you’re a no-budget novice hopefully is basically nothing), and your schedule fits within your budget.

A mistake most inexperienced no-budget filmmakers make in scheduling (and in using their time) is to forget that set-up will be slow with an inexperienced crew (especially as they get tired — nobody but a triathlete or soldier comes into the business prepared for late night shoots and early next day calls). This leads to slow set-ups and rushed shots. That leads to getting into the editing room with only bad takes. Give yourself the time to do safety takes, and maybe even an alt here and there. Rehearse, learn your actors’ styles, and plan your schedule to allow your particular actors run the scene as many times as is comfortable to them. Don’t overdo it and shoot 40 takes of each shot (time is cheap as a no-budget filmmaker, but it’s not free — especially with borrowed locations), but generally moving on after 2 or 3 takes isn’t recommended until you’ve really gotten a feel for what is and isn’t a truly good take. It’s emotionally difficult to let actors do a safety take (and many will always want “just one more” — and feel unsatisfied if you never let them have it) when slow set-ups are dragging down your schedule, so make sure your schedule is realistic given your (and your crew’s) skill level.

Hitchhiker, a nine page script, will have shot over at least six full days, with at least five additional partial days. One day’s footage had to be re-shot due to camera problems. Three days had to be rescheduled due to problems on location. The original schedule was eight shooting days — a reasonable amount for a nine page script, even with a pretty small crew. Problems arose which caused the schedule to become scattered, but because of the good preproduction that was done (boards about what was to be shot, breakdowns and call sheets per sequence, etc.), it was relatively easy to flex the schedule based on the issues that arose.

Project Crew: Emma, Brandon, Dani, Austin, Danielle, Erick, Victor, Susan, Jesus, Jason, Jose, Sarah, Rebecca