"Heart" - my first prosumer short film

E

egyptianboxer104

Well-known member
Wow.. where do I start?? Its been a big rollercoaster trying to get this 10 page short film underway.

Well for this film i'll be using 2 locations: A house (on campus.. i'm a college student by the way) and a big warehouse which is a boxing gym. I asked my acting class for people interested and I managed to gain 13 names. I sent them all an e-mail to meet me at 2 and only 2 people showed. but three other told me they were interested but couldn't meet me and the other 2 forgot and after i called them they came.

The meeting went SOOO much more smoothly than i thought it would. I've seen them all act before in my acting class so i didn't need to make them audition. but if i did make them i would just have them play improv games for about 30 minutes (put them in a situation) and then have them read from the script the rest of the audition. But since i didn't need to do that we discussed which role everyone should play and NO ONE BUTTED HEADS!!! it was beautiful i tell ya.

The bad part is that they're all in this play being held by the college so i have to work aorund their schedules. We discussed best times to meet to rehearse before hand. yes we're rehearsing. and we've decided every wed and sat until may 2nd which is the date we're filming.

I checked out the gym we plan on filming in and its a HUGE warehouse so an echo will definatly be a problem we're going to have to deal with. Hopefully i'll find a sound tech near richmond (hint hint) to work for lunch. Plus, to use the facilities I agreed to film a commercial for them... which I definatly don't have a problem with.

To get the DVX100 (being my first film i don't actually own one) I agreed to film every home college football game and at the end of the year i'm going to make a music video and highlight reel. But this means i have access to the camcorder anytime i want.

Now for the final aspect of the film shoot I need to worry about is finding a large crowd for the final scene. I was considering getting everyone from the boxing gym and offering them pizza to be an extra as well as some guys on campus etc. I might also put an AD on craigs list and on campus for sure. I still have a little bit of time to worry about that.

At the meeting i had yesterday I was also able to get a storyboard artist (he's an artist i'm turning him into a storyboard artist). We're going to choreograph the final fight scene by studying all the good boxing movies like ALI, million dollar baby, cinderella man, etc.

I'm meeting my storyboard guy tomorrow to study the films and start drawing out the scenes. We're only going to draw out the last 3 minutes of this 10 minute film which is the final fight scene.

That is all for now. Wed i'm meeting my actors to go throug a runthrough. Saturday we're going to work with the two fighters for the choreographing.

i'll update again when something significant happens.
 
Last edited:
Well with a budget of $0.00 I don't have much to work with. But i'm pulling about $200 out of my pocket and I've managed to get another $100 from a few relatives of mine. But with a budget of $300.00 I can't afford that many stuff. I hope to get a dolly and some lighting and that's about it. I hope the lights are strong enough...

But now for the problems I am stuck with. The lady who owns the gym doesn't actually have control over if i can use it or not so i'm goign to have to sit here nervous as hell wondering if i can get a chance to use their gym. I called them up already once again and told them it's going to be an open set for all members and non-members of the gym to come and be apart of it but it didn't seem to make her change her tone of voice in anyway. I guess we'll have to wait and see. If worse comes to worse i'll just use this other cramped boxing gym and hope for the best. The feel won't be the same and the story might have to change a little but if that's what it takes.

As for the actors... none of them have any time to run-through the script. I scheduled a run-through at 11pm at night on tuesday and 1pm on saturday, both which last only four hours. If we get a chance to use the gym we'll only have 2 hours to shoot 4 minutes so we have to get the choreographing down adn perfect before we even step in the gym. I told my actors i can work around their schedules but it seems like they don't want to do that. they just want to show up on shoot day, film it, and hope everything goes well.

This is a lot of crap i'm having to deal with... but the good thing is, I have found a make-up artist! so that's good! i just need a SOUND TECHNICIAN! or a Boom stick person or something. No one has seemed to reply to any ads yet. Maybe i should give like a $50 payment... but that wouldn't be fair to the actors adn crew who are doing this for free.
 
shhiittt!!! I have lost my main location, The Boxing Gym. Those cheapskates felt the production was "too big" for their location. I guess I sounded too professional for them. They also (basically) said they didn't like the fact that i checked out the gym beforehand. Wtf is wrong with them?

okay rant/vent is over.

There is only one other boxing gym in the richmond area and it definatly doesn't suit my needs as a filmmaker. The ohter location was PERFECT for my script. All other gyms (except for one in alexandria va... yeah as if my crew will want to drive 2 hours), suck compared to the first one. So i think i'm going to have to see if I can make the ring by hand inside the theater, here on campus. That means I can't shoot until after they are done their musical which is on the day that I am filming. But the moment the musical is done i'll have the entire stage to work with. This may be a blessing in disguise but i'm still irritated because of all the extra work i'm going to have to put into it. And it's a theater so it naturally has an Echo but not as bad as that warehouse i guess. I will have to talk to the theater director tomorrow about it. But if he says no I can't... well then i'm screwed to find yet another gym to film at.

