Experts’ Tips
Ben Winter, film student, USA
“Dogme 95 is a standard of filmmaking that Lars von trier created – mostly as a joke – that dispenses with the formalities of filmmaking and strips the medium down to its bare minimum. you’d think they would be trivial films with little pomp and circumstance. But they’re absolutely brilliant, and riddled with nuance. these films, like The Celebration, influenced me strongly because they changed my perception of what was important about filmmaking. They taught me that you don’t need big lights or a big camera to tell a convincing, compelling story. The effectiveness of the film astonished me at the time. I was completely blown away.”
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Chapter | Fourteen
Continuity
OVERVIEW
Continuity is the catch-all term for most of those blips and mistakes that make up your blooper reel. Here’s how to ensure continuity is perfect each time.
Continuity is a way of making sure that a scene makes visual and verbal sense when we watch it.
Movies don’t get shot in sequence, and some parts of the same scene might be shot days apart but edited so they look like everything happened in one continuous flow of events.
On a movie, continuity is the job of the Script Supervisor, who has to note every detail of a shot to make sure that continuity errors like the following don’t creep in:
In Spider-Man, Mary Jane gets mugged but Spidey fights off the four muggers and throws two of them through nearby windows. When Mary Jane picks herself up, we see the windows now intact behind her.
In the first Harry Potter movie, we see Harry sit down for a feast on the right side of the table next to Ron, but when we cut back after the meal appears, he is on the other side next to Hermione. (Thanks to the guys at www.moviemistakes.com.)
Table 14.1
Part of Production What to Do
Technical and camera continuity: Use the same aspect ratio throughout – choose 16:9 if you’re not sure which.
Record on short play throughout.
Shutter speed needs to be kept the same throughout a scene, and only altered slightly within the entire movie.
Aperture: Use one setting for each scene.
Use action-line rules and 30-degree rules, eye matching and shot-reverse shot (see later in this chapter to find out about them).
White balance: use the same manual setting throughout each scene, and for all scenes in that location.
Camera style: use the same approach throughout a scene, such as how much the camera moves and whether you use hand-held or steady.
Check that all details match between takes. Make notes, take photos and mark the position of your actors. Play back the last section of the scene to check the next flows on from it: objects need to be exactly where they were; hair, clothes and makeup needs to be consistent.
Check the frame is clear of boom mic, crew or other things that will disrupt our perception of the scene.
Lighting Light quality and intensity is the same throughout a scene unless the script says otherwise.
Visual space: make sure we can see elements of the room or location in each shot so we always know where we are.
Daylight: beware of fading light toward the end of the day – it can be hard to notice changes over an hour or more.
Color Use the same color palette throughout a scene, and limit how far you alter it across the whole movie. Choose three dominant colors as your overall design. Some scenes will focus on one color more than another.
Sound Record a wild track or ambient track to smooth over possible inconsistent sound later.
While recording, make sure levels (of loudness) are equal throughout the movie
Use the same mic method for all similar scenes– for instance, all interior dialogue scenes could be with a boom mic, or all exteriors with boom and tie mics.
Editing: Edit between completely separate scenes by using simple visual clues such as:
A noise that occurs at the end of one scene and the start of the next, like a police siren.
An image that looks or sounds similar at the end of one scene and the start of the next, like a drill at the end of scene 1 that merges into a scream in the start of scene 2.
Keep time constant:
Show that events are happening simultaneously by using “parallel montage” (see Ch 22 Editing Methods: Montage). Or show passage of time by fading to and from black.
FIGURE 14.1 Location filming means keeping a close check on continuity. A production image from Like Dandelion Dust (2009). Image: Kerry David.
FIGURE 14.2 Makeup needs to be carefully noted and applied in the same way for each part of a scene to avoid continuity problems. (Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ©bjones27, Image# 8321924)
Getting the perfect shot is a whole lot easier if you have some agreed upon ideas to begin with that prevent simple mistakes. Some things look good on film, some things don’t, but luckily other filmmakers have trodden this ground before you and figured out the difference between the two.
THREE RULES THAT HELP – REALLY
• The rule of thirds:
Sometime in the fifteenth century, painters figured out that their compositions looked better if the main objects were not placed in the middle but slightly to the sides. Known in art as The Golden Mean, it meant that a tree is placed about one third of the way from the side of the frame, while a horizon would be the same from either the top or bottom of the frame. It makes your frame look balanced and increases a sense of depth. It also avoids symmetrical compositions, which can look dull and lifeless. To use it well, divide your camera viewfinder up into nine equal rectangles – so you have three equal columns and three equal rows – and place all the elements in the frame along these lines.
