Filmmaking / Directing

I just listened to a podcast with actor/director Jonathon Frakes on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. It was a great episode. But I really liked how mentions of collaboration was woven through the whole interview.

It's absolutely a positive approach. I'm still collaborating with professional filmmakers I've know since back at UT Austin Film School. And, from early projects here in Hollywood, including the Lily Tomlin/Joel Schumacher film "Incredible Shrinking Woman". As we joke among ourselves, sometimes one of us hires and is the boss and other times someone else does that and we're on the crew. But we always really enjoy working with each other and know we can always depend on each other to be creative and collaborative.

Hey, Charlotte Verminck !

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, and there are always people on set who are only superficially engaged in the process—or, in some cases, don’t really feel anything for the project at all.

Another issue is when people aren’t fully confident in themselves or their professional skills and try to prove they’re better or smarter through competition.

I agree—this only harms the project!

It’s great that you bring up these topics because posts like this make people reflect and take another look at their own shortcomings.

This is such a great reflection on the importance of true collaboration in film-making!

It’s all too common for sets to feel like a collection of individuals working in isolation rather than unified creative force. Your perspective in building a team that values trust, respect, and mutual support—really resonates because film-making is at its best when every department works together, not against each other.

And Your BTS episode of Mind of Thoughts sounds like a meaningful deep dive into this issue. How has your approach to teamwork shaped the projects you’ve worked on? Have you noticed a shift in the energy on set when collaboration is prioritized?

Hi Charlotte. I’m glad you’re opening up this so necessary conversation. It is vital to once and for all switch from constant competition to harmonious collaboration. Our planet has been hurt in so many ways because of our egos and we need to address this in all perspectives, including the filmmaking perspective and the ways we build community.

We have the power to become game changers in each decision we make. As a part of the artists collective Body Stories Project I can give testimony that it’s possible. We are not only a team, we are longtime friends! And we do our best to support each other and celebrate our triumphs. As our focus is to co-create healing cinema, we work to embody the resilience, empathy and spirit of collaboration that moves us day by day to do our best to build stories that inspire and uplift.

Hi Charlotte Verminck - the location sounds truly stunning (would love to see a picture if possible). Hard to say how to handle it without all of the details but Crew & Cast safety is always the #1 priority and it sounds like everyone made it through the day unscathed.

Hi Sam Sokolow!

Thank you so much for your reply! Absolutely, safety was our top priority throughout the shoot! The location was breathtaking but required careful planning to ensure everything ran smoothly. Luckily, we had an amazing team that adapted to the challenges on the spot.

You can get a better look at the cliff and how we handled the shoot in the BTS video: https://youtu.be/Hn6580ltFUM?si=gFcQqi6AmRRCarBu

Let me know what you think! I’d love to hear your take on it!

Hey, Charlotte Verminck !

I agree with Sam Sokolow that the number one priority should be the safety of the actors.

As a VFX supervisor, I could suggest a trick for particularly dangerous shots (like in your project, where the scene takes place on the edge of a cliff). You could shoot these moments separately and composite them together in post-production. The only additional thing you’d need on set is a portable green or blue screen.

For the most dangerous shots, where the actress needs to stand right at the edge of the cliff, you could film the cliff separately and then shoot the actress on a greenscreen in the same location with the same lighting. Then, in compositing, you could seamlessly blend the two together.

With this approach, the shots could be made even more thrilling since you’d have the flexibility to place the actress right at the very edge—creating the illusion that she’s just millimeters away from falling.

In the end, this would be both maximally safe and visually spectacular.

Uh, Skipping a CG supervisor on set to save costs is a false economy. The lack of proper planning often leads to unforeseen challenges in post-production, ultimately inflating the budget and extending timelines.

A good CG supervisor ensures that elements like lighting, camera tracking, green screen setup, and integration with VFX are properly handled on set, preventing costly fixes later. Even if the project isn’t VFX-heavy, a brief consultation before the shoot could prevent unnecessary post-production headaches.

Your argument is clear: spend wisely, not recklessly—investing in a CG supervisor early can actually save money and ensure a smoother workflow. Have you encountered a project where poor VFX planning caused major problems in post?

