It's a wrap... Part 1

It's a wrap!

Finally those magic words were said after such an amount of work and low hours of sleep. We got everything we needed for a feature film and now comes the post-production. Meaning: the montage.

But first let's do a small review of the whole production. And instead of saying the classic: oh it was amazing working with,... or I love this person, blablabla, .. I'll just tell the whole truth, the cold wruthless truth! Actually from the crew three persons were amazing: Marie but that's normal, the talented Mister De Jongh and Annelien and her twins. But then again, I digress...

10 days to shoot a feature film. Honestly, this is the first, the last and the only time that I try such a challenge. First 10 days is not a lot of time. (well, it would be if the cast and crew would have the same resistance as I do, but hey... they tried).

So how do you shoot a film with a crew and cast you don't know well, and that are not prepared for it? Damage control, damage control, damage control . You got a backup of a backup of a backup. And the key to succeed, is pretend it all goes well: if you tell your cast and crew that this or that might happen, they'll freak out, so shut the fuck up and pretend you're ignorant, and just solve the issues as they come.

The issue with damage control and 10 days put together is that; if something happens you get late on schedule and it means you have to shoot certain scene way quicker than expected and lose some shots you wanted.

Speaking of shots, this is an exemple of damaging control on such a short time. I had a nice storyboard, had everything in my head and ready to roll and make something amazing, but in the end, we ran behind schedule and I had to make some choices. Meaning in the end, the movie has only 20% of the shots I wanted and visionned, but it's a choice you have to make: it's having a movie or not.

But keep in mind that by changes the shots, it doesn't mean that the quality gets worse! When adapting your shots and way of shooting, just try to adapt it to a level were you know that you can still make something good out of it. Think about the montage when you have to shoot quickly, it helps!

You know, the question all filmmakers want to ask, is always this one: how did you shoot a feature film when you had nothing, and how did you solved the issues?

By believing in it. Filmmakers should be optimistic animals, because they have to decide quickly and not get depressed when something goes wrong, because every time there is something going wrong.

And trust me, we had our share of wrong. The first two days, we used a mini35, that was out-of-focus, the third day our footage disappeared into the blue. Meaning we lost three days in a row. Also the first day we had to change two characters last minute, because one of the actrices couldn't be there the days needed, without forgetting that another actor also had another schedule and we had to adapt our shoot to it.

See all that? It's hell on earth, and to sort that out, and stay cool, you need one huge set of balls! (or tits if you are female). And this is only the beginning... A lot more issues came with time: soundman who decided not to show up for one day, then a second day, and didn't come back until the end of the shoot, the cast and crew was starting to get tired, the actors complaining, and their hate for the director was growing and growing after each day.

And then comes the blaming of the director, how he doesn't know what he does, how everyone knows better and so on.. And when you reach that stage, it's all our nothing. Meaning: you gotta make a choice: or you put everyone in their place, but then they'll leave, or you shut up and pretend you didn't hear a thing and you have a movie.

Also directors doing an indie, keep this in mind: everything is your fault. Crew and cast are always saying that everything is your fault! And complaining to each other about you. But now comes the question that the cast and crew never ask themselves: to whom can the director complain?

No one...

Because the director isn't human, he doesn't need to complain, he doesn't have the right to complain because it's his movie. Mental note to directors: "But this is your movie, not mine",it's a classical term in the language of actors. Ironic,... isn't it?

But keep in mind, a lot happened, because everything was shot in 10 days, maybe if there were 20 days, things might have gone differently, but then again, we don't live in a world of "what if...".

At least I can say one thing: we had bad times, good times, funny times, and all that jazz, but even with all those problems, myself, Marie, Annelien from the crew had a blast, because it's passion for the business that drives us!

Hope you enjoyed the blog! And if questions please post them! I'll answer EVERYTHING!!!!!

Memo 1 : in this blog the advices are for people planning on doing a very low budget film, or with lack of time, or a first feature film.

Memo 2: I'll never do another low budget film in such an amount of time, it's funny once, it's an experience that every director should do at least once! But not twice. Pedro has left the building.

Memo 3: The T-shirts for the crew are black shirts, with red text one the front saying: " You can't scare me, I work for Pedro Chaves". , and the logo on the back. You think we should sell them to the public? There are others also.

Memo 4: This blog was more focussed on crew than cast. And even though it doesn't sound like it, the director appreciates all the effort put into the movie.