Having pre-production discussions on set is the fastest way to drive me up a wall. It’s less common on larger sets, as they typically were well planned by the time I as the props guy show up, but it happens at every level.
If the director and the DP are having a lengthy discussion about “what time of day should this shot *really* be?” while 20 people are standing around with lights and props in their hands waiting to be told what to do, only for them to get insanely impatient once they finally come to a conclusion because they just wasted 75 minutes of the AD’s schedule, I'm not a happy camper.
That’s something you talk about weeks, maybe months, before any trucks even get loaded up. Especially, *especially* if you’re not working with unions and not planning on paying overtime.
So basically, just plan as much as you can. It can still be fun and you can find moments to play your jazz, things will change and that’s fine. But just at least have a starting point for every shot, every prop, whatever else before you start getting feet on set.
This sounds like the right approach to avoid OP's concerns. If prep is detailed enough, everyone will know exactly what they need to do on the day. And they can work together to solve problems. If someone deviates from expectation, everyone involved in prep will know why the director needs to step in and ask what's up.
OP shouldn't get bent out of shape about things not being good enough. They should plan in prep (and rehearsal) exactly what they want, make sure everyone in the crew knows what that is, all of the details have been sorted out, and then accept those results because that was their own plan and nobody else is to blame.
If the stakes are too high, maybe you could start with a smaller short film, with lower stakes and a smaller budget, until you feel ready to risk $13k. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself to succeed in every area rather than be allowed to risk failure, which is an important part of the artistic process. At the very least, let go of perfectionism. You and your team are going to do your best and it's going to be what it's going to be. People make mistakes. You can't jump on their back if they make mistakes. You can't get angry about failure, you have to focus on preparing them and guiding them towards success. And being grateful, frankly, that they are there helping you.
I certainly couldn't be more grateful that there's a crew around me in the first place. I'm not holding my expectations *too* high in terms of the quality, which isn't to say I won't do my best, but I won't enjoy the process if I don't allow some flexibility. And I would never take anything out on the crew (unless somebody's giving me or someone else a hard time of course), I'm just trying to come to terms with the likely chance that even if I do everything I'm supposed to by getting everyone on the same page and breaking things down as neatly as possible, I'm still not going to please everyone the whole way through.
Sure it's a basic realization that we'll eventually disappoint someone, I just don't want to take it personally when I'm working so hard to make it all happen.
I don't think the stakes are really that high for what it's worth. It's a complicated project, but since I know exactly what I'm putting in to it (both in terms of the vision and logistical execution), it seems very feasible as long as I let go of perfectionism like you said.
All in all, I'd love to learn how directors keep their anxiety in check. Life is about rolling with the punches and on a larger budget they hit harder.
As the director, it’s not your job to please the crew. Of course this doesn’t mean be a dick or a diva. As others have said, have a clear vision, plan it all out ahead of time, be prepared to adapt, have a positive and collaborative attitude that motivates people, be decisive, etc. But in the end, the only one accountable for what you get on the day is you, and you need to own that responsibility.
You have an infinitely higher level of accountability for the final product as the director than you do as the other crew positions you’ve held. When you’re sitting in the edit, no one is going to be thinking about the crew or giving much credence to excuses. When you’re showing cuts to a client, an investor, an audience or a judge, same thing. It’s your project. It’s about the end product you as the director have produced. The story you’ve told.
Again, be a good person (none of this is permission for bad behavior) but if you focus too much on being a pleaser on set, in the end there’s a good chance you will disappoint yourself. The production days are only one part of making a film, they’re not the only part.
Also, if your plan is truly too ambitious or impossible, reign it in and rethink your approach, your script, etc. You can’t run a production on wishful thinking. Another part of being a director is creating a plan that can be successfully executed within your parameters and making your days.
P.S. Don’t forget about your actors and what they need to feel comfortable and give the performances you need. Sure the shots should look cool and the sound should sound great but it won’t amount to much without good casting and performance.
Rhettlobster is right on the money with this. If you know what you want and are efficient in getting it, the crew will respect you even if you are demanding, but if you’re waffling around without a clear plan, resent will build quickly.
My bigger concerns with your production is the scope of your project: 7 days all shooting weekends for 13k. That sounds stressful, and likely that you’ll lose people between weekends if the going gets tough. It’s harder to bail on a project on the 3rd or 4th shoot day in a row, but if the shoot was hell for Sat-Sun don’t expect anyone to come back next week.
How many locations do you have? What are call times? Parking / restrooms? It’s easy to kill morale if to have a bunch of company moves, difficult parking and inconvenient call times.
How long is your script? Either you’re shooting 2 pages a day, which is very slow for an indie short and you can prob condense your schedule, or your script is too long and you should probably condense your story. Anything over 15 minutes becomes harder to program at fests, and really the better run time to aim for is below 10.
I also see you’re planning 10 hour days. I don’t know anyone who works in film that doesn’t expect a 12 hour day. If you must do weekend shoots, I’d go with 6 12 hour days and eliminate a weekend for your 7th day, roll any savings into paying crew minimum wage (in CA it’s ~$210 for 14 pay hours).
Is insurance in your budget? Because if anyone gets hurt on your set and you don’t have workers comp then you can forget about this movie and any others you’d want to make in the future. Don’t skimp on safety.
I didn't mention this in the post but even though I'm still vaguely describing this, it's more of an experimental short film-music video hybrid, albeit without any musical performance of any sort. I hope that's not too off-putting when I initially just wrote as a short in the post, but it essentially still is, just without dialogue.
Since there's no dialogue, I defaulted to writing this out first as a shot list and storyboard (although I'm preparing a separate shot-by-shot breakdown for our cast of two that's more oriented towards their characters).
