I'm a pessimist. Or maybe a realist. Regardless, I am stressed. Of course the week we have planned to shoot Dollhouse also turns out to be one of the busiest weeks of my semester. The existing stress of having shooting dates late in the semester is bad enough; throw in some obligations and projects from other classes and top it off with a few tests and my week from hell is in full-swing. Forget about applying for internships for the spring. I'm just trying to survive.
I am mostly concerned about our shoot running as smoothly as possible; I know things will go wrong, and what is worse is I know I won't be able to predict those things until they happen. As a group we are trying our best to be totally prepared, and we have had a long time in pre-production to get everything ready to go. So far my experiences on set haven't been the best, so even with our extended preparation time I am still anticipating things to not go exactly as planned. Like Arturo talked about in class today, as the AD it is my job to make sure everything goes smoothly during production, holding each department accountable and making sure everyone is on the ball.
The shooting schedule we have come up with is very tight, but I am hoping that our work in our long pre-production stage will pay off. There are a number of things swimming around in my head right know about what COULD go wrong: audio, shot coverage, continuity, etc. The list goes on and on. At some point I guess I just need to trust my fellow group members and know that they will come through in their respective departments. Of course I will be providing oversight on set during the shoot, but I think that there is a fine line between micro-managing- which actually slows down production- and making sure everyone is doing their job (correctly).
I have never taken on the role of Assistant Director before. I'm a little intimidated, mostly because we are shooting so late in the semester. We will have adequate time in post; I'm fairly confident about that. But we do NOT have time for any major re-shoots or audio issues. I get it, things happen on set that are not always predictable or avoidable. I am prepared to help deal with those issues after we shoot. But I CAN control or prevent any major issues from happening in an effort to make post production go as smoothly as possible. That pressure, however, is leaving me a little stressed and anxious. I don't want to let my group down come shoot days, and I want this project to reflect all the hard work our members have put into it and finally be something I am proud to put my name on.
So because I am a sucker for any movie with cool dancing in it, over fall break I watched the second installment of the every growing Step Up movie series; Step Up 2: The Streets. The final scene of the film is a super long and I will admit, super cool dance scene that takes place outside and in the rain. After the heroic team finishes their awesome rain dance, one of the characters, Moose, goes to talk to the girl he likes, Sophia. However it seems like in each cut in the scene of them talking, Moose's hat is turned a different way, even though you are never shown him actually switching his hat.
Okay so here we are in the first part, and Moose's hat is on frontways
Then as soon as we cut to a two shot of the back of him, his hat is backwards
Then we cut to a closer shot of the same exact scene where they are talking and once again, his hat has switched.
And then, as all teen movies go, Sophia kisses Moose in this closeup and yayy!! His hat is still on frontways
Okay, okay awesome, some consistency, lets see if we can cut to a wider shot of this kiss
Damn! All we did was cut to a little bit wider and once again, his stupid hat is switched again, and I think we all can agree that he did not switch his hat based on that claw grip he has on Sophia's arm.
Anyway, my point is, while you are shooting you may not think that continuity is that important and that you can remember how the actors did each of the scenes, it is an incredibly important part of making a good and consistent film so make sure you get a dope script supervisor.
I am a very organized person. My room is impeccable, my backpack is laboriously and strategically packed to optimize convenience, my calendar is color-coded, and I always know what is on my schedule for at least the next few days in advance. This organization carries over into my post production work, which is one of the reasons I think I initially gravitated towards the post process. I edit out of Premiere, which allows for an immense amount of organization as well as customization. You can arrange the window panels in any conceivable way, customizing the size and location of every window and tool imaginable. and don't even get me started on the bins. I LOVE bins. I have bins for everything. I have bins for my clips. I have bins for my sequences. I have bins for my bins. My Premiere projects are complete Binception.
So far, I have only found use for my obsessive organization within the post production process, however, in this class I am trying to push myself and be involved more with the pre prodoction and production aspects of our projects. At first I wasn't sure if I could find a role that suited my organizational skill set, however, on Monday we watched a short interview that described the Script Supervisor/Continuity position, and I think I found what I've been looking for. Having never been a script supervisor on a project before, I cannot say whether I would actually like this position, but just from the short clip we watched, I could see a lot of overlap from my post production skills.
