Chapter | Five
Designing Your Movie
WHY YOU NEED THIS CHAPTER
It’s your movie. Put your fingerprint on it and give it your style.
Every film needs to have a main theme, or a central idea, which guides all aspects of it. This gives the movie a mood and helps us understand what it’s about.
Style is the way this main theme in the movie visibly appears on screen.
To get to know what your theme is, ask yourself, “What’s my movie really all about?” Forget the plot or the details and look instead at the overall idea behind it – such as a journey of discovery; or revenge; or facing your past. It may also have a certain “tone” to it, from dark to light, giving the story a feeling of being perhaps menacing, or upbeat, or mysterious, or whatever.
Experts’ Tips
Armen Antranikian, film director, London
“A visual style can unfold naturally as the screenplay is being developed. Personally I often work on mood-boards whilst developing the script. When thinking about the look, which includes everything from the color palette to choice of lenses, it is important to see the visual treatment as a storytelling tool. In good films the look is a direct expression of story and never a visual gimmick. It is the filmmaker’s key task to interpret a screenplay visually.”
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What’s the difference between story, theme and style?
The story covers the entire events within the movie. The theme is the overall idea that is behind this story, often talked about in just a simple word, like loss, or alienation, or hope. Style is the way you put this theme on screen.
Table 5.1
Take an example:
Story: An out-of-work actor returns to his small hometown for his school reunion. He gets mixed up in old rivalries and fights that happened back at school, and later that night events spiral out of control. Theme: A dark, nasty journey of discovery into the actor’s past. For the actor, it’s like everything’s closing in, like he can’t escape the past. Style: Dark, moody, claustrophobic, no color, not much light.
These three parts of the movie have to work together and we expect them to support each other. This film has to look dark and tense, just like the story. We want the camera, the music and the colors to match this.
It doesn’t mean everything has to look clichéd though: With the menacing movie described here it might sound weird if it had a Beach Boys soundtrack, but on the other hand, that might be so unusual it could add to the menace – look at Tarantino’s torture sequence in Reservoir Dogs and the mismatched music to accompany it. So, try using opposites (story vs. music, for instance) to get a unique style to your movie.
Experts’ Tips
Stacey Harrison, film director, Seattle, USA
“For me, the look of the film does tell so much of the story. Obviously film is a visual medium and a filmmaker can do so much more to develop a character just by showing with detail where that person lives or how they wear clothes, for example, than pages of text ever could. The script only tells a part of the story and the visuals add the texture and feeling for each scene. As a filmmaker I wonder why shoot someone speaking in front of a blank white wall when you can show them somewhere interesting and memorable? The look of every shot is crucial for me. I’m obsessed with the details!”
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DESIGNING YOUR MOVIE
Table 5.2
What You Need to Do How to Do it
Decide whether your movie needs designing at all Some movies are best left raw – like road movies, documentaries and freecording shorts.
Create an overall color palette Choose no more than three colors which you feel should dominate the frame, connected to the underlying theme you have chosen. So, if your movie is a revenge thriller, it could seem right to have black, ice-blue and blood red. These mean that even when you don’t have dialogue, the underlying theme is on screen all the time. Include these in almost every shot.
Evoke the atmosphere of the script Choose a few words that describe the theme of the movie and stick with these throughout the design process.
Look at the budget A limited budget doesn’t have to cramp your style. If anything, filmmakers often say that having less cash made them more creative and resourceful. Style comes from the way you deal with what you’ve got.
Produce image designs before storyboards This crosses over into previz (see Chapter 7, Previz), and means doing several sketches (or photos) of how you imagine the movie to look. Take the three most essential moments in your film. Sketch some of these images to show how you think it should look. Use a thick marker pen. Draw with bold, sweeping strokes so you describe the light and shadow as much as the objects and people in the image.
Play with camera settings to get the right look for the movie Check out your locations before you start shooting and find out how it looks best – try different aperture settings, shutter speed and how much of the frame is in focus.
Design lighting Sketch out how you’d like each scene to look, based on those few words you chose to sum up the theme. If you can, take time the day before shooting to experiment with different lighting set-ups so you are prepared before you turn up on day one.
Design details: props, clothing, decor Sketch or photograph crucial details like clothing, locations and what these rooms or places look like.
Finally… Produce a mood board When you have the overall design of the film clear and it looks coherent, spend a short while putting all these steps from the list above onto a few large sheets which sum up the entire design for the movie. Use this to show crew and cast what your vision for the movie is.
Now you have designed the movie, push on for better ideas.
