Pre-pre-production
Sunday/July/2009 08:43 PM
Pre-production is where you have time to make the relationships that will help you through the hardest days of work that await. You’re going to need at least five people at this point:
Casting Director: Use somebody you trust. Find somebody who has an opinion that you respect. If you can walk all over the person in this job, you’ll be losing a vital eye on the project. Some people believe that the movie is made in casting. I’m not so sure about that, but I do think a movie can be seriously restricted by the wrong casting choices. Find a casting director who knows about all of the internet sources for talent like Nowcasting.com and Backstage West Online. The minute the casting notice goes out, you’ll feel like the project is really happening. Find someone who can maintain communication between the actors and the director, and set up a schedule for the auditions. If the auditions are disorganized, you have an extra hurdle convincing talented actors that you’re serious. Remember, they are donating their time because they see you as a viable step towards their own goals. The casting director might be in the room at auditions, but we’ve found that having the casting director sit out with the actors, he or she can really get an idea of the unvarnished character of the individual actors. The casting director on our first double shot did us a huge favor by weeding out people who we “really didn’t want to spend an entire month on set with.”
Producer: This is the person with the phone and the unbounded energy to pursue any lead. If the producer is ever late for a meeting, he or she is not your producer. They have to care about the way the machine runs and casual producing leads to hobby-like results. Nothing should be good enough for your producer. He or she should be able to find people to go out into the world and serve all of the needs of the production. Low-budget producers have to have a personal stake in the project. That is because this person also has to pick up any of the loose ends, occasionally step in and find locations, pick up food, or find the place where your DP’s car has been towed. Be careful of any clash of egos between the producer and the director. The best producer is one who cares so much about the project that he or she leaves ego on the sideline. Unfortunately, this producer hasn’t been invented by the publication date of this blog so here are the things to look for: connections. A producer who knows everyone in town is better than one who buys everyone lunch and likes to sit around afterward talking about how cool the movie is going to be. Another thing to look for, unlimited cell phone plan: a producer who returns calls every day before going to bed is the one who never lets anything drop. That’s the one you want in your corner. Finally, find someone with vision and creativity. You wouldn’t want a director of photography who had no vision, why would you want the person who is explaining with passion the reasons that you should be allowed to film inside the bear habitat while the bears are still there, to sound anything less than totally committed to his ideas and (if you are the director) yours?
UPM: The production manager is the one that has to be everywhere and unwilling to say no to any task. Get them while they’re young and energetic. Save their energy for when they get on set, but give them creative input from day one. This is the person who all of your crew will report to and therefore he or she must be ready to dig into the task of finding people to volunteer their time. Actors will come to the project, crew members sometimes need to be found - convinced and then superglued to one of the lighting fixtures to get them to stay and perform their jobs. The UPM should be on good terms with the producer, because he will be the main third arm of the producer. Make sure from the beginning that this person knows that a month of their life will be spent on this shoot (in production, it is a 24-7 kind of deal) and that before the shoot they will be needed almost every day for three months. If they have a job, they’re going to lose it. If they have a car, they’re going to wreck it. Ours did. He was great. Peace Vullin.
Business Manager: This can be the producer, but it really is best to have someone looking out just for the business end. If there’s someone who just looks at the numbers and statements and not the entire picture, it’s easier to keep it real when it comes time to shoot. The BM should immediately file for incorporation to protect everyone from litigation based on any liability claims during the shoot. We never experienced any danger in our first DS film, but we did have electrical problems (and, fortunately, a top notch gaffer who fixed things on site). Had it been anyone else, I would have worried about their safety; playing with a hot breaker box can get you burned. Rather than filing for a new corporation, you might want to find a friend who already is incorporated and simply become a shell company under him or her. Once incorporation is settled, pick a number with the BM (this is usually how much money you personally have in the bank although DS films wants to eventually give out 25K production grants once we’ve proven the model works and investors see the value in our kind of “outsourcing” of jobs into small town America). There is no flexibility in this number. Treat it like a constant, like PI, Napier’s constant or Brun’s constant. You can’t change PI so learn to work with it. The business manager is the person who most often says no, so make sure he or she has the kind of voice that makes that particular syllable sound pleasant.
