Things I've Learned...

by Tiffany Sinclair

ON THE FILM MAKING SIDE:

Have a schedule and be sensible about it:

Should make sense, huh? Well, I've been in the unfortunate situation of working on sets without proper scheduling. It's a nightmare. Pre-prod is more than necessary.

Example one; no schedule.

Time is of the essence. If you are paying people, you cannot afford to waste time. If you are not paying people, you still cannot afford to waste time. Waiting until you get to the set to plan your shoot is a pit fall. Things rarely go perfectly as planned, and I find that a shoot is often in flux based on any of many things that can arise, but if you have no game plan, you can't adjust properly and still get the footage you need. Also, as a director, you are leading your cast. If you want them to be professional and on the ball etc, you need to be the same.

Example two; an insane schedule.

OK, don't get me wrong here. There will be many hectic long days. Indie film rarely has the luxury of taking a great deal of time for any one shot, set-up, or scene. One must still be reasonable about what they can shoot in a certain period of time. I have experienced this disaster first hand as well. There is no rule of thumb on how much time you need. By sensible, I mean not tying up an entire day for two pages of dialog. Especially when they only requires three static camera angles and when you have to shoot 9 more scenes in that same location by the next day. It also means not trying to shoot 40-50 pages a day with 15 actors, stunts, choreography, camera movement, several locations all with different set-ups and no crew. You get the point. You will kill your cast and crew and your film.

Better to NOT direct yourself in a role:

Yeah, I'm certainly guilty of this one. Granted, the circumstance was what it was. Do I recommend it? NO! It's painfully difficult if not impossible to wear both a director's hat and an actor's hat at the same time. One of the two will suffer if not both. There are probably some people out there that can, in fact, do both. At the very least, try it out with a small role first.

Shotgun Mics work best when used properly:

A high quality mic sitting on the floor aimed at the actor's feet and 20 feet away will not capture good sound. Don't blame the mic. While this seems like a silly thing to have to point out, I have been on sets where this was done. I have heard directors' frustrations over using a directional shotgun and defend that using the camera mic is far better. Its not better, its just easier. Easier on the set that is, but a possible nightmare in post. Don't blame the mic, just use it properly. Sound is very important and it should be worth the time to capture correctly and cleanly. So allow for proper set-ups in your scheduling. Yes, I went back to scheduling…

If you have a tried and true sound person, leave them alone and let them do their job. If you have a new person, or a friend listening to the sound, check it. In one case, I had person who simply turned up the output level on the headphones so that they could hear the sound. This did NOT mean that I was capturing a proper level. Lesson learned.

Lighting makes a difference:

Just because your camera is rated to capture in very low light does not mean that said footage will look good. If you want the scene to be dark, you still need to light it properly. You can always darken in post. However, if you try to lighten in post, you are apt to end up with a lot of grain.

I love gels for mood lighting. Be careful with too much red. It bleeds and can make the footage look soft focused.

Color balance your camera. Not everything can be tweaked in post.

Flat lighting can add to a home video look. Sometimes flat lighting is what you want. Simply put, don't rely on the existing lights in the room to be the correct lighting for the scene.

Back to scheduling...give yourself time to set lights properly.

Edit...and if you don't edit...edit: It can be, and often is, good to have someone else edit your film with an objective eye. However, I firmly believe that there is a lot to be learned as a director by editing. My directing mistakes become more than apparent to me when I try to edit them together. When I have had to fix my own problems, or other director's problems in post, the errors become glaring examples of what NOT to do or repeat...and thus, things that I remember the next time I'm shooting.

Be daring...cut your baby:

It can be very difficult to cut scenes down or out of your film entirely. Trust me, I know. I get attached to the footage. Regardless, it's necessary to remove things that don't move the story forward or work for the film. PRAEY could use a re-cut for this very reason. The overall pacing of the film is more important than keeping in a shot just because you love the shot. Or the scene just because you love the scene.

