This article deals with professional development for
filmmakers: activities that will add value to your employability and
effectiveness as a director.
Find a
good 1st AD, build a solid working relationship and learn as much as you can
Low-budget independent filmmaking is famously tiring and
stressful, but it wouldn’t be so ridiculously exhausting if filmmakers hired an
experienced 1st Assistant Director. Some do, but many don’t, especially if it
is the director’s first project. (On my early projects I didn’t have a 1st AD
and consequently the shoots were vastly more tiring than they had to be.)
Put simply, the 1st AD takes responsibility for a number of
non-creative, mentally and physically exhausting, absolutely essential tasks
before and during a shoot. These tasks include scheduling the shoot on the
basis of the director’s shot list and handling the minute-by-minute direction
of crew members during the shoot so that the director can focus on purely
creative responsibilities.
Hence the director focuses on realizing the vision developed
in pre-production and the 1st AD ensures that the schedule is followed and that
the inevitable difficulties are resolved in the best possible manner.
The 1st ADs I have known were also very creative and
formidably intelligent people, truly worth their weight in gold. I truly love
and admire 1st ADs – can you tell? :-)
Relevance
to professional development: you should befriend an
experienced and sought-after 1st AD and learn as much as you can by watching
him or her work on a set.
You get to know one in the first place by putting out a call
for 1st ADs for a project you are preparing; you then work together on that
first project and the working relationship begins.
The better you communicate and the more impressive your reel
is, the more 1st ADs will want to work with you and the more choice you will
have.
What’s in it for them? It’s simple: on many paid gigs the
director gets to choose the 1st AD, so having a good working relationship with
directors is important for 1st ADs who want to keep working. This is why they
are so willing to help young directors who show potential: they are investing
for the future, because the directors with whom they are currently working
won’t all last forever. Many directors suddenly stop being in demand, even
after long and successful careers, but if you were after job security, you
probably wouldn’t be reading this website ;-)
After that first project is in the can, keep observing the
1st AD on as many projects as possible. Observe them, learn what they do and
develop your way of working with them in the most effective way.
If you don’t have much experience this might all sound
arcane, but trust me: a good 1st AD will make a huge, huge difference. Every
general needs a solid chief of staff.
Production
design: sharpen your taste
You will hire a talented Production Designer, I hope, but
you need to learn how to communicate with one – how to explain what you want
and, just as importantly, how to know what you want in the first place.
The only way to achieve this is to look at a lot of art and
interior design and figure out what you like and what you don’t. You will
become more discerning the more art your browse, and your design-related
vocabulary will also grow.
You will notice that I am not prescribing a specific
aesthetic school here. The point is to look at a lot of art and develop your
own taste, whatever form it takes. A strong visual signature is one of the ways
in which a filmmaker can build a brand and stand out from the crowd – a skill
that is all the more important for TV commercial directors.
The Decorista.com is a great start; I found that website
during one of my research sessions and it will train your eye pretty well (but
do check out as many different design resources as you can).
Sharpening your design acumen is fun and productive –
probably the most relaxing activity in developing as a filmmaker. Enjoy.
Working
with music composers
When the time comes to score your project, the music
composer – if you are working with a pro – will ask you where you want each cue
to start and end. A “cue” is simply a piece of music, and in films it usually
overlaps with dialogue and action. You will be asked this question a lot, so
prepare yourself mentally and do your homework.
For best results you should also be able to ask for specific
instruments, occasionally. You might say something like “I think this part
needs a darker color – can we replace the oboe with the flute?”
Professional composers won’t mind – it is film music they
are composing, after all, and they expect to be directed. I think I love
composers as much as I love 1st ADs! ;-)
The point here is that to make the most of your composer,
you need to have a clear idea of what you want and plenty of music listening
experience – you don’t have to be an instrumentalist, but you should know the
options available (as in the example above – the flute sounding darker than the
oboe, which is bright and smooth).
As with production design, this comes down to developing
good taste, and only constant exposure and thought will get you there.
