Teaching Filmmaking for Dummies!

It's finally here. After three consecutive semesters of blog posts, this is my final post. First Fiction Field Production 1, then Motion Graphics & Animation, and now Fiction Field Production 2, my journey is finally coming to an end. It's not that I haven't enjoyed writing dozens of posts about the fascinating things we all ought to know about the film industry--I have, mostly--but, nonetheless, every good thing must come to an end. That's why deciding what to write for my last post was such an easy decision. What's the point of it all? Why are we even here? The answer is simple: we want to make the best films we possibly can.

I've spent the last few months informing you all about the responsibilities of each and every one of the most prominent positions on a film crew. That's great and all, but what about those of you who don't quite know what you want to do with your life? What about those of you, like myself, who are still learning the basics of filmmaking? Don't fret! Because this week, I'll be focusing on Teaching Filmmaking for Dummies!

Everyone has had good teachers, professors, and mentors. Everyone has had bad ones as well. When it comes to filmmaking, there are very precise guidelines a teacher must follow to be good. Their methods may differ immensely, but the range of information must always be the same. Thankfully, it's only taken me three semesters to realize this. Here we go...

Preproduction.
It's easy enough, isn't it? Nope. Writing a script. Creating a production schedule. Finding a crew. Visualizing the film's look. Finding and securing locations. Casting actors. Putting together the production design. Making a floorplan. Breaking down the script. Creating the storyboards. Making a shooting schedule. And that's it! I'm joking. That's a lot of stuff to get done in a reasonably short amount of time, so you've better do it right the first time. A good teacher (I say teacher because a person who furthers your knowledge doesn't necessarily have to be a professor) will help their students understand the importance of this preparation, and the students will usually ignore the teacher's recommendations and consequently realize its importance after they fail to give it the proper attention. A good teacher will say "oh well, hopefully you'll do better next time." And they'll tell you how to do better next time.

Production.
The concept is easy enough to understand. It's the part of the filmmaking process when you actually make the film. It's when all of your preparation pays off and you finally see your baby coming to life. Depending on the level of preparation, this step of the process can either go smoothly (or as smoothly as possible) or terribly. While things such as lighting and shot listing are often not prepared properly in student film productions, a good teacher will give you the knowledge to think on the fly. They will pass on all the information they posses on lighting, blocking, directing, shooting, etc. If they do a good enough job (and if you're paying enough attention), you'll have no problem having a good shoot despite your ill-preparation. A good teacher will make sure you know how to light a scene to give it the proper look. They'll teach you to frame a shot so that everything has meaning and nothing is where it shouldn't be.

Postproduction.
We finally get to the part of the process when everything starts coming together. You take the "what the heck are we gonna do with this" and make it into the "I can't believe we made this." A good film teacher will make sure of this. They'll teach you the importance of coloring, sound, and each and every edit. After learning from this person, you'll comprehend the meaning of each of these aspects and how the slight alteration of just one of them can change the entire meaning of a scene. Most importantly, as a wise man once said, "Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut." What he meant by this is that anything that's not of absolute importance to the film should not be there. If it doesn't contribute to the progression of the story, get rid of it. Even when you think something may be important, try taking it out and see if the story changes without it. Chances are, it can often be thrown out. The leaner the film, the better it usually ends up being.

"Who could possibly meet these standards? A semester simply isn't enough time to get across all of this information to students without having their heads explode." You're not wrong. Well, not completely, anyway. Students' heads will most definitely explode, but it's more than possible to successfully cram all the necessary information into a short amount of time. Including typical information, a good teacher needs to hold certain characteristics...

Be blunt.
A good teacher won't make their students cry, but they tell them how they feel about the students' work. Nobody wants a film teacher who will coddle them. They'll never learn that way. They tell students what they did wrong and how they can fix it. How else will they learn?

Be demanding.
Set high standards. If a teacher expects a lot out of their students or protégés, the students will give better work. Nothing will hurt students more than low expectations, because they'll have nothing to aim for. Students don't want to disappoint their teachers, so they will try to meet those high expectations.

