Lessons on how NOT to make a film:
SHOOT DAY 1
After many weeks of prepping and the sleepless nights of visualizing and dreaming my shot list, the shoot day had finally arrived. At 5am, we arrived with our cast and crew complete with an elderly Aaton Super 16mm camera, and an ancient, yet trustworthy Nagra, 'in the middle of nowhere' to shoot our first scenes.
As is 'normal', feelings of excitement,nervousness, and confidence are present. I'm concerned whether I can pull a performance from my cast. As soon as dawn broke, we were ready to go except it was overcast! Something we didn't want for our film, and Anton, our DP, didn't want to waste a single foot of Super 16mm that we spent weeks scraping together.
So we waited, until finally by noon, the sun started shining, and so did everyone else! One of our financiers arrived, however, to my relief, he did not interfere!
We started with the car interior driving scene. After briefing the cast and Anton, due to limited space, I could not direct in the car. Being low budget, we didn't have a 'video tap' or 'playback'! So I put my trust in my DP, Anton and allowed him to judge cast performance. I will find out just how successful my trust in Anton and my cast was, when I see it in post. We did a few takes, trying to conserve our 10 rolls of film stock like it was the only bar of candy to share between 10 people! Everybody seemed pleased with the work they did this day and I felt confident, besides the soaring heat and moody weather!
SHOOT DAY 2
Today it was overcast. We waited for the sun. It did not grace us with its presence! I'm feeling betrayed and angry, yet mostly concerned that I wont finish my shoot. I have only 7 days to shoot. We especially scheduled more days for 'weather days', yet still its frustrating! I'm three and a half pages behind schedule, but I will not compromise the look of my film. I will not shoot despite my groaning to Anton about the tiny moment of sun that we could steal! But he stood firm, and so must I if I want to retain the bright sunshine 'hot' look of my film. So I did. We shot not a single frame! The patience of the cast and crew was stretching to the limit, so we went for lunch. There were moments of mutiny, so we decided to 'call it a day'. We all went home at 3:30pm, tired, and frustrated. I still felt positive that tomorrow will be different. I kept saying to my cast, "lets be optimistic - it will clear!" They thought I was crazy - I bet they still do!
SHOOT DAY 3
Today is a fantastic day!The Sun shone. It was clear blue skies. Lindsay and Thandi did the car scene where they discussed their lives. I felt confident in their performance, yet I always tell myself I can bring out more. The guys, Andrew and Brendan are not scheduled today so they're missing out on a good shooting day. We also shot the "passion scene" which everyone enjoyed!There was a certain truth in the moment. The heat was literally on!
We continued the scene after lunch. Everyones Resonance was high, so we manage to shoot other scenes with the girls. We're still behind schedule, but for once I don't care. I'll let the producer deal with it while I focus on the aesthetics of film making. I had a great day and I'm happy!
SHOOT DAY 4
Continued blue skies give me peace of mind. We shot the "discovery scene". Andrew scared the hell out of me! I think he scared Anton too! After the scene, I'm glad to learn of the extra finance that was sponsored, and shared my excitement with my cast and crew during lunch!
Resonance was sky high once again. Now all I have to do is make a good movie. Although the pressure was on, I felt about the outcome. Performances were powerful today, yet I still feel I can get more from the actors. Why stop when theres plenty more mountain above! Today was also a fun day. I hope that the level of fun and creativity will continue to be woven through my life's work. Ive discovered the joys of a 'happy' set, despite the occasional complaint about what the cast and crew don't have!
SHOOT DAY 5
Today was shit to say the least! We only had moments of sun. We rolled on a few shots that I was at least happy with despite the low resonance of the cast after certain complaints regarding catering! I decided to take full responsibility and had the menu changed! Being co-producer and director really sucked today!
After a better lunch, we rehearsed the action scene that we couldn't shoot. The FX make-up artist was only available for today so she did not get to do what she came to do! She coached the cast and crew how to apply the Fx blood etc... Apologizing to her for the inclement weather seemed silly, however I couldn't resist! She was very cool about it and happy to coach us all.
We called it a day by 4pm. I went home feeling optimistic for the next day as at least we got the action scene blocked, so tomorrow we could show up and shoot it! Well thats the optimist plan! The actors know what they need to be ready for tomorrow so we all feel confident. I realize that having humility during the film making process comes in handy, especially when waiting on the sun!
SHOOT DAY 6
The morning was filled with sunshine and so were the cast and crew! Lyndsay and Andrew brought an intensity to the scene where he takes control of her. I was really pleased with Antons input when it came to camera movement. Everybody seemed to feel happy about what they were doing, and even I believed that maybe directing isn't so painful! We all seemed to be 'bonding' despite the afternoon haze stealing the blue sky away from us! Our Gaffer, Shaun's persistence in the past week to play Floyd's "Goodbye blue sky" between setups, finally got his way, which helped us lighten up and eventually, so did the weather!
