Hardest Thing About Making Your First Film?

Actors, I've found, are generally respectful of the words in the script. So it's important to make sure the dialogue is the best you can get before giving it to them. Many actors can make bad lines sound passable. But passable merely makes for a mediocre movie.

The best situation is to have good dialogue with good actors. If an actor has a better suggestion for a line that just isn't working, then I would trust the actor.

One good test, especially if you yourself are not a good actor, is to read the line aloud. Is it easy for you to say? Does it feel labored or unnatural to you? If so, it will probably be tough for a good actor to really nail, although you may get something passable, due to the acting talent.
 
I agree to a certain extent. I also think that it is important for a director to look at the actors/actresses as collaborators, understanding their creative input, that they are not mere puppets to fulfil the director's vision, but rather a creative individual that can possibly bring in an alternate perspective or dimension.

That is probably why some people say that director's don't necessary "direct", but rather make decisions. And it is the cumulative of smart/intuitive/creative decisions that can bring about good performances (be it acting or camera).

jiekai
 
not choosing the right crew and not collaborating with them, is a common pitfall for first time directors. you got to trust the people you work with. most first time directors never have a one to one meeting with key crew members. never get a feel of their experience and attitude.
 
hmm, instead of answering this, I will just talk about some of my expiriences.

I directed my first film about 6 months ago.

There were huge mistakes made, but in the end the film actually turned out pretty good. It has major flaws, but it also has moments of genius, which for me was really neat to see. It was also a story that had never been told before -in this way I mean, so whether people like it or hate it, no one says it's not creative.

I hate the film, it makes me litterally want to puke when I see scenes from it, I am that sick of it, I have to totally rely on other people to judge it at this point. Of the people I trust it's about 50/50 whcih feels like a huge sucess to me for the amount I hate it.

It was one of the greatest expiriences of my life for a lot of reasons.

For me, making a movie is actually very easy, the process at least, I had AD'd 2 features, and done lots of shorts. Other than the mental drain, daily stress and everything like that, it was cake, well maybe not cake, but it wasn't brain surgery.

Now making a good movie, now that's not easy at all.

I look at the whole process as an expiriement, so I will kinda talk about it in that way.

First I acted and directed in it, probably not the best idea. My acting was actually quite good, but it did affect my directing greatly, the movie would have been better had I not acted in it. - strange thing is I havent had an urge to act since!

we had under 100k and had I believe 60 locations - in the script we cheated these down drasticall... 60 locations on a small film, really stupid.

We had 56 speaking roles... Wow, really stupid.

We spent a ton on sound, and still managed to screw it up!

The storyline was not straight forward, it followed about 5 different lines of though, was very internal, very subtle, very complex... Not a good idea for a first film. I am not joking when I say I want my next film to be a horror or romantic comedy, trying to make this film work totally drained me.

However all that being said, we actually did pull it off. My AD who had about 30 films under his belt would always joke with me "you have no clue how insane what you are trying to do is!"

Seeing the whole process from the directors view, just changes your view so much. I thought I was going to be prepared having AD'd, nope, it's totally different. I can't put it into words, it's like being a different person.

Also doing your first feature, you are discovering how much you can push people for the first time. Sometimes the experts know better, sometimes they do not. Sometimes what they know is right in their mind, and most people's minds, but it is not the vision for your film.

Just directing the composer, and seeing how much I could push her to get what I was looking for without taking away what she was good at.

Working on a sound mix and seeing what was fixable, what was not. Seeing how much and where to push him to get the best final product.

Doing the film greatly improved my ability to know this for my next feature.

The thing I was really not prepared for was the insecurity of the crew. This was a young crew on a very low budget film, and they were doing funny things, and I just didn't understand it at first... Then I realized they were afraid of shadows, afraid of lighting weird, putting people purposely out of focus, getting shots that were'nt typical... Because they were thinking it would look bad on them, that people would see harsh shadows and blame the gaffer or DP even if the director asked for it... After I realized this, I had to drastically change the way I directed the crew, even allowing the crew to direct a tiny bit themselves so they could see it from a new perspective.