You're welcome, Charlotte Verminck. I'm excited to see Mind of Thoughts! I subscribed to the Above The Nerve channel, signed up for updates on your website, and followed the film page on IG.

My one time in a helicopter was to get aerial footage of our city. I was just along Defoe the ride— it was our cinematographer that had the harder job of leaning out with the camera. Unforgettable experience (and stomach churning).

For perfect timing, I run into that all the time with special effects shots. Often have to do things multiple times.

Also, coordinating action with cars is a real pain. Communicating with the driver, getting them to hit marks at the right speed. Tricky.

That seems like an absolutely exhilarating experience, Charlotte Verminck! Filming around a helicopter, especially on an indie film, must have required such precise coordination. I can only imagine the pressure to get everything right in the moment.

Timing is such a crucial element in filmmaking, especially when working with complex logistics, stunts, or live-action elements that you can’t easily reset. I’ve been on projects where we had only one chance to nail a shot whether due to weather, permits, or limited resources, especially while I was in film school, and the energy on set during those moments was unreal. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Haha, yeah, filming with helicopters is always a tricky thing, especially when you only have one chance to get the shot right.

In this case, you could try a trick and shoot it in separate passes.

For example, you could film the helicopter landing separately and then do as many takes as needed with the actors without the helicopter if it's no longer available. With these two layers, you can composite them together in post-production so that the audience won’t notice the difference. We have done this many times in different situations.

It’s also crucial to use a wind machine to blow on the actors so that their hair, clothes, and the grass react to the effect of the rotor wash. By the way, the wind from a real helicopter is quite strong, making it difficult for actors to perform well under those conditions. However, using a controlled wind machine allows you to create the wind effect while giving the actors a more comfortable and safe environment to perform in.

The advantage of this approach is that you don’t need to synchronize everything perfectly in one take. You have the flexibility to shoot both the helicopter and the actors exactly the way you want.

I used Chatgtp for this and other stories. I also made a casting wishlist with Chatgtp but that wasn't to good. Also a financial forecast for a movie in development. I did a logo with Goggle's gemini. I like AI but think it should be free and in the public domain.

At first, this post read like the beginnning of a film noir about a filmmaker and I wasn't sure where it was going - I felt terrible for the unpaid asistants. But even a story about not telling a story can be a great story. And that's my answer. It's always about story telling and always will be. Nobody invited me to the world of filmmaking - it was a choice - and nobody will uninvite me because my choice is made. And supporting other filmmakers and this community gives me such joy and hope so there can be no stopping. The show must go on!

Happy that you are finally at peace, my man. Because life is too short to be waging war from within your own soul. To answer you tag question, unlike yourself, I am not a titan who left after decades, I am someone who has had some success early on and do (I think) have much to still say but finding it so very frustrating to not feel I am spinning my creative wheels in the muck trying to get known and find funding...so right now it's more of a fear that I'll watch waves crash knowing I failed rather than going out on my own terms as you did. Though, I bet, and I'm just guessing here, you do have more to say cinematically, and we may all be less served not seeing it.

Very thought provoking, Willem Elzenga . I'm reminded of an interview with Orson Welles later in his life where he mentioned his regret of being in love with movies, which was the passion he had which drove his career. He said that if he hadn't had such a passion for it, he would have given up instead of struggling so much. Even with his career, he was always fighting the studios and other gatekeepers. I think it's perfectly fine to step away for a while, and even permanently if this no longer is a passion. We all change over the years and maybe I'll end up doing something else later on, but right now I'm right where I want to be and can't think of anything else I want to do.

I think that if you feel peace in your soul and can calmly sit and watch the waves crash against the rocks without worrying about anything, then you have fulfilled your mission—or at least one of them.

Nothing will ever work out if done by force. Over the past 30 years, you have accomplished quite a lot, and not everyone can boast such experience and contribution to the film industry. You have earned the right to simply sit and watch the waves, free from any worries.

Who knows, maybe tomorrow you will find another passion, and the waves and the sound of the wind will once again fade into the background. :)

Honestly, I wish for myself and many others to follow a similar path and, just like you, sit by the shore with peace in our hearts.

