I'm cutting it close on this article. I've barely had time to sleep, and haven't done laundry, dishes, or pretty much anything for the last two weeks. Why? Production. I've been helping out on a movie with a two week shoot schedule, which means the days themselves can be long and packed full of set-ups. I've done tighter shoots time-wise, once knocking out (albeit poorly) over sixty pages in a standard weekend.
On bigger budget films there are some luxuries. Duh. You might think it's the food, or the schedule, or the trailers for the performers, and I will agree that they're all nice things. I see those as nice but ultimately extravagant perks. If they're in the budget go for it. If not, it doesn't affect what goes into the lens as much as other factors.
The real perk is having a crew and communication. On some of the faster shoots we had smaller crews. I seem to remember thinking it would help simplify things. Less mouths to feed, less people in the way while we shot in tight locations, less opinions vying for attention. It really came across as a good idea on paper. Considering the energy and experience we were all assuming we'd have going in, compared to the reality we learned, I can say how wrong we were.
I would suggest having a crew of (counting yourself) at least four people. We'll assume you're the director. For every scene you will need to decide on angles, lighting, performances, timing, and anything else you're giving thought to. Your time will be spent making every decision. If you have to construct every element of every shot, not only will you waste time, you will miss details. You will burn out fast and either be too exhausted to notice or too fed up to care.
That's why person number two is the director of photography. For each shot you give them a concept of what you want. They can get together with any free hands available and set lights, check and place props, move the tripod, set up microphones, get the image covered. This frees you up to go run lines with the performers. Detail their blocking. Make sure they are hitting key points correctly. Make sure they are not going into a scene guessing, since a guess-work performance will change take to take, scene to scene, day to day.
Persons three and four should be people who can take instructions. They need to be motivated. They need a lot of coffee. During shots they will be handling the boom if you have one. They will be setting up the next shot or breaking down the last one between takes. They will be getting together lunch orders, moving furniture, noting time codes, charging batteries, running cables, placing and replacing props for continuity, getting people water or soda or coffee, giving directions to the actor who got lost on the way to the set, and about a dozen other thankless tasks.
It seems like a lot, and that's why two is an absolute minimum for your crew (not counting yourself and the DP). The more folks you can round up, the better. Delineate amongst them who is officially on point for what. One person covers all sound, while another is all set, while another is all paperwork, while another is in charge of talent wrangling. Chances are they will be sharing each others' work loads, so none are the boss of each other. Team players who get along and can possibly read each others' minds or at least subtle hand gestures is a good idea.
Everyone moves furniture, then the DP can call out the light set-up, then the tech guy gets all cables in place, then while the director and DP shoot the actors the crew goes off to the side to smoke (typically) and relax a little.
It's not that the crew on a low budget movie is doing all of the work, and I'm in no way advocating that the director or DP deem themselves above any of the grunt work. It's just that they generally do the work during the shots while the crew does work between the shots. There is some carry-over on both sides, but if everyone works hard when they're supposed to and a good pattern of taking turns gets established, everyone will keep their energy up longer, keep their tempers down better, and things in general will go smoother.
A good crew should make the details of how the decisions made come to life invisible. If a director says they need it to be night time in this room here, then we have daytime in the room down the hall, the crew should be able to get the basics without a word. Set up lights, hide cables, tint the light with the right gels, add or remove shadows, and get a solid base effect together. Don't stand there and describe everything you're going to do or just did to the director. They have other concerns at the moment. If they wanted to think about how the lighting was getting done they could just go do it, and they'd ask you to go over the afternoon shot list. Instead, a person is asked “Make this a reality. I trust you to do this and will discuss adjustments once you tell me we are at that stage.”
I think everyone should be on the crew side of a movie every so often if you plan on being in charge of a production. You will learn how much work gets put in, what sort of details need to be considered, and a whole bunch of terminology. You'll get an eye for detail, as well as new ideas for how to shoot things on your own project. You'll maybe make friends with crew people who can work with you down the road. You'll develop patience.
On the current project, pretty much everyone has worked on other stuff of their own and for others. We all bring different experience, different problems in the past, different ways of coming at a production. We've all also worked as crew for others, as well as been the do-it-alls on our own without a crew. There's a chemistry, an easy shorthand, and the production has benefited from it. Even the worst tension was easily smoothed over, and the worst argument shrugged off almost immediately and cured with a quick snack. Low blood sugar will do that. We've all been through worse. Now, with most of us working together for the first time, we all feel like professionals.
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| Make Me Proud |
Every other Monday
Exploring everything you should consider as you make your
indie masterpiece.
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| Patrick Storck |
Patrick hails from Baltimore, MD, where playing by the rules is frowned upon. Only average things come from playing it safe.
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