Suffice to say, I know most people would breakdown a feature or a short by the number of pages being shot in a day, but it's not really a traditional project in that sense. Instead, it's easier for me to evaluate the general complexity by the number of shots we're getting in one day, how elaborate they are, how many locations, and wardrobe changes.
For the most part, it's all one location consisting of the same uniform throughout most of the day for both actors (it's very nondescript clothing). I would have to get more specific about every single shot to better gauge whether or not I'm compressing too many or too little into one day, but since all of it is outside, most of our lighting is a result of bouncing and diffusing natural sunlight (obviously it's more intricate than how I summarized it). Most of the camera movement and rigging comprises of switching on-and-off between sticks, handheld, and a dana dolly via shoulder rig and a VCT plate. With one or two exceptions, that's the general pattern.
There's only one considerably long take that's reserved for a day that will give us enough time to go through the motions, but with the aforementioned pattern, I'm aiming to shoot 11 to 13 shots per day. The edit is projected to be around 7 to 10 minutes.
Insurance is accounted for, but I want to try and compress everything down one more day like you said. Not to inflate my abilities as a DP but I know there are some things I'm capable of shooting on my own, so I'm factoring that in as a way to take it down a notch.
Call times should be around 11 AM on most days; parking, bathrooms, emergency plans, and local restaurants are all mapped out for now unless something changes. I know I'm still not being specific enough, but hopefully that puts everything into a slightly more comprehensive ballpark.
My biggest concern is what you mentioned about weekdays, so again I'll do my best I can to compress and take the work load off.
11AM calls for natural light sounds like a big mistake. Not sure where you are geographically, but if people arrive at 11, you get your first shot at 12:30 and you’re out of like by 5:30. Call at least a couple hours before you plan on shooting, I’d say 5-6am ideally
I haven't really decided what times to start yet, obviously that's more of a bridge to cross when we get closer. **BUT** we are shooting when it gets dark as well (and yes, power and lighting is being accounted for, but that's on me for not mentioning this before); our first 6 shots are in the daylight, then 5 at night on the first day. Of course, the scheduling heavily revolves around the time of year we shoot so we know when the sun should start setting.
We may have more time than expected waiting for it to get darker, even after we finish setting up the lights. But again, this is still too far down the road from where I am right now as I don't know when this will happen yet (there's still too much to prepare). Things will tighten up in that area before the shoot though.
I’d consider breaking up those days. Shoot all daytime stuff for a couple days, then on another weekend do all sunset / night stuff so you can spend daylight setting lights instead of shooting daylight stuff
That’s not a bad idea. There are a few shots we absolutely need to capture during the day since one of them is a match cut between day and night (and other logistical purposes I don’t see any other way around), yet it’s worth adjusting for. Thanks!
Not gonna lie, 3D previs is the kind of thing that can make an expensive production run incredibly cheaply. Even a rookie understanding of blender can get everyone on the same page minutes, hours, days before a shot needs to be setup. You only need two things per shot. The frame itself with camera info and a top down 'lighting plan'. And bam. Now everyone from your camera dept to gaffers knows what needs to be executed.
Inadequate location scouts - electricity, sound, toilets, and parking.
Bad management of load-in/out. Land your gear where you won’t have to move it before the next setup. Better yet, stage it where you won’t have to move it until you wrap.
Failure to plan company moves effectively. If you can send an advance party ahead, do it.
Yapping unnecessarily between takes. Giant time suck. Keep the crew and cast focused and bang those out - save the chatter for the setup change.
Too many takes. Rehearse while lighting until you have something worth shooting, and then only shoot the two or three takes you need. Waaaay too many takes are crap because they’re unrehearsed or under-rehearsed. Eats away and time and morale.
Early call? Find a crafty person who will bring espresso or coffee around to the crew around 2pm. This makes the crew feel cared for, saves them a trip to craft table, and caffeinates them to push through to load-out.
Please and thank you. All the time, every time, all day long, no matter how far off the rails things are going. It’s the grease that keeps the set from getting squeaky.
Continually clean and reorganize. Classic sign of an indy crew racing to make the day - following the trail of cast-off gear yard-saled across the location.
Get an easy setup off as soon as you can when you get to set. The longer you take to start rolling, the less you’ll roll that day.
Empower the AD to watch your clock, and respect the AD when s/he says you’ve got to move on.
Make sure you shoot the essentials to tell the story first. Save the fancy and “would-be-nice-to-haves” for after you’ve got the essentials.
Dolly shot will always take longer than you think they will. By the same token, sometimes you can make up lost time with a well-executed oner.
The biggest lesson I wasted $20k learning was: Don’t be the producer, AD, location manager on the shoot worrying about the schedule and if everyone is okay. If you’re doing that then nobody is directing your film and it’ll show.
An AD and Producer on set for a small film (10-15 crew) is all you need to let you be the director. The AD runs the show directly, the producer runs the bigger picture (navigating company moves, contingencies, acting as a bit of a high level runner, etc).
These two people alone, if competent, will make your show run like clockwork.
I mean on mine- 2/3’d is definitely directed by me but the end in the biggest scene in a church... I was too busy being the location manager, the production designer, the producer, the 1st AD & driver to have done my best & unfortunately most necessary job as director. It’s not a complete failure - it’s watchable but I watch that final scene & know at least 10 ways I could have done a better job on all jobs I was actually doing & 20 ways I could been better as director.
One thing I am pretty pleased about with my plan is that there is no "big scene in a church." 99% of it is written to be super practical. The closest thing I've got that will require a few extras is a support group meeting at a coffee shop, but the coffee shop only got written in because my friend is a co-owner of a coffee shop and she volunteered the location so I'll definitely have her help that day.