You're welcome, Sherri ZImmerman.

Bobby G - AGREED for the most part about digital additions HOWEVER, with guns? Hmm... we hear of those "accidents" on shoots? Not sure.. maybe that ONE ought to be okay... LOL?? American or NOT, I'd rather seen the actors LIVE, not being in the newspaper of these happenings... we see enough ALREADY...

IS there a way to know how MANY of these types of things happen? Meaning in the half century of 1950-2000? How many have died due to guns in films while filming? just wondering...

Very cool watch, Ashley Renee Smith. Enjoyed it, and some of the comments in here, immensely.

Last weekend we did the traditional squib shot I mentioned earlier. I won’t share photos, since it’s not my call when to share BTS images online.

In the story, a mania turning into a werewolf, then gets shot through the head. Our job was to make a dummy head that matched the actor, sculpt an exit wound in the back, and explode the back of his head off.

My partner filled a condom with blood, packed it with the explosive charge inside the head, then put colored wax pieces and liquid latex over the top to make the surface of the scalp. I took over at that point, cutting and gluing hair to the head to cover the area. Our subject had very short hair, so this was a challenge.

This was to be a very close shot, but we framed it with plenty of space behind the head to show the blood spray.

The charge’s wires were fed out the neck. One lead went to a car battery, the other to a nail hammered into a board. The battery’s other terminal was wired to a nail on a pole. We started rolling on the camera 48fps slomo). We stepped into the hallway, touched the two wires together, and BAM!

It worked… but the small metal funnel my partner had used inside the head to direct the explosion came loose and was visible in the shot. We had to do it all again— the blood pack, the wax, latex, and paint, the glued hair and makeup. A couple hours later, we had a usable shot.

I just noticed that the director has posted a clip of the headshot. Here it is:

https://vimeo.com/1053952119

And if you want to contribute to the film (check out the perks!) visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/frenzy-moon-finishing-funds?#/updates/35

Hi Sergei Kondrashov - I'm a producer, not a director, but I always work closely with the directors ans creators I work with when building the production team, including composers and music supervisors. Music, to me, is a filmmaker's greatest tool in telling the audience what to feel so its always a vital decision. If the project exists in a genre - a horror film or fantasy - does the composer have a tone or through line in their portfolio that feels appropriate. Also, scale and scope can be imoportant - does the portfolio include large orchestrataions or is it minimalist in some way. Obviously, experience can come into play so we always check credits if they are available. References matter too - are poeple easy to work with and have a collaborative spirit and are willing to work with the director to find things together.

Sam Sokolow, Interesting, how often do you take part in selecting a composer, or is it mostly up to the director? I often feel that it’s mainly the producers who make the decisions, and only very well-known directors have the right to choose for themselves.

Right here on Stage32 I found an amazing composer! She's now worked with me on two short film and who knows what more will come! I know there will be more!

Check out Elena Maro. www.elenamaro.com

I have been doing loads of research into this recently in the pursuit of growth. I can send you my shortlist.

ProductionHub,Mandy ,backstage

For actors, Backstage will let you search by location and all kinds of other specifics.

Oh! Backstage, that's the one I used back in the day. Thanks for the other tips all! I got some logins to make haha

That's not The Four P’s in the blog, Greg Zawaski, but great guess. And passion, persistence, patience, and profit are important!

Yes Greg Zawaski without looking then your guess is your guess. You have to read the piece to know what's in it!

Greg Zawaski Porsche please!

That's great you are taking a couple of webinars. Yeah they cost a little bread but, considering what value our seasoned pros are telling and guiding us to our goals. Be sure to post the results!

We had an incredible Community Wrap-Up today! If you missed the Wrap-Up or you want to watch it again, here's the link: www.instagram.com/reel/DFyKrjXSUjy

Thanks for sharing the link, Maurice Vaughan - excited to watch this week's Wrap Up!

You're welcome, Sam Sokolow. It was another fun, helpful Community Wrap-Up!

If you missed today's Instagram Live, you can catch the full conversation HERE: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFyKrjXSUjy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&...