• The 30-degree rule:
When you set up a frame, never shoot another frame less than 30 degrees away from the last one. Think of a semicircle with the main action in the center of the straight line. Then imagine angles coming from this main subject at 30 degrees, like bicycle spokes. You shouldn’t be able to get more than five camera angles within this complete 180-degree area plus two more directly from either side. If you cut between two shots that are quite close in angle, then the edit seems to jump, or worse makes the action appear to move. Two shots that are more than 30 degrees apart edit together more softly than those that are less.
• The action line, or axis:
This can turn out to be one of the most useful rules if you want to make sure you keep the audience up with the plot. The action line means an imaginary line that cuts through the action from left to right along the screen. So a scene showing two people arguing in a car park would have the camera placed directly in front of them to start with, and the action line running through them both from one side of the screen to the other. So Actor A is on the left of the screen and Actor B on the right. However, if you cross the line, and go around the actors to the back and carry on shooting, then Actor A now appears to be on the right of the screen and B switches over to the left. The effect is total disorientation, looking as if we have skipped a reel somewhere.
SECOND OPINION
Don’t do it! Your movie really won’t suffer if you ignore each and every one of these rules. This just wraps the viewer up in cotton wool, like they can’t handle any disruption of the movie experience, or suspension of disbelief. Throw everything at ’em, including the rule book. Check out Run Lola Run (1998) or the wacko Un Chien Andalou (1929) or anything by the Dogme 95 directors. Did they care? No, that’s why they won all those awards.
Chapter | Fifteen
Manage Your Production: Be a Producer
OVERVIEW
Prevent fights on set, make friends with the people you work with, gain respect for being cool under pressure – that’s producing.
Experts’ Tips
Walter Murch, filmmaker, editor, Apocalypse Now!, The Godfather, Cold Mountain.
“You need a tremendous amount of teamwork which ev
eryone is fulfilled by and where everyone feels appreciated. No one sits there idly. Everyone has input. Everyone has a viewpoint and you can see that viewpoint.”
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QUALITIES YOU NEED AS PRODUCER
Business sense. You need to be able to juggle various ideas and issues at the same time. Can you think of a project in a long-term way, and how all the various elements of it come together? You need to be able to think quickly about costs, and about how to keep them down, being tough enough to resist the calls to spend more from your crew.
Leadership. If you like being in charge, and tend to be good with people and teams, then you could make a good producer. Leadership means putting yourself right at the front of the production and not waiting to be told what to do. This really suits some people – the sort of person who sees what needs to be done before anyone else, and who isn’t afraid of getting it wrong from time to time.
People skills. You will also be able to listen and talk to people well, avoiding being aggressive even when you get tough about what they need to do. A quiet, forceful manner is ideal – think Yoda mixed with Kindergarten Cop.
Logistics. You will be able to organize the production well. You are able to set up a whole host of things that need to work together, like transport, food, booking cameras to borrow, buying props and making sure everyone knows what they need to do. It’s like a military campaign without the bad food.
What the producer does:
1. Believes in the vision of the script.
2. Coordinates the planning stage, holding meetings, and so on.
3. Gets funding.
4. Manages the day-to-day production while shooting.
5. Deals with publicity and getting the movie seen.
It’s OK to produce and direct your own movie, especially if control freakery comes easy to you.
COPING WITH PEOPLE
FLASHPOINTS
There are many ways – too many – to get into fights while you make your movie. Even simple problems can lead to major upsets if not handled well. The most common flashpoints that cause problems include:
Table 15.1 What can go wrong and how to deal with it
Flashpoint What Goes Wrong Solution
Poor admin People can’t communicate properly with each other and don’t know what they are supposed to be doing. Spend time on the script breakdown, the production schedules and the daily organization sheets such as call sheets and other ways to organize the work.
Poor chain of command Mild-mannered director doesn’t want to assert what everyone needs to do, and is too polite to deal with problems. This leads to anxiety that no one is in charge and the crew don’t know who to turn to with problems. Assign roles and ask everyone at the first meeting to tell everyone else who they are, what their role is and what they are specifically in charge of. Talk about possible problems and agree who is responsible if things go wrong. As producer make yourself available to deal with problems and don’t shy away from laying down the law about what needs to happen.
Not enough resources for the job Not enough money means people can’t do their jobs properly, which in turn leads to stress and poor work. Work solidly within your means. Be aware of what your budget is, what you can afford, and what you can’t. Work in an extra 10% of costs to everything, making a more realistic budget.
Cost overruns The production spirals out of control as the director adds in more scenes, or makes radical changes. Obvious, but stay within the budget and the script. Everyone deviates by about a quarter with what they originally intended to shoot, making changes to the movie as they see better opportunities. But there has to be a limit. Avoid mission creep – it’s every army general’s worst nightmare, and is the path to ruin for a filmmaker.
