Filmmaking / Directing

I'd love to hear your stories about interesting places you've been to for production. Did you come away with appreciation for new places or cultures?

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/awards/in-the-shadow-of-the-cypress-filmmake...

HI! I'm Deborah Gilels and have run my company LA Media Consultants for over 25 years! I've done PR launches for all kinds of films in the festival circuit, where clients have done everything from securing distribution, industry representation and Oscar qualification. I'm also on the board of LA Femme International Film Festival, a sponsor of HollyShorts and was the LA Shorts publicist in 2023. Please feel free to ask me anything about your goals, best way to position, choosing the best festival to premiere, etc. Can't wait to engage!!

Directing can be a deal breaker for any audience member or stay at home streamer looking for something to watch. If there is a trailer to your film, it has to convince the viewer that their valuable time won’t be wasted and trailers are constructed from the footage of the film so it has to look good.

No matter what your budget is or how strained or abundant your resources are, the success of a film or movie ultimately rests on the director’s shoulders. You need your early work to be successful so that you can advance your career. Here are some lessons I have learned that may or may not help you out.

1) View The World From All Angles

Whether you are shooting your establishing shot, a medium shot, or a close up, the world can be observed in a infinite number of ways. Find the best viewpoint or have a concept you can plan for to get the best shot for the scene. Use miniatures and models and just be the observer to find the right angle. It can be too difficult because you don’t want to use up precious time on the shooting schedule for a 3-6 second shot but use the frame to really use your composition to your best advantage.

2) Control Your Camera

The two absolute worst filming techniques used way too much is today’s camera work is Shaky Cam and The Free Floating Frame. Audiences are not supposed to be aware of camera movement. If they are distracted by how the camera is twitching about, they are taken out of the story. Shaky Cam is not a filming technique. It is a panicked escape route from imminent danger while still filming. In a 90 minute film, if you want to use it once, fine. You want to base your whole movie on it, you’re totally killing any coherent enjoyment your story has to offer. If you want to move your frame around, move it in a slow deliberate manner. Your audience should be so focused on what is being shown or said, they should be completely unaware that at the end of the sequence, they are viewing what is going on from the other side. If the frame is just floating around like a soap bubble in a wind tunnel, you’re basically giving your audience bed spins without alcohol. Some directors say, “I wanted to give the audience an immersive experience.” You’re not. You’re giving them motion sickness. Even if it’s a POV shot, your character shouldn’t seem like they’re having a perpetual seizure. Keep it controlled.

3) Insert Shots Insert Life

There is a lack of insert shots in today’s filming. Not only can these shots add depth to scenes that are dialogue driven, they can be very useful in the editing process in case coverage has been compromised. These shots are not supposed to be in your face disruptions, but little observations of the mood of the scene. A tapping finger, a shot of a piece of a decoration of a room, or a subtle reaction shot of the person that is listening to the main speaker can add a lot to the tension of a scene or preface something that is soon to happen.

There are a lot of other little things that one should be aware of. You should always work off a video village, your lighting should be sufficient so that there is enough visual material to manipulate your image in post and never shoot in too dark a set up. Your audience isn’t there for an eye test. Show them what they want to see. Know how to film dialogue. Every inflection is important. Take notice of every sentence to make sure you’re milking every emotional potential of that sentence and capture it accordingly.

I’m hoping that this was somehow useful to you in one way or another. It’s important for independent filmmakers to produce the best product possible. You have to perform above and beyond the mainstream Hollywood machine. Your budgets are smaller so if you create a winner at the box office, that will build investor confidence. Your wins are all of our wins.

This is targeted primarily to those of you with a low budget project. One issue I see quite often is a low budget project with tons of high end locations. Mansions, high rises, grocery stores, bars/restaurants, night clubs are just a few examples of locations that are pricey and can kill your budget.

Many of the above locations mentioned, along with other high end locations, can go from anywhere to $5000 to $20k/day. Not budget friendly. And budgeting them at $500/day just so you can say your budget is under $500k is unrealistic.

In a previous tip for the day, I mentioned a script needs to match it's budget. Don't try to squeeze a $10 million script into a $500k budget. Locations are part of that.

Most film locations will also need a prep day or 2 and a wrap day. These need to be factored into your budget along with site reps. Too many out there seem to ignore these facts. These are basic issues a Producer should be aware of.

Sound is another issue. Many times a location will be found under a flight path or near a busy street or freeway. Fixing the sound in post can get expensive with ADR depending on the amount of dialogue in the scene. Truck parking is another issue that seems to get ignored. Posting the street is fine, but many times that's not possible depending on where the location is located. Shuttling equipment is the kiss of death if you're on a tight budget & schedule.

One other major factor is several locations that have only 1/8 or 4/8ths of a page. Will the cost justify the scene? In most cases, no. Montages are also the kiss of death in a low budget. Depending on the montage, each montage scene will require a location in most cases. This can turn into a disaster without "location combos". If a certain location is 90% ok on a day with 3 different locations, but the Location Manger found a great location combo that works for the other 2, compromise needs to be made. A company move in the middle of the day can cost production hours in lost filming time.

Consider public locations that are city/state owned. In most cases those locations are cheap. Shutting down a bar or restaurant for 4 days will kill your budget. 3 different houses with only a bedroom in one, only an exterior in the other and just a downstairs area in the 3rd, should all be considered one practical house location as cheating the location needs to be a common thought process if you're on a tight budget.

I do tons of budgets and schedules (DM me for rates) & many of the requests I receive on the low budget ones are often unrealistic. A solid budget & film financing business plan (which I also do and is required by most to all investors and not pitch decks and I also do consulting) are major reality checks. Numbers don't lie and 2 + 2 does NOT equal 3. So do yourself a favor. Before you start considering doing a under $1 million budget, look at the locations & learn the word "compromise".

If you enjoy these tips for the day and want to see tons of other ones, you can visit my LinkedIn page at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-mcintire-0b442367/

Now go out there and change the world.