A few tips for aspiring filmmakers :)
 

I’m a filmmaker… I guess it’s official since I wrote and directed my first short film about five months ago. I am not a part of some elaborate film school or involved in a secret underground filmmakers society. I’m just a guy with a camera and a passion to create art! I am NO EXPERT. With that said, I’ve got a few tips for people wanting to get started in the boundless world of digital film.

Problem: Nobody wants to be in your film… ESPECIALLY if it’s your first film.

My Solution: There are a couple of things you can do to convince people to be in your film. First, you have to be overflowing with professionalism, have genuine passion for making a movie, and most importantly…. Have a decent camera. I bought a Cannon XL2 for about $2,500 (lens, batteries, and a bag included). I love the Cannon XL2 because it gives you access to manual controls, and it looks AWESOME in the field. When people see this huge 10-13 pound camera they know you mean business. (+ 5 in professionalism) The Second thing you can do to get people interested in making a film with you is to have lots of BEER! That’s right, lucky for me all my friends are alcoholics and will do just about anything as long as it’s fun and there’s beer. (note: If I'm getting paid to do a job, I NEVER EVER bring alchohol!!! NEVER EVER!! However, If it's a project your doing on your own, I believe it's ok. But, If you've got a tricky shot scheduled, then DO NOT drink!)
My first film called “Chasing Ghosts” was filmed at my house with about five or six friends and two cases of Keystone. The third thing to remember while trying to get your first film made (or any film for that matter) is to make sure everyone is having fun. If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing! In my opinion the best footage I captured while filming my first short film, was the out takes!

Problem: Nobody will EVER care about your project as much as you do.

My Solution: Seriously folks, if you take only one thing away with you from this post, take this bit of info!! Your wife, girlfriend, mother, father, and even GOD do not care about your film as much as you do. Making a film is really hard work, especially if you’re unorganized and lazy by nature. Unfortunately, you’re pretty much on your own when it comes to putting things together. I’ve been lucky enough to have an individual that has creative ideas and is ALWAYS DOWN for the next project. However, even a hard-core friend\partner like him has a really hard time organizing his own life and tends to put the whole making a movie thing on the back burner. So, if you really want to make a movie be prepared to do everything yourself.

Problem: Nobody cares about your ideas and\or vision.

My Solution: In order to create your film the way you envision it, you have to convince people to do it your way, but, make them think it was they’re idea. If you’re a millionaire director living in Hollywood with thousands of projects under your belt then your excluded from this method of getting things done. I know, it sounds like manipulation, and it is. BUT, it’s positive manipulation!! Everyone wants to have input, and creative control over his or her characters. But, sometimes it’s necessary for the director to do some positive manipulation to help the talent see things in a different light.

Problem: Talented actors do not want to work with you.

My Solution: WHO CARES! There are so many talented people in this world and chances are, the talented people you so desperately need for your film are living in\around your neighborhood, or hanging out in your click of friends! When I wrote “Chasing Ghosts” I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to find professional actors. However, I was not willing to sacrifice the quality of the film based on that fact! I ended up asking one of my close friends to take the lead role, based simply on the fact that he had the natural fire and enthusiasm required for the character “in real life”. After the film was completed and I posted it on my myspace page he was immediately recognized as a very talented actor by the people viewing the movie! He took all the compliments and transformed them into a raging ball of excitement for the next film!

This post is getting really long… but there is sooo much more I’d like to share with you! If you’ve made it this far in the post then I’d like to give you a link to my movie on myspace! The film is a little cheesy, but that’s what I was going for. It’s a B&W horror flick!
Post a comment whether it’s negative or positive as long as it’s tasteful and constructive. Here’s the link http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...deoid=16218204

I watched your video chasing ghosts and liked it.

Regarding all your points, I would say if you have money to spend, you can hire good actors who will work with you regardless of your talent or experience. There are tons of theatre performing actors who are very talented who would jump at a shot at a leading role if they like the script, so I disagree with a few of your points. What you will find though is them telling you how to do your job if they know you are inexperienced.

