“Best moments? Easy! when the legend Sir Norman wisdom walked on set. I’d need a whole book to explain that. His performance was great and his presence bought attention to a short movie that I know people making feature films with 10 times the budget would kill for. I never lose sight that that was down to Norman. when I went home that night I was star struck. I just kept replaying the day in my mind – directing Sir Norman. A real honor.”
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Chapter | Seven
Previz
OVERVIEW
You know what you want but no one else quite sees it your way. Previsualizing helps get your vision of your movie across. Take a look at how storyboards or previz software can help make your movie real.
Some people do storyboards, some don’t. It’s your call. In practice, storyboards are great for a big movie when you have a lot of people depending on you, time is short and every second costs money. You need to know what shot you want, and be able to show someone a piece of paper with that shot drawn out.
But on short films it’s just as fine to turn up on the day you shoot and figure out what shot you want as you work. You can set up the action, play around with camera shots that look good, and then go ahead and shoot. It’s enough to trust your eyes and what you see in the camera without having to think it all up days before.
On the other hand, storyboards can help for figuring out complicated scenes, perhaps where you have a lot of action that needs to be seen in a certain order.
Whatever you do, a lot of people prefer computer-generated image (CGI) previz, using software that creates a virtual movie location and lets you set up shots. Previz software has now become a standard way of sharing your vision for a movie. It also helps you test lighting ideas and work out how you’re going to get a shot you want.
PREVIZ USING 3D MODELING SOFTWARE
FrameForge or StoryBoard Quick are intuitive programs that help you create a complete world from your script before you shoot, enabling you to build sets, characters, use props, costume and set up lighting. It’s kind of like directing The Sims, but with a lot of helpful print-friendly data to go with it – such as how high the camera would be from the ground in each shot, the aspect ratio, aperture, and which pieces of the script you need for each storyboard sheet. It helps save time by figuring out whether a certain shot you want is technically possible. It’s also a great instructor, letting you experiment to find the right shot.
FIGURE 7.1 FrameForge software helps you produce virtual locations and figure out camera moves.
PREFER STORYBOARDS? HERE’S HOW
Storyboards tend to be drawn in small boxes about the size of a DV tape case, with three or four to a page down the side of a sheet of A4, or across a page, comic-book style. You don’t have to produce storyboards for the whole movie, just the parts where you’d feel more comfortable knowing how they look.
1. First, figure out which parts of the script you need to draw. If you have a script, go through it with a colored pencil, inserting a line break where you think you would cut on screen to a new shot, or where there is particular movement, to break up the script in manageable chunks. You can then add more frames as you need them while you draw. If there’s no script, write a list of images you need to have in the movie, in the order you think they should be seen.
2. Start drawing with soft outlines, trying to sketch out how you imagine this scene on screen. You don’t need to restrict yourself to small boxes. Instead, try working on larger sheets of paper, and then use a cut-out viewfinder to find the exact right part of the drawing you want as the shot.
3. Go over the sketch with darker lines. Avoid pencil – it’s too pale. Instead use a darker tool like charcoal or black marker pens. Don’t worry about how accurate the drawings are yet.
4. Include in each frame some basic information:
a. Possible camera movements such as tracking or panning. Draw arrows to show movement of camera or objects/people.
b. The intensity and direction of lighting. Indicate in the sketch what direction the light is coming from.
c. The dominant colors in the scene. Limit yourself to just two or three.
5. Next to the images include the dialogue, sounds and any other notes that you need to help direct that scene.
FIGURE 7.2 Celtx software is a favorite with student filmmakers, allowing the user to integrate storyboards with other documents.
HOW ABOUT MOVIES WITH NO STORY?
Many films you might want to make really don’t benefit from the linear method of drawing each shot from a script. Music promos and any movie where there’s no story might be better off with another approach where you can look at the film as a whole, and not in any particular order. You might want to work more organically, and improvise your way through.
Cut out some rectangles to draw individual images on. Each image is a key point in the film.
Draw a single image on each card frame so you have a pack of cards with each image on separate frames. Write on the back of each one any information you need such as dialogue, music, movement.
Arrange the cards in a circle.
Choose the most crucial shot – the one which would be great as a movie poster or publicity still. Place this one at the centre of the circle.
Choose the next most crucial frames and place them as an inner circle.
You will then have a central image which sets the tone for the entire movie, an inner circle of images surrounding it, and an outer circle of images at the edges. This outer circle is almost dispensable – if a certain image from here can’t be shot, then it may not alter the overall tone of the movie.
Now you have a strong sense of what images you want and which are most important. You don’t need to figure out the order in which these images will be seen until you edit.