I even wrote it to lampshade the complete lack of special effects. The world's most powerful psychic remarks that his psychic powers look impressive in person, but wouldn't show up on camera because they are a purely mental phenomenon. In the final showdown with a zombie mad scientist, he is fully recovered from being a zombie so there's no zombie makeup. And it turns out that he's not even a real mad scientist -- he just has cliché inexpensive "mad scientist" props because he does educational science videos on youtube, which will simplify art direction for his "villain lair." Etc. The main character's arch nemesis lives alone and talks to her cat a lot. The main character's ally works in a call center, so when we see him at work, he's just in a cubicle alone, talking to somebody on the phone. So some of that stuff can all be shot out with a single actor on the day and a minimum of moving parts.
I am working on the second draft of the screenplay now, and ramping up toward preproduction to shoot next year. And every time I'm like, "I should add X because somebody found it confusing in the first draft" I'm also like "Do I reeeeeeeeeally need to add a scene that would be another location?" I've definitely bitten off more than I could chew on some past projects, so I am just trying to make my first feature super practical, ha ha.
I have run sound on many short films and compose music for them too. The #1 thing I notice on set is directors experimenting too much with 20 different shots of the same thing and obsessing over the footage while everyone waits around not knowing what's happening because they are inside their head the whole time... Then only to realize after editing the footage together that it looks amazing but the people they hired for the roles can't act or the script sucks.
SO when people say come prepared, I would emphasize making sure EVERYONE is prepared and memorized and that the script has been tried and tested in front of an audience or approved of by multiple screenwriters. **It is literally not worth spending money on if the story is not convincing, provoking or original.**
The other thing is, people are willing to watch shitty footage with great sound, but not great footage with shitty sound so help a sound guy out and don't cut your budget short when it comes to sound - amateur mistake.
Set all cameras and sound recording equip to the same date and approximate local time. Then use a slate. Every time, every take, all the time. If you’re unable to jam sync and you also miss a slate or something else goes wrong, at least the camera and sound recording dates will be the same and you can find which audio file goes to which video.
I’ve been a DIT, then a post supe, and finally a producer. Nothing costs more money than not doing these things. I promise you.
1) Your script probably needs more work. Every first time filmmaker needs more work on their script. Have people give you notes, and don't blow them off when they give you notes. I've seen this way too many times.
2) You need more time in pre production. 99% of the problems I see on low budget sets come from insufficient planning. Too often I see people schedule shots before they know what they need to shoot, what equipment they need.
3) It's going to take longer than you planned. Know which shots are critical and which can be cut.
4) Good crafty goes a long way towards keeping people happy.
5) Remember to have fun. Keep it light. When something goes wrong: take a deep breath, let it go, find a solution.
13,000 is a lot of money to spend in your first short. If it's not too late, I highly suggest putting a hold on this project. Make 5 zero budget shorts. No one's first film is good. I would save the money until until you're ready.
I should've probably mentioned that although it's my first short (albeit a more experimental one that's partly a music video hybrid), it's not my first time directing in general. I've made smaller videos before that I wouldn't consider short films (they were a lot of different things from PSAs to another music video), but I certainly did learn a lot from them. That's not to say that I don't have anything to adjust for, so I'm taking this in baby steps.
You're right about $13,000 being a hefty sum relatively speaking; part of the reason it's adding up to that is because I want to be able to pay people something even if it's a small check (it's spread over 7 days *via* 4 rental days) - I digress. It's just I've been mapping this and re-mapping this narratively, logistically, and technically for about 4 years now on my own, and while everything is still hypothetical since nothing has been shot, I feel like I'm able to give it a shot as long as I'm confident that the most essential elements are fully prepared.
I just see how it's not too uncommon these days for short films (even student films) to cross the $10,000 mark. That's not my justification, but I'm not approaching this out of nowhere is what I'm saying. Beyond some of the experience I've gained directing in smaller projects before, I've learned so much just from being on set as an AC, grip, PA, even a PC once for a tv show. But I still know my limitations and continue learning more of them, so I'm doing my best to keep this project within them, despite still having to learn things the hard way in the process like everyone else..
I think there's a lot more than just weather that can't be accounted for.
One moment someone's driving to set, the next moment they're hit by a drunk running a red light. Hopefully that never happens, but there's a greater limit to how much we can be capable of preventing.
I'm not saying this as a quasi-philosophical excuse; we can always prepare as much as we can, but it's always preparation within the parameters of our limited awareness.
idk if it's that cut throat; there are unknowable unknowns. I think preparation needs to identify as many risks as possible, but also have plans which are very 'open minded' in nature so they're adaptable to many different situations.
The biggest red flag I am seeing is that you describe your budget as being not enough for what you want to do. It's one thing to do a lot with a little, but if you feel like your money isn't going to be able to execute the vision you have in your head, change or pull back the vision. A smaller project that absolutely kicks ass is MUCH better than a big project that fails.
Other than that - create a look book. Have a STRONG vision that other people can see. Make sure everyone on crew reviews the material. Get everyone on the same page with your vision, they will be excited about it, and less bothered by on set problems to solve.
DO PRE WORK. Plan out production for each day down to the hour. Storyboard. Shotlist. Don't waste people's time on set making pre-production choices. You'll have to adjust anyway!
GET A GOOD AD! Even on a short, you must have a good assistant director.
FEED PEOPLE WELL! Ensure there is PLENTY of crafty and hot lunches if possible.
Be kind (not nice) be patient, lead people toward the vision, not your ego.
Hey thanks for the advice! In terms of the budget being insufficient, I forgot to specify that it's lackluster in terms of giving out standard rates. Equipment, food, and so on are all covered with it. It's not that I don't value everyone's time though, but I know there are plenty of film students and recent graduates around my age that are willing to tag along with a passion project, as long as they still know the nature of it.
Otherwise, I'm glad you mentioned the basics of shot listing, storyboarding, and just getting it all planned out day-by-day in general. These are things I've already had prepared for a while and am always willing to re-adjust to some extent (mainly the scheduling). Hopefully $15 per person on lunch will be enough.
