Shooting Notes and a Little Advice

So we're now on to about our third week of production. We have had an aggressive schedule thus far - this is in comparison to many other indie film projects I've worked on. In all fairness, those productions were light - a few days/nights/weekends here or there, but nothing every single day. This production has taxed my personal will and limits to the max. I now know I can do a hectic large production with no problem. It would seem light in comparison based on what I've heard from others who work "in the field." That's fine by me. I'm seeing my ambitions rise.

My next project will be a Steampunk Spaghetti Western. I hope it will be anyway. I'm working on the story and concept right now and I'm reviewing a number of films: The Man with No Name Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Hang Em High (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray], and even True Grit (Special Collector's Edition). These are links to the relevant stuff from Amazon - yeah, I try to make an extra buck or 2 here and there. Furthermore, I'm looking at Hong Kong flicks like Sukiyaki Western Django and the new The Good, the Bad, the Weird which has yet to come out on DVD, but I'm going to see it at The Loft soon. I think the market is just right for a good Steampunk film and a Steampunk Western would be even better. More details on this to follow as time moves on.

Some good advice for filmmakers (I hope):

1) Trust your people. I've said this far too many times to count, but it still holds. If you can't let your people do the job they want to do, you can't have a good production and people will leave you in droves or, worse, just give you a lackluster performance. Learn to let go and learn to let the creativity flow.

2) Protect your body. After 9 straight days of shooting, I was almost unable to walk. My dogs are beyond barking - they are HOWLING. Take every available opportunity to SIT DOWN. I've taken to shooting in chairs my feet hurt so bad. Worse: I have athlete's foot! So my dogs are barking, howling, and they're cracked and itchy. Same is true for your knees: don't fuck with them - when they are groaning from use, take some time to sit. For shots when I need to be low, I have a pair of knee pads I got for $5 at Home Depot and I use them a lot. As DP of the current production, I have declined to shoot some shots because I knew my knees couldn't do it. Since we are shooting the whole thing handheld, I have to.

3) Don't forget to eat and drink. On set, I get so focused, I forget to eat. This is probably why I lose 5-10 pounds on average during production. I just forget to eat. When I get really bad, I get way cranky. My body gets slow, my brain gets slow, I make dumb mistakes. Do yourself a favor, at least keep hydrated (way true in Arizona) and make sure you eat.

4) Don't overeat. Kind of the opposite to the last note, but if you overeat, you'll be in the same boat. I prefer to keep small amounts of snacky, healthy food with me - raisins, nuts, crackers, etc. I eat little bits at a time so I'm never hungry and my metabolism goes through the roof and I have tons of energy. Also probably why I lose weight during production. Stay away from high-sugar and high-starch foods - they will make you sluggish.

5) Get some exercise. You are worthless without energy. I have literally twice the energy on days I get even a short, continuous walk in versus days where I'm "just too tired." If I wake up and walk for 30 minutes, I'm fine the whole day with significant energy. If I wake up and work, I have minimal energy. It's healthy, good for you, and it doesn't take long. A walk is also better than all the coffee in the world.

6) Spend more time pre-planning. Every hour you spend planning will wipe out 2-3 hours of guesswork on set. For this production, for a variety of reasons, we had to shorten our pre-production time. This has proven to be the most costly decision we have made thus far both in terms of time and money. Had we started pre-production even a month earlier, we would have been fine (2 months would have been better). I read a great quote from JJ Abrams: "...So directing is sort of the reward for all the work you put in before..." Think about that. Directing is the reward for all the planning work you've already done. This is a man who manages numerous multi-million-dollar projects and feels rewarded by directing. I imagine him working for months and months (probably with a solid team that he trusts implicitly) on pre-production and then saying, "wow, neat, I get to direct this thing now!" I can't wait to see his next film, Super 8 - Spielberg and Abrams on the same project. Yummy! I may have to go see Cloverfield [Blu-ray]
now, too.

Already, we are having to plan shots the day of shooting or, worse, on set. This is aggravating the actors and crew and making things not only difficult, but tiresome. We look like we don't know what we are doing - sometimes I feel like we don't. Also, we have a production coordinator who can't coordinate because the schedule is completely fucked. Our actors don't know what scene they're on and the crew is just waiting around for us to figure it out. Unfortunately, the director doesn't always know and they look to me (the DP) for guidance which I can't give because I'm waiting on the director because we failed to plan it all out. We used to shoot a "run and gun" style, but for this production, we can't do it that way anymore without costing everyone tons of time.

7) Know your equipment. As director, I don't think you need to necessarily know the equipment thoroughly, but you need to understand what it can and can't do. If you are asking for a really low-light shot and the equipment isn't capable, it's not the equipment's fault. The equipment has always been the same, it's you who needs to be flexible. If you are doing a wide shot and need crystal-clear audio, don't expect the sound guy to be able to just walk in and boom the shot when there's nothing to hide behind. When we shot on a camcorder, the little on-camera mic handled everything, but now we are shooting DSLR with external sound. We have to rethink to solve a new set of problems and come up with creative solutions for the limitations. Complaining about the equipment only shows you are an amateur. A good filmmaker can make a great film with poor equipment than a beginner with the best equipment. Learn your limitations so you can go beyond them.

8) Don't talk trash about your cast or crew on set. Ever. In fact, don't give feedback until the production is totally wrapped. Why would anyone want to work with a production where the director talks smack or trash about everyone? On set, be professional and expect everyone else to be professional. Focus on getting the problem solved and the movie made not feeding your ego by telling people how much so-and-so sucks. I don't do it on set and I don't let others. Focus on your job and not everyone else's. If someone consistently fails to step up, then don't hire them again, but make sure you tell them why they're voted off the island.

I loathe people who pull me aside as if something were terribly important only to have them say so-and-so was doing XYZ. Often, the person telling me this useless information is seldom the cream of the crop. In fact, the best people I've ever worked with only offer that kind of feedback when they're asked for it and then it's more like advice. Word to the wise: if you spend any time talking smack or trash about anyone on set, you are probably the weakest link. On my set, the squeaky wheel gets replaced. I have zero tolerance or patience for people who can't seem to do their job, but have loads of time to tell everyone else what others are doing wrong.

More advice to follow, but this is some KEY advice for all of you: keep shooting and have FUN! If it's not fun, you're too damned serious!