Bad schedule The schedule is too optimistic or just plain wrong. One day’s shooting becomes two, pushing back other jobs, or forcing crew or cast to drop out. Always add in a large margin of error to allow for extra time needed. You always need to reshoot, usually need extra time to set up shots and almost always get something you didn’t expect which interrupts the scene.
Experts’ Tips
Kerry David, producer, My Date with Drew, Agent Cody Banks, College Sucks, Los Angeles
“I’m a creative producer, not a physical producer, and by that i mean that i love to put all the creative elements of a film together, but i don’t relish haggling over the price of a camera package. at the beginning of any project i will write treatments and adaptations if appropriate or just work with a screenwriter to develop the story until it’s ready to film. i bring the key creative teams on board (the department heads that shape a film) meaning i cherry pick the director, director of photography, composer, editor, costumer, makeup artist, casting director, sound editor, and on and on, as every one of these artists shapes the film to be made. i scout locations and come up with actor suggestions with our director and casting director. i strategize about the project as a whole, where it should be submitted (at the studio level, or certain financiers) and then i set up meetings with financiers, distributors and studio executives to pitch the project as these are the people who will make my film a reality if they respond well. When I’m on set, if i have done my job well I’m there to put out any fires that might erupt but for the most part as a support to my director and be ready with answers to any department that runs into challenges while filming. I’m also the person that the actors turn to with issues they may have while filming so i can be a therapist or friend when necessary.”
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FIGURE 15.1 A good working atmosphere helps smooth a low-budget production along. Cast and crew of Jason Korsner’s hollywood-set comedy 2 hour Parking (2007).
HOW TO MANAGE YOUR SHOW
1. Be around, be contactable. You need to be a visible and open presence. Your phone is always on, you turn up early to meetings, you are the last to leave. You are ready to listen and never too busy to stop and talk about the production. And you’re calm.
2. Preparation is all; you can’t do too much of it. Spend time on storyboards, script, rehearsing actors, meeting with each member of the crew, reading through the schedules and plans. Look at every step of your plans in 360o to look for possible problems.
3. Always assume that no one will ever do anything unless you ask them to. They are not being lazy, they are just being respectful and waiting for you to tell them to do it. After a while they’ll start to take the initiative and do things before you ask.
4. Your most important pieces of paper are the script breakdown and scheduling plans. Spend time getting these as detailed as possible (see Chapter 11, All the Paperwork You Need).
5. Budgets are king. Never go over budget, but be realistic about what you can afford and what you need. Your budget becomes the big reason why you can’t do everything everyone asks you to do. Whatever the request, just point at the budget and say “sorry, budget says no.”
6. Schedule and shot list will determine budget and length of shoot.
7. Hold meetings where you write down what was agreed. Get everyone together regularly and agree that one person will write down what was said and what each person agreed to do.
8. Establish ground rules for involvement in the movie. Agree what happens if someone doesn’t show up frequently, or if they fail to keep up what they agreed to do. Make it fair and easy for everyone to see why someone has been asked to leave the production.
HOW TO SORT OUT FIGHTS
You have a great team with a lot of skills and diversity, but that diversity means sometimes trouble can break out when people disagree. People have different goals and ways of doing things and this causes conflicts. But conflict is not necessarily destructive if you manage it properly.
1. Openness of communication. Use Twitter, blogs or any method that lets other people into your thought processes. Be open about the ups and the downs, and keep people close to what is going on.
2. Direct raising of issues. Meet a problem head-on and bring it right into the op
en quickly. Bring everyone in and you should get a sense of resolution if everyone has their say. Many problems get smaller once you talk about them, often finding out that underneath it all everyone is just tired or needs a break.
3. Bargaining: if you really can’t find common ground then come to a compromise, but this tends to mean everyone is dissatisfied. Avoid putting your own position on the line – instead ask the two sides to come up with a solution with your help.
4. Prevent issues from arising in the first place by agreeing before anything starts what your shared values are.
5. …and then remind people about these agreed ground rules and shared ideas, if someone is not taking part or handling their responsibilities.
6. Work around the problem. Use this if everything else fails. Simply walk away and find a common starting point, like, “We all want to do our best on this film.” Play down the problem and walk away.
Experts’ Tips
Kerry David, producer, My Date with Drew, Agent Cody Banks, College Sucks, Los Angeles
“Whatever part of the filmmaking process you decide is your path, only attach yourself to projects you are truly passionate about. if you are a writer, write something that captivates you, as a director take on projects that you know need your imprint. i believe that it is passion and tenacity that gets a project to the big screen and the person who has the most passion and tenacity pushes their project past the finish line. It’s also too difficult an industry not to be! Work with people you love to be around. There’s a reason that filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood work with the same people over and over again.”
Stand-Out Shorts Page 8