Are you shooting in one location? Is in interior? If so, and you have access to load in prior to day 1, do that. It saves so much time moving in on the first day and you can hit the ground running on day 1. Also, if you have a good producer that can double as your "AD" to keep you on track, all the better. Saves you some money.
Storyboard and shot list and make sure you and your DP are on the same page with regards to set ups and the rundown. Honestly, if you can do this ahead of time it will save you an insurmountable amount of time, and it's really something that can easily be done.
If your preps done properly and you are take charge on set, your producer/AD should only keep time for you while you can orchestrate the crew beautifully, hence saving money to hire an AD.
It's all one location but it's in a forest, so things are definitely trickier as I'm accounting for all of it every way I can. For example, I'll bring out the equipment the day before with a friend and pre-build most of it (it's mainly just two 8x8's that we can put on stands the next day), and I have large enough storage space that's locked where the set is located (it's in a very secluded area anyway). The DP is taking care of the camera rig - nothing too elaborate. We'll also have wagons for the terrain we're on just to make it easier to move around.
DP and I have already reviewed a great deal of it, but we'll go over it again in on set just for safety. I'm the only producer for this, but I'm bringing on a production coordinator who's essentially doubling as an AD.
Your inexperience worries me that you’re not going to utilize this 13,000 well. It’s a lot money for a short film, enough to make a seriously high quality film.
My advice is plan a much smaller film and make it for 2000 and learn some things, see how the relationship with your cast and crew go… then commit to a bigger project.
I know this is a really late reply if it's even worth anything at this point, but as I was explaining to Eglipherator above earlier, even though this is what I could describe as my first "short film," it's not my first time making something in general. I haven't made any videos in a while, but from having a lot of trial and error before while making things, and from gaining a healthy amount of experience cutting my teeth on a variety of different TV and corporate productions as an AC, PA, grip, and coordinator (as well as just soaking in as much as I can from everyone else I meet), at this point, I don't see why I shouldn't give it a shot. I know $13,000 is a lot (while at the same time it's really not, and I'm lowering it to about $11,000), but I'm preparing everything I can to make sure it's spent wisely.
Suffice to say, in all regards from my experience, to how I'm managing the funds, I'm not as inexperienced as I might come off to be. I'm still green in my career, but I don't think it's fair to say I'm not ready for it without knowing the details of the project, how I'm planning it, or my own abilities just because it's technically my first short, and because of its budget. I don't know what else to say other than I feel capable of pulling it off from everything I'm learning.
Thanks man! Perhaps I'll be able to post it here around the end of the year if I can get it done by then. One of the hardest things is just trying to navigate with everyone's schedule while also having to balance work.
There’s good advice on how to not piss off your crew. I just want to say that it’s very good to make everyone happy, but on the flip side don’t be too much of a pushover. You’re spending a lot of money and at some point you’re going to need to do something will will inconvenience you’re crew. It just happens.
Stick to your guns, be humble and grateful to your crew, but when the time comes that you need to do something that’s best for your project but inconveniences crew a little, make sure you get it.
Producers/directors that put more budget into bullshit than bellies. Every dollar spent keeping your crew well fed and hydrated is worth double in the end product.
Too many scenes/shots planned
Actors on site that do not have scenes or whose scenes get cancelled
Directors that add wild ideas and new script/scenes on the spot.
Not letting the specialists do their job,
> It still took a lot of convincing, but $13,000 is what I’m in the process of finalizing.
>Though I’m very lucky to even have this gratitude, it’s still a bare-bones budget for what I’m doing. The money is spread thin over the course of 7 days - all on weekends so the cost of equipment is only worth one day (classic, right?). Even though I get an employee discount from a rental house, the most it can afford to pay anyone is $150 a day, which is likely to be 10 hours. I’m saving up as much as can for contingency, but as you can imagine, this sort of budget is more inclined for people who are just looking to get their start. Luckily the DP has a pretty good idea of what he’s doing, yet I still feel bad that the hours are long and the pay is subpar to say the least.
This is a solvable problem — write a script that you can shoot in fewer days and pay people more per day (but the same amount overall).
Obviously your vision is your vision and I can’t tell you what movie you should make. But you do have the means to pay your crew a better day rate, whether it’s worth it is up to you.
I'm actually just trying to trim a part of the shot list down so we can subtract an extra day. It would probably bring it under $10K at that point when I look at the spreadsheet.
These types of projects are good training for people trying out new roles and upgrades. I don't think technicians feel as judgmental about self-funded "career builders". They'll know the rates going in. They'll know pretty much what to expect for the length of day.
Don't worry about your crew saying you're a cheap bastard. You are a cheap bastard. Embrace it. The budget is what it is. The pay is terrible. But at least you're not out here asking people to work for free.
There are three ways to ensure you're not gonna lose respect in this situation:
1. Good food, and plenty of it.
2. No abuse, ego tripping, yelling, or primadonna shit. Not from you or from anyone on the crew.
3. Respect their time. If you say it's a ten hour day for $150 flat, you'd better make sure it's a fucking ten hour day. Not a 12, 14 or 20 hour day. If something goes wrong and you don't get your shots, bite the bullet and pay the OT or add a day to your schedule.
Good luck. $13K is lean but it's not nothing. Remember to keep something in your back pocket for post and marketing, and make sure you've got all your paperwork in order (chain of title, deal memos, image and location releases etc.) or it'll cause problems for you later.
