Directing first professional short

O

ondcolisto

New member
I've been on these boards a lot lately because I'm working on making this short (4-6 min in length) that I'm doing with my buddy. We're both doing film at uni and we have had experience behind the camera. However, the stuff that we've done was more one set guerrilla style / improvisation - and as a result our projects looked like they've been done by students rather than professionals. So we decided to make a short and simple film with the intention of making it look like it was done professionally.

So I ask for all the directors here to give me a brief synopsis of their method of on set shooting and/or any words of wisdom given my film situation.

My situation is:
one location
dialogue driven with a bit of dancing
outside
using a dvx100b/hand made steady cam/wide angle .8
reflectors
non paying actors who take acting seriously


Since our script is short and we have the full day to shoot, we're thinking 2 hrs for each page (5 pgs in total).


Any feedback is appreciated ;)
 
What I did was on each short I made was to work on one aspect I though I was lacking in and trying to make it the best I could. Most of it was lighting but I did a greenscreen just to try my hand at compositing and I tried a silent film to practice telling story with images only, etc. Take the time to do some art direction and set design. Take time to block out the scene and make story boards. Your actors will make a big difference also, I have seen some bad production on shorts that have totally rocked on story and acting.
 
Most of my work comes in prep. I storyboard, make shot lists, and other lists. I try to "make" the film in my mind and on paper. It's like if you were preparing for a dance, you want to rehearse before you get to it.

Once on set, I do the following:

Block, light, rehearse, shoot, repeat as necessary.

When shooting, I do a master shot first, just so I have it and I generally try to get 2 takes, even if the first 1 was good (just in case). Then I move to close ups, mediums, and then inserts and b-roll as necessary. This probably isn't the best way to shoot real film, but with DV, it's so cheap, you can shoot all day long.

For the dancing, I would have it choreographed way in advance. I would also practice camera moves as if the camera was a third dance partner. If you're only using the one camera, you want to be very specific about where the actors are going to be when. It helps to play the music in the background so they can hear it and then lay the music in post.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

HTH.
 
i think it's a great idea to start off with a short that's actually a nice short length with simple elements and one location. that way you can focus on the directing stuff, basically camera and actors.

if you're shooting outside, the lighting is going to change which is going to be a huge factor. you can fix the color temperature but changing shadows will be difficult. also, getting clean audio might be harder if there's traffic sounds, etc. i'd do a test run of audio to make sure the dialogue comes out clean. and make sure you get plenty of room tone, in this case, outside tone.

yeah choreograph the dancing w/ the actors but also with the camera as the previous post suggested. since you're shooting dv, shoot your rehearsals and try cutting it after to check how the angles/framing look.

good luck!
 
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