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1.Motivation
2.Budgets
& Breakdowns 3.Producer
Stuff 4.
Editing & Actors 5.
Festivals & Distributors
6.
Clean Up 7.
Dealing With Agents 8.
Production Checklist Proletariat
HomePRODUCER STUFF
If you have to be your own producer you'll be entering a
schizophrenic arena in which most of your time will be spent as producer, and the
rest as director or whatever job you're doing at the moment. People speak to 'Producers'
differently than they do 'Directors.' I imagine it's because they believe the producer
has control of the money, and more power. You can use this to your advantage, I don't
tell people I'm also directing unless I will be directly involved with them on the
set, or unless they ask. I don't lie to people I want to work with either as producer,
or filmmaker.
As the producer of your film you have to decide that you want to remain doing business
with all the people you talk to who have anything to do with your film, and, maybe
just as important, your next film. Just because you don't care if you ever have
a big budget, the incentive for labs, crews, negative cutters, and all the people
concerned with your film is the prospect of you being "the next big thing,"
or just having a big budget for your next film that you will bring back to the lab/negative
cutter/editing house/transfer house - and all the production personnel associated
with your film.
Don't lie. Everybody has heard your bull before, and if they haven't
and you "fool" them, they will feel like you've cheated them or insulted
them and they won't have anything to do with you, or worse, they will try to do your
film, or your next film some harm. It happens. Some people will feel like
that anyway even on the biggest films. I suggest keeping your conscience clear. As
soon as I hear some lame bull from weenie #16 I either hang up the phone or say no
thanks. When I'm working on someone else's film in a crew capacity it's for money,
like being a waiter. Would you ask an actor to wait on tables for free? Tell people
what your doing, what you've got to do it with (money), let them know the story and
try to get them involved in the process. That's not always easy, but not impossible.
CASTING THE CREW
If you get people to help that know what they
are doing, get them for next to, or nothing, count your blessings. Competent production
people move up quickly and have no reason to work on your film if there is no money.
What would you do for no money 10-15 hours a day?
Why should they? Well, maybe because they need
a credit as(?) on the next rung up whatever ladder they are climbing. A 1st assistant
camera person as your director of photo, a boom person as your mixer, or, maybe the
intangible; they think you have a great script and their work will be seen by a lot
of people. Any of those combinations are incentives for production people to work
on your film for nothing, or for very little. I hand everyone the script on all my
films and tell them exactly what I have, and let them make the decision based on
that. I've made some terrible mistakes which I'll get into later. Keep in mind, no
one, absolutely no one will
have the same energy for your film that you will,
no matter what they say, promise or invest.
Deciding on how much crew you need is a matter of going carefully over your breakdown
to see what kind of production equipment you'll need, and who knows how to use it.
If you're guerrilla filmmaking you'll need a camera and sound, and if you don't know
how to use the camera, add a director of photo. Production value is what you can
steal in the way of images and locations, which certainly dictate how fast you'll
have to shoot, and how big of a crew you can have. I would count on having at least
a director of photo if you're not intimate with the camera, and a sound man. The
luxuries will be a 1st AC to pull focus, a 2nd AC to load, a Boom person, and a Grip
or Gaffer if you have lights or C Stands. Any friends or sympathizers you can get
to help you are certainly a positive, and if they know nothing about filmmaking,
they will learn as quickly as you. You'll have to deal with people in mid-career
and they may be glad to be there, but you man not be so glad to have them. I hired
the nicest kid in the world based on his expertise as a mixer and recommendation
from another mixer. We did not have the luxury of dailies and this nice kid recorded
great stretches of dialogue without a limiter over-modulating almost everything he
did. If I would have seen him just once in the year following I would be in jail
now. I hired a very nice guy with a pretty good reel to shoot and that I finally
fired after finding out he ruined 4 days of shooting, 300 miles away by not catching
an obvious camera problem, and then had to have optical's done to exclude all the
production equipment he kept in the frame. This all happened on the same film, but
it did get finished, and ended up on a favorite films of the year" critics list.
My point, finally, is this: your
crew is very important, if they can't prove themselves
even if they are working for free you must get rid of them immediately and get someone
that can do the job. This specifically applies to technical expertise, and
on your set that will mean camera, and sound. Even the biggest films have
soft focus shots where someone has screwed up, but it's the second biggest failure
of no-budget films. The first is bad sound. Get references. Listen to the reel, watch
the composition and exposure, talk to the lab and the timer that timed this guys
work, talk to the sound house that did this guys last transfer. Believe me, it's
worth it. Personally, I will never give any technical crew personnel a chance without
references, experience and an exhibited desire to work with the director.