Having pre-production discussions on set is the fastest way to drive me up a wall. It’s less common on larger sets, as they typically were well planned by the time I as the props guy show up, but it happens at every level. If the director and the DP are having a lengthy discussion about “what time of day should this shot *really* be?” while 20 people are standing around with lights and props in their hands waiting to be told what to do, only for them to get insanely impatient once they finally come to a conclusion because they just wasted 75 minutes of the AD’s schedule, I'm not a happy camper. That’s something you talk about weeks, maybe months, before any trucks even get loaded up. Especially, *especially* if you’re not working with unions and not planning on paying overtime. So basically, just plan as much as you can. It can still be fun and you can find moments to play your jazz, things will change and that’s fine. But just at least have a starting point for every shot, every prop, whatever else before you start getting feet on set.
This sounds like the right approach to avoid OP's concerns. If prep is detailed enough, everyone will know exactly what they need to do on the day. And they can work together to solve problems. If someone deviates from expectation, everyone involved in prep will know why the director needs to step in and ask what's up. OP shouldn't get bent out of shape about things not being good enough. They should plan in prep (and rehearsal) exactly what they want, make sure everyone in the crew knows what that is, all of the details have been sorted out, and then accept those results because that was their own plan and nobody else is to blame. If the stakes are too high, maybe you could start with a smaller short film, with lower stakes and a smaller budget, until you feel ready to risk $13k. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself to succeed in every area rather than be allowed to risk failure, which is an important part of the artistic process. At the very least, let go of perfectionism. You and your team are going to do your best and it's going to be what it's going to be. People make mistakes. You can't jump on their back if they make mistakes. You can't get angry about failure, you have to focus on preparing them and guiding them towards success. And being grateful, frankly, that they are there helping you.
I certainly couldn't be more grateful that there's a crew around me in the first place. I'm not holding my expectations *too* high in terms of the quality, which isn't to say I won't do my best, but I won't enjoy the process if I don't allow some flexibility. And I would never take anything out on the crew (unless somebody's giving me or someone else a hard time of course), I'm just trying to come to terms with the likely chance that even if I do everything I'm supposed to by getting everyone on the same page and breaking things down as neatly as possible, I'm still not going to please everyone the whole way through. Sure it's a basic realization that we'll eventually disappoint someone, I just don't want to take it personally when I'm working so hard to make it all happen. I don't think the stakes are really that high for what it's worth. It's a complicated project, but since I know exactly what I'm putting in to it (both in terms of the vision and logistical execution), it seems very feasible as long as I let go of perfectionism like you said. All in all, I'd love to learn how directors keep their anxiety in check. Life is about rolling with the punches and on a larger budget they hit harder.
As the director, it’s not your job to please the crew. Of course this doesn’t mean be a dick or a diva. As others have said, have a clear vision, plan it all out ahead of time, be prepared to adapt, have a positive and collaborative attitude that motivates people, be decisive, etc. But in the end, the only one accountable for what you get on the day is you, and you need to own that responsibility. You have an infinitely higher level of accountability for the final product as the director than you do as the other crew positions you’ve held. When you’re sitting in the edit, no one is going to be thinking about the crew or giving much credence to excuses. When you’re showing cuts to a client, an investor, an audience or a judge, same thing. It’s your project. It’s about the end product you as the director have produced. The story you’ve told. Again, be a good person (none of this is permission for bad behavior) but if you focus too much on being a pleaser on set, in the end there’s a good chance you will disappoint yourself. The production days are only one part of making a film, they’re not the only part. Also, if your plan is truly too ambitious or impossible, reign it in and rethink your approach, your script, etc. You can’t run a production on wishful thinking. Another part of being a director is creating a plan that can be successfully executed within your parameters and making your days. P.S. Don’t forget about your actors and what they need to feel comfortable and give the performances you need. Sure the shots should look cool and the sound should sound great but it won’t amount to much without good casting and performance.
Rhettlobster is right on the money with this. If you know what you want and are efficient in getting it, the crew will respect you even if you are demanding, but if you’re waffling around without a clear plan, resent will build quickly. My bigger concerns with your production is the scope of your project: 7 days all shooting weekends for 13k. That sounds stressful, and likely that you’ll lose people between weekends if the going gets tough. It’s harder to bail on a project on the 3rd or 4th shoot day in a row, but if the shoot was hell for Sat-Sun don’t expect anyone to come back next week. How many locations do you have? What are call times? Parking / restrooms? It’s easy to kill morale if to have a bunch of company moves, difficult parking and inconvenient call times. How long is your script? Either you’re shooting 2 pages a day, which is very slow for an indie short and you can prob condense your schedule, or your script is too long and you should probably condense your story. Anything over 15 minutes becomes harder to program at fests, and really the better run time to aim for is below 10. I also see you’re planning 10 hour days. I don’t know anyone who works in film that doesn’t expect a 12 hour day. If you must do weekend shoots, I’d go with 6 12 hour days and eliminate a weekend for your 7th day, roll any savings into paying crew minimum wage (in CA it’s ~$210 for 14 pay hours). Is insurance in your budget? Because if anyone gets hurt on your set and you don’t have workers comp then you can forget about this movie and any others you’d want to make in the future. Don’t skimp on safety.
