10.23.2012

Production wrap...?

Production having wrapped this past Sunday on my short film 'My Favourite Things' (working title), and taking a couple days hiatus from the footage, it's time for some pre-post-production musings while I get my ProRes conversions. Fun stuff.


It was an exhausting two plus months in pre-production. My reluctance to relinquish control/delegate to others along with a determination to learn the ropes put me in a position of acute stress. I was my own producer, writer, director, cinematographer, oi.

We had tremendous luck with the weather, an animated and responsive few actors (plus a gecko named Neelix), a patient group of actor supervisors and a crew that was more than I could have hoped for. Our set dec looked great - quite different than I had planned, but still absolutely wonderful.

Photo: Marnie Dunbar
Although it looks like we're coming in a chunk over budget, I'd say this was a very worthy journey - as most journeys are. I was able to pace out my resources, explore rental options, play with DSLRs and an excellent lens package assembled from a few different sources. The only major disappointment was my inability to get gear support from my school due to a large number of productions taking place on the same weekend. This caused my budget for gear to skyrocket, which always puts me on edge a bit. Although, now that I'm destitute, I get to eat set leftovers for the foreseeable future.

Some things to keep in mind during production:
  • Feed your actors and your crew well, they're not being paid (on an indie/student set anyways) - treat them to something nice
  • Consistent crew over your shoot days is prime, you get a bit of a community thing going on, everyone is on the same page at the start and end of every day
  • Get yourself a dynamite art director, we had a supreme set dec combo costumes/script supervisor and it was organized, efficient and effective
  • Also get yourself a dynamite AD who knows their business, how to schedule and when to step in when things are getting behind - we were able to wrap two of our three days early because we had an effective game plan for the weekend
  • Do your research and ask questions when going into any kind of rental house - they appreciate competent, patient, polite people going there for business, especially if you're a student
  • Have someone new on your set? Get to know them, take them out for coffee - and make sure they know they're part of the team when they come onto set - strangers on set is a variable that is totally avoidable, it gives you a chance to make new acquaintances instead of just utilizing them as crew
  • Don't miss an opportunity to make a good impression - keep your cool, even if you're behind schedule, even if something isn't quite panning out the way you want it to - keeping an even keel wont fail in keeping your crew behind you, your shots done on time, your head clear and everybody happy
  • Be generous with your time - even if you're a super busy director/producer type, always take the time for any single person on your team - there is no reason not to know everyone's name, what their role is, and any possible obstacles they may be personally overcoming on the set - it's a student/indie set, you don't have a PR devision for your 200+ crew, and your volunteers deserve some attention
We had a remarkably chill set, although I was stressing on the inside pretty hard, I felt at ease knowing that my cast and crew were at ease. I'll state again how vital and fantastic my cast and crew were to the completion of the production stage of this film.

Photo: Marnie Dunbar

Directing wasn't as harrowing as I thought it'd be - working with kids was great. My next challenge will be working with some people in and around my age for my next semester project.

With grad film proposals all handed in, my mind's been buzzing about three short films simultaneously. Next semester calls for a small budget, on-the-fly shoot - maybe an improv-type of script. It'll be a completely different experience, I'm sure of that. And that's one thing I love about film - I have been on dozens of sets in the past year, and quite frankly - I've never had the same experience twice, even if I'm working with the same people.

The production of 'My Favourite Things' coming to a close, a load is off my mind - but the marathon of post-production stretches out before me. The nightmare is seeing if I actually got sufficient coverage. I'm also hoping to do some little bits of stop motion animation to whimsical-up my film. Should be interesting.

Mark your calendars now - SFU's 3rd year screening is on December 6th!


Some things to look at:

Vice's web series Fashion Internationale, which Jezebel introduced me too. The fashion elements don't interest me as much, but the culture is fascinating. I think about changing North American culture quite a bit - it's really neat (and terrifying, in a way) to see it happen in other countries in different and similar measures. Not to mention exploring beauty standards abroad.