Notes from a 'scripty'
Basically, the script supervisor is responsible for keeping the project alive during the production process, which involves a significant amount of work in pre production through script breakdowns, which ensures that the production, which is often filmed out-of-sequence, always makes verbal and visual sense. It also requires an intense attention to detail, making sure that actors motion and wardrobe stay continuous throughout different shots, ensuring nothing will break the moment of the film. The script supervisor gets to work with many different departments on set, making sure each is doing their job correctly and consistently between takes. That being said, I will be working as the Assistant Director during our project for this class, but I still think my organization and attention to detail will certainly come into play, whether it is from script breakdowns,scheduling, or general on set management. Either way, I am excited to take a step out of the dark editing room and into the light during the production process.
Welcome back! Don't know how you got here? Don't know why you're here? Me neither! As long as I have you, though, let's discuss a very important matter. Now, I don't know about you, but I've been wondering what a script supervisor does for quite some time. I understood the very basics of the job, but what in the world are the specifics?! I don't know! Or at least I didn't know. Until now! It's "Script Supervising for Dummies!"
What most people already know about being a script supervisor is that they, well, supervise the script. "But what exactly does that entail?" one may ask. The paramount job of a script supervisor is to maintain a daily log of the day's shots and their relation to the script during the production process. They act as the chief continuity person on set and act as the on-set liaison to the postproduction staff.
Essentially, the script supervisor is the editors' best friend. They're practically the only ones on set who have the postproduction staff's best interests at heart. They keep track of every shot and make sure it'll be able to be cut together later in the production process. We love our script supervisors!
Getting a little more into the details of the job, a script supervisor's foremost task is to maintain of log of all shots taken on set. This log has every bit of information an editor could possibly need. It has shot numbers that match up with the script, slated shot numbers, comments from the director or DP (usually explaining important details of what to use/not use), continuity information, the tape/reel number, camera settings, the date and time, production statistics, etc., etc., etc. Any and all questions postproduction staff may have should be answered by this log. If there are any questions left unanswered, the script supervisor didn't do his/her job and will most definitely be fired...ok, maybe not fired, but someone will definitely be slightly upset.
Along with the continuity notes on the shot log, the script supervisor must also have keen eyes on set so as to call out any errors while shooting. This can include anything from an actor's hand movements from shot to shot to a prop placement error. Clearly, they can't interrupt a shot just to point out an error, but instead will relay their notes onto one of the directors so that they can correct them in future takes. To assure for consistent prop/set placement and design from day to day (you never know what fool will decide to move something), the script supervisor cross-references with the continuity stills photographer daily. They need to make sure they'll have easy access to any continuity stills during production so they can quickly double-check anything they need to without costing the production any time.
A script supervisor who's particularly good at their job will most likely have some level of editing experience, or at least a general understanding of how it works. It makes for a much better judge of what can and what cannot be cut together (continuity). Speaking for anyone who's ever worked in postproduction, we love our script supervisors. We really, really do.
Being that I am a film critic myself, I like to get tough criticism on my own films. I am my own worst critic for sure. I can tell you that none of my films EVER will make it on my Favorites List. Incase I haven't mentioned it yet, I have a giant list of my favorite films. None of my films will ever make it on there because I will always know the flaws of them. If one of my films could make it on my own list, I would die very happy. This to me will keep me making films for the rest of my life. I will always think of where I can improve. One might think this would be a depressing thought. However, it actually keeps me going, that there is always room for improvement. I currently have 121 films on my Favorites List (and growing).
My criticism of a movie to consider it a favorite is that it has to evoke an emotion from it's audience (especially if they are resisting this emotion and it happens anyways), it needs to have no questions asked (no cliffhangers (unless they work)and no misunderstandings), It has to be a movie that I would want to see again and if I see it again I either get a new feeling overtime or the same enjoyment with out degradation. For some of my favorite movies I laugh every time I watch it no matter what, I cry at least the first time I watch it (it's very hard to make it on my favorites list as a drama), It's extremely different/creative and there's no other that compares to it and for some of them I just enjoyed as a child and they stick with me forever.