Plus it's going to add a whoooleee lot to the budget to even build the ring. The school obviously don't have a boxing ring so i'm going to have to make one from scratch. Ropes alone will probably cost anywhere from $15 - $25 each and I need three. Plus springs and backboards, an 18 X18 cloth.... It'll probably cost a total of $200. That's double what I have right now for my budget. Time to ask for money.
 
Okay I have permission from the theater director!! yeahh!!! but now i have to film the final scene may 17 and i'm filming everything else may 2nd 3rd and 4th. So now i'm going to have to micromanage my rental equip. I'll have to decide what i need to shoot conversations etc adn what i'll need to shoot in the ring.

The rental company was actually right next to the original boxing gym so transportation wasn't a question then. Now i'm screwed trying to figure out how to get a dolly to my college and back.
 
Good luck with this production. Finding locations can be hard. Keep asking people if they know anyone. Eighteen degrees of separation to a boxing gym will be worth it.
 
Thanks man. I realized that the theater at my school would probably be the best location i could get in all of VA that doesn't including using a professional stadium. (hell it could even be better than that). So i'm satisfied with this new location. The unfortunate thing is that i'm going to have to spend a bit of money and put quit a bit of labor into making the set but I feel as though this is part of any directors job. I might actually have people working in the theater to do it for me according to the head of the theater dept.

I'm also going to spend about $100 on lighting. Which means i'm spending about $100 on the ropes and things for the ring. The theater already has floor boards. I have the camcorder and i might spend $25 to rent a better lens to give me a greater sensitive focal lens.

I cancelled rehersals on tuesday and I will be doing it on saturday instead since the fight scene has been delayed a few weeks, I don't need to rush my actors who are also participating in a musical.
 
Independent filmaking can be a real pain in the .... but it´s totaly worth it. You ´ll se it´s the most beatifull "job" ever.

Keep up!
good luck.
 
Hey man i sent you an e-mail. Some help would be GREAT! It's sorta tough trying to deal with lights camera (action?) and sound all on my own. I was considering renting a 12 foot crane but the prices are around $1,300 so I probably won't do that.

We shoot the final boxing scene - 4 pages - either may 16 - 17 and 18 and we shoot the other 6 pages may 2nd - 3rd and 4th.

For lighting I am going to just buy a set of three flood lights, a white poster, and a black poster. It shouldn't cost more than $100. To rent a lens it costs around $15 for a weekend and for the boxing equipment for the final scene it costs about $200 - $250. So i'm at about $350 although I have yet to buy this stuff.

Things have gotten a little less hectic now that I have a location. I just hope my actors know tha tthey have to memorize their lines before we shoot.
 
Who wants to hear about some drama??!!!! My female lead might drop out from the film. Yes that's right, the one person on the cast that actually has experience acting for film. She might drop... I honestly don't know what to do if she does. I can't very well force her to stay because... well... i'm not paying her anything and I didn't have her sign a contract because... i'm not paying her anything. So what the hell am I to do?

With my other actors, I have the choreographed fight scene down really well. I don't feel the urge to work with the other actors anymore. At first i wanted to rehearse the jesus out of them, but now i just want thme to show up with their lines memorized.

So what i plan to do:
Only work with the actors that need choreographing (as bad as that may be, I don't have the luxoury of rehersals).
Pray to God that all my actors know their lines by the day of the shoot.
Hope for the best.

There's really nothing more I can do. Maybe since i'm shooting the fight scene on may 17 i'll be able to re-shoot anything that didn't work out on may 3rd.

By the way my shoot schedule is this

May 3rd - 9am - 5pm

May 17 - 9am -4pm

Yeah I know the dates are spread out but this is the best way to work with everyones schedule and still be able to have a location for the final scene.

And let me tell you, if she decides to drop, I will not quit. I'll just find someone new and shoot her scenes possible Friday may 16.
 
You have an easy solution. Pay her something.

The lesson here is that if you don't treat your film like a business you can't expect anyone else to.

Sit down with her at a coffee shop, tell her how much you value her time and offer her $100.00 a day. Let her know your budget is tight and that your offer is for her only...and that it is in both your best interests to keep it between you. Have a contract ready, smoothly and calmly hand it to her and have her sign it on the spot. Don't seem desperate or panicked. Be calm. Be understanding.

And, remember this for your next project.

And, don't beat yourself up. We've all been there. We all made these same mistakes.
 
I think this is worth an additional comment...

...there is a huge lesson here. We all invest money and time into our projects. Even when we're inexperienced we put in hundreds of hours into the making of a short film.

However, the reason we're working for free is because it is our movie. I forgot that for years. Somehow, I talked a lot of my high school friends into lugging gear up the side of Multnomah Falls so we could shoot my crappy movies...but, once I hit college it was clear that a cast and crew needed to believe the project had value for them.

One way, is if you have such an amazing track record that they know this will become a permanent part of their resume or demo reel.

However, if this is your first "prosumer" short that's a tough sell. It is easier to work a few more days at McDonald's and simply pay an actor $100.00 a day.