A few good tips
 

Well, everything I've done is DIY! I haven't got any financial backers or a wealthy family. Hiring anyone is pretty much out of the question at this point. However, if I did have a little money to spend I would definitely hire real actors :)

A FEW SECRETS:

There's one thing I'd like to touch on... For filmmakers looking to build their own equipment I highly suggest you look at http://www.dvcamerarigs.com
I've built some extremely high quality rigs for under $100 with this book! And for people that composite with AE; check out www.videocopilot.net awesome tutorials and DVD's you can purchase. OK, so there are a few secrets. lol anyone else have any?

Unless you're a strictly auteur director, making a film is a group effort. You can have one central vision, but unless you have an expansive budget and resources you must learn to give up your "pie-in-the-sky" version of the film that plays on the front of your forehead and make it a collaborative effort. An actor may not be able to play that elusive, complex character you have in your mind but he/she can add his or her own complexities to the character by drawing on personal experience, etc. The manipulation you speak of is not manipulation but rather collaboration, with someone willing to listen to your ideas and adapt to them. Budget filmmaking is all about compromises.

I absolutely agree! I'm not saying I do it ALL myself. I have a group of extremely talented individuals that are more than happy to help out. However, the purpose of my original post was to illustrate how difficult it can be to make that first short film. Allot of people on this forum haven't been able to take the first step toward making a film. When you’re just a "guy\girl with a camera" it can be hard to tell where the first step is! My opinion regarding filmmaking, like many art forms, is that it's important to discuss pitfalls and potential hazards with others so that they can avoid making similar mistakes. If a first time director is lucky enough to acquire a professional DP or other related artist for a film then I say congratulations!! But for people like myself, reality can be a bit harsher to us :) My suggestion to is to revaluate your possible resources. You may run across someone with a passion for still photography and mention the possibility of cinematography to him or her... who knows! Everyone disserves respect, honesty, and credit for his\her craft.

Justin, I couldn`t agree more with your points (aside the beer since i don`t drink and it can make people not do their job right). People don`t want to help the inexperienced, even if they have no experience themselves. I am working on my first set of 3 shorts, yea its ambitious, but its what I am doing. I have had countless people respond to my craigslist ads that 1. state there is no monetary compensation and 2. state it is a no budget project, and ask for money whether or not they have any relevant experience what-so-ever. For me thats a clear sign they aren`t worth my time either because they care more about cash than they would about the project no matter what it was.
I am like you, doing about everything myself. I finally decided to get into filmmaking after dreaming for many years, and its been a harsh reality to face. Your right, no one cares...about the project, the goal, helping you. Maybe not %100, but very close. It sucks but its reality. Your project will be yours, you will love it like a child but you can`t expect anyone else to. When you have something to show, then you can sway people easier to get involved because it reflects your devotion and hard working nature. Only then will you start earning respect.
I did something most are afraid of, not sure how it`ll pan out, but its paving the road towards my goal so I did it anyway. I bought my own equipment. I`m in the hole many months of debt for this to happen, but I have a plan and a goal so its not scary at all. Thats the first thing anyone should do, make a plan. I will be buying a new editing machine this month as well to edit in HD just incase I can output it in HD in the future, as well as do other video work to support the habit. Back on topic, the reason I bought my own equipment was the same, no one would care to help out, bring equipment, etc. Asking an amatuer to bring their own equipment is like asking child to hold a business conference. It just out of %99 of the populations means. So instead of working on the "maybe you can borrow or rent" which translates to "work on other peoples schedules for your project or pay half the price of a camera to rent it out and then not own it in the end", I just took the plunge and pay it back slowly week by week along with car insurance, school loans, etc. If you have good credit you can find ones with 1 year no interest so you can use that and pay off as much as possible before the year is over, and if not then you get hit with intrest on whatever is left. So have a plan!
And yea, I am self funding everything I do, so to shell money for actors etc...not gonna happen.
Thats all i have time for right now. Its stressful and wonderful at the same time, just never go in thinking 'this'll be easy'.

I don't really agree on that point, people don't know who you are and so there is always the possibility that your film may be the next blair witch, on the first film we ever made we got this guy http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1316819/ , only thing is since it was our first film we screwed it up but im sure if we went back to him now after all these years gaining the experience he would still work with us.

one thing iv learned in filmmaking is never say never

Andy.

