How do you guys manage to find time to shoot features?

12 day shoot for your first feature?

12 day shoot for your first feature?

JonathanLB said:
We're about to shoot a feature in 12 days, but a few "soft" days outside of the schedule with a skeleton crew, almost like B-unit but with our main actors just a tiny crew.

It's going to be insane. I'm really worried about one location specifically because it's seriously too much to cram into one day, but I guess we'll figure it out.
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With all due respect, why does it have to be insane? Figure out a way to schedule more shooting days. I can't tell you how many more; it depends on your script breakdown. You know how to do a proper script breakdown?

You should look into it.
 
You should also have a continuity person.

You should also have a continuity person.

Martay said:
16 Hour days and still up to 60 shooting days for a 90 page script? That seems long depending on the material.

Hollywood shoots about 60 days but an indie usually shoots faster than that.

Are you breaking down the scripts and doing a traditional schedule?

We had 21 shoot days for our feature last fall at 12 major locations (a few of these subdivided like the college campus). This doesn't included 4 days of second unit but it was roughly 95 pages for an average of 4 1/2 pages a day.

We planned for that exactly during pre-production and under-estimated the Second Unit needs.

However, we shot mostly 10 hour days on the weekends and 7 - 8 on weeknights.

It took about 2 1/2 Months to get all the shoot days in for scheduling but otherwise the production went pretty efficiently.

We had a small crew but we've worked together a lot so are well-adjusted to each other. Crew: Director, Gaffer, Boom/Soundmixer, AD, Make-up/Wardrobe, and 2 extra producers (one usually doing the Sound)...at times we had a few extra hands on the set but mostly we had this set-up.

-M

p.s. and did I mention the FREE mixtape available at the website yet today? :) www.battle-movie.com
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This is the way to go. I'd add a script girl (continuity person).

You're an experienced producer.
 
Thanks for checking them out. And I am sure you will catch up with me real soon. I'm taking a break all summer and it's well deserved. I need to spend time with my wife and kids.

I'm quality over quantity at this point in my journey. And the next film, which is written and has a very nice budget, I will take my time for sure.

Martay said:
I've seen it too and definitely am impressed by not only the work (it keeps improving) but the fact that you have a track record in getting it done.

We're hoping to catch up to your # of projects at some point. The post production is taking the longest on our current project. But we hope to be back out soon trying to keep up :)

-M
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filmman said:
This is the way to go. I'd add a script girl (continuity person).

You're an experienced producer.
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I had the opportunity to work (as DP on a feature I ended up editing) with a very good continiuty person. It was GREAT (except for one argument about "The Line", I won.... she didn't' understand the ablity to cross the line by using a neutral shot). When I ended up editing the project, her continuity script was a god send.

I double plus the recommend for a good continuity person. The problem is, where I live and breathe (bottom feeder, guerrilla style) they are hard to find.
 
filmman said:
This is the way to go. I'd add a script girl (continuity person).

You're an experienced producer.
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Thanks. Yeah, I've done a lot of projects with this type of crew.

Definitely agree with you on the Script Supervisor/Continuity position.

I usually have one when I'm hired as a producer but when I was paying the bills, I skimped on that position and one of the Producers was also the unofficial Script Supervisor. So the three of us producers were filling in the needed positions and rotating. Like if we were fortunate enough to get a sound person on certain days, then I'd become the Scripty otherwise, one of the other producers was that role when I was forced to do sound.

Would love to get a budget to get a few more dedicated crew members into the mix but on Battle we did pretty well with our guerilla crew :)

-M
 
RockmanX3 said:
I haven't shot my film yet, and working 50+ hours a week isn't really helping....
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I feel you RockmanX3...it can be hard.

Is it a short or feature? If all else fails you can do the weekend warrior thing. Still schedule it properly and you can get 20 days shot in 3 months.

Not ideal but certainly better than putting it off indefinitely.

-M
 
Martay said:
I feel you RockmanX3...it can be hard.

Is it a short or feature? If all else fails you can do the weekend warrior thing. Still schedule it properly and you can get 20 days shot in 3 months.

Not ideal but certainly better than putting it off indefinitely.

-M
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Feature.

I may have to do the weekend thing, but I'd rather have a 2-3 week+ 5-7 day a week shoot.
 
filmman said:
With all due respect, why does it have to be insane? Figure out a way to schedule more shooting days. I can't tell you how many more; it depends on your script breakdown. You know how to do a proper script breakdown?