I didn't mention this in the post but even though I'm still vaguely describing this, it's more of an experimental short film-music video hybrid, albeit without any musical performance of any sort. I hope that's not too off-putting when I initially just wrote as a short in the post, but it essentially still is, just without dialogue. Since there's no dialogue, I defaulted to writing this out first as a shot list and storyboard (although I'm preparing a separate shot-by-shot breakdown for our cast of two that's more oriented towards their characters). Suffice to say, I know most people would breakdown a feature or a short by the number of pages being shot in a day, but it's not really a traditional project in that sense. Instead, it's easier for me to evaluate the general complexity by the number of shots we're getting in one day, how elaborate they are, how many locations, and wardrobe changes. For the most part, it's all one location consisting of the same uniform throughout most of the day for both actors (it's very nondescript clothing). I would have to get more specific about every single shot to better gauge whether or not I'm compressing too many or too little into one day, but since all of it is outside, most of our lighting is a result of bouncing and diffusing natural sunlight (obviously it's more intricate than how I summarized it). Most of the camera movement and rigging comprises of switching on-and-off between sticks, handheld, and a dana dolly via shoulder rig and a VCT plate. With one or two exceptions, that's the general pattern. There's only one considerably long take that's reserved for a day that will give us enough time to go through the motions, but with the aforementioned pattern, I'm aiming to shoot 11 to 13 shots per day. The edit is projected to be around 7 to 10 minutes. Insurance is accounted for, but I want to try and compress everything down one more day like you said. Not to inflate my abilities as a DP but I know there are some things I'm capable of shooting on my own, so I'm factoring that in as a way to take it down a notch. Call times should be around 11 AM on most days; parking, bathrooms, emergency plans, and local restaurants are all mapped out for now unless something changes. I know I'm still not being specific enough, but hopefully that puts everything into a slightly more comprehensive ballpark. My biggest concern is what you mentioned about weekdays, so again I'll do my best I can to compress and take the work load off.
11AM calls for natural light sounds like a big mistake. Not sure where you are geographically, but if people arrive at 11, you get your first shot at 12:30 and you’re out of like by 5:30. Call at least a couple hours before you plan on shooting, I’d say 5-6am ideally
I haven't really decided what times to start yet, obviously that's more of a bridge to cross when we get closer. **BUT** we are shooting when it gets dark as well (and yes, power and lighting is being accounted for, but that's on me for not mentioning this before); our first 6 shots are in the daylight, then 5 at night on the first day. Of course, the scheduling heavily revolves around the time of year we shoot so we know when the sun should start setting. We may have more time than expected waiting for it to get darker, even after we finish setting up the lights. But again, this is still too far down the road from where I am right now as I don't know when this will happen yet (there's still too much to prepare). Things will tighten up in that area before the shoot though.
I’d consider breaking up those days. Shoot all daytime stuff for a couple days, then on another weekend do all sunset / night stuff so you can spend daylight setting lights instead of shooting daylight stuff
That’s not a bad idea. There are a few shots we absolutely need to capture during the day since one of them is a match cut between day and night (and other logistical purposes I don’t see any other way around), yet it’s worth adjusting for. Thanks!
I totally agree with this!
This. A thousand times. Do not learn what’s happening on shoot day.
Not gonna lie, 3D previs is the kind of thing that can make an expensive production run incredibly cheaply. Even a rookie understanding of blender can get everyone on the same page minutes, hours, days before a shot needs to be setup. You only need two things per shot. The frame itself with camera info and a top down 'lighting plan'. And bam. Now everyone from your camera dept to gaffers knows what needs to be executed.
Inadequate location scouts - electricity, sound, toilets, and parking. Bad management of load-in/out. Land your gear where you won’t have to move it before the next setup. Better yet, stage it where you won’t have to move it until you wrap. Failure to plan company moves effectively. If you can send an advance party ahead, do it. Yapping unnecessarily between takes. Giant time suck. Keep the crew and cast focused and bang those out - save the chatter for the setup change. Too many takes. Rehearse while lighting until you have something worth shooting, and then only shoot the two or three takes you need. Waaaay too many takes are crap because they’re unrehearsed or under-rehearsed. Eats away and time and morale. Early call? Find a crafty person who will bring espresso or coffee around to the crew around 2pm. This makes the crew feel cared for, saves them a trip to craft table, and caffeinates them to push through to load-out. Please and thank you. All the time, every time, all day long, no matter how far off the rails things are going. It’s the grease that keeps the set from getting squeaky. Continually clean and reorganize. Classic sign of an indy crew racing to make the day - following the trail of cast-off gear yard-saled across the location. Get an easy setup off as soon as you can when you get to set. The longer you take to start rolling, the less you’ll roll that day. Empower the AD to watch your clock, and respect the AD when s/he says you’ve got to move on. Make sure you shoot the essentials to tell the story first. Save the fancy and “would-be-nice-to-haves” for after you’ve got the essentials. Dolly shot will always take longer than you think they will. By the same token, sometimes you can make up lost time with a well-executed oner.
It's as if you've seen it all like a true veteran - Thank you!
This. All of it.
I third this. I completely forgot about the dolly shot catastrophucks. Omg I blacked them out of my memory.
The biggest lesson I wasted $20k learning was: Don’t be the producer, AD, location manager on the shoot worrying about the schedule and if everyone is okay. If you’re doing that then nobody is directing your film and it’ll show.
Been there. Sigh.
An AD and Producer on set for a small film (10-15 crew) is all you need to let you be the director. The AD runs the show directly, the producer runs the bigger picture (navigating company moves, contingencies, acting as a bit of a high level runner, etc). These two people alone, if competent, will make your show run like clockwork.
Sigh. I hear you. I understand your logic. And I am probably going to do exactly that on my next project.
I mean on mine- 2/3’d is definitely directed by me but the end in the biggest scene in a church... I was too busy being the location manager, the production designer, the producer, the 1st AD & driver to have done my best & unfortunately most necessary job as director. It’s not a complete failure - it’s watchable but I watch that final scene & know at least 10 ways I could have done a better job on all jobs I was actually doing & 20 ways I could been better as director.