Wow Nathan! I really hope everything goes well for you! My first love was music... I've been a musician since I was 14 years old (I'm 25 now). I've been in a few bands through out the years. But, one day I decided that Film was a creative medium that I'd always wanted to explore.... SO, I cleaned out the savings account. I bought a $4,000 Alienware PC to edit (and play Half-life 2 ) $2,500 on a Cannon XL2, $1000 for tripod, extra mics, ect. and $40 on my Killer Rigs book from dvcamerarigs.com. Allot of people called me an IDIOT including family members, friends, and coworkers. When I bought all that stuff I'd never even touched a camera before! But, I knew that I could pull it off if I put my mind to it! A year later.... my camera has paid for EVERYTHING, then some! Dropping all that money is scary, but that's what sets us artists apart from normal people :) Good luck on your filmmaking career!


That's pretty cool Andy! However, the problem with guys like "that" are that they cost money lol! I'm currently in no position to pay anyone. The only hope for poor people like me to get "that" guy to act in my film is to somehow get "that" guy to read one of my scripts! If after reading the script he thinks it's worth his time to take the lead role then, YAY FOR ME! But, unless you want to back my next short film..... Looks like I'll be scouring the theater dept. at the local college :)

Hey Justin,

I just watched "Chasing Ghosts". I liked the look, you got some nice shots there.

My main piece of advice would be that, if you're going to ADR all the dialogue, you need to pay more attention to the soundscape. Yes, you've got some background atmos and key sound effects like the lighter clicking or the punch. But there are big holes in the soundscape, subtle sounds like the sound of the shirt being balled up and tossed aside, footsteps, the guy sliding down the wall, etc.

These are things that it doesn't take a big budget to include, just a bit of extra time. And you'd be surprised at how a well thought-out soundscape will lift your film from a low-budget indie feel to something more professional.

In regards to other stuff in the thread, I've also taken the plunge into buying my own kit. Big difference would be that I've been a working cameraman (using other people's gear) for twenty years, so it wasn't so hard to justify the expense ;-) After shooting news for a long time, I just got into the filmmaking side of things five or six years ago.

I'm currently nearing completion of shooting on my first no/low budget feature. We've been filming for about five months, on weekends and working around the availability of actors. I've been lucky in that I've been able to get the services of some of the best-regarded local actors, without pay, as they like the script, have seen some of my short work and feel that they'll get something worthwhile for their showreel from it.

The drawback has been that because these guys are well-known locally, and I'm not paying them, I've had to "share" them with other film and theatrical productions, especially if a paying gig is offered to them. That's added a substantial amount of time to the shooting schedule.

Anyway, if you want to check our progress, or watch some of my shorts, you can see it all here:

http://www.caliburnproductions.com

For those wondering about the technical side of things for the feature:

Camera: JVC HD101E at 720p at 25fps
Lighting Kit: 3 x 800w redheads, 2 x 150w Dedolights, 1 x 150w Prolight, 1 x 800w Totalight, 3 x Single Channel Dimmers, plus a couple of 5-in-1 flexifills.
Sound: Rode NTG-2 mic, 15' Rode boom pole, SignVideo ENG-44 field mixer

Plus a dolly, 12' jib and a few other bits and pieces. Everything is mine except for the Dedos and the dolly, but I should be adding them to my kit by the end of the year :-)

Cheers
Pat

lol, i have enough trouble funding my own fims. we got that guy for nothing, its a shame that movie didn't work out....we decided early on to only make feature length films which i supose is just asking to screw up, but its a baptism by fire .....you learn a lot on a feature production. If you saw our first feature Roslyn you would laugh, its all unorginised footage that doesnt fit well with whole scenes shot from one angle! yours is a much better first attempt however as you saw in my promo we adapt ......E ching and all that stuff Jamie fox said in collateral.

By the way that guy was a bit of a hand full, he chased some highland cows with a prop gun and later wanted to put the prop gun on the counter of a shop to see what the girl would do!.....he was a really nice guy though and a good actor but he was wild.

Cheers
Andy.

Don't take this the wrong way, but the current machine I'm editing on just barely broke $500. I built it from scratch, buying all the parts (motherboard, CPU, memory, case with power supply, a 500 gig drive, and DVD write drive), plus a copy of Windows XP. It's as plain-jane looking a system as you'll ever see, but it runs Premiere just fine. I can't see dropping $4K on a PC-based editing system unless it has some hi-end capture cards like a Matrox system.