Director: This is the person who will be in perpetual quicksand mode for the next six months, so get to know him early. This is the person he or she really is and it’s OK to like them for it. Don’t expect to see this initial director personality to reemerge until after post production however. The director can and will fill more than one job during the shoot. The more knowledge that this person has of the equipment, and the roles of the people handling this equipment the better. Our director knew the camera, NLE, post production workflow, audio posting and SFX process almost as well as the people who did the work. That was good because he could talk to them all and get them on the same page before the project even began. There will be more later about the choices going into production. What kind of camera do you want to use? Final Cut Pro or Avid? Do you want to use green screen and then shoot plates or does the background for your locations fit the bill? If your director can’t at least ask intelligent questions when these ideas are raised, it will be harder to achieve his vision of the film and that is after all the point of all of this preparation. Our director was fantastic at balancing several roles and piloting the projects through post production. Find someone who wants to make a low-budget film, not someone who wants to be famous. The latter group shows up on set to do their job, and the former shows up to do every job necessary to get the best finished product. More often than not the person who knows all the parts to a film can get it done.
Now all the people you need to start this journey are together. Get them in a room and have a meeting. Don’t just meet for coffee, meet and read both scripts out loud. This will be difficult, but it’s here we learn about the commitment of everyone involved. People who want to go home early are best let to do so. Then call and find someone new for their job. Talk over any scenes that don’t fit the mode of production. Everything should be set in the place you are filming. If anything needs to be shot in a big city or outside county lines, cut it or reimagine it. Every day of shooting will cost a minimum of 250 dollars. A chase scene that is written on a half of a page will take a day to shoot. A montage will take a day to shoot. Every time you come up against something that you don’t know how you are going to do – talk about it. If the room can’t figure it out – cut it.
Casting Director: Use somebody you trust. Find somebody who has an opinion that you respect. If you can walk all over the person in this job, you’ll be losing a vital eye on the project. Some people believe that the movie is made in casting. I’m not so sure about that, but I do think a movie can be seriously restricted by the wrong casting choices. Find a casting director who knows about all of the internet sources for talent like Nowcasting.com and Backstage West Online. The minute the casting notice goes out, you’ll feel like the project is really happening. Find someone who can maintain communication between the actors and the director, and set up a schedule for the auditions. If the auditions are disorganized, you have an extra hurdle convincing talented actors that you’re serious. Remember, they are donating their time because they see you as a viable step towards their own goals. The casting director might be in the room at auditions, but we’ve found that having the casting director sit out with the actors, he or she can really get an idea of the unvarnished character of the individual actors. The casting director on our first double shot did us a huge favor by weeding out people who we “really didn’t want to spend an entire month on set with.”
Producer: This is the person with the phone and the unbounded energy to pursue any lead. If the producer is ever late for a meeting, he or she is not your producer. They have to care about the way the machine runs and casual producing leads to hobby-like results. Nothing should be good enough for your producer. He or she should be able to find people to go out into the world and serve all of the needs of the production. Low-budget producers have to have a personal stake in the project. That is because this person also has to pick up any of the loose ends, occasionally step in and find locations, pick up food, or find the place where your DP’s car has been towed. Be careful of any clash of egos between the producer and the director. The best producer is one who cares so much about the project that he or she leaves ego on the sideline. Unfortunately, this producer hasn’t been invented by the publication date of this blog so here are the things to look for: connections. A producer who knows everyone in town is better than one who buys everyone lunch and likes to sit around afterward talking about how cool the movie is going to be. Another thing to look for, unlimited cell phone plan: a producer who returns calls every day before going to bed is the one who never lets anything drop. That’s the one you want in your corner. Finally, find someone with vision and creativity. You wouldn’t want a director of photography who had no vision, why would you want the person who is explaining with passion the reasons that you should be allowed to film inside the bear habitat while the bears are still there, to sound anything less than totally committed to his ideas and (if you are the director) yours?