You should look into it.
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And you should look into who does what on a movie ;)

I'm the writer-director, script breakdown isn't my job, you should know that. The shoot needs to be 12 days because that is what the budget affords. It cannot be done in a longer period of time. It started as a 15-day shoot, and we believe we can nail it in 12 and have what we want. If it goes to 15 days you're looking at three 5-day weeks instead of two 6-day weeks and you run into scheduling conflicts with actors, locations, and budgeting problems. It simply costs too much more money that we don't have.

And it's funny when someone says 30 is a big crew, lol. This is a pared down, essentials-only type of crew, some days it will be 20 probably, not 30, but between those two numbers. It's a small crew for the producers, they are accustomed to much larger crews than this with full departments. This is pretty bare-bones. For me, it's a big crew, because I come from doing corporate work and music videos I've done have been 12-20 people plus cast and band.
 
This thread has been amazingly interesting to read. Doing your personal film while working the 9 to 5(or in my case, a 3 to 12) is a universal issue among filmmakers, but it's really inspiring to see that it's done!

I have another question to throw into the mix: how old is everyone here? I'm 21 going on 22 later this year and I have the added weight of classes, usually 4-5 per semester. Now I'm on summer, so I'm working with a local organization to do my filming while working retail. Luckily, I'm getting paid for my filming through how many DVDs we sell. * It's not exactly creative, but getting paid to shoot is a start!

* It's a dance company that practices within the local Town Hall. They just had a huge show that went over well with the locals and the woman in charge is planning to take her brand around the nation. Seems like there's good things coming.

But back to the question of age - I try to enjoy my college years while working two jobs, but it's hard to juggle time with friends and a girlfriend. I just wonder what you guys think about age and what you do about it.
 
JonathanLB said:
And you should look into who does what on a movie ;)

I'm the writer-director, script breakdown isn't my job, you should know that. The shoot needs to be 12 days because that is what the budget affords. It cannot be done in a longer period of time. It started as a 15-day shoot, and we believe we can nail it in 12 and have what we want. If it goes to 15 days you're looking at three 5-day weeks instead of two 6-day weeks and you run into scheduling conflicts with actors, locations, and budgeting problems. It simply costs too much more money that we don't have.

And it's funny when someone says 30 is a big crew, lol. This is a pared down, essentials-only type of crew, some days it will be 20 probably, not 30, but between those two numbers. It's a small crew for the producers, they are accustomed to much larger crews than this with full departments. This is pretty bare-bones. For me, it's a big crew, because I come from doing corporate work and music videos I've done have been 12-20 people plus cast and band.
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Wow, nothing personal, but I absolutely disagree with you about breakdowns. I know, technically that the logistical break down of a script is the "Job" of a production manager or line producer. However, It is in the breakdown, and scheduling that the creative and the logistical meet, and where the filmmaking "Rubber meets the road", IMHO.

I have DP'ed four features and for the last three of them, I always start by color coding my script (for breakdown), as detailed in Ralph Singleton's books, before I put together my creative input/suggestions for the director and producer. I have also done 3 full script breakdowns, up to scheduling, for hire (well, on spec, but who's counting) and have come to the realization that a script breakdown and schedule, done without the full input of a director and knowledge of his approach to the film is only a "Guesstimate". I am now prepping a feature that I will direct, and I am embracing the breakdown/scheduling process. Of course, budgetary requirements mean that we can't, at this point, afford for to hire anyone else to do this, but I now realize that breaking down the script for logistical/budgetary requirements and putting together a schedule is as much a part of the unique art form of filmmaking as proper casting and selecting a visual style. Filmmaking is too dependent on technology and logistical planing for the creative leader of a project, the director, to divorce themselves from every aspect of planing in both areas. IMHO.
 
Of course you're not completely divorced from it, that's ridiculous, I'm also the executive producer and in that capacity I obviously have overseen everything big-picture about the project as best I can. But the point is simply that I don't do the scheduling because it's not based around my personal opinion about how things should go but what makes sense based on actors, location availability, crew, etc. I've been part of these discussions many times about when to shoot what, with my DP and my 1st, and then what we thought was later worked into scheduling changes. The schedule has still changed on the fly as we're filming. This was the end of Day 5, going great.

I simply take objection to someone asking me if I know how to do a "proper script" breakdown, first off implying that I have no clue how to figure out a good schedule all things being equally (which anyone can do, it's not hard), but that somehow I'm doing a film so indie that we don't have professionals to do their jobs.

I know some people are used to really non-traditional film shoots with no real departments, but we are at least trying to keep the film as organized as possible with every department represented, just small.
 
Doing the weekend thing

Doing the weekend thing

RockmanX3 said:
Feature.

I may have to do the weekend thing, but I'd rather have a 2-3 week+ 5-7 day a week shoot.
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That does not really help when you are bringing in talent from out of town. You need to shoot it all at once...
 
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