I admit I'm exceptionally thrifty when it comes to spending my money. Edit time is spent looking at footage over and over, moving it around, etc., where the computer's running at only a fraction of its capacity. If my final render takes, say, thirty minutes instead of twenty, I think the savings of $3500 is worth it.

I should qualify this as saying I got my start in digital video editing using Mac Quadra 950's, where we'd start the render on a half-hour video as we were leaving the building for the night, and come in the next morning as it was finishing up.

I dropped the most money on the XL2 because if you can't get the quality on the tape to begin with, you can't fake it in post.

Regards;
Martin

I spent £4500 ($9298) on my editing system and its the best money iv ever spent, its a quadcore apple G5 with two 20"monitors 2gbRAM and 1.2 terabyte storage. I had a built PC and it crashed all the time and eventually packed in which led to me editing a whole feature twice.

The phrase you get what you pay for is true in this case.

Andy.

Make no mistake: if I had gigabucks to spend on an editing system, I would. I have a limited budget, and for the moment everything comes out of my pocket. If I was doing this as a business, then I could write it all off.

I can afford to wait a few extra minutes for renders and compiles -- the time is free.

The system I built was specifically for editing. It has none of the other crap that comes loaded on a pre-built system (one of the benefits of using an OEM system disk). There are no extra device drivers or hardware to cause conflicts or compete for resources. The only add-in card is a 1394 card for downloading video. Clean system, clean performance. All for $500 USD. There's a lot to be said for doing surgery with a scalpel, rather than a swiss army knife.

Regards;
Martin

BTW, excellent choice in hardware.

Martin

yes, but can you play Half-Life 2 fully maxed out? I didn't think so :) I bought the best stuff I could find so I could focus on what’s really important... creating art. Didn't want to worry about upgrading, or messing with the system configuration. I just wanted to be able to shoot, and edit without any problems.

Wow! You've got some great stuff! The stills from you current project "Dark Souls" illustrates beautiful DOF! I liked "Secret Society" too. Secret Society looks like it was filmed at a higher fps; was it filmed at 60fps?

Well, your right. I shot, edited, scored, and completed all ADR in one weekend on "Chasing Ghosts". Production time: 7 hours \ Post-Production: 12 hours. I realize that half the stuff that's wrong with my film could have EASLY been avoided had I spent the time to polish it.

Here are a few things that bother me about my short film:

1. That venetian blind effect I get when there's allot of movement. I originally thought it was because of dirty heads, but, I was corrected... the footage needs to be deinterlaced.

2. The clips could be trimmed a bit. Too much time between character reactions, and dialogue.

3. The folly, and overall soundscape has slight gaps.

4. Some of the mindless profanity in the dialogue could have been reduced. (It’s hard to brag and gloat to family members when your face is red. Grandmas don't appreciate that kind of language :)

I could go for miles........ The point is, I'm thrilled to make all these mistakes! I shot this film a breakneck speed because I was excited about the finished product. I've learned.

i feel like we`re the seedy underbelly of film haha, all biting and scratching to do what we love. Fun no? Yea it took alot for me to finally take the plunge, it was with the momentum of myself and 2 others who agreed to get in this together... one dropped out shortly after I spent all the money :\ Fool. So its me and my friend david who has the passion i do, just not the technical know how, so i do about everything with editing, planning shot, etc. I`m still learning the basics of framing and such but hey, we all start somewhere. I never learned much in school, self taught in most stuff so its an uphill battle that i`m willing to wage. The Hollywood Camerawork DVD set was a good starting point, though I keep dialogue to a minimum right now...it taught me the basics of angles etc, combine with just seeing when things look bad, i think i`ll do ok for the time being. You can see a little of what i`m working on here
www.myspace.com/naqproductions
Yea, I`m not even cool enough to have a webpage yet.

and yea man, I feel your pain, everyone thought I was crazy buying equipment....same as when I first flew across the world over 3 and a half years ago to visit my now girlfriend...everyone thought i was a moron, idiot, foolish, etc....they don`t know me or my dedication :P Don`t ever let others embed their doubts in you....if you want it....go for it!

