From a Vimeo clip to a narrative short: Intro (part 1)

Internet plus increased quality of consumer cameras plus an overall shift in the nature of work means that a lot of people are making creative films and posting them on sites such as Vimeo. Understandably, most of the clips are “essays with technology”, i.e. people on their own figuring out what they can do with the tools they have (slider moves, depth of field tests, etc). They are improvised pieces that don’t require much preparation or organization, attempting to stumble on something that looks good. For the individual who is on his own, and probably has a full time job along with his passion for filmmaking, this is the most straight forward way to make films.

Making narrative, scripted content, something more like the idea of “films” that we are used to, is a very different process from these technical essays. I want to make it clear that I’m in no way saying that the scripted films are better or more desirable. Indeed, maybe the internet and the whole democratization of filmmaking will change our ideas about films and how they are. That’s fine. Read some deep theoretical stuff stuff about all that in my earlier post.

In the meantime, I figured, maybe there are people out there who are playing around with their video dslr’s and want to try their hand at making a “movie” kind of a film. And while there are tons of much more experienced producers out there with more industry experience and insights than me, the game they are playing is in some ways quite different from what the regular working or studying filmmaker will encounter. In the past years, and through my work at the Klapp co-op, I’ve dealt with the micro-budget situation a lot. It’s very painful. Hopefully, this writing will be a bit of a passing-of-the-torch, a postscript of that kind of work   I studied production academically and have dealt with a very varying range of budgets and organizational levels, so perhaps I have some insights that might be of benefit in this situation.

So the following points will be geared toward the passionate filmmaker who works or studies somewhere else, who is gaining technical and artistic experience. Someone who wants to make narrative content (presumably shorts), but can only gather a few thousand dollars or euros to do it. So this is a production oriented talk: How to get the resources and organize them to make the film happen. It’s not about creative or technical aspects (although, you’ll find they are all interlinked).

Chapters:

1. Intro (you are here)

2. Working with other people

I don’t believe any advancement in technology will make a significant change in the process of making narrative content. I’m very sceptical about all this rhetoric about a new camera coming out and “evening out the playing field” between low budget and high budget productions. Films are for the most part a sum of the amount of human talent you put into them, where technology used is a secondary concern. The big focus then, of the aspiring filmmaker, should be to form relationships with people and find ways to mobilize them. But it’s a big challenge to get talented and disciplined people to work with you, from a professional to a family member, and this proposes different concerns and also ethical questions. When should you work for free or low pay, and when should you ask others to do the same? Read more.

3. Locations

It’s really important to get your locations early on, because in the linear process that pre-production is, a lot of things depend on the locations to be finalized. Art department, camera, lights, etc need to know what they are working with before they can proceed with a lot of things. The relationship you have with the locations owner is also crucial because of how important the location is and the stakes it would create if you lost it last minute. I actually advise in some situations to push for paying for a location, even if you could get it for free, just to establish some sort of moral right on using it. It’s also very sad that most filmmakers would not want to offer their apartments as a location for shooting, because accidents do happen. So there are also a lot of moral concerns about not ruining the reputation of the rest of the film community and being really careful with other people’s property. Read more.

4. Script breakdown

In its simplest form, it’s about making a list out of each scene about the stuff that needs to be taken care of. If you’ve ever tried shooting something longer than 5 pages – you’ll know this has to be organized. With experience, you will learn to translate a written scene into a list of problems. These lists will then form the basis of your budget and your schedule. You can use standard methods or even some software, but the basics are all the same: Look at a script and break it down into small little problems to solve. Read more.

6. Budgetting

The budget is a necessary tool to prioritize where you put your limited resources to make them count the most. To be useful, the budget must be a blueprint for the making of the film, where there is a real relationship between the plan and the execution. I also discuss how you assess and understand your budget when most of the costs are covered with favours and deals. Read more.

Appendix A: Production checklist 

Working on a micro-budget project with an understaffed crew and often a lot of first-timers in the mix, the producer has to stay on top of a lot of small and big things, making sure they are being dealt with. To facilitate that mental task, I’m collecting a checklist of items that you can go over in the pre-production phase to make sure you’re not forgetting anything. Read more.

If I feel these posts are helpful to anyone, I’ll hopefully add chapters like:
7. Scheduling
8. What crew do you need?

etc …

 Next chapter: Working with other people