My Moviemaking Rules

Over the years that I have dabbled in moviemaking, I adopted some rules that helped me think through how to write a script and make a movie. I felt I should try to organize them into a more coherent approach to movie making. Well, at least I have gotten some of my ideas in writing now.

For almost all my movie projects I was the writer, director, and producer. So my rules encompass those roles.

 

Making a Movie Now is far Easier than it Used to be, but Making a Good Movie is Still Just as Hard as it Ever Was

The advent of digital technology has made it far easier to make a movie. Anyone can make one. The danger with that is that you can become lazy in your thinking when you try to make a movie.

I began to make movies in the pre-digital and pre-video era. Film was a precious commodity. I had to think carefully about what I wanted to shoot in advance. That discipline forced me to concentrate on what I really wanted to say.

When I first began to dabble in video and digital, it was far too easy to just shoot without thinking about what I wanted to say. It takes more discipline to keep focused on what I am trying to say.

A Movie is a Collage Made by The Editor

I believe that a movie is made in the editing room. The movie shoot is where you collect material for the editor to work with. Nothing you shoot is wrong until the editor decides they can use it.

Never Fall in Love with Your Own Writing

This is not my original thought. I read it somewhere. In fact I think I read it several places. I see a script is a plan for a movie, not the movie itself. I need to be objective about what I have written. I must be prepared to alter the wording and jettison the parts that do not work.

Write a Story, Then Adapt It

The approach I often take in my writing is to start by writing a story. Then I adapt the story into a script. By writing in a story format, I am able to be more explicit in the subtext of the story. A script format is much more restricted, since it must focus on what the audience can see and what they can hear.

Reading about the making of “2001: A Space Odyssey” inspired me to take this approach. Aruther C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick began by writing the novel, which Kubrick then adapted into the movie. I have heard that other writer/directors have taken the same approach.

Get In, Make Your Point, Get Out

I try to keep this approach in mind when I work on a movie. I first used this approach in an early movie “Who Shot the President.” (https://vimeo.com/45035385). My initial idea was to write a feature length satire of conspiracy theory movies. I came up with a whole bunch of scenes but had not gotten them organized into a story line. I realized that I was not at a stage in my development where I could take on a feature length movie.

I thought about just what point I wanted to make with the movie. I realized that I could make the point with just one scene out of the many I had come up with. That allowed me to turn a feature into a 3-minute short.

This approach has made it harder to develop a longer movie project.

Suppress Your Inner Control Freak

I think that directors, by their very nature, are control freaks. That includes me. As other people, actors, and crew get involved with the project, they will each bring something to the movie. There is a balance between maintaining control of a movie, and letting others contribute.

When I made “Line of Taxis,” I encouraged actors to ad-lib at the start and end of a shot to make the dialogue I wrote feel like the middle of a conversation. Although I did not intend to keep these in the final movie, they turned out so well that I left them in. They were some of the best parts of the movie.

Shoot Multiple Takes

When I first started making movies, I thought the only reason to do a second, or subsequent take, was if something went wrong. As I worked on more movies, I found that sometimes a bad take would have something good in it.

I found that on set it was often difficult to judge whether a take was good or bad. Sometimes they were simply different. There can be many different ways to read a line or play a part. So, I began to feel that getting two or three or more takes using different approaches for each take would allow me to make a better decision in editing. During editing I can watch each take multiple times and understand the nuances of each. Only then, am I really in a position to pick the right take.

Let The Actors Act

Very often I was surprised by how an actor would play a part or read a line. My first inclination was that they were wrong. But I began to realize that any reasonably competent actor will develop a deep understanding of their character. At some point they would have a better idea of who that character is than I, as the writer, would have.

Most actors are open to trying something different, so as a director, I can always encourage them toward my original vision in subsequent takes. But often their original performance is the best. The actor brings something more to the movie than I can bring on my own.

Have Fun

Shooting a movie can be a long arduous process. It is important to make it as enjoyable for the cast and crew as I can. Things like a break room, snacks, and a delicious meal can make the entire process much easier for everyone. The people who work on a film want to participate in making the film, so I need to ensure that they all get the opportunity to do that.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

How Can I Get More People to Watch My Movies? - Part 1

For some time now I've struggled with the best way to promote my movies. With millions of people all screaming for attention on the Internet, it is difficult to compete.