I understand what you are saying Justin, but what do you mean by "real" actors? You don't need financial backers or a wealthy family to get "real" actors in a short film. You just need a job. If you can save $200 over the period of a month, you can get real actors.

I helped a friend on a shoot a few weeks ago and he had one "real" actor on set. This guy isn't a big star like George Clooney but he had some real acting experience with around 10+ film credits including some in television. The guy shined through and he carried the entire scene. I think in the end he was paid less than $200.

I've seen other actors on set who are also excellent, getting paid around $50 for the day. I'm not talking big name actors, I'm talking your standard theatre background, love to act and want to do it for a living local wannabe actors who have been in more than 10+ local productions, have been through some acting training, have read up on it, have a film presence, and are trying to make a name for themselves. I'm talking actors who take a script and make it really shine with their deliveries that I would jump at paying $50 or even $100 to just to have work on a project of mine. And a lot of them are willing to do it because there just aren't any paying gigs going on locally.

My point is if you are willing to pay a little money, you can get good actors and build your reel from no experience.

And I think spending $4k-$5k on an editing machine is not a good idea if you are just starting out. You can get a good machine for $500 or even $1000 that will work fine.

People are always saying put your money in front of the camera where it counts, where you can improve your overall film. I think getting better actors is a part of that. I say by all means try to find actors who will do it for free. It's done all the time. But if you have the money, if you have $200, try out some more experienced actors mixed in with some free actors. You'll have a much better production. They make you look better as a director and in the end it's an investment well worth it, at least from what I've seen.

Adding IMDB listed actors also improves your chances of getting your film added to the IMDB, even if it's a short film with no distribution deal, I've seen it done. Overall this is smart because whenever you try to recruit actors, talk to distributors, talk to investors or rep your filmco in the future, they will ask what you've done and you can tell them to checkout your IMDB page and they trust that site. They then click on the actors you've worked with and see they've been in 10+ films and suddenly they trust you more, knowing you've worked with some better known actors and you build a good reputation.

Like the guy above who said he got that one IMDB actor. I bet everyone in the thread rushed to click to see who he was, then he mentioned he got him for free. Imagine 20+ actors like that in your city, fairly good who would do it for $100 because they are free that weekend. Are you telling me you wouldn't pay $100 for better acting?

Big Hollywood productions pay MILLIONS for great actors. Like in "Training Day", I honestly don't recall who directed that film. I could care less who directed it because it was an excellent film and Denzel carried it. Hell I could have directed that film and people would have still said it was great.

Now put some free actor in that role and hand me the camera and suddenly you have a film that nobody cares about. My point being, in many cases the actors are what make the directors famous. Not the directing. In many cases it is also the great script, I won't deny that, but it's the acting!

The way actors see it in my opinion is it's all about breaking even. If they have nothing planned that weekend and you are willing to cover the cost of gas and maybe a night out that night, roughly $50, and they can get some practice with their acting and add to their reel, why not?

But when you say $0 pay, suddenly they are having to cover gas out and their is no added incentive besides adding to their reel. And since most actors also work during the week at a regular job, spending their weekend on set with a unknown director is questionable.

If you are just starting out, you may have to even pay more. $300 for that same actor that did it for $200 elsewhere. Is it worth it? It depends on how good your free actor is.

Any good actor, especially an actor with TV/film experience, is a member of SAG. SAG carries with it strict requirements for pay. It even stipulates how far an actor/actress is allowed to drive to the gig. If an actor is caught violating these terms there can be severe penalties. So when you hire any "good" actor that is supposedly a member of SAG you are bringing with him/her a whole set of guidelines and rules you must follow. $50 for a day is not a SAG actor. A good actor that is not a SAG actor is a diamond-in-the-rough.

And IMHO theater actors are worse than non-actors in terms of acting for film. Aside from already conquering the fear of acting most people have, they carry no advantage. They constantly overact; don't blame them, it's theater training. Teaching them to downsize their actions for the camera means telling them to forget everything they ever learned about acting for stage. They are two completely different beasts.