Before jumping straight into the middle of storyboarding the movie, take some time to develop the images further, pushing your ideas into more original framing.
Take a sheet of A3 paper, lengthways. Divide it into four vertical columns.
In the first column, write a 10-word outline of what is happening in the shot, plus a single word that adequately describes the overall atmosphere of the whole scene.
In the next column draw the first idea you get as to how that part of the script could be seen.
Next, do a better idea: come up with another angle on this action, maybe placing the camera above, to the side, with strong shadows across it, and so on.
Finally, in the last column, draw another image which is even better – unusual but appropriate, a strong image with clarity and definition that says everything about the atmosphere you want to project.
Chapter | Six
Cast and Crew Online
OVERVIEW
Everybody needs somebody – but not if they get on your nerves and mess with your movie. Here’s how to work well with people and create a smooth production team – both crew and actors.
GET ME A CREW
Welcome to the world of zero budget filmmaking. Unlike the movie world a few rungs further up the ladder, money isn’t the only currency here – people will work for free or in exchange for your time, just to get valuable experience. But like any new currency you need time to adjust to the exchange rate. Take a look at Chapter 4, Budgets to see how to exchange equipment for work and vice versa. Use the same idea when it comes to getting other people to commit time on your project – ask in the right way and you’ll get what you need, as long as you are willing to return the favor.
Small means fast, flexible, nimble. Work with two or three other people and you have a real chance of scoring a film on budget, on time and without fights.
To do this, find people you can spend time with, and who share your commitment. Look for people who really deliver, rather than people who make great claims.
You need:
Director: that’s probably you, or whoever had the initial idea.
Camera: someone who takes good footage and can step up to being more involved artistically with you. You need to be able to bounce ideas off this person and listen to their input.
> FIGURE 6.1 A small crew works well on short films, especially if people take on more than one role. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©bjones27 Image# 9215721.)
Sound: someone who knows what each mic does and how to get it right each time. They’ll hold the boom mic, look out for recording levels, and check footage right after each scene to identify mistakes.
Working in a team of three means that you each take on extra roles. The organizer role, producer, is crucial. The director might handle this, but even better if the other members of the team can double on it. Sound and camera are primarily roles for shooting, while producing takes place largely in preproduction.
… and if you can get more people:
Continuity
Runner
Design/artist
Lighting
RECRUITING STEP BY STEP
Ideas for crew posting:
Decide who you need. What job or skill area are you looking for? Take a look at the movie genres in Section 5 and figure out how many people you need and what you need them to do. Typically, you might opt for three or four people to crew a short movie, but don’t forget the secondary jobs you’d like them to be able to do, like your camera operator also being good at editing.
Remember, experience is not always necessary. Instead ask for a willingness to learn and to commit.
What are you offering in return? A copy of the movie on DVD, plus a recommendation on your network (such as www.linkedin.com).
Decide what you can afford if respondents ask for costs towards travel, food or lodging. Can you offer people a room at your place during the shoot, or maybe just half of a return ticket to the shoot? You decide.
Post a note to a bulletin board, social networking site or filmmaker forum, or if you are planning a while in advance, post a note to a regional screen/filmmakers email bulletin.
YOUR POSTING TO GET CREW
Include:
Who you are (level of experience)
What your movie is (no long synopsis, just the story and closest genre/movie that describes it)
What skill you need (camera, editor, sound, etc.)
Whether it is a short, feature or series
What you are aiming for: festivals, TV, just having a crack at it to learn something
What you are shooting on (type of camera)
Dates you plan to shoot
Level of budget – be upfront about how small your budget is
Whether you are offering copies of the movie
Your contact details – email and phone
What to do next:
Expect to have replies over the first week after your posting. Some bulletin boards have staggered mailings, where paid users receive it on day 1, while nonpaying users receive it on day 3.
Take time to sort through replies and get back to them quickly. If you need to delay replying, send an interim email to respondents saying you’ll be in touch soon.
Once you settle on who you want to work with, email the successful respondents and send a quick thank-you to the rest.
Arrange a meeting to get everyone together.
Send out as much information as possible early on: script, notes, designs, schedule, previz – anything.
SHARE YOUR SKILLS
Movies gradually take shape when they get made, changing as more people work with the idea. Collaborating on movies means you get more done, get more ideas feeding into it, and ultimately get a better final movie.
It might seem like your vision of your movie gets watered down and compromised as soon as you work with other people, but it’s the opposite. It strengthens it, simply by treating the crew and cast as the first audience you have. Bounce ideas off them, watch reactions to what you are making, and soon you see the movie through the eyes of other people. It isn’t compromise, just adapting. The movie gradually evolves into a better movie more suited to the challenge of finding an audience.