Experts’ Tips
Neville Steenson, filmmaker, UK
“I think storyboards are an incredibly valuable process to go through in preproduction. As a director it allows you to establish the visual ‘grammar’ of your film and by putting it down on paper you distance yourself slightly and can take a more objective view. As long as you understand what your scribbles represent it’s just a personal process for you to go through so you can get the film clear in your mind. From a more pragmatic production point of view too it allows you to see how many shots you are planning on doing and this is crucial in producing a realistic shooting schedule and shot list – there’s no point showing up on set wanting to do twenty different set-ups in a day when your crew is realistically only going to get through ten.”
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SECOND OPINION
Richard and John Chance, writers/producers, The Day I Tried to Live, UK
Richard Chance: “We rarely use storyboards to convey ideas as they are time-consuming to produce; however, in the past we have drawn scenes and used diagrams to explain camera angles and position of the actors within the location, et cetera, within the shot, when words aren’t enough.”
John Chance: “Occasionally, the storyboard is better for a larger scale cast and crew to work with. We normally take a basic shot list to film with us on the day. We explain what we’re after previously and go through [the storyboard] with them.”
Chapter | Eight
Script Breakdown and Shot List
OVERVIEW
You’ve got a script, the crew are booked, and you’re ready to shoot. Hold fire – take a moment to figure out all the shots you really need and you’ll save time and money.
WHY YOU NEED A SCRIPT BREAKDOWN
One way to make a movie is to turn up, shoot like crazy and figure out the mess later in the edit, but that’s way more stressful than it needs to be. Instead, think of the movie as one big shopping list – composed of clips one after the other. You go and shoot these clips in any order you like, and as long as you know exactly the separate pieces that make up the jigsaw of your movie, you’ll be able to piece them together just as you intended. And then you know how much it will cost
and whether your plans are workable.
To do this, you need a “script breakdown,” a list of everything you need, to shoot the whole movie, by who, when and how long it will take you.
Here’s what you do, step by step.
1. Look at the script and go through it carefully, noting each time a new scene appears. Draw a line under that section to show where each scene starts and ends.
2. Copy each scene onto new separate sheets. Then make a list of what you need for that scene – everything from props to makeup to lighting, to cast and crew.
3. Now you’ve got mini breakdown sheets for each separate scene. Go into more detail in each one to make sure everything you need is listed.
4. Next, take a look at all your scenes – maybe stick them all on a wall so you can quickly cross-reference between them.
5. Then group them together so you have the most economical and logical way to shoot them. So if two scenes are shot in the same location but are meant to be at different times in the film, shoot them both on the same day.
6. Now you have a complete list for every scene of everything you need to buy, everything you need to shoot, when everyone is due on set, and for how long.
7. To finish, divide everything on your individual scene breakdown sheets into responsibilities. Just write down a name next to each item so you know who is in charge of that job and use colored highlighters to make it stand out. It’s a good way to see how much work each person has to do.
8. You are now seriously organized.
If you don’t use scripts, take some time to write a list of events that happen in the movie, in the order in which they occur. This works well if you are the kind of filmmaker who prefers to get your actors together, let them improvise and then build the movie from there. If that’s your style, create a shooting script of events when you have the whole movie mapped out. You will end up with a long list of shots you need.
FIGURE 8.1 A script supervisor keeps check on the schedule and what has been achieved each day during shooting. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©bjones27, Image# 8367158)
SHOT LIST
Next, you can go ahead and make a shot list. A shot list is a detailed list of all the shots you need for each scene. It doesn’t look like a script breakdown; it only lists what we are going to see on screen, like a written storyboard.
Table 8.1 Example shot list
Shot Scene Type of Shot Description
1 6 Close-up, hand held Wide shot of house at night, seen from across the street. Two men in the foreground. Music accompanies. Men start to move toward the house.
2 6 Close-up, hand held A close-up of the feet of one of them, from behind, as he approaches the house. Pan up to see a gun in his left hand.
3 6 Medium shot, tripod The door bell is rung.
4 6 Wide shot, tripod A detective at her office, viewing files, night.
5 6 Medium shot Detective picks up phone.
6 6 Medium shot Cut back to the house, a silhouette of the two men at the door, as they press the bell again.
If you were shooting this, you would arrange to shoot together all the parts with the detective at the police station. Then shoot the parts at the house another evening. So you could shoot numbers 1, 2, 3 and 6 together, giving you a logical way to shoot.
SECOND OPINION
A lot of people don’t do shot lists – they are a big hassle to produce anyway. And do you really want to know weeks ahead what each shot is going to look like when your ideas are evolving all the time? Trust your instincts, get your camera and go shoot, relying on your inner vision of how the movie needs to look.