Be inspirational.
The hardest working students are the most inspired students. Fact. The most inspired students come from teachers who connect with them and who explain how their success began right where they are. Those who believe they can achieve success, will.

"Ok, this is simply ridiculous. How can you be blunt, demanding, and inspirational?" Well, I'm not the one to ask. It's a tricky equation that somehow makes total sense. If you'd really like to understand, I recommend you take a class with Arturo Sinclair. In the past year of my life, I've learned more about filmmaking than I ever imagined learning over the entire course of my college career. For that, I say 'thank you', Arturo. Thank you for [attempting] to teach me everything you know. Thank you for teaching me to think [way] outside the box. Most importantly, thank you for always having faith in me. I can't wait to put all the knowledge you've given me to work. After everything, one thing's for certain: you're certainly no dummy, Arturo.

Assistant Cameraperson-ing for Dummies!

Hello and welcome back! I hope everyone's weekends were filled with splendor and fascination. Keeping up with our century-long tradition, today I'll go into infinitely specific detail of a film crew position. Bet you can't guess what position it is! Can you? You can?! Wow, you're smart! Here's a cookie.

Last week, we discussed the importance of the 1st and 2nd Assistant Directors. Today, we'll be discussing a very similar topic. Like the director, the director of photography has two assistants. Can you guess what those assistants are called?...You're right! They're the 1st and 2nd Assistant Camerapersons.

The camera assistants' main responsibilities involve assisting the Director of Photography in camera operation and maintenance. They essentially help the DP with the execution of their (hopefully) well-planned shots. They assist. It's what they do. It's what they've always meant to do. It's their destiny.

More specifically, in helping the DP in camera operation and maintenance, the 1st Assistant Cameraperson's duties include:

      -Operation of cameras

      -Slating and loading

      -Focus marking and pulling

      -Preparation, maintenance and management of camera equipment

Where their responsibilities really differ from the 2nd AC is in the physical operation of the camera. A person may think, "Oh, they're just an assistant, what could they possibly be allowed to do?" Well, frankly, that's a very silly question. While 'assistant' is in their title, an AC is really anything but an assistant. They're practically part-time director of photography.

What about the 2nd AC? Where do they come into all of this madness? It turns out that the 2nd AC actually shares many of the responsibilities of the 1st AC. It'd be too much to do for one person, so the film industry thought it'd be good to get a second! The 2nd AC is responsible for:

      -Slating and loading

      -Preparation maintenance and management of camera equipment

      -Maintenance, labeling, logging, and safekeeping of reels and tapes

The last point is where the 2nd AC stands out from other AC's. Basically, they work in coordination with the script supervisor to make sure all the reels and tapes are labeled and organized so those who work with them later know what they're messing with. The process of digitizing the film would be a much more grueling process without this step.

So who are AC's? What do they do? Why are they here on Earth with us? What is their purpose in life? In layman's terms, they do everything the DP has to do but doesn't have the time for. While the DP is setting up the perfect shot, the 1st and 2nd AC's are busy doing everything else camera related. Thank you, AC's!

Assistant Directing for Dummies

Hey guys. I'm going to be completely honest with you all. I'm running out of ideas. And fast. I know for a fact that I've written about directing before, but I don't believe I've ever touched on Assistant Directing. If I have, I apologize, but I'm running out of fresh topics to talk about. So, without further ado, it's time for Assistant Directing for Dummies! It's the gameshow where you don't have a ton of fun and some of the facts may be slightly inaccurate, but you leave feeling wiser nonetheless.

Today, we'll be focusing on two types of assistant directors (ADs): the first one and the second one. For those of you who don't often work on film sets, or for those of you who don't have much knowledge on the topic, my previous statement isn't as dumb as it sounds (even though it kind of is). There are in fact two assistant directors, and their positions are called 1st Assistant Director and 2nd Assistant Director. SO GET OFF MY CASE AND ENJOY THE POST. Ok? Good.