LABS
How you pick your lab may be the most important aspect of
your film, a poor lab that process' your film in old, dirty or hot chemistry will
make your negative look poor and change the whole "feel" of your film.
Or, worse yet, they may lose footage, scratch it or any number of completion-threatening
disasters. Talk to the salesmen at all the labs before you decide the list price
at Bottom Bucket Labs is the only thing you can afford. Talk to the lab, try to make
deals with them, be creative, but don't lie. Remember, they have your negative.
Some of the things to consider when picking the lab are: Do they replenish or dump
chemistry? Do they have a screening room and if they do, is there a charge? What
have they done before and have you seen it? Will they pick up for free? How fast
do they process and print (if you need it). Do they do film transfers to tape and
if they do both the processing and transfer can you get a better deal?
A lot of low end labs will process your film for next to nothing, but they use dump chemistry
system of replenishing, which simply means that after X amount of footage the chemistry
is exhausted and they dump it and put in new. If you happen to be at the head of
that schedule, you're probably fine, if not, you're in terrible shape. Guess where
they'll put your no-profit film? One thing I tried was offering to pay cash, up front,
before the processing began to get a better price. I don't suggest this at a shady
lab, they may not rip you off, but they can. I tried this strategy at another transfer
house and it cost me dearly.
The lab can be a good friend or a horrible enemy, you want everybody on your side
that has anything to do with your film. The sales department, scheduler, the projectionist,
assembly, and in my opinion the most important, the guy who decides how to get your
film to look like you want it, the color timer. In my last film the timer got a credit without asking because he
did a great job and was extremely helpful to me at the lab. So was the timer on my
first feature but I was too poor to get his name on the credits. Make personal relationships
with these guys, their talent is important to your film, and if they like you, like
anybody else, they are more likely to help you when you need it.
Once you've gotten a deal and lab to process and print or transfer the footage to
tape, get the figures on paper, signed. That way you can hold them to their deal if things change or they
want to renegotiate, and legally you have recourse if something comes up. This is
another reason to pick a reputable lab. Most reputable labs will never renege on
a deal they make whether in writing or not. I had a transfer house that made a deal
with me, I paid them then after months of delays ran through the money and told me
I could not have my negative back unless I paid them more money. It happens. They
did a crappy transfer which I had to have much of redone, it cost me much more money
than we agreed to, and it took them forever to do it. Even if I would of had it on
paper what could I have done? Sue them? They've got your negative, choose your labs
wisely.
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
It's money again. Two trains of thought;
1. Hire people with their own equipment.
2.Rent your own equipment from a production house.
If you hire people with their own equipment you
can pay them the rental you might have to give a production house: they make a little,
you don't have to pay production insurance for the equipment. The flip side of that
is the obvious; If you fire them because they suck at their job, you lose the equipment
and your production stops. You do what you have to do in guerrilla filmmaking.
It's safer to rent, cheaper to hire someone with equipment.
If the DP quits and takes his camera home to play, can you get your actors back together
when you finally get a camera? Will they come back? If he quits and it's your camera
you can shoot the scenes until somebody else comes back on. Think survival, and money.
Same goes for the sound man. Listen to all his takes at night for at least the first
4 nights. If you have the luxury of dailies (see lab above), how does everything
sound and look? Get rid of them pronto if your unhappy, it won't get better, or rather
it usually won't.
If you're thinking of shooting on weekends to save money it's a grand idea fraught
with pitfalls. They are; 1. Actors finding paying jobs and leaving the day before
shooting. 2. Crew finding paying jobs and leaving the day before shooting. 3. You
finding a paying job...etc. 4. Running out of money before the 13 weekends of shooting
are complete. 5. Everyone else running out of patience before you complete including
the equipment house that has already rented your camera as a 3rd camera for Babewatch
exteriors.
This kind of stuff happens all the time. Equipment houses are in it for the money,
your film is not high on their list of priorities and you can't count on people who
have to deal with the realities of money and living for your film, only yourself.
No one will ever have as much
energy and commitment for your film as you.
If you can get everyone to commit to a schedule that consists of a week or two for
principal work, shooting pick ups on weekends makes a lot more sense to everyone.
The films almost done, why not?
