FIRST PRODUCTION: Prep Is King

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL. CLICHE, BUT TRUE.

    I am very lucky: I have a lot of friends and they are not only all talented, but they are good PEOPLE. Our movie had one lead character, three supporting roles, and a bunch of extras, which isn't so bad, except that the film took place in five locations and we had to shoot it over one specific weekend. My good friend and Casting Director Chanelle essentially handed me a fantastic cast of some friends and some very talented people I hadn't met before and every one of them was amazing. With the exception of Charlie, our lead, there were no rehearsals or conversations with other actors before getting on set. This was weird for me, as I'm used to rehearsing theater, but worked out perfectly because everyone was professional.

    The actors and DP are part of your storytelling team, by the way: I believe that film and theater are a collaborative process - even if you're Robert Rodriguez and do everything on your own, you can get some great insight by listening to the other professionals around you. Respect and listen to everyone and they will respect and listen to you. The same rule applies to work and life: treat people well and they will want to help you succeed, especially if doing so helps THEM to succeed!

    I did not go to film school. This was my first time running a full production and without a great Director of Photography and Assistant Director who hooked us up with crew, it would never have gone as well as it did. I had a specific shot list and planned to make my days, but I hadn't planned or named extra coverage shots, nor had I ever worked with a sound person before as I had planned for this to be a mostly silent film (as a storytelling device). This caused the sound person to get understandably frustrated. But hey, it was a learning experience and we were paying the crew.

    Most importantly, I learned that respectful control does wonders for morale. Day two was a big reunion scene (the only scene with mandatory dialogue) which was essentially half of the movie. I wanted to shoot it as one continuous shot at the beginning to hopefully cut down on set-ups and do something interesting with the camera. (In editing, this wound up changing to speed up pacing, but it helped on the day.) Talking through scenes with the actors while the crew was setting up (and choreographing a dance number off the top of my head for a central moment in the movie) helped speed things up and cut down on takes as well (see: Cast Talented People).

    Production was three days long but I think I slept ten hours total. (I worked nights so I would leave set by nine, be at work from ten pm until six am, then have to be awake at noon to get to set by two. Lather, rinse, repeat.) But we got everything we planned and it was a success.

....

    Except when you get home after shooting everything you'd planned, you realize that you should have shot two more things that you now consider vital to the movie. Yeah.