In production, you’re creating the components with which you’ll assemble your final film or video. Your script tells you exactly what you need to produce, and you figured out how to do it all in pre-production. Now, you will.
Scheduling Is Key
Make a detailed schedule of your shoot, not only from day to day, but for every day. Work hard to keep to the schedule - even short delays add up quickly, and you can end up very behind. You have only so many hours of good daylight; you may find yourself running short. The same for nighttime shoots; the sun comes up more quickly than you realize if you let things get behind.
When scheduling, generally figure each shot takes an average of 45 to 60 minutes to set up properly, with cameras, lights, and sound. Some may take a lot less, but some may take a lot more, especially if you have a small crew. It’s better to overestimate how long a shot will take than to underestimate.
It's also not a bad idea to schedule “cover sets” when planning outdoor shoots, alternate locations you can retreat to if the weather doesn’t cooperate with your shoot. That way, you have a solid plan B and you won’t lose a day of production. For that matter, it often pays to schedule outdoor shoots early in the schedule. For that matter, scheduling your outdoor shoots early in the production can help insulate your overall schedule against bad weather events.
A Production Day
A typical day on a movie set runs something like this: call sheets go out the night before, alerting everyone to their call times, when the crew is expected to arrive. The production serves breakfast, whatever the time of day, and a movie set often runs on an endless flow of coffee. Work then begins, and 6 hours later the crew and cast break for lunch. Lunch typically lasts 30 minutes, and then it’s back to work. Theoretically, the day wraps 6 hours later, making a total of 12 work hours in a day. But shoot days often run well over, in which case, another meal is usually provided while work continues, often pizza delivery.
If it seems oriented around food, it usually is. Filmmaking is hard work. Your people need fuel and energy; keep them fed throughout the day. Providing meals and keeping a stocked snack table (“craft services” or “crafty”) every day may seem expensive, but it’s the least you can do for your cast and crew, especially if you can’t afford to pay them much. They’re going to be working hard for you all day. Give them something to keep them going.
An inexperienced filmmaker might think having everyone brown-bag their meals is a great way to save money on production. But don’t do that. Just don’t.
Do be sure to have a detailed shot list for everything you need that day and have your storyboards for each shot on hand for easy reference. Shot lists and checklists are very important for ensuring you do everything you need to do. Have someone keeping up with the lists and making sure everything gets checked off.
Be PREPARED for the day. Know exactly what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. Expect the unexpected, but if you’ve planned well, you will be in much better shape to deal with surprises. And proper planning will give you adequate time to experiment and improvise, which can often bring very rewarding results.
Frame Rates
Don’t overthink it; films are almost always shot at 24 fps. That said, there are other choices, and it’s up to you how you want your movie to look. It’s a creative decision. Movies are usually shot at 24 fps because it gives your footage a fictional look. If you shoot at a faster frame rate, like 60 fps, your footage will have more of a “live” look, like it’s happening right now, like TV news or a live sports broadcast. You can do anything you want, but typically, movies are fiction, and audiences react better to the fictional look of 24 fps. If you’re doing something you want to have a reality or live feel, then a faster frame rate may be more appropriate.
Sound
Never treat your sound as an afterthought. The old saying that “sound is 70% of what you see” always applies. Audiences will forgive soft focus, exposure issues, or slightly shaky camera work more than they will terrible audio. And if your visuals are perfect, don’t ruin the visuals you so carefully crafted with bad sound.
It takes skill to record good sound, so don’t leave it to just anyone. Have a dedicated sound person who knows how to record it properly, knows how to work with the camera crew to get the microphone as close to your talent as possible without intruding into the shot, and will monitor the audio through headphones to detect and alert you to any problems with sound.
Keep Post-Production In Mind
Always look for ways to make post-production smoother and easier. Again, your production and post-production teams should have coordinated in pre-production, and that coordination should continue in production. It’s not a bad idea to have your editor and supervising sound editor on hand to coordinate with their counterparts on set, to ensure they will get the products they need to assemble the final film.
Don’t Do It All Yourself
It’s very difficult to do several jobs well at the same time, and there are many jobs on a film set. If you try to do everything yourself, or even two or three things, chances are something is going to fall by the wayside. Get as much help as you can so every job is covered properly and you can concentrate on making sure the film gets done right.