35 or 16
The decision to shoot 35mm or 16mm is a tough
one to make. Don't believe what anyone says about saving money by shooting Super
16mm over 35mm. If you present a film in 16mm to a distributor that might have some
interest and he throws in the 40k or so cost of enlarging your film to 35mm, he may
tell you to do it. At that point you've a grainy 35mm print of a 16mm film that now
cost as much as it would have to shoot 35mm. It's stupid unless it's your only viable
option. My first film was a junkie road film shot in 16mm using my cameras, I had
two at the time. I had no choice, but more importantly to me, the grainy, gritty
subliminal feel of the texture of the film added to the story, rather than detracted
from it. Lawrence of Arabia in Super 8? I wouldn't suggest that aesthetic decision.
I'm not a format bigot, but, you and your film will be taken more seriously by the
labs, the sound house, and all the people you deal with including the distributors
and buyers if you shoot in 35mm. That's just the facts, jack. Better deals on 35mm
equipment can be found and you've got a much better looking film, and if you shoot
short ends you will spend not much more than you would on 16mm. Remember, if you
plan on blowing up a 16mm film, you have to light the thing extensively to keep the
blacks black, and saturate the colors by the time it's blown up to 35mm and LIGHTING
TAKES A LOT OF TIME, and you can figure to spend more money for the extra days of
shooting that you will need, it slows things down, considerably. In 35mm you can
get away with a lot more because the larger negative will handle the non-existent
lighting, and still look good by the time it gets to the screen. If your end venue
is videotape, and you never expect it to see the screen, your format doesn't
matter too much. I've seen some very good looking things shot in Super 8 transferred
to tape, and that's very cheap. Or, if you've got a film that lends itself to the
gritty feel you can do what I did, very little if any lighting.
A lot of films are now being shot in video or digital
handicam format then transferred to 35mm for projection
in festivals or distribution. If this is your only option, and it works the kind
of film you're making-do it. Price the cost of the transfers though, they can be very, very expensive.
And keep in mind the look of what you're going to end up with. The transferred footage
can look pretty good, it doesn't look like film, really, and it doesn't look like
video, mostly. Some strange marriage of the two, that may not necessarily be a bad
thing, just be sure it works in with the kind of film you're making, make it work
for you and not against.
PRODUCTION
Even if you can't pay your crew you've got to
feed them as best as you possibly can. There may be some die hard film lovers on
your set, they may all be, but feed them well and keep them as happy as you can.
Make a deal with the deli for free whatever for a credit in the film, and another
for catering for a percentage of the net, be creative, give them a slice of filmmaking
for what they can afford to give you, if they want to. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED BY A NO.
It's part of the process, just move on to the next place. How about giving the restaurant
owner a little part in the film while you shoot that all important restaurant scene
in his restaurant while he caters the cast and crew? I met a great couple in the
desert that just for the hell of it volunteered their huge motor home for the shoot.
I gave the guy a real nice little part and he did a great job, it ended up being
one of my favorite scenes in the film. Be creative, give people what they want in
trade for what you want. I had much better luck out of town than in the big pueblo,
people gave me the use of their business free of charge and I gave them credits in
my film and undying gratitude. Let them know how much you appreciate what they are
doing to help you, it can mean a lot to the next filmmaker that needs that location.
And don't screw them, leave the place clean, the way you found it, shake everybodies
hand and be earnest in thanking them Mr. Producer. If they wanted to they
could kick you out, or sue your production later on.
Scout your locations months in advance and talk to all the people you have to reach
to make it a done deal. Lock down the time and the day and if you can, get a contract
and you must have a release or don't use the place. It could hurt you later, and have
a fall back plan. Getting locations to sign a paper for a free days shooting is desirable,
but you may not be able to get it. Play it by ear and don't be disappointed if you
can't get it, use your fall back location if you have one, or start the next scene,
or do pick ups, don't waste the time worrying about it. "Would you mind signing an agreement about the day
we come in to use your bar? We just want you to feel comfortable about this, and
we should each get a release." Try that.
Tighten up your schedule to fit your filmmaker desires, financial realities, and
logic of locations. If you've got a restaurant, club, bar location for one day that's
perfect for 3 scenes which occur at the beginning, middle and end of your script,
throw your plans for sequential shooting out the window. Use the location, make the
scenes work in the way you need them to work and shoot the scenes sequentially that
will allow themselves to be shot that way. Think survival.
OK. Mull that over for awhile.
next:
EDITING
& ACTORS
or
Non Linear Vs. Flatbed?
________________________________________________________
1.Motivation 2.Budgets
& Breakdowns 3.Producer
Stuff 4. Editing & Actors
5. Festivals & Distributors
6.
Clean Up 7.
Dealing With Agents 8. Production Checklist
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