Experts’ tips
Kevin Powis, director, London
“During production stick to your shooting schedule and shot list. You will find no shortage of suggestions flying around sometimes from crew, sometimes from actors about an extra take or a different setup. I like to be open to all that but don’t lose track of the fact that you’ve spent months working that shot list out to perfection to ensure it gives you the footage you need. So if you are going to change anything, do it after you’ve got what you came for and only if there is enough time and money for it - but not before.”
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FIGURE 8.2 Celtx software integrates your schedule into other aspects of preproduction.
Chapter | Nine
Law and the Movies
OVERVIEW
There’s nothing lawyers like more than skewering the little guy – but they won’t stand a chance with you.
10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT COPYRIGHT
When you use samples of video in your movie, or use a story you saw in the newspaper, or quote a lengthy piece from a book, you might run up against the law, by breaking copyright. Copyright is a way of protecting you, not just the stuff you want to sample or use.
Copyright is about limited ownership. That means the law tries to be sensible about what you can use – it doesn’t want to get in the way of new culture, so you can use stuff in certain ways and certain terms.
Acceptable/fair usage: you don’t need to tell the copyright holder if what you take is a fair amount. This is called fair use. Look online for The Berne Convention to tell you more – that’s the body that sorts out global copyright agreements. If in doubt about how much you can use, check it out.
How much is OK to use? If you sample a clip, or music or written work, you can use enough to make your point and no more. It must be credited. If in doubt, ask the copyright holder.
If you are a student or nonprofit group like a charity, the same rules apply to you.
Well-known music is hugely expensive to use in movies. Don’t even try. Better to make a deal with local bands where it might help the band to get exposure in your movie.
Who owns someone’s story? Be careful when using a real-life story you read about, like a family who met aliens, or an accountant who became a wrestler. They still own that story, and if they don’t then it most likely belongs to the journalist who wrote about it.
The web is affecting copyright. Lawyers will still freak out if you use music or clips without asking, but there’s no doubt it is shifting. Due to Bit Torrent, the idea of ownership is evolving into the idea that copyright is about “managing exposure.” Hollywood writers saw this coming when they got rights over downloaded clips of their TV work online.
Anything in its original form that was produced before 1922 is OK to use free of charge.
Copyright of your own work. You get copyright automatically once you put your name on it. But you need to prove it was made when you said it was – before someone else’s idea who ripped you off. To do this, simply email the script to yourself and store the email. Or use script registration services – but they cost.
Watch out if you make a movie in film school, on any sort of program. In many schools you have given up copyright and they actually own your movie. Specifically demand that the copyright stays with you, but that you grant the school certain limited rights to use it in promotional material, for a specific length of time, after which the agreement lapses and it reverts wholly to you – try it and they’ll think you’re the next Harvey Weinstein.
FREE STUFF: WHAT’S IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN – SO I DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT?
Public domain means works that were made so long ago that the copyright has expired. Some things were never copyrighted, and (strangely) many government documents or films are not covered.
FIND STORIES OR BOOKS TO USE FREE OF CHARGE
Total list (USA):
Published before December 31, 1922. You’re OK, it’s now in public domain.
Published between 1923 and 1963. Copyright expires 28 years after publication but can then be renewed (and usually is) for an additional 47 years, now extended by an additional 67 years (thanks to Sonny Bono). Check with the publisher or the estate of the author if you are not sure if there are renewals.
Published between 1964 and 1977. It again has 28 years copyright after publication but then is
automatically renewed for an additional 67 years as a second term.
Published since 1978. The work is protected only from when the work was fixed in what is called a “tangible means of expression,” such as when filmed or put into print. Total copyright is the life of the author plus 70 years.
All other countries:
The Berne Convention makes it a general rule throughout countries who signed up to it that copyright covers the lifetime of the author plus 50 years.
With anonymous works, it’s 50 years since the work was first made available to the public.
RIGHTS: WHO OWNS PARTS OF YOUR MOVIE?
YOU’VE GOT TO GET LEGAL
There’s this thing called “the rights chain” and it covers everything in the movie that could be a problem. Wherever you send your movie they’ll want to know that the rights chain is clear.
Table 9.1
Part of the Rights Chain What It Is What to Do About It
Funders Has an yone given you cash to help make the movie, and do they own a piece of it (it’s called “having partial rights”)? Not really a problem unless it’s big bucks we’re talking about. But if you want to get the movie out into the real world of movie festivals, get a signature which says they agree to hand over control of the movie to the person who has a majority stake in it.
Stand-Out Shorts Page 5
