Fix It In Production
July 11, 2016 8:37 AM   Subscribe

Finally going to get that independent film project off the ground? Think you're ready to go into production? A 1st Assistant Director Tells You What Mistakes To Avoid When Shooting An Independent Film. The main takeaway? It's all about planning, planning, and more planning.
posted by hippybear (8 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
A great article! The thing that sticks out is this bit at the end: All problems are leadership problems.

It's very similar to theater productions. If you are disorganized and expect to "find the scene" in the moment, you're going to wind up, somehow, with a set that's not constructed on time, costumes that don't fit, and sound that was never built because you're trying to be "in the moment" with your actors.
posted by xingcat at 8:55 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is a really good article. I know nothing about films, filming, theater or the arts. What I do know is operations for a business. That is what this article is really about. Making the trains run on time. Planning is always an advantage. Even if the plan is tossed out the window in the first 10 minutes, having the plan, having thought about all the contingencies goes a long way to "winging it".

The author put it succinctly and diplomatically.
posted by AugustWest at 8:59 AM on July 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Great article! Not only is the content wise and helpful, but it's laid out so clearly and concisely. As xingcat says, a ton of this seems transferable to theater as well.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:16 AM on July 11, 2016


This is really good article and map, especially this part:
Coffee is the other reliable source of caffeine. A classic mistake is to bring enough coffee for the coffee drinkers to have one cup each at the beginning of the day but no more. The coffee drinkers I know tend to keep drinking the stuff all day. Do not deprive them of their caffeine.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:41 AM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


Assuming access to cameras as such "Craft Services" is the biggest out of pocket cost on many indi productions.

Oh and assuming you get everything right in the can, BUDGET FOR MUSIC. More workable low end productions have been unwatchable without good sound.
posted by sammyo at 10:16 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Always interesting to hear film people's perspectives on production. I work in the still photo land where crews are generally a little smaller but the problems are the same. I was on a studio job last week where we went way overtime and I was the only coffee drinker on set. At hour 13 and counting I would have drunk the worst, coldest, stalest coffee-flavored water available but there wasn't even that around.

Actually making stuff requires a lot of planning. I plan shoots by basically making a giant flow chart of everything that could go wrong, trying to anticipate every possibility, think of every variable, and have a contingency for it. You never have enough time and the situation is never ideal. That's why they brought in a pro.

I feel like that's what a lot of amateur filmmakers/photographers/artists don't understand. They think if someone would just see the genius of their idea or vision, they will have projects or clients rolling in. But really your vision is worthless if you don't have a plan to execute it, and that's what the people with money look for.

"Photography is 1% talent, 99% moving furniture" -Arnold Newman
posted by bradbane at 10:23 AM on July 11, 2016


More workable low end productions have been unwatchable without good sound.

Muffled dialogue is the audience killer. On amateur productions you can cut corners on almost anything, except that. Decent live sync sound is more important than anything else in a starter budget, except craft services.
posted by ovvl at 10:43 AM on July 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


This is a pretty good article. Anybody interested in indie production would be well-served using this advice.

One thing from the article, from my own production experience, that I think needs a bit more emphasis or maybe clarity - "Filmmaking is a collaborative medium." That's a really important concept and I'm always surprised how many people just don't get that. Maybe they get hung up on the idea of the director as an auteur, the artist with a vision. As the director your job is more akin to a foreman in a machine shop, you don't need to know every job but you need to at least have a working knowledge of all the jobs to respect and communicate with the people who do know and do their set tasks well. The other side of that is, to put it bluntly, don't be a shit. I know so many stories of people at various levels of production who have ruined shoots because of poor behaviour, bad communication and arrogance. Many of them find that their opportunities dry up once word gets around. In indie film communities this happens quickly.

Muffled dialogue is the audience killer.

Without a doubt. Audiences, especially with genre material, can forgive a lot of filmmaking fails but the inability to hear the dialogue is not one of them.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:06 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


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