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!

Award winning Tucson filmmaker has big plans for the future

Award-winning filmmaker Nickolas Duarte is not new to film. As owner/operator and and full time filmmaker at Crown Chimp Productions, Nick has seen his share of projects. As he comments on his Crown Chimp Productions website, "...at any given moment, we were working on five different projects. This went on for years. Soon enough though, our hard work paid off and those little films began earning awards and accolades..."

To be certain, Crown Chimp Productions just won 2 Gold Addy Awards for their Brute-Adidas ad entitled 6 Minutes and a Silver Addy Award for We Need To Talk for non-profit Project Dor Habah.

Duarte and Crown Chimp Productions have not been waiting for work to arrive, either. With a few short films and music videos under their belts, they began making commercials. "I just started cold calling businesses," comments Nick. From there, it was a matter of finding similarities in current work that would apply to new business and commercials.

For new or budding filmmakers, Duarte suggests "making as many movies as you can. You can learn from books, but you will learn more by just doing." For his latest projects, he has been using the Canon 5D MK II DSLR camera and a Zoom H4n audio recorder. These represent relatively new and inexpensive equipment for filmmakers in general. Duarte suggests "avoiding verticals, extending shutter speed," to avoid the "rolling shutter" issue seen with many DSLR cameras. DSLR cameras are SLR photo cameras with an electronic sensor instead of film. Manufacturers have recently added full HD video capabilities to these normally still camera models, opening them up to filmmakers and videographers who want to have a "film" look to their work.

Nickolas wouldn't be where he is today were it not for his team: Adam Ray and Matt King. "Adam is a great writer who doesn't hold back...," notes Duarte, "...and Matt is the crown in Crown Chimp." They've recently wrapped shooting on two music videos for The Country Boys and are prepping to do another music video, edit a recent commercial, shoot a new web series, and Nickolas is preparing to do a feature film entitled Cauliflower. The name refers to his experiences as a wrestler. "I'm shooting for a late 70's Neo-Realism," comments Nick, referring to the grittier style of independent films from the early 70s with a documentary, nonprofessional feel.

Among Duarte's influences are films like Aviator. In that film, Scorsese depicts Howard Hughes' attempts at film called Hell's Angels which cost millions of dollars to produce and 3 pilots died during the making of the elaborate dogfights. Hughes ability to make a film and have people "get it" are what attracts Nickolas to movies. He advises filmmakers to be certain of how you are going to capitalize on a film once you are finished with it - know what you plan to do with it once you're done.

Nickolas Duarte can be reached via his website at Crown Chimp Productions.

Long-time casting director enjoys her independence and working in film

After working for years in the entertainment business, Helen McCready and her success have led her to be an independent casting director. McCready started as a wrangler and actress on 21 Jump Street, then "dug my heels into it in 2000 working as an assistant..." and in 2004, branched out as an independent casting director. She has much valuable advice for new actors and filmmakers to impart and has an upcoming casting director workshop in Phoenix with Peter Pappas in March.

Helen notes, "there is no such thing as a 'casting agency.' It's a made-up slang. You have casting directors and extra casting services...that's it." The Casting Society of America website notes, "Casting Directors are Studio or Production Company employees and their job is to find and hire talent -- in a sense, human resource departments for actors..." A talent agent is one who finds work for talent (ie: actors, authors, musicians, models, athletes, etc.). While casting directors may use talent agents, actors do not hire casting directors.

McCready has the following guidelines for beginning filmmakers who may not be familiar with the duties of a casting director: "They [filmmaker] provide us with a breakdown and we find the talent they want," noting filmmakers, "...can also ask us to do the breakdown and we let them know how many extras, roles, etc. are in the film..." Since the producer or director has the final say on who actually gets cast, "...It's never the casting director's decision." Helen comments, "...the casting director will file all of the proper paperwork for SAG or AFTRA when needed. That's the basics."

From her Helen Wheels Productions, LLC website, Helen has advice for actors, "To be a successful actor you really have to have a passion for the craft and the patience to wait for the big break. Although being an actor is extremely rewarding, finding work can be a challenge. The profession requires great commitment and fortitude." The site also has her 10-step Tips On How To Become A Successful Actor, an informative and insightful read for actors.

When looking for actors, Helen jokes filmmakers should be looking for "talent and a brain." She has this anecdote, "Don't let talent bring in props to an audition...that can get scary. I had a talent bring in a gun that shoots 'blanks' -- I made him put it on my desk before he auditioned...what was he thinking? It was for a mafia role. Point a finger...much less scary to a Casting Director," she laughs, "...and if you are auditioning as a cop, don't hold your 'finger' gun like a gangster; look the role!"

For actors, "Take a moment before the scene begins and take a moment when it ends so we know you're done. And just talk...most actors don't get the role because they are overacting. My guess would be 80% of the actors out there could bring the way they 'act' down several notches. Keep it real."

Before hiring a casting director, one needs to have a finished script, preferably broken-down, and some kind of financing. "Please don't call or email me saying you have a wonderful script and just know you can get money if I attach a list name to your project....Hollywood doesn't work that way unless you personally know the talent you want. Call me when you have seed money or are financed."

With the substantial work she has done, Helen likes new media, too. "I love webisodes! I think it is such a cool way for the independent film maker to get their work out there and be seen...I'm hoping it helps them get distribution deals." She also notes, "I prefer film; you have a little more time to cast roles than you do on television and you don't have 30 network executives that have to approve your choices before decisions are made."

Besides her casting work, Helen also works to provide education and training. Coming in March, Helen is bringing Peter Pappas, casting director for Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory, to Scottsdale, Arizona. "It's geared towards serious actors that would like to start networking the Hollywood casting directors," says McCready. Among the many features, actors will learn auditioning for co-starring roles, sides for guest starring roles, nailing co-star & guest star auditions (and the differences between them), how to stand out and book co-star roles, and the differences between those who book work and those who don't. "We still have a few slots available and we're always impressed with the professionalism here."

For more details on the casting director workshop (including details and payment information), visit Helen Wheels Productions, LLC. You can also visit Helen McCready's site for more information and get yourself added to the Helen Wheels Production database and watch the Agency Pro video.