I was lucky, I had amazing actors, and we all got along, and it was a truly fun set. I still stay in touch with most of the actors and am often honored when they tell me how great of an expirience it was for them.

I also had an amazing producer who fought for me like I was her brother.

I wanted to shoot in a unique way, I had the film planned to a tee, but sometimes I wanted to make it feel like it was unplanned, more fluid and I quickly learned this is a big no no, the crew freaks out when the director looks indesicive... I fixed this by starting with showing the exact shots I wanted, then when I got the shot I would say - hey we got some extra time, lets play around a bit - some of the best things in the movie came from these play times... I took this to an extreme one day after a couple rough days of shooting and I told everyone we were way ahead of schedule on the day, we didn't have a lot to shoot, so we called the entire day "Play Day" I told everyone that no idea is too stupid today. Two actors made up a scene, the gaffer tried something, the DP tried something, and it turned out awesome!

I had to learn all this stuff on the fly, and I am sure that will always be the case, the difference, this was the first time. You don't even know what you don't know, you don't know what you can do, when you are pushing too much and franky, when you are wrong.

But I am telling you, if you have the ability, make a feature, even if it's not complex, even if it's a 10k feature shot on DV... Going through the entire process, well there is nothing like it.

-Oh also make sure you finish, the amount of people I know who have started and never finished a feature, well it's just sick. Don'y get too attached, it will never be perfect. And an imperfect finished feature is better than the unfinished perfect one... So unless you plan on being the one hit wonder, finish it.

I can't even explain what a better director I am now for it, shorts are just cakewalks now.

reading J Barnes point by point post, I just found myself nodding a lot! =)

Oh and give great craft services, it makes people work harder and they respect you a lot more. I fully believe it is evolutionary built into our systems to do just about anything for free food! - ever known rich people that say, hey free food? it happens all the time, it never ceases to amaze me.

my 2 cents
 
Barry_Green said:
The reason it's difficult is because the overwhelming majority of people who do it, rush into it *long* before they're actually ready. *The easy accessibility of equipment, and assistance, has people thinking "I can make a movie!" *Well, yes, they can, but probably not a good one...

For some reason people seem to think that movies are not as difficult to make as other works of art.

For example, how many people here really, truly think that in order to make a painting, all they need to do is buy some brushes and some paints, and have "a really good idea"? *Ain't gonna happen. *Unless you're that one in a million prodigy, your first painting is likely to be horrible. *And that's where the learning process starts.

How about music? *How many people think "why, this music thing can't be all that hard, let me pick up a guitar, and I have ProTools to edit with, and my own CD Burner... I'll just make my first album this weekend and I'll be a millionaire!" *Um... this is typically not the path to a successful recording career, y'know?

Many first-timers seem to think that a lifetime of watching movies somehow prepares them to make their own "epic". *As if somehow a lifetime of listening to music (and playing "air guitar") somehow makes someone qualified to release their own triple-platinum album. *Doesn't happen. *It takes years and years and years of practice and study, and playing the guitar until your fingers bleed, before that first album comes even remotely into the field of possibility.

And so it is with movies, except a hundredfold, because unlike the other disciplines, movies rely not just on the artist himself/herself, but also on the cooperation of others (from several, to several dozen, others). *Compound the enormous difficulty of coming up with a truly artistic expression, by the difficulties of organizing and managing a cast and crew of dozens of disparate personalities, as well as fundraising and financing, and it should become apparent that filmmaking is the *hardest* of the arts to succeed at.

It is also, apparently, the one with the strongest draw (along with the performing arts). *I don't meet many aspiring painters, or many aspiring sculptors, but it seems like everyone is an aspiring director, or actor, or singer.

Making a "movie" is not all that difficult, if you define a "movie" as 90 minutes of footage. *Making a watchable movie, one that affects people and makes them feel emotion and cry and cheer and applaud, well, that's a whole different story. *It's an extremely difficult task, and rarely accomplished by first-timers.