Scheduling Is Key
Make a detailed schedule of your shoot, not only from day to day, but for every day. Work hard to keep to the schedule - even short delays add up quickly, and you can end up very behind. You have only so many hours of good daylight; you may find yourself running short. The same for nighttime shoots; the sun comes up more quickly than you realize if you let things get behind.
When scheduling, generally figure each shot takes an average of 45 to 60 minutes to set up properly, with cameras, lights, and sound. Some may take a lot less, but some may take a lot more, especially if you have a small crew. It’s better to overestimate how long a shot will take than to underestimate.
It's also not a bad idea to schedule “cover sets” when planning outdoor shoots, alternate locations you can retreat to if the weather doesn’t cooperate with your shoot. That way, you have a solid plan B and you won’t lose a day of production. For that matter, it often pays to schedule outdoor shoots early in the schedule. For that matter, scheduling your outdoor shoots early in the production can help insulate your overall schedule against bad weather events.
A Production Day
A typical day on a movie set runs something like this: call sheets go out the night before, alerting everyone to their call times, when the crew is expected to arrive. The production serves breakfast, whatever the time of day, and a movie set often runs on an endless flow of coffee. Work then begins, and 6 hours later the crew and cast break for lunch. Lunch typically lasts 30 minutes, and then it’s back to work. Theoretically, the day wraps 6 hours later, making a total of 12 work hours in a day. But shoot days often run well over, in which case, another meal is usually provided while work continues, often pizza delivery.
If it seems oriented around food, it usually is. Filmmaking is hard work. Your people need fuel and energy; keep them fed throughout the day. Providing meals and keeping a stocked snack table (“craft services” or “crafty”) every day may seem expensive, but it’s the least you can do for your cast and crew, especially if you can’t afford to pay them much. They’re going to be working hard for you all day. Give them something to keep them going.
An inexperienced filmmaker might think having everyone brown-bag their meals is a great way to save money on production. But don’t do that. Just don’t.
Do be sure to have a detailed shot list for everything you need that day and have your storyboards for each shot on hand for easy reference. Shot lists and checklists are very important for ensuring you do everything you need to do. Have someone keeping up with the lists and making sure everything gets checked off.
Be PREPARED for the day. Know exactly what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. Expect the unexpected, but if you’ve planned well, you will be in much better shape to deal with surprises. And proper planning will give you adequate time to experiment and improvise, which can often bring very rewarding results.
Frame Rates
Don’t overthink it; films are almost always shot at 24 fps. That said, there are other choices, and it’s up to you how you want your movie to look. It’s a creative decision. Movies are usually shot at 24 fps because it gives your footage a fictional look. If you shoot at a faster frame rate, like 60 fps, your footage will have more of a “live” look, like it’s happening right now, like TV news or a live sports broadcast. You can do anything you want, but typically, movies are fiction, and audiences react better to the fictional look of 24 fps. If you’re doing something you want to have a reality or live feel, then a faster frame rate may be more appropriate.
Sound
Never treat your sound as an afterthought. The old saying that “sound is 70% of what you see” always applies. Audiences will forgive soft focus, exposure issues, or slightly shaky camera work more than they will terrible audio. And if your visuals are perfect, don’t ruin the visuals you so carefully crafted with bad sound.
It takes skill to record good sound, so don’t leave it to just anyone. Have a dedicated sound person who knows how to record it properly, knows how to work with the camera crew to get the microphone as close to your talent as possible without intruding into the shot, and will monitor the audio through headphones to detect and alert you to any problems with sound.
Keep Post-Production In Mind
Always look for ways to make post-production smoother and easier. Again, your production and post-production teams should have coordinated in pre-production, and that coordination should continue in production. It’s not a bad idea to have your editor and supervising sound editor on hand to coordinate with their counterparts on set, to ensure they will get the products they need to assemble the final film.
Don’t Do It All Yourself
It’s very difficult to do several jobs well at the same time, and there are many jobs on a film set. If you try to do everything yourself, or even two or three things, chances are something is going to fall by the wayside. Get as much help as you can so every job is covered properly and you can concentrate on making sure the film gets done right.