Making Films; Not an Easy endeavor.
Have you ever looked at a really terrible film and thought; "Wow, what a bunch of incompetent screw-ups to have produced this pile of dinosaur crap." It's easy to criticize the making of a film (even a short film), but it's a hell of a lot harder to do it. I'm going to share with you my experiences on doing just that; and the trials and tribulations and mostly what I've learned in the process.
"Before anything can blossom, there needs to be a seed."
It started with an idea...that's what I want to say, but it's a little weirder than that. During the initial days of the eBay Project, I was the trainer for Receiving. It was during this time, me and my co-conspirator Matt Nicholson started talking about movies as a way to kill time during the downtime that comes from receiving quickly and efficiently.
During that conversation, I started talking about some of my projects that I had been kicking around for the last few years; then there was the mention of Hummingbird (no details yet; tentative title naturally), a project that really got Matt excited. He expressed to me about his desire to be an actor; and in him I found an untapped well of passion for theatrical arts.
We started to kick ideas back and forth; never becoming too comfortable with one. I had tossed out a horror movie that we could do, but we ultimately decide not to. We needed something simpler. Initially I was opposed to making a short film. I have my reasons and I will explain them to you later. Continuing on; we pitched ideas back and forth until one day Matt came up with a real simple one. It was pure creative symmetry. He pitched, and I developed the story and wrote the script Constant rapport was important as Matt was switched over to night shift. I think our saving grace at this point were also an important lesson to learn.
Having an idea is important. Having the ability to make it happen is probably more important.
As a film maker if you aren't writing your own stories at the beginning; unless you have the money to pay someone else; you are at a big disadvantage. Hollywood doesn't make ideas; they make films, and films are made because someone wrote a screenplay for it. Sometimes it's the other way around; but that doesn't matter. If you aren't writing your own scripts; then you need to learn. Its an ability that you will come in handy.
Tip 1: Read ten screenplays of your favorite movies. Then read ten screenplays of movies that you absolutely hated. Compare the two.
Having a Script is important and I made sure that we had one. I wrote up a draft, and we (Matt and I) went through it several times. Matt was going to be the face, and I was going to be the behind the scenes man so we had to meet up and go over the scenes and dialogue several times. This required several drafts. Luckily I wanted to keep this one short, so I kept it down to around five to seven pages. IF the old Hollywood Rule; that one page equals one minute of actual screentime was true; then I'd want to keep it simple. It helped that I was going to be the camera man and the director.
Tip 2: You've heard it all before, but let me say it regardless. When you are starting out; you will wear MAAANY HATS. Study up on what those hats require so that you wear them well.
It took roughly ten drafts to get the screenplay just right and perfectly filmable. The project would require
1 : A small crew. This would be manned by myself and Matt's brother Nathan (another theatrical talent with some experience doing plays) who was more than willing to help. Nathan would be my assistant (so he got the Assistant Directors title, but his work extended past those duties.)
2: A few locations; as in a hotel room, the outside of a few strip mall locations, and a diner.
3. An actress; because we didn't really know anyone dependable enough to pull of the lead actress part.
Everything else was already in my possession from my last film making project.
If this shoot was to go well, then it would have to be very simple shots. No A and B shots; mostly set camera angles and optimal focus. No dolly, no zooms, just the most basic setup that a single camera would allow for; with the occasional Cat in a Window Shot/ Reaction shot to keep it interesting.
Because I had never known about everything required to make a film (and I am still lacking in many areas) I learned as much as I could using every resource I could. This is not an easy feat without regular access to the internet.
I knew that this short film was a great method to develop technique and learn my strengths and weaknesses, but since I wasn't doing this alone, that alleviated some of the pressure. (Besides working the camera, writing the screenplay and doing the editing, sound mixing and everything else in the technical aspect, I was also basically the knowledge guy.)
With most of the basics in place, a clear plan and a completed script with a satisfying conclusion we set to put the next steps in place. Finding an actress and location scouting.
More on that next time.
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