Let us begin with the first type of AD: the 1st Assistant Director. The 1st AD is very much involved in the preproduction and production processes. To best summarize their responsibilities, I turn to the handy dandy bulleted list. Once again, I apologize, but it's quite the list and I have some editing to tend to. The 1st AD's job is to:
      -Assist Unit Production Manager to prepare script breakdown and preliminary shooting schedule
      -Assist the UPM in location business
      -Check weather reports (exciting, right?)
      -Prepare daily schedules for talent and determine cast and crew calls
      -Supervise the preparation of call sheets
      -Supervise background activity and crowd control
      -Supervise the proper functioning of the set and crew

The 1st Assistant Director's job is to basically take care of everything the Director shouldn't have to worry about, allowing them to focus on making sure everything pertaining to what viewers will see is absolutely perfect.

"How does the 1st AD possibly get all of this done? It's so much stuff to get done!" You're right! It's a pretty demanding job. Luckily, though, they have a chief assistant who is in charge of conducting all the business of the set or location. This person is referred to as the 2nd Assistant Director. Go figure! How convenient is that? What exactly is the business of the set or location you ask? Well, it includes:

      -Preparing all call sheets

      -Preparing the daily production reports in collaboration with the UPM

      -Distributing all information to the cast and crew (scripts, changes, and call sheets)

      -Communicating advance scheduling to the cast and crew

      -Assisting the UPM, 1st AD, and Location Manager in location management

      -Facilitating the transportation of all equipment and personnel

      -Schedule all food, lodging, and other facilities

      -Supervise the set and location wrap

      -Maintain a liaison between the 1st Assistant Director and the Unit Production Manager

      -Assist the 1st AD with the direction of background activity and crowd control

PHEW! Glad that's over. I was beginning to just feel sorry for anyone who's a 2nd AD. I guess if you really love what you do, who's to tell you that your job is no fun. What I've gathered from this information, is that the student producers I've worked with in the past have actually been conducting the responsibilities of the Assistant Directors while the ADs have actually just been clapping the slate and keeping us on schedule. Who knew?! You do now!

Assistant Directors are wonderful people who moviegoers never really know anything about, but they're some of the most important people to have on a set. They essentially do all the things a director doesn't have time for (and probably doesn't want to do). If you're ever in the market for a career that's physically and emotionally demanding and that doesn't get much of any public recognition, Assistant Directing is the career for you!

Electrician-ing for Dummies

Electricity. It's an interesting topic to discuss in a blog post, right? I think so. In fact, I believe electricity is SO interesting that this very post is all about it! In case you didn't realize, electricity is actually a huge part of a film set. It's how the lighting and operation of many other systems run! It's fascinating, I know. But who runs all of this electricity? Who makes all of this stuff work? It's funny you should ask, because I just so happened to finish an article on electricians! Whoopie!

An electrician does what you would most likely assume they do. People typically just don't think very much about it. To begin, an electrician's main job on set is tending to lighting the sets and locations. They don't design the lighting for scenes or anything like that, but they make sure that everyone can actually see where they're going. The electricians actually work under the direction of the Gaffer, so they help out with the set up of the lights. Without lights, people would be bumping into each other and whatnot. Duh. Electricians make sure sets and locations are safe to work on before anyone else even gets there.

With all the lights and equipment in place, the electricians run electrical cabling throughout the set and distribute electrical power to all of the equipment. They work in coordination with the DP, Gaffers, and whoever else has their own equipment or whoever else can tell them where the wires won't be in shot. The electricians have got to make sure they have everything in place with absolutely none of it getting in people's way. For anyone who's ever set up lighting at a shoot before, they can tell you it's not an easy task.

"But what if something breaks? How do I keep track of all this lighting equipment?" Have no fear! Electrician Man is here! Another responsibility for the electrician is to maintain and manage all lights and lighting equipment. They make sure all the equipment is accounted for and is working properly. It's not exactly the most glamorous part of the job, but hey, someone's got to do it. The electricians are specialized in electrical work (again...duh), so they're the people to turn to when you're not quite sure how to work specialized equipment like a generator, or...you know...lights. The electrician is an incredibly skilled professional. They have knowledge of the workings of equipment many people never even pay much attention to, and for that, we thank you.