SHOULD I PAY MY CREW?
Not necessarily. In the zero budget world of moviemaking no one expects to be paid. Instead you have to make it worthwhile in other ways – people want to learn, have experiences and get better at what they do. That’s the pay-off, plus a copy of the DVD and a credit. Once you get in a position to be able to pay crew, look at bulletin boards such as www.shootingpeople.org to see what the going rate is (like, $100 for a day’s work on camera). When you get real funding rely on union sites to give you rates that are fair. Try www.iatse-intl.org for USA film production rates, or www.bectu.org.uk for UK rates. Also click on http://www.bls.gov/OCO/CG/CGS038.HTM for average hourly payment rates.
EXPENSES
You need to put some part of the budget aside to allow for the costs of the crew in traveling to your set and perhaps items they needed to buy to do their job. Make it clear if you can’t afford to pay costs – some people are still OK about working for you just to get the experience.
FOOD
Allow a lunch and evening meal allowance for crew and cast plus coffee and other refreshments.
GROUND RULES
Come up with your own ground rules for your production. Try these for starters.
1. Collaboration means results.
2. Listen and be calm.
3. Movie crews fall out with each other often … don’t be one of them, try to resolve conflicts (get tips on how to sort out fights in Chapter 15, Manage Your Production).
4. Commitment is crucial.
5. Everyone has an input, but there’s only one outcome.
6. Integrity of the idea is king.
7. Technical perfection is a shared responsibility.
8. Watch out for interpretation: everyone hears things differently, so be clear what you want.
9. Everyone just wants to learn.
10. Exchange skills next time; work on other peoples’ movies.
Experts’ Tips
Ben Winter, film student, USA
“understand that nobody has the same vision as you, especially your actors. More importantly, understand that your film will not turn out exactly like your vision. You must be willing to adapt to changes and turn them into something that does your vision justice. However, don’t compromise. don’t be satisfied if you find yourself thinking, ‘I guess that will do.’ unless you walk away from a take thinking, ‘Yes! that is what I wanted,’ you won’t be content when you’re editing. compromises are made of bits of what everyone wants, and the final product is therefore something that nobody wants.”
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FIGURE 6.2 www.shootingpeople.org puts you in touch with actors, film crew, students, professionals and more, and gives news and advice.
GET ME SOME ACTORS
Actors are in it for the experience just as much as you are. But the exchange rate is a little different: since most actors don’t make movies, your actors are committing more than they are getting in return. Make sure you give them a DVD of the movie and links and background info on your website or social networking pages.
So who replies to your casting call? Mostly it’s going to be graduates, or student actors, building up their portfolio of jobs. More experienced actors who are out of work might reply to an unpaid casting rather than have no work at all. Whoever replies, be aware that your unpaid gig will be dropped without warning if the actor gets a paid job that clashes with yours.
YOUR POSTING TO GET ACTORS
Include:
Who you are (level of experience)
What your movie is
Who you need: complete description of the character you are casting
For instance: “Reggie: early 30s, white. Charming, big friendly guy. Well-educated and literate, but with little self-confidence. Makes pocketmoney dealing drugs. East-coast accent. Has a son with Janey, but she won’t let him spend much time with him until he gets a job and a home.”
Or: “Conrad: mid/late 20s, black, gay. Camp, but earthy. Musician and social worker. Loves nightlife. Never angry, everyone’s best friend, needs to be liked.”
Dates you pla
n to shoot
Whether you are offering copies of the movie
What costs you can meet (travel, lodging, etc.); it is expected that you provide food and refreshments
Your contact details – email and phone
FIGURE 6.3 Actors prepare for a scene in a film by director Armen Antranikian.
What to do next:
When you get enough replies to your posting, set up a casting session if you feel you need to meet or have a screen test from your respondents. Arrange a time and contact all respondents. Let them know whether they need to arrive dressed for the part, whether they need to learn a few lines first, and whether they need to bring a portfolio of previous work. But most short movies don’t do casting sessions if the actors aren’t getting paid.
On the day of the casting, be methodical and fair about what you ask the respondents to do: give everyone equal time with you, and a few chances to get the lines right if you are doing a test.
Take photos of everyone, while they hold a card with their name written on it.
Decide on who has the job and inform everyone as soon as you can.
If you don’t do a casting, go straight ahead and set up a meeting for the cast a week or so before the shoot. Email them everything you have – script, photos, designs, whatever.
Experts’ Tips
Kevin Powis, director, Expresso, London
Stand-Out Shorts Page 4