UPM: The production manager is the one that has to be everywhere and unwilling to say no to any task. Get them while they’re young and energetic. Save their energy for when they get on set, but give them creative input from day one. This is the person who all of your crew will report to and therefore he or she must be ready to dig into the task of finding people to volunteer their time. Actors will come to the project, crew members sometimes need to be found - convinced and then superglued to one of the lighting fixtures to get them to stay and perform their jobs. The UPM should be on good terms with the producer, because he will be the main third arm of the producer. Make sure from the beginning that this person knows that a month of their life will be spent on this shoot (in production, it is a 24-7 kind of deal) and that before the shoot they will be needed almost every day for three months. If they have a job, they’re going to lose it. If they have a car, they’re going to wreck it. Ours did. He was great. Peace Vullin.
Business Manager: This can be the producer, but it really is best to have someone looking out just for the business end. If there’s someone who just looks at the numbers and statements and not the entire picture, it’s easier to keep it real when it comes time to shoot. The BM should immediately file for incorporation to protect everyone from litigation based on any liability claims during the shoot. We never experienced any danger in our first DS film, but we did have electrical problems (and, fortunately, a top notch gaffer who fixed things on site). Had it been anyone else, I would have worried about their safety; playing with a hot breaker box can get you burned. Rather than filing for a new corporation, you might want to find a friend who already is incorporated and simply become a shell company under him or her. Once incorporation is settled, pick a number with the BM (this is usually how much money you personally have in the bank although DS films wants to eventually give out 25K production grants once we’ve proven the model works and investors see the value in our kind of “outsourcing” of jobs into small town America). There is no flexibility in this number. Treat it like a constant, like PI, Napier’s constant or Brun’s constant. You can’t change PI so learn to work with it. The business manager is the person who most often says no, so make sure he or she has the kind of voice that makes that particular syllable sound pleasant.
Director: This is the person who will be in perpetual quicksand mode for the next six months, so get to know him early. This is the person he or she really is and it’s OK to like them for it. Don’t expect to see this initial director personality to reemerge until after post production however. The director can and will fill more than one job during the shoot. The more knowledge that this person has of the equipment, and the roles of the people handling this equipment the better. Our director knew the camera, NLE, post production workflow, audio posting and SFX process almost as well as the people who did the work. That was good because he could talk to them all and get them on the same page before the project even began. There will be more later about the choices going into production. What kind of camera do you want to use? Final Cut Pro or Avid? Do you want to use green screen and then shoot plates or does the background for your locations fit the bill? If your director can’t at least ask intelligent questions when these ideas are raised, it will be harder to achieve his vision of the film and that is after all the point of all of this preparation. Our director was fantastic at balancing several roles and piloting the projects through post production. Find someone who wants to make a low-budget film, not someone who wants to be famous. The latter group shows up on set to do their job, and the former shows up to do every job necessary to get the best finished product. More often than not the person who knows all the parts to a film can get it done.
Now all the people you need to start this journey are together. Get them in a room and have a meeting. Don’t just meet for coffee, meet and read both scripts out loud. This will be difficult, but it’s here we learn about the commitment of everyone involved. People who want to go home early are best let to do so. Then call and find someone new for their job. Talk over any scenes that don’t fit the mode of production. Everything should be set in the place you are filming. If anything needs to be shot in a big city or outside county lines, cut it or reimagine it. Every day of shooting will cost a minimum of 250 dollars. A chase scene that is written on a half of a page will take a day to shoot. A montage will take a day to shoot. Every time you come up against something that you don’t know how you are going to do – talk about it. If the room can’t figure it out – cut it.