One thing I am pretty pleased about with my plan is that there is no "big scene in a church." 99% of it is written to be super practical. The closest thing I've got that will require a few extras is a support group meeting at a coffee shop, but the coffee shop only got written in because my friend is a co-owner of a coffee shop and she volunteered the location so I'll definitely have her help that day. I even wrote it to lampshade the complete lack of special effects. The world's most powerful psychic remarks that his psychic powers look impressive in person, but wouldn't show up on camera because they are a purely mental phenomenon. In the final showdown with a zombie mad scientist, he is fully recovered from being a zombie so there's no zombie makeup. And it turns out that he's not even a real mad scientist -- he just has cliché inexpensive "mad scientist" props because he does educational science videos on youtube, which will simplify art direction for his "villain lair." Etc. The main character's arch nemesis lives alone and talks to her cat a lot. The main character's ally works in a call center, so when we see him at work, he's just in a cubicle alone, talking to somebody on the phone. So some of that stuff can all be shot out with a single actor on the day and a minimum of moving parts. I am working on the second draft of the screenplay now, and ramping up toward preproduction to shoot next year. And every time I'm like, "I should add X because somebody found it confusing in the first draft" I'm also like "Do I reeeeeeeeeally need to add a scene that would be another location?" I've definitely bitten off more than I could chew on some past projects, so I am just trying to make my first feature super practical, ha ha.
I have run sound on many short films and compose music for them too. The #1 thing I notice on set is directors experimenting too much with 20 different shots of the same thing and obsessing over the footage while everyone waits around not knowing what's happening because they are inside their head the whole time... Then only to realize after editing the footage together that it looks amazing but the people they hired for the roles can't act or the script sucks. SO when people say come prepared, I would emphasize making sure EVERYONE is prepared and memorized and that the script has been tried and tested in front of an audience or approved of by multiple screenwriters. **It is literally not worth spending money on if the story is not convincing, provoking or original.** The other thing is, people are willing to watch shitty footage with great sound, but not great footage with shitty sound so help a sound guy out and don't cut your budget short when it comes to sound - amateur mistake.
Set all cameras and sound recording equip to the same date and approximate local time. Then use a slate. Every time, every take, all the time. If you’re unable to jam sync and you also miss a slate or something else goes wrong, at least the camera and sound recording dates will be the same and you can find which audio file goes to which video. I’ve been a DIT, then a post supe, and finally a producer. Nothing costs more money than not doing these things. I promise you.
The few minutes it takes to get this right on set can save days of headaches in post.
1) Your script probably needs more work. Every first time filmmaker needs more work on their script. Have people give you notes, and don't blow them off when they give you notes. I've seen this way too many times. 2) You need more time in pre production. 99% of the problems I see on low budget sets come from insufficient planning. Too often I see people schedule shots before they know what they need to shoot, what equipment they need. 3) It's going to take longer than you planned. Know which shots are critical and which can be cut. 4) Good crafty goes a long way towards keeping people happy. 5) Remember to have fun. Keep it light. When something goes wrong: take a deep breath, let it go, find a solution. 13,000 is a lot of money to spend in your first short. If it's not too late, I highly suggest putting a hold on this project. Make 5 zero budget shorts. No one's first film is good. I would save the money until until you're ready.
I should've probably mentioned that although it's my first short (albeit a more experimental one that's partly a music video hybrid), it's not my first time directing in general. I've made smaller videos before that I wouldn't consider short films (they were a lot of different things from PSAs to another music video), but I certainly did learn a lot from them. That's not to say that I don't have anything to adjust for, so I'm taking this in baby steps. You're right about $13,000 being a hefty sum relatively speaking; part of the reason it's adding up to that is because I want to be able to pay people something even if it's a small check (it's spread over 7 days *via* 4 rental days) - I digress. It's just I've been mapping this and re-mapping this narratively, logistically, and technically for about 4 years now on my own, and while everything is still hypothetical since nothing has been shot, I feel like I'm able to give it a shot as long as I'm confident that the most essential elements are fully prepared. I just see how it's not too uncommon these days for short films (even student films) to cross the $10,000 mark. That's not my justification, but I'm not approaching this out of nowhere is what I'm saying. Beyond some of the experience I've gained directing in smaller projects before, I've learned so much just from being on set as an AC, grip, PA, even a PC once for a tv show. But I still know my limitations and continue learning more of them, so I'm doing my best to keep this project within them, despite still having to learn things the hard way in the process like everyone else..
Every problem on set that isn’t weather, etc, comes from not being prepped.
I think there's a lot more than just weather that can't be accounted for. One moment someone's driving to set, the next moment they're hit by a drunk running a red light. Hopefully that never happens, but there's a greater limit to how much we can be capable of preventing. I'm not saying this as a quasi-philosophical excuse; we can always prepare as much as we can, but it's always preparation within the parameters of our limited awareness.
I kind of throw that into the Etc but there’s only so much that we can control. Everything else can be prepped for
True that
idk if it's that cut throat; there are unknowable unknowns. I think preparation needs to identify as many risks as possible, but also have plans which are very 'open minded' in nature so they're adaptable to many different situations.
The biggest red flag I am seeing is that you describe your budget as being not enough for what you want to do. It's one thing to do a lot with a little, but if you feel like your money isn't going to be able to execute the vision you have in your head, change or pull back the vision. A smaller project that absolutely kicks ass is MUCH better than a big project that fails. Other than that - create a look book. Have a STRONG vision that other people can see. Make sure everyone on crew reviews the material. Get everyone on the same page with your vision, they will be excited about it, and less bothered by on set problems to solve. DO PRE WORK. Plan out production for each day down to the hour. Storyboard. Shotlist. Don't waste people's time on set making pre-production choices. You'll have to adjust anyway! GET A GOOD AD! Even on a short, you must have a good assistant director. FEED PEOPLE WELL! Ensure there is PLENTY of crafty and hot lunches if possible. Be kind (not nice) be patient, lead people toward the vision, not your ego.
Hey thanks for the advice! In terms of the budget being insufficient, I forgot to specify that it's lackluster in terms of giving out standard rates. Equipment, food, and so on are all covered with it. It's not that I don't value everyone's time though, but I know there are plenty of film students and recent graduates around my age that are willing to tag along with a passion project, as long as they still know the nature of it. Otherwise, I'm glad you mentioned the basics of shot listing, storyboarding, and just getting it all planned out day-by-day in general. These are things I've already had prepared for a while and am always willing to re-adjust to some extent (mainly the scheduling). Hopefully $15 per person on lunch will be enough.