SHOOT DAY 7
Todays scene with Andrew and Brendan didn't happen! The weather was lousy...and so were we. We waited in 'the middle of nowhere' - our set, which had been like home for 5 days. We sat in the car talking about the future. At 10:30am we called it quits. We relented to the greyness, and headed home with grey hearts! Not a single shot in the can, not a single moment of 'movie magic'. However, my positive nature reminded me of tomorrow - "Lets be optimistic - It will clear!", was not working for me today, but I knew that tomorrow it would work! I was later told that "Screenplay", an entertainment show on TV, was visiting the set tomorrow and I hoped the sun would show up too!
SHOOT DAY 8
Today was day one of our extra days granted by the other producers. My wishes for clear blue sky came true! This morning we completed the scenes we were supposed to do yesterday. Brendan and Andrew were accommodating in trying the scene a few different ways as I wasn't certain what I was after. In the end they gave me what I wanted, despite rolling out of film and having to reload during a key point in the scene! "Screenplay" was arriving after 2pm, so lunch was exciting for everyone.
To add to the excitement, we are shooting the final scene of the film - the last scene of the entire shoot! I'm really concerned about the realism of the scene as this would make or break the film. When "Screenplay" arrived, everyone seemed to work better together and faster... I wonder why!!? We began with Lyndsay and Andrews fight scene. Feedback from everyone seemed positive and I was very pleased with the actors performance.
We set up Thandie's reverse shot. She took a moment to prepare which was very inspiring to witness, and then her performance blew me away...it was awesome! Everybody felt the same way so my feelings were justified! Its very exciting to witness an actor like Thandie 'switch on' after "action" and then 'switch off' after "cut". I was pleased, yet as the sun lowered, we panicked to finish the shot as we all knew that this was 'thee' moment for this scene, and we couldn't recreate this tomorrow! Nobody wanted another day. This was it!
We wrapped at sunset, our longest and for me, our most productive,creative and inspiring fun day of the shoot! We all hung around the location for a while, drinking and eating potato chips - our own little 'wrap party', as if it were a day that we wanted to hold onto!
POST PRODUCTION
A friend of mine who works at the post house, completed the film grade (color correction) once the film was processed. I sit with Anton in the Grading room and watch the dailies. Were doing the grade and while watching dailies together to save time. We are both relieved and excited about our footage. It all was perfectly exposed and Ian, the Telecine operator did a great job!
Today I entrusted my film to my editor Charmaine. As a director, I had to let go of 'my baby', so I briefed Charmaine, and left feeling confident that she'll do a great job! A few days later, I saw the 'first chunk cut'. There were moments in it that really worked and was powerful. Otherwise it was okay. A few days later, Charmaine unlocked the edit suite and let me in to her world where I saw the 2nd cut which I felt was too fast., although I did not watch the entire film. My friend Ryan saw it too and he wasn't too responsive either!
I left and returned a week later, convinced I'd prove to myself that I didn't make crap! Charmaine played the final cut and I was very pleased! I wish I had made it longer, running only over 6 minutes! It felt strange since all that work for such a short film. I really understand how much work it must take to complete a feature film!
That same day, I took a copy of my completed film to my film music composer, (the late)Siva Divar. I always feel calm, collected and inspired in his presence (and will miss him). His willingness to help is endless. He shares a lot of his insight on how the soundtrack should sound, going through each scene with me. I'm excited to hear the final result and leave with a sense of gratitude.
I call Siva to find out how the music score is coming along. Its been 2 weeks since I left him to work his magic. He explained how he had been delayed due to the passing of his father, yet he assured me he would meet the deadline set by my investors.
A few days later, Siva calls me to arrange a meeting.I cant wait to hear the soundtrack to my film! Eventually the day arrives to meet Siva and the music fits beautifully. He really captured the essence with his music and I understood his vision. I'm pleased to hear that we are mixing the music at Siva's friends studio. I like working in a homely environment. I express to Siva my insecurity about the quality of my film. He said he thought of it as a professional film which was flattering coming from a man who has scored many films and TV shows.
Later in the week I attend the sound mix with Siva. I'm very excited, and it felt great to relax and watch them work. I believe that to reach your own creative potential one has to step away from your work when collaborating and allow them to inject their creative energy to the project. Having the composer at the mix really gave me a different perspective, because he could ensure that the placing and timing of the music is where he intended it to be. The sound mixer noted that the 'wild track' and dialogue tracks needed work, and I was grateful that he took the time to tweak it.
After picking up the duplications, I sent a copy to one of my investors.
A week later I get a call saying how pleased they were with the end product!
I'm obviously happy because I now know I can direct!
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