I have also been asked to drag out scenes as much as possible to try to meet a certain running time. Bad idea folks.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE:

Smoke and mirrors:

Film is a business and not everyone is your friend. Some are, and I have many film friends that I trust fully. However, it is wise to be cautious. It's easy to feel betrayed when someone doesn't do what he or she committed to doing. Realistically, though, few will be as true to your film as you (or your team) are. When you find good team members, hang on to them dearly. Just be aware that many other people will float in and out of your artistic life. A little caution can prevent a lot of problems.

Signing on the dotted line:

Read contracts closely before you sign them. If it's a financial contract, better yet, have a lawyer read it before you sign it. Have signed contracts from actors before you shoot. Have music releases for any song you don't own. Have location releases. Remember, not everyone is your best friend and film is a business. These things can bite you in the ass. Not to mention that a distributor will need all these forms before they will release a film.

Reasonable Return:

BLAIR WITCH was a rare combination of many circumstances falling into place at the right time. It is not reasonable to EXPECT, a six-figure buy out for your 2 grand DV film. I don't have this expectation myself. There are people who do. I still meet them often. Enough said.

Also, it doesn't matter how much you spend. If your film looks like it was shot for $500, you will not make back $50,000.

This is not to say that you can't shoot something that looks great on a really low budget and bring in some nice sales. Many people do. You still need to be honest with your expectations. If it's done poorly, it won't sell big. It doesn't matter how much money you spent. And yeah, again, the BLAIR WITCH thing...

Double Distribution Trouble: There are good honest distributors and not so honest distributors. Even the honest ones are not necessarily your best friends. (see SMOKE AND MIRRORS). They make money off of selling your movie.

If you are lucky enough to secure a distribution deal with an honest company, that's great. Here is the catch though. The distributor can only sell what they have. If the film doesn't sell a million copies, it's not necessarily the distributors fault. (see REASONABLE RETURN) If you sign with a cruddy distributor, then you learned your lesson. (see SIGNING ON THE DOTTED LINE).

THE YIN AND YANG OF IT ALL:

A controlled free fall:

Know what you want when you are directing, but be willing to adapt when necessary. Things will not always go as planned. Also, I've personally benefited from actors and crewmembers suggestions. The catch is being open to ideas, dealing with problems as they arise and modifying as needed, while still being the director and knowing what you need to make the film work. Hence, a controlled free fall.

The responsibility vortex:

It's a two way street people.

Long distance love affair:

It's ideal to give your best to whatever you are working on. However, if it's not your project, you have to know when your involvement is over. If someone else's film is going down the toilet, you really can't dive in after it. If it never gets finished, it's not your fault. You'll go nuts if you try to fix everything for everyone you have ever worked with. It's just impossible. I am finally learning to say 'no' to things I either don't have the time to do or simply can not do without jeopardizing my own creativity. No matter how much you love to make movies, you will never be able to shoot everyone's script and edit everyone's film, etc.

Listen up and tune out:

You only damage yourself when you refuse to learn or listen. Take advice, ask questions, and read up on things. A thoughtless choice is not creative. It's generally a mistake. However, when you have a certain vision and it doesn't match a textbook set up, well, ignore the book. It is your vision after all. There is a balance here. Remember that there is an art and a craft side to filmmaking. If you don't try things that fit your vision, you may lose a great shot, or sequence. You can always shoot a safe master just in case. If you don't learn how to do things well and correctly, though, you are bound to make mistakes. And if you edit, you will surely know what worked in the long run. (See, I snuck in the editing concept just one more time!)

Now, go make a movie!

---

Tiffany Sinclair is the founder of carSINogeniccandy (SINcandy)Productions currently based in Washington state. As a Writer/director, she's currently awaiting international distribution on her film PRAEY. She's performed other various duties, including, but not limited to: actress, DP, editor, production manager, and AD, for a wide variety of indie films over the past decade.

The Official Tiffany Sinclair Homepage
caSINogeniccandy Productions

---