Stop
reading camera reviews so obsessively
I know that many aspiring filmmakers have a camera review
addiction that is totally out of control, and the more new gear is released by
the manufacturers, the worse it gets. If cameras and gadgetry are a separate
hobby for you, fine, but don’t rationalize that you are doing legitimate
filmmaking-related research: you are not. By obsessing over all the shiny new
toys you are simply indulging your gear lust and getting a cheap shot of
dopamine while your more strategic peers are making real progress in their
skills.
Let me tell you this: human
motivation and patience are finite. Some have more than others, but
eventually everyone runs out of steam if the desired goal is delayed long
enough. Your goal is to get to where you want to be before you run out of
steam. Therefore turn your back on the camera reviews, practise hard, learn
valuable skills, build that reel and make your dreams come true before you run
out of mental and emotional fuel. I say these things out of love. The
strategically minded among you – the wily foxes – will see this.
“But doesn’t a filmmaker need to know what the best cameras
are?” you might ask.
No, not in between projects – you have better things to do!
In between projects you work hard on your skills; when the
time comes to shoot your next project, you have a conversation with your
trusted DP that goes something like this:
DIRECTOR: Time to choose a camera. What’s good these days? I
haven’t been following because, you know, I was busy improving my skills.
DP: Very wise! Camera X produces a lovely texture but
underperforms at night. Camera Y has a huge dynamic range but isn’t as velvety.
Camera Z has lovely colors but is more difficult to work with.
DIRECTOR: Ok, can I see some samples?
DP: Sure. I shot this spot with camera X, this feature with
camera Y and this music video with camera Z. You should also check out the
comparative tests I shot.
DIRECTOR: I like the look of the camera X footage. That’s the
one.
DP: Cool.
End of conversation.
It’s usually even simpler than that: there is usually one
clear winner among serious movie cameras at any one time, and it only takes a
few minutes to identify it when the time comes (hint: not a year in advance).
Learn
to pitch: elevator pitch for feature films and conference call for TV
commercials
Can you describe and sell your film idea persuasively in 20
seconds? The more a person is able to help your career, the less time they have
to listen to you, so your pitch has to be as slick and convincing as a TV
commercial.
If you’re going to go down this route, obviously you will
need to practice; it’s like a performance.
20 seconds is actually a very long time for a high-powered
heavyweight to listen to an unknown filmmaker, so if your pitch is weak, you
will see their eyes wander. When they glance at their cell phone, you know
you’re toast.
Conference calls for TV commercials are a lot more fun,
especially if you are an extroverted type who loves to communicate – and if you
are not, you will have to work hard to improve in this area – professional
development!
Very briefly, during the conference call a short-listed TV
commercial director tells the ad agency creative at the other end how he/she
will direct the spot – it’s a pitch, but quite a detailed one, and far more
dignified for the director than a 20-second pitch directed at a bored exec. In
fact, it’s more like an interview, really. The ad agency then chooses one of
the 3-5 directors who were offered conference calls.
As with everything else in life, the more your practise
pitching, the better you will get.
Find
your favorite shots and figure out how they were done
If you’re a serious filmmaker, you can’t watch your favorite
films and passively enjoy the most impressive shots in an awed stupor, in total
ignorance of how they were set up. When you see a shot you love, you need to
figure out how it was executed: the focal length, the lighting, the camera
movement, the framing – everything you need to replicate it.
If you can’t figure it out, post a question with a link to
the shot (with timecode, please) and I will help you, as long as it is about
lenses, camera movement, framing, lighting and editing – I don’t know how they
made that CGI dinosaur do a backflip and have no desire to find out.
After frequent practice with your camcorder and shooting a
number of projects with proper movie lenses, your understanding of cinematic
visuals will sharpen and you will get better at inferring the focal length used
in a shot just by looking at it, which in turn will accelerate the rate at
which you learn new techniques from the films you watch.
I hope you found this useful. As always, keep me posted on
your progress!
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