I'm truly sorry for the briefness of this riveting post, but alas, I'm writing it while eagerly awaiting my call time for the second shoot of the day for Guilty. I'll catch you all next week for another for Dummies!

Feeding the Crew for Dummies

FOOD.

Great! Now that I have your attention, I'd like to discuss an important matter with you all. For years, film crews have been going hunger. Whether they're not being properly fed on set or if they simply forgot their granola bar at home as they were running out the door to make call time, film crew members are hungry. Heck, I'm hungry right now! Imagine how the people working feel! With the poor, malnourished souls in mind, I think it's time. It's time to learn how to feed these hard workers. It's time to learn how to keep your crew happy. It's time for "Feeding the Crew for Dummies!"

Now, everyone knows that a person with a full stomach is a happy person. It's a fact of life. If you don't agree with me, get out. Leave. Don't ever come back here again. If you do agree with me, or if you simply don't care enough to leave, then join me as we explore the inner workings of the film food business. Essentially, the business includes three branches: craft services, caterers, and food stylists. These wonderful people have a lot on their plate...get it? Let's see what their exact responsibilities are...

Craft Services.
Sounds simple enough, right? Craft services, which is a separate entity from catering, encompasses all of the wonderfully assorted snacks and beverages provided to the film crew. The godsend in charge of craft service sets and maintains a station near the production that makes these snacks and beverages available to all the hardworking folk on the crew. A budget is given to the craft service person prior to attaining all the refreshments. I guess Costco just isn't good enough for some people. Personally, I'd be fine with some Cheez-Its and juice boxes.

Caterers.

The caterer takes care of the main meals for a production. While craft services prepares the snacks, the caterer plans, organizes, and prepares all the substantial nourishment for everyone. Having a caterer on location is a serious convenience. On one hand, the crew can be more efficient. The food is right there for them to grab on a thirty-minute lunch break. On the other hand, you save extremely valuable production time and money without the need to transport the crew to and from meals. Caterers have been known to serve small crews from ten people to enormous crews of hundreds of people. "But what can I eat? I'm vegan?" "What about me? I can't eat gluten!" No worries! These are fairly common requests for production caterers. They'll cater to your personal needs! (I'm on fire today with these puns).

Food Stylists.

But what if you want your food to look nice? Let's be honest, we ALL want our food to look as good as it [hopefully] tastes. This is where the food stylist comes in. Their job is to prepare and arrange food in a particularly appealing way. They typically have an extensive background in cooking, recipe development, and the ability to make food look its best. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you that the food stylist doesn't actually help out the crew. Not really, anyway. Their job is aimed at food used in photographs, commercials, or movies. So they're making sure the food looks good on camera, not on your plate. Sorry I didn't mention that sooner.

It's often a crew member's first question when walking on set (or at least it's mine) to ask what's being served for lunch. It turns out that it's not actually the producers' job to take care of it, although that's how we've been doing it on our student films. Food service workers are, in my personal opinion, some of the most spectacular people on a production. And if you don't agree with that, well, you can just keep that to yourself.

Director of Photography-ing(?) FOR DUMMIES

Oh hello there. Didn't see you there. No, don't go! As long as I have you here, we have a very important matter to discuss. For centuries (or at least for a little while), there has been a daunting question on people's minds. What exactly does a Director of Photography (or cinematographer) do for a film production? Hmph, that's certainly a tough question. Let's go to the expert to try to find an answer to this inquiry.

...

What's up, guys?! You know me. I'm that guy. From that thing. You know, that thing? No? Ah well, might as well just give you what you came here for. So you want to know what a director of photography does, huh? Well you're in luck! It's time for this week's "...FOR DUMMIES!"

Like quite a few other crew positions (Producer, Director, etc.) the director of photography's (or DP for short) job stretches out over all three stages of production: preproduction, production, and postproduction. They really don't get any sleep, but who needs sleep?! Let me break it down for you.