And even the first-timers who do succeed are not overnight successes. *Robert Rodriguez had made dozens, if not hundreds, of short films (which were winning awards at festivals across the country), gotten himself published as a comic strip artist, and enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin film school before he ever attempted "El Mariachi". * As for "Garden State", I don't know Zach Braff's story, but he's got a film degree from Northwestern University and has been professionally acting for 15 years before attempting his first film. *I'm sure he did plenty of homework and studied the art of storytelling thoroughly, as well as learning an incredible amount from interning and studying how the "pro's" do it, before attempting it himself.

The world is full of "overnight successes", but a quick look at any of their backstories will usually reveal that they spent a good 10 or 12 years trying before they met with "overnight success". *So it can certainly be done, but unless you're the one in a million prodigy, the one who plays the piano by ear etc., you'll have to do an intense amount of homework before you'll be skilled enough to create a good film.
Click to expand...


I thought that was a great post, Barry! Funny, but so TRUE. I feel this way myself, actually, before I got into film I had this idea that I would graduate film school, and because I'd have all of the tools and a great location and a fairly good idea, nothing too original but something that would flow nicely if done right, entertaining, etc., I thought I'd just shoot a feature almost right out of film school just to see what happens. Then the more I learned, the more I realized I don't know! For me the analogy is more like when I first started working out and had little muscular strength. I had to consider 30 minutes a good workout, and light weights were heavy to me, so it took a long time before I could sustain an hour or more of heavy lifting, I didn't just start out doing heavy weight. Filmmaking is the same thing to me. I like doing music videos, corporate work, commercials, etc. to start because they are all short shoots and I don't believe I have the stamina mentally yet to shoot for 12 hours a day day after day on the same project and have it turn out great. I know I need more experience doing the little things right before I can move up.

I'm not even really prepared to direct a five-day shoot for a short film yet, to be honest. Could I do it? Sure. But I will be more ready for that by year's end, because I have very high standards and I want to be able to do more than just make it, I want to make it very good. A feature is like Everest in my opinion, you really should have done everything else before you try to tackle that, and it would be advisable to have done a number of short films before you tackle a feature. Short films are like really mini features, much smaller in scope and stress, so better to master that art before you move up. There is the fact that shorts are, for the most part, a bit of a waste of money on the pure financial side, but then again it costs money and takes time to hone your craft, and it's a LOT bigger waste of money to pour 10x as much into a feature that turns out like crap.

I think it's a lot better to be humble about directing a feature, like taking the time to feel ready, than to be too aggressive and end up with a stinker and possibly heavily in debt. I would say for me, I'm quite alright with not directing a feature for another 2 years minimum, but if I hadn't done a feature in 5 years I think I'd be a bit frustrated by that. I have no interest in features right now, too much to learn, I want to tackle projects where I know I will succeed to gain the confidence to move up to bigger projects. I think Robert Rodriguez did something like 22 shorts before he directed his first feature? Sure, a lot of them were garbage, but that's the point, it took him time to hone his craft, and I think his last short or at least one of the last ones won a bunch of film festival awards, so he was sufficiently ready to tackle that challenge, even if he was a rebel without a crew! haha
 
I think one of the hardest things about making a first film is not being so depressed by the result that you never go and make a second...and a third...and so on. :D

I know that answer is kind of "cheating" but the first one is really just a giant mess for the most part...at least with mine. Looking back now I cringe/laugh/cringe when I watch my first films. But if you can get past it and really start to hone something in each film (acting/cinematography/story etc.) then you start to see progress.

But you have to allow yourself grace with the first few efforts...
 
I wouldn't want to be making gigantic mistakes by the time I got to a feature. There's really no excuse for that in my mind, you have to be prepared to undertake that type of project. You should have done some long shoots before, or sustained projects over a period of time, and have people you trust who are true professionals on your shoot, who can watch your back when things start to become stressful or you start to forget details here and there. The script should be really well polished before shooting starts, whether it's a $15,000 film or a $150 million film. It's really important.

I wouldn't jump into a feature because if I'm going to finance it, the first one has to be a very, very good movie. I wouldn't make a feature if I didn't think I could pull it off extremely well. Right now, I don't think I could, so I'd rather wait.
 