When watching my films I try to pay attention to extreme detail. Then when I move on to a new film (after the criticism of my previous) I really concentrait on improving the things that failed last time. It's almost like studying for a test, you write down all the material you need to know and you go through each thing and cross off the things you already know by heart, and then you study the things you're not confident on.
Perhaps to answer what this most recent project; the one shot film with rotation of jobs, it's about fully expanding yourself in order to say you have done each of those jobs. It's about strengthening your weaknesses. No one is going to be "perfect" in everyone's eyes but I would like to come as close as I can to making my self the best film maker I can be. This unfortunately initials being uncomfortable. I'd like to thank all of those that have worked with me in my learning experiences especially in this project where you had to sacrifice having the best people do the job I was assigned to do, you may not have gotten the best aspect of that part of your film but I'm glad you allowed me to have that experience in learning. To me it is the best way of learning is just simply by doing. We as children learned how to read more by reading with someone. We learned to play video games on our own. We learned how to use a computer by seeking out and playing around. I think that is what we are best at and we learned these things by simply doing them. I can think of a few things I learned how to do on my own just by playing around, one is how to play the guitar, another is how to use a cell phone, how to use my ipod (not all of it's features, but most). If I can learn how to basically do something then I can survive in this business.
Some of the weaknesses in my own films/films I've worked on (not even my own mistakes but others as well) are very big key things I needed to learn in order to be a film maker. One of the first things I learned in criticism of film is that you need to pay attention to continuity. It's very important to keeping your audience interested in the story.
Another thing I learned was that in certain cameras, horizontal close lines or white/light colors can mess up the vision of the camera by blowing out the color by the light or by creating a crazy moving pattern on someone's shirt or a couch.
I've also learned how to tone down an actor or actress.
How to give the shot the time it needs.
I learned early in my career that the use of a tripod can make a world of difference when you want to real critics to take you seriously. I had a DP once who flat out refused to use a tripod for the longest time. I eventually replaced him because he was lazy. After that I made sure my DP's were comfortable using a tripod before I assigned them to the job.
I learned in my scripting class last year how to write effectively with no dialogue let alone too much. It's one of the hardest things to master because you really dont know if your audience will get what you're trying to say. You're literally trying to play charades with a mass amount of people who will never see you personally.
Through this project so far I've learned how important it is to keep as many options as possible and try them all if you can, keeping it within reason and being time aware.
Also It's good to get things done in a timely manor as long as it doesn't hurt creativity. The best way I found out how to do this is by rehearsing a bunch times and planning your butt off for the shoot.
Being over prepared is a great thing. Keeping your crew fed and alive is a wonderful thing.
Another thing I try to always do for a shoot is research realistic situations. For last years project White Lights I researched a lot about people's out of body experiences and the similar things between each story including the biggest thing I noticed was that they all described a white light. Hense, the name of my film being White Lights.
Criticism is very important in growing if you want to be the best film maker you have to make more films than anyone else and you have to absorb the toughest critics so that you can learn and grow from your past. That's what we're all paying the big bucks for here at Ithaca.
So now, Keep calm and watch some movie mistakes where people still made billions!
As previously mentioned I brought my camera to our shoot this weekend. Idid this for several reasons:
1) to satisfy the photographer side of me by taking a bunch of fun pictures
2) to satisfy peoples current obsession document everything and putting in on facebook
3) to satisfy my desire to have awesome behind the scenes photos
4) to satisfy my compulsion to control continuity as much as possible.
As a filmmaker and a photographer continuity is one place my interests can intersect. When ever I am watching a film or television and there is something that clearly is not the same from shot to shot, or scene to scene it really bugs me. When continuity is broken it pulls your attention from what is going on in the story to what is going on in the frame. It pulls your mind out from the fantasy of the story and back to the reality that this is just a film or TV show shot with a bunch of actors and filmmakers that all can make mistakes....instead of super heros or what have you. Ever set should have at least one person watching out for continuity because if not it is one of the easiest ways to loose an audience's attention. This is why even though I am still only shooting student films at the moment I am dedicated to as much perfection I can control. If you do not try your hardest, your film will not be as good as it could be.