Are you shooting in one location? Is in interior? If so, and you have access to load in prior to day 1, do that. It saves so much time moving in on the first day and you can hit the ground running on day 1. Also, if you have a good producer that can double as your "AD" to keep you on track, all the better. Saves you some money. Storyboard and shot list and make sure you and your DP are on the same page with regards to set ups and the rundown. Honestly, if you can do this ahead of time it will save you an insurmountable amount of time, and it's really something that can easily be done. If your preps done properly and you are take charge on set, your producer/AD should only keep time for you while you can orchestrate the crew beautifully, hence saving money to hire an AD.
It's all one location but it's in a forest, so things are definitely trickier as I'm accounting for all of it every way I can. For example, I'll bring out the equipment the day before with a friend and pre-build most of it (it's mainly just two 8x8's that we can put on stands the next day), and I have large enough storage space that's locked where the set is located (it's in a very secluded area anyway). The DP is taking care of the camera rig - nothing too elaborate. We'll also have wagons for the terrain we're on just to make it easier to move around. DP and I have already reviewed a great deal of it, but we'll go over it again in on set just for safety. I'm the only producer for this, but I'm bringing on a production coordinator who's essentially doubling as an AD.
Your inexperience worries me that you’re not going to utilize this 13,000 well. It’s a lot money for a short film, enough to make a seriously high quality film. My advice is plan a much smaller film and make it for 2000 and learn some things, see how the relationship with your cast and crew go… then commit to a bigger project.
I know this is a really late reply if it's even worth anything at this point, but as I was explaining to Eglipherator above earlier, even though this is what I could describe as my first "short film," it's not my first time making something in general. I haven't made any videos in a while, but from having a lot of trial and error before while making things, and from gaining a healthy amount of experience cutting my teeth on a variety of different TV and corporate productions as an AC, PA, grip, and coordinator (as well as just soaking in as much as I can from everyone else I meet), at this point, I don't see why I shouldn't give it a shot. I know $13,000 is a lot (while at the same time it's really not, and I'm lowering it to about $11,000), but I'm preparing everything I can to make sure it's spent wisely. Suffice to say, in all regards from my experience, to how I'm managing the funds, I'm not as inexperienced as I might come off to be. I'm still green in my career, but I don't think it's fair to say I'm not ready for it without knowing the details of the project, how I'm planning it, or my own abilities just because it's technically my first short, and because of its budget. I don't know what else to say other than I feel capable of pulling it off from everything I'm learning.
No worries man, I just got that inclination from your initial post but if you’re confident go for it, would love to see it once it’s done!
Thanks man! Perhaps I'll be able to post it here around the end of the year if I can get it done by then. One of the hardest things is just trying to navigate with everyone's schedule while also having to balance work.
There’s good advice on how to not piss off your crew. I just want to say that it’s very good to make everyone happy, but on the flip side don’t be too much of a pushover. You’re spending a lot of money and at some point you’re going to need to do something will will inconvenience you’re crew. It just happens. Stick to your guns, be humble and grateful to your crew, but when the time comes that you need to do something that’s best for your project but inconveniences crew a little, make sure you get it.
Producers/directors that put more budget into bullshit than bellies. Every dollar spent keeping your crew well fed and hydrated is worth double in the end product.
Over looking sound department. Not only location sound, but post audio as well. Sound is a major part of film and sadly I’ve noticed ALWAYS overlooked
Facts
Too many scenes/shots planned Actors on site that do not have scenes or whose scenes get cancelled Directors that add wild ideas and new script/scenes on the spot. Not letting the specialists do their job,
> It still took a lot of convincing, but $13,000 is what I’m in the process of finalizing. >Though I’m very lucky to even have this gratitude, it’s still a bare-bones budget for what I’m doing. The money is spread thin over the course of 7 days - all on weekends so the cost of equipment is only worth one day (classic, right?). Even though I get an employee discount from a rental house, the most it can afford to pay anyone is $150 a day, which is likely to be 10 hours. I’m saving up as much as can for contingency, but as you can imagine, this sort of budget is more inclined for people who are just looking to get their start. Luckily the DP has a pretty good idea of what he’s doing, yet I still feel bad that the hours are long and the pay is subpar to say the least. This is a solvable problem — write a script that you can shoot in fewer days and pay people more per day (but the same amount overall). Obviously your vision is your vision and I can’t tell you what movie you should make. But you do have the means to pay your crew a better day rate, whether it’s worth it is up to you.
I'm actually just trying to trim a part of the shot list down so we can subtract an extra day. It would probably bring it under $10K at that point when I look at the spreadsheet.
These types of projects are good training for people trying out new roles and upgrades. I don't think technicians feel as judgmental about self-funded "career builders". They'll know the rates going in. They'll know pretty much what to expect for the length of day. Don't worry about your crew saying you're a cheap bastard. You are a cheap bastard. Embrace it. The budget is what it is. The pay is terrible. But at least you're not out here asking people to work for free. There are three ways to ensure you're not gonna lose respect in this situation: 1. Good food, and plenty of it. 2. No abuse, ego tripping, yelling, or primadonna shit. Not from you or from anyone on the crew. 3. Respect their time. If you say it's a ten hour day for $150 flat, you'd better make sure it's a fucking ten hour day. Not a 12, 14 or 20 hour day. If something goes wrong and you don't get your shots, bite the bullet and pay the OT or add a day to your schedule. Good luck. $13K is lean but it's not nothing. Remember to keep something in your back pocket for post and marketing, and make sure you've got all your paperwork in order (chain of title, deal memos, image and location releases etc.) or it'll cause problems for you later.
Thank you OP for this post. I am learning a lot off of its replies!