Kidster said:
Everything said here in these posts are so true. To get the best you can offer, a director must pay close attention to detail. It is of upmost importance when directing anything, whether it's a feature length film or a 30 sec spot. Also I think THinSpirit said best. Finding and surrounding youreself with a cast and crew that is as passionate about the project as you are is very tough to find. I have been in the pre-production stage of my first feature for 5 months now. Trying to get the best crew and cast that I can on the small budget that I have($26,000). Things were going well, headshots coming in, I had about half of the film cast, when all of the sudden a large conflict occured with myself and the DP. The problem was over the shooting schedule. The script is 94 pages, 8 characters (with any real dialogue) and 14 locations. No special effects, car crashes or gun fights. It's a comedy. So, I planned on trying to get as many days as I could out of the free (deferred pay) cast and crew and all agreed to 18 long days of shooting. And now the DP, feels that 18 days is not near enough time to get it done right. I wish we had more time, but getting a dozen people to work (for free) past 18 days is asking way too much. So the DP, said that if we didn't extend the shooting schedule to 32 days, that he would be wasting his time. So, the problems continue, but we will get through them.
Click to expand...
If I had 18 days and 14 locations, I'd get nervous too. That's a lot transportation, set-up, break-down, lighting, feeding, lost people, angry location owners. Is there a way to cut down the number of locations? Your DP is right to be scared of this shoot. Have you read Dov S.S. Siemen's from Reel to Deal? You might want to check it out before you find yourself in deep water. Look at Reservoir Dogs - First Feature. Most shot on one location. When you're not driving around trying to get everyone to the right place at the right time (a dream if there ever was one) you can concentrate on performance, lighting, sound. If you want to have that many locations, you and the DP drive around, shoot exteriors, then do the exteriors in a single, adaptable location.

Good luck, man.
 
I made my first feature as a Producer/Writer. I got a DP who knew how to do things visually and a director who knew how to work with actors. I learned a ton and when it came time to direct myself I knew a hell of a lot more than if I had jumped in as a director the first time. So I think pacing yourself removes a lot of the sting of the first film.

And as Robert Rodriguez suggests, make some bad films by doing everything yourself. It's the best way to learn. Right before I graduated college I did a film that was one big experiment. None of it was orthodox. It ended up sucking. But I learned a ton. I know WHY certain things don't work rather than just seeing not to do it in a book. Elements of the film were really cool and unique, though so I've incorporated the techniques into films I've made since then.

But since I've jumped all around the question: The hardest part about making your first film is getting it in the can. Unless you're really lucky, it takes an enormous amount of determination.
 
The hardest part for me has always been editing.

I edit my own stuff, and it's hard to separate the roles of Director, Writer, and Editor. I feel like someone else would be able to pull off those cuts that I wouldn't think of, because "I was there and that's not what happened".

Some great tips in this post. I love hearing all the ways people have screwed up, cause when I make those same mistakes I can say, "Oh yeah, I heard about this before, and I thought I could sneak by without falling into this pit of hell. Now I REALLY know."

The other hard thing for me is being "present" enough to judge the acting, lighting, sound, blocking .... all at once, especially when trying to wear so many hats on the set. There's no time to watch playback, and if the acting is off, but I wasn't paying attention enough to notice, then that shot suffers.


These challenges are what attracts me to making movies. It encorporates every artform into one, and they all have to be top notch for your movie to be good. Gotta love it!!!!!
 
Hardest things
  1. Raising the money
  2. Writing a truely great script
  3. Paperwork and legal compliance
  4. Finding the right cast and crew (harder when you're not in LA / NYC)
Bob
 
My case:
Hardest thing is finding people believing in you and your project.
When you say "im gonna make a movie" its like utopia.
Im shooting "EL MANUSCRITO" in spain (not my country, so i dont know anyone), zero budget and just my hvx/sgpro combo. When i posted some ads in the local actors webpage, some actors just said that i wanted nude chick pictures!!!

Oh! when i did my first post in the production page...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top