I find it very hard to articulate my thoughts on this subject. I don't think I can cover the full range of the issue in one post, but I'll take a first stab at it. Maybe people's comments will give me more insight and I can write a part 2.

Last week a TV report and an article prompted me to write this blog post.

Generation Like

The TV report was a PBS Frontline report on the development of Internet celebrity called "Generation Like".  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/

The report covers the growth in internet celebrity; mainly focussed on young people. Internet celebrity can be very lucrative. What bothers me is the ways in which they have become successful.

I am very uncomfortable with promoting myself and my movies. I have been tempted to use techniques like misleading and sensationalized titles, stunts and outrageous behaviour, and various Search Engine Optimization tricks, and have even tried some of them a few times.  Afterwards I always felt bad about what I had done, and so I now avoid anything that strikes me as pandering.

I am also unconvinced that these techniques will work for me. The kind of people who would find my work of interest are unlikely to be drawn in by tricks.

I have tried to build up followers on sites like Twitter. While it is fairly easy to gain followers, even if you don't pay for them, it is much more difficult to gain followers who really support you. I have 1,558 followers on Twitter, but I doubt that more than a few dozen ever bother to read my tweets.

No one cares about your novel

The article was a Salon articled called "No one cares about your novel: So writers, don’t be boring!" http://www.salon.com/2014/03/12/no_one_cares_about_your_novel_so_writers_dont_be_boring/

This article looks at the difficulty writers have in gaining readers. An important issue is the need for writers to make money from their writing in order to be able to continue their writing career.

Again, there are many many writers who struggle for attention, but I get a sense that the goals are not the same as with the Internet celebrities. Writers seek attention so people will read their books and seriously consider what they have to say. With the Internet celebrity culture it seems that they want attention for the sake of attention.

When I read this article I was reminded of something I read about Alfred Hitchcock. He wanted his films to be successful as art, but he also felt that in order for them to be successful art, they needed to be successful commercially.

I believe that in order to be a successful creator you need to enjoy the activity of creation. But, unless other people appreciate your creation, the job isn't done yet.

I've always thought that if what you create is good, then people will watch it. But, even if you do create something good, it is still hard to get people to pay attention to you. You can't be successful without supporters. A few dozen supporters who really believe in your work are far more valuable than a few thousand who don't bother to read your tweets.

I think it is important to promote your work, but you must also continue to work to improve the quality of your work. With the technology available now it is much easier to make and distribute a film, but it is still just as hard to make a good film.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Thoughts on No Budget Filmmaking

The concept of no budget filmmaking appeals to me. Largely because I can’t see that I’ll ever get the money for even a low budget movie

The other day I followed a link someone posted on Twitter to the article The Rights and Wrongs of No-Budget Filmmaking http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abe-schwartz/the-rights-and-wrongs-of-_b_940438.html I encourage you to have a look at it.

The essence of no budget is to know your limits and work within them. One bit of advice I like is to use only the money you have immediately available. Never go into debt to make your movie.

I think the key to success is in the writing. It is there that you really need to be aware what you have to work with. In some of the stories I’ve developed I have critical scenes that are well beyond what I could do in a no budget movie. That eliminates those projects right off the top.

What I am starting to realize is that I need to identify my locations and cast my film before I write my script. In my project The Crying Woman I did talk to one actor before I started to write, but I never gave any thought to the other main character. I have no idea who I might get for the part.

The danger of approaching actors too soon is that if it takes a long time to get the project started, they may lose interest.

The more of the work you can do yourself, the better. I do prefer to use a cinematographer rather than do it myself. When I direct I want to concentrate on the actors and not worry about the camera work. I like to edit and write too. Both of these can be very expensive if you have to pay some one else.

The biggest issue for me is sound production. In many ways sound is more important than the images. Sound is also more difficult to do right. I’ve also found that it can be very expensive to hire someone.  I like to work on the sound, but I don’t have much confidence that I can produce an acceptable quality sound track.

Aside from the creative aspects of sound production, I don’t know the technical specifications. I know that there are a lot of tricks that can improve sound quality, but don’t know how to achieve them. The problem I have with My Most Difficult Case is noisy live sound. I haven’t had much success with my own attempts with noise reduction. I can eliminate the noise, but it changes the quality of the voices.

Given the cost of sound production, I think it may make sense for me to take a course in sound production.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog