First Time Feature

[Dan_ETP]

Hello!

I haven't been here too long, but I wanted to update here as I appreciate the professionalism of this community and also the amount of willingness to help and share information.

My name is Daniel Sinclair, I'm 19, going to school for video production in Maine, and am producing my first feature this summer. As of writing we are on day 8. I hope I can be of help to anyone less experienced than I, and those who are more experienced can share their wisdom to us all.

The film is called Invisible Things. It's a teen drama that explores mental illness in the case of a semi-dysfunctional family. It was written and directed as a one act stage play by my friend, and over the last year adapted to a screenplay. We are both co-directing this project, and for everything people say about co-direction, it works well when both parties have similar vision. We did a lot of pre-production work, discussing shots, listening to songs our composer had, we were always on the same page for that.

As far as fitting moving pieces together, when you're young and asking people to work for free on a 16 day shoot because you can't pay them, you have to feed them well. Most of the budget went towards food, and we try to pick things that aren't total garbage, that won't make a mess, and that are light but filling. So far no pizza on set, and I'm pretty proud of that. We had to replace some last minute casting drops which was stressful, but the replacements we found fit the parts even better, so I am infinitely grateful that that's the way it worked out. We also had a night where we had to cut up the entire stripboard and reschedule everything a week before due to actor availability, but it worked out. We had one scene with an ambulance the other night and the local PD came through wonderfully and it looked great. (That was also a 10 page day.) That was the moment I realized that this was really happening. This was the first time I've ever been more than four consecutive days on a shoot. It's an amazing feeling.

I am incredibly grateful to everyone on our team for making this happen, and if anyone here has some questions, I'd be happy to answer them, or direct them to a crew member who can.

 

[scottfs]

Well, congratulations for getting this far. Shooting a feature is a daunting task. I've done two features, just audio, but it is a long endeavor, and very rewarding. You get very close to your fellow crew and cast, that is a nice feeling.

You are making your reputation as you go, and it sounds as though you are serious and mature, which will impress a lot of people, including the few that can help you along your journey.

Be nice, be easy to work with, be flexible, be approachable. And most importantly, do not get a big head, do not act s though you are God's gift to filmmaking, be humble, be gentle, be supportive.

Reputation is vital in this industry. You want people to work with you. A positive attitude will hold you in good stead.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[Dan_ETP]

Thank you!
We've completed principal photography, and were pretty near on schedule. We will have to use two pickup days in August.
And the whole thing has been incredible. Sixteen shooting days is bigger than anything I've been a part of and, I must say I am humbled by the dedication showed by everyone.

 

[lambert]

Make sure you have adequate rest time for crew and your self. First few shoots I did when I was kid I thought I was Superman and normal to do 20 hour days and very little rest. I'm very lucky not to have crashed driving home on those desert roads when I was young and dumb and worked on irresponsible productions. Many haven't been that lucky. Don't mean to preach its just not talked about enough. Best of luck.

 

[El Director]

Congrats on finishing photography! Many people don't get that far. Now though is where things will get tough. My advice would be to cut a trailer first that excites you. That way, when things get rough and you might feel like giving up, you can watch your trailer and fall in love with the film again, helping you to push through. Be sure to spend time on a decent sound mix, that can make or break no budget features.
My final comment is something to think about, not meant to be critical: I noticed you're framing for 2.40 While it's great that you've planned that out ahead of time, do you feel that the film will benefit from that aspect ratio? I see a lot of new filmmakers today automatically jump to 2.40 for every project because they like it, or they think it looks cool. 2.40 is typically used for action/adventure movies and using it on a drama can sometimes lower the perceived production value because there's usually no need for it on dramas. Like I said, i'm not trying to be critical, it's just something to ponder. I wish you all the best through post!

 

[Polaroid22]

Congrats on shooting the project! Working out a full feature film must be indeed very hard when you do not have any budget.

Here is my tip of the screengrabs that I watched(take it with a grain of salt). You might want to explore more into lighting, and making somewhat more contrasty images, as the images here are really flat lit, play with some negative light creating some shadow on your actors, and it looks more or less more documentary style at this point. Which could be the look you were going for

 

[Dan_ETP]

Thank you everyone for the congrats and the advice! The rest time is something that we tried to take care of, and I will certainly try to do better now that I have more experience regarding how much time things take to film. I love the trailer idea. Post will be a long haul and I'll take your advice on that. We're lucky to have some talented audio post folks on board as well. As for the 2.40, I do appreciate your feedback, and is like to think we chose the aspect because we knew there would be some unique framing that the aspect ratio would aid. As for it being the right decision, I suppose I'll find out once it's complete. And you may well be right. I hope to continue learning from this experience as we go through post and thank you for your insight! It's something I will think about before each project. And Polaroid, you are certainly right. Lighting is something in constantly trying to understand better. It does look rather flat in some cases. We were trying to go for different lighting tones in different locations/scenes. Later on at a party, things become more contrasty, while in other locations things are a bit flatter. But we may have gone too flat at times.
I'm loving all this feedback! The learning continues! Thank you everyone.

 

[El Director]

Just wanted to give you kudos for taking critique well. You have a good head on your shoulders, you're not easily offended. You'll go far I think in this industry. Keep us posted on the progress!

 

[abreu-canedo]

Hey, glad to see this post! Congrats on your first feature! It is a truly difficult endeavor. Many good insights on this thread. And remember, it's not just about one film or one project. Instead, it's about your body of work...so take what you've learned on this project as lessons that you needed to learn in order to do your next project...and so on. Of course you'll do the best you can, but it's helpful to think long term so that you can feel the liberty to take risks and make mistakes. Later on when you are getting paid, you won't have as much space to experiment. But also, if there are some things that you feel you are not so happy with about this project after you finish, remember, it was just the beginning. It doesn't stop there and it has been a necessary step in a long body of work.
-All the best, Rafael

 

[Dan_ETP]

Just wanted to give you kudos for taking critique well. You have a good head on your shoulders, you're not easily offended. You'll go far I think in this industry. Keep us posted on the progress!

Thank you, I appreciate that. As I see it, your critique is quite helpful, and kindly put as well.

Hey, glad to see this post! Congrats on your first feature! It is a truly difficult endeavor. Many good insights on this thread. And remember, it's not just about one film or one project. Instead, it's about your body of work...so take what you've learned on this project as lessons that you needed to learn in order to do your next project...and so on. Of course you'll do the best you can, but it's helpful to think long term so that you can feel the liberty to take risks and make mistakes. Later on when you are getting paid, you won't have as much space to experiment. But also, if there are some things that you feel you are not so happy with about this project after you finish, remember, it was just the beginning. It doesn't stop there and it has been a necessary step in a long body of work.
-All the best, Rafael

Thanks Rafael! I appreciate that broader view. I'm trying to add to my body of work as much as possible. I'm working on a script for my next large project, and hope to do plenty of shorts in the mean-time while that's going through revisions so I can have that body of work (and experience based on those risks and mistakes) to better support that project. Not to mention future ones.