Obviously, we start with preproduction. Duh. The DP begins his/her job with discussing the director's vision for the overall film as well as scene by scene. Based on what the director is looking for, the DP determines what exactly is needed for each scene, and, following that, hires a camera crew and organizes and purchases any equipment and supplies that will be needed. When deciding what's needed for each scene, the DP works with many other departments--including sound and lighting--to coordinate production needs. In summary, the DP uses his preproduction time very wisely. He pretty much plans out every shot and gets any and all the tools he'll need to acquire these shots.

After many months of planning, the DP's job moves into production. The most essential thing the DP must do during this step of the process is to coordinate the crew while working closely with the director to make sure every scene and shot is set up to match the director's vision. If the director doesn't get what they want, may Hitchcock have mercy on your soul. Here's where the difficult stuff comes in. For each and every shot, the DP must decide on: the best combination of cameras (oh yeah, filters and lenses, too), the placement of the cameras, what the lighting should look like, AND when the best time would be to shoot. On particularly large films, the DP often oversees several cinematographers who supervise different camera set-ups. He often ALSO manages the photography budget, so the DP is kind of like a part-time production accountant.

Finally we come to postproduction (yeah right, we're not done yet). The first step of the third step of the three-step film production process begins with the DP working with the processing lab to make sure the film retains the color and the mood that he and the director were aiming for. If this part of the process gets screwed up, then a big chunk of all the hard work and planning goes right down the drain. The DP also reviews dailies as well as cuts of the film throughout the editing process. It's important for the DP to participate as a critical eye throughout postproduction.

Alongside the film director, the director of photography has some of the most creative control of the entire crew. They decide what we see and how we're going to see it. Often times, the DP is the person who makes a good film into a film that we'll never forget...

Or they can be the person who absolutely ruins it. Either way, they're really important.

Publicizing for Dummies

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I know this early posting may come as a shock to you all, but this week's schedule is looking a bit random, so I figured I'd enlighten you all tonight! Don't worry, I'd never let anything get between us. Now you may be wondering, how would a series of blog posts become as famous as this? Well, aside from the beautifully written ideas that I've shared with the world, it's been completely due to my Publicist! Not really. But wouldn't you love to know more about publicity? Of course you would!

A production's publicist works alongside some very important people. Specifically, a publicist works closely with the executive producer, director, art director, and publicity designer. They work to promote and, well, publicize the film during every phase of production. From the beginning of preproduction to the end of postproduction, a publicist's job is definitely one of the most vital responsibilities that decides a film's success. If no one knows about it, no one goes to see it. It's as simple as that.

In the simplest form, a publicists job is to advertise the film. This can manifest itself in posters, flyers,
and other promotional advertisements. One of the responsibilities of a publicist is to secure permission for and to supervise the placement of these advertisements. This can include anything from putting up posters in theaters around town to securing radio spots nationally. This is really the most obvious of a publicists responsibilities and it's probably the job that the public notices the most. They just don't usually know who's behind those flashy ads that convince them to see the movies.

The publicist also acts as a liaison with the press. They're to go-to-guy (or girl) when it comes to dealing with the press. It may not be particularly glamorous, but hey, someone's gotta do it. Who knows, the press may be kind of cool when you're not a famous person. Probably not, but maybe. The publicist additionally supervises the generation and distribution of press releases. I'm not totally sure how that's different from the first point in this paragraph, but it was two separate bullet points on this article I'm reading, so it's got to be its own substantial point. Right? Ah, who cares?

The last main responsibility of a film publicist is to assist in fundraising activities. This can involve crowd funding (such as IndieGoGo and GoFundMe) or outreach (begging rich people for money, but with class, of course). The publicist works with the executive producers in this step of their job. So basically they work with rich people to get more money from other rich people. It's actually a pretty ingenious setup if you think about it. It seems to work pretty well, at least.

Without publicists, there would be no films. Well, there would be films, but no one would go to see them, considering no one would know anything about them...or the fact that they exist. So they may as well not exist. That's what publicists are for! (Letting us know what's out there and why we "should" see it.)

Script Supervising for Dummies

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.