Watch "The Lifeguard" on my website and you may see what I mean. How did we get the main character, who is theater-trained, to play for the camera? Simple: we gave him only two lines in the whole 16-minute shindig.

I guess the moral is, somewhat like Anthony is saying, you want enthusiastic actors that trust your understanding of the script material and are willing to trust you 100%; otherwise, they start monitoring their own performance, and that's when you can see an actor acting; never a good thing.

Some of that is a matter of location, though. Where we live, there really are a lot of talented people with some local credits/television commercials/extra parts, etc. that are willing to work for very little money (and I've had several very talented local people work with me for no upfront money).

I would assume the number of such people is significantly lower in a much smaller city like Tyler, though.

But $100 a day is under the lowest budget contract.

It's a pain to become a SAG signatory, though.

I don't know about other cities, but here in Dallas there really are a good many people with low-budget experience who really can act who haven't yet had the opportunity to join SAG (even much of the TV commercial work here is non-union, so they can't even qualify for membership through their commercial work).

And there are SAG actors I know who couldn't act their way out of a paper bag (since one can get a SAG card through extra work or having a single line in a SAG production, it's no guarantee that a person with a SAG card is a talented, quality actor).

There's also the fact that bad scripts can make the best actor seem like a poor one, and bad or no direction can hamper a performance.

"Any good actor, especially an actor with TV/film experience, is a member of SAG."

Not true at all. There are plenty out there that don`t like the confinements and control SAG has over them. There are those that love local art/film more than the "SAG" name. There are those who can`t afford to pay for the SAG membership. Nothing in this world is absolute. And as stated above, holding a SAG card doesn`t make you a skilled actor.

There are some good points in here to be had, yea if you can afford to pay even a little your bound to get more interested people, but again, doesn`t guarantee good actors. Its really all a matter of finding the right person for a role. Sometimes you have to settle if your broke, other times it pays to hold out even if you can`t afford to pay. I also had one IMDB person on my first short

http://imdb.com/name/nm2440492/

She did it because we met on another film (I was doing featured extra work). Later on a friend referred her to me for a role we were trying to film. She does all horror, and the role I had was more drama based. She saw it as a chance to do something outside her norm. So its all about networking, finding people that fit the role, and finding ones intrested. It doesn`t always work out like that either...same film smaller role I thought I casted the right guy for it because he looked the part and said he had acted before, but when he showed (it was a last minute casting with no audition) it was like pulling teeth trying to get simple actions out of him. So you win some, lose some. But to say you need to pay is only a half truth as it can go either way.

I just realized the friend who referred Sarah is also now listed on IMDB and was the main actor of my first short. We were friends for a few months and wrote the short together.
http://imdb.com/name/nm2753495/

Well put Nathan! I see these forums as a way to network with other filmmakers. I've learned so much from the great people on this forum and I hope that a few can learn from me :) However, Like Ryan said..

It's VERY VERY true! Tyler, TX is not a place were actors like to hang out! lol But, I don't mind a bit... It just makes my job that much more challenging and exciting!

Maybe someone will put a comment saying "Hey Justin! I live like 20 minutes from Tyler! lets work together!" ... until that day comes, I'll keep my eyes open for rare oppritunitunities!

can I interject
 

You are relatively close to Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth, and there are acting schools in those cities filled with talented people who are hungry and will work for nothing. My first short film, I had a casting call and about 30 people showed up, and I am a complete nobody. I ended up with a wonderful cast and a solid script that I completely misdirected and ended up with a crappy film that could have been good. Suprisingly enough, when I had my second casting call, those same actors auditioned again. The world is filled with hungry people...

There are hundreds of good, professional shorts made every year where nobody gets paid - except for free catering. The point is you need to give the actors a perspective. If they think they will be able to add your short to their portfolio, they will gladly work for free.
For example a guy I know made a short and he was able to pull some strings (he was working at Arri at the time...guess that helped...but it was his first film never the less). He got some super16 film stock for free, got a good price on the camera rental (almost for free, as he rented from his employer...). As soon as he had a good story and the super16 camera, people were lining up to work for him. He got a good cameraman, who brought an assistant, they knew some gaffer, and so on. When he started to audition actors, they were also lining up - he even got one professional tv actor who is a regular (small role, but regular) on very popular German tv show.