Does this suck? From a certain point of view, yes it does. But, consider this an investment in your film education. You have to have a different perspective. You want to make a movie. It is your movie. Not the groups...even if you used that phrase it wouldn't make it so.

People are people. Give them something to stick around so you can learn and become a better filmmaker. You'll work 10-14 hours at McDonald's to earn $100.00 to pay an actor for one day. It might take you the same amount of time to recast...and you have to deal with the stress.

I'd save myself the stress and work this into my business model from now on. I'd say "okay, I'm always going to set aside $500.00 and offer actors up front a small fee so I have less stress and can focus on my craft while I make my movie."

PS - I made the same mistakes. I did a 40 minute vampire movie my Freshman year of college. About 5 days into an 9 day shoot some of the actors started showing up late. One night they were an hour late. I lost my temper. The actors were dead wrong, but my response was totally ineffective. It allowed one of the actors to deflect attention from their unprofessionalism and point a finger at me. "Wow. If you treat people like that you'll never get anywhere." Yelling back at them "Well, if you show up late you won't get anywhere either" was accurate but useless.

Luckily, that was 14 years ago and I learned my lesson. Those actors were never going to become stars, but I needed them to be emotionally committed to my film so I could learn everything I needed to learn. If I'd paid them $50.00 each I would have been able to expect them to show up on time. By paying them, I'm now their employer...not a film student begging for their help. And more than likely, I'd never have had to say anything because they'd take the project very seriously.
 
Last edited:
Well she is definitely invested in it and really likes the script and wants to be apart of the production but she doesn't have the time to rehearse and it appears that she feels that if she doesn't rehearse it she won't be able to be apart of it. I just sent her an e-mail saying she just has to show up on time with all her lines memorized. Worse comes to worse we'll shoot her scenes on a different day.

If she still decides to bail I will definatly compensate her with a small amount (around $50) but i definatly don't have the money to compensate all 8 actors at the moment. Good thing i know the rest of them will stick around (they're all hopefuls thinking this film will make it... and it might).

Now i'm not going to have time to make another short until either late july or august (stupid summer school... silly pre-med courses, i want to be a filmmaker!) So i'm investing everything i've got to make this short happen. I could care less if it makes it into film festivals, as long as I have proof of my hard work. But of course I tell all my actors i'm sending it to film fests or else they'd lose interest.

So there ya have it. I get a response from her today weather she's okay with not rehearsing and just showing up on time with all the lines memorized. If that doesn't work then i'll have to compensate with some cash or find a new lead actress.

... Man I wish I was loaded... i'll be working hard this summer to hopefully produce another short with a greater budget.

excellent advice prodigi. I wish i thought of it that way before i started. But i've learned and your post has definatly helped put things in perspective. Next time i'll pay my actors and have them sign contracts. Next short, same length (10 min), but double the money ($1,000).
 
Last edited:
My lead actress is staying with the shoot! all she wanted was to not rehearse! go figure. Best part was i didn't even have to offer her money :) :)

I am now currently waiting on a phone call for the only location i'm going to use (aside from the college and the theater). I am hoping to god it works out. I will post in 2 hours if i get it or not... I was just so exciting about the lead actress staying that I had to write it somewhere haha.
 
My final location hasn't called back... but that's not the worst problem i have now.

So i went to see the football coaches who told me "yeah yeah we have that camera" (when asked abotu the DVX100) turns otu they DO NOT!

They have the CANNON GL1! talk about outdated!!

I think they actually do have the DVX100 but are not letting me use it... **** man. ugh. I didn't call em out on it because they're letting me use it in return for some football footage. So i feel a little ripped off.

Rant over

I have a camcorder so i'm ready to shoot TODAY. but i'm holding off until i have actors and lights etc.. haha.
 
Well today was teh first day for shooting. We used the DVC pro the entire time thanks to my pal chase. But the day went by real slow. There was a terrible echo in the gym and thanks to everyone else using the gym at teh same time we have a lot of background noise. We spent about 4 hours trying to shoot 1.5 pages... Yeah it was that rough. So that's all we got done.. 1.5 pages.

I hope to shoot next weekend also.
 
Last edited:
Shooting final scene tomorrow. After the edit is done i'll post it up to get some feedback. maybe it'll be worth sending to a film fest? maybe?
 
Now that shooting is done, editing is basically complete, and things are falling in place, I can go over what i've learned from my mistakes.

1) MAKE SURE DOORS ARE CLOSED WH"EN YOU SHOOT!!!
2) Don't move lights until the scene is over unless it's ABSOLUTLY necessary
3) Pay the location to be sure there are no loud obnoxious assholes ruining the shoot and any and all audio and you end up having to do shoddy voice overs
4) Use two cameras when shooting action scenes
5) Use P2 cards not DV tapes (if only...)
6) Don't ever let your actors be still for any moment of the shoot. Either camera is moving or you are
7) Never Ever Ever let someone play older than they are by just adding make-up... a 19 year old with a girls voice can't play a 60 year old.
8) NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP... even when you feel like your down and out and it's mostly likely not going to work.. if you keep working at it you can MAKE IT work.


Thanks all... screen grabs to come soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top