Care to vent about the SOCIAL process of film making?
 

I'm just curious how many of you find yourselves in situations where people just don't know what they're doing? In my experience the whole process of creating good video/film is undercut by politics that can only be rivaled by Washington D.C.

At every shoot there is a subliminal system by which things are done. Obviously I'm not talking about the director. You have to respect a leader on any project and let him make his own mistakes or successes.

The thing that's frustrating to me is spending several days helping somebody make something that clearly isn't going anywhere past all of the participants' vcrs/dvd players.

What do you do about this? You buy all your own gear, including lights and sound, and then you write and direct your own films... You become DIRECTOR, SOUND MAN, DP, LIGHTING, CAMERAMAN... should I go on?

For those of you that have become part of a creative team that WORKS. Congratulations! I am SLOWLY building a team of guys and girls with mutual interests and devotion to quality... but Lord, has it taken a while!

It's kind of a bitch that our hobby is such a wash of egos that people can't simply collaborate on ideas and take realistic views of themselves and others so that the final product is simply the best it can be...

Not to throw a wet blanket on your topic Matt, but... back when I was just getting started, I've been on shoots where the crew had no idea what doing. And it was just a one-man crew. Me!

Alot depends on what you are doing. Somethings in lie are a group effort. Some things are. It is frustrating when you have a vision that you want to create and everybody involoved wants to add something to it. But is also isn't easy for the actors, director, dp etc. to just do exactly as they are told and add nothing to it. This is the joy and terror of working with creative people. There is no soloution except to find the right people for the right job.

Now if it is just a chain of command issue, God help you. I was a stage carpenter for awhile and the people there had no idea who was in charge. The set designer, director, tech director, producer kept makeing changes to the set without consulting each other. Oy! Run, run, run, run.

It drove me so crazy I quit the biz and went into Law. Nothing was worth a fate like that.

okay, I'll bite.
 

Well, there is not knowing what you're doing, and not knowing that you don't know what you're doing- and there is a world of difference between them.



Socially, my first project was a disaster. In the end, it cost me a friend of over twelve years- something I still don't completely understand.

I gathered the crew, recruited the cast, wrote the script, scheduled the shoot, paid for the food- and for some reason he thought he was going to be in charge. He tried to preempt me as director, a job for which I am hardly qualified to be sure, but it was MY gig, without me there would have been no gig at all. I know that probably sounds arrogant, but I didn't go to all the trouble of setting the whole thing up and making it happen just so I could be shoved to the sidelines on game day.

I don't envision myself as some sort of Napoleon on the set or anything, more like the first among equals; and keeping in the spirit of that, I made a mistake that day and comprimised, I let him make some of the decisions that I should have been making. The project suffered because of it. I guess I needed to get in touch with my inner amature, or something.


Afterward, my lead actor made it clear to me that he had signed up for MY project and not the other guy's. He said he wasn't going to do anything with us again unless I was calling the shots. He was really angry about the fact I let the other guy direct a scene- and he had a point, the scene was easily the worst in a movie full of bad scenes.
So much for democracy.


We had another power struggle a few days before we were set to shoot our next project. It ended with my 'pal' taking all his toys home and leaving me holding the bag. I had to call everybody and let them know we were on hiatus until I could put together a new kit.

That was roughly four months ago, my 'buddy' hasn't spoken to me since- or any of our other mutual friends of over ten years, either. Strangely enough, the common attitude within the cast and crew seems to be good riddence. I feel a little diffrently though, kind of sad and guilty, except for when I think about that final conversation ( which was so full of dishonesty I can hardly believe it) or when I think about that emabarrassing round of phone calls I had to make to the cast and crew three days before the shoot telling them it was off...

One thing I've learned from all this is that, regardless of how clear you are with people, not everybody feels compelled to live up to their promises, or to hold to agreements they have made.

Like Matt, I am now slowly in the process of building a group of people who care about quality and are willing to let someone else be in charge.

Ironically though this setback has only strengthened my reslove to make movies.

Hows that for venting?
MG

Hey, MG...I'm sorry to hear about your filmmaking troubles.

I've had similar situations. If I were you I would have a heart-to-heart next time with cast and crew. I know this sounds harsh on them, but I have had to do this to avoid issues during shooting. You need to literally say, "I am in charge - no matter what I say to do - you must do it." (regarding the film, not telling them to jump off a bridge - unless its a stuntman!)

It's weird, but people get really weird with power. There is a known chart that's been passed around Hollywood for 50 plus years...I'm sure its online somewhere. It lays out the chain of command on the film set. It's like a tree chart of sorts - it starts with producer, director...all those TOP people...and then the lower group like sound, lights, camera...and then the lower from them...etc. etc.

The chart has been used to make it clear on who is in-charge and where the final call is...period. If someone in sound says, "Hey, you should try this because it'll work better." and the director says, "no." That's it..end of story unless the director requests the sound guys input further.

If you didn't make it crystal clear to your friend that you were the director and he was not...then what happened makes sense. If you did and he acted that way - well, he's not a good team player. (Which means he'll never be a good director.)

It's funny, the saying is true...everyone wants to direct. However, I have found that almost no one in crews possess the skills to direct WELL. It's always their goal, but they can't even do their lower job right and gain the respect, so they can get others working for them later on.

I hope you work it all out. I'd contact your friend and explain your side...maybe he's thinking the same thing as you. What happened?!

Chris

For me the main problem is to Make everyone Feel like they are a real part of the Project... without making them feel like it is a Democracy... When in charge I´m very open to everyones opinions.. but the final call is mine...

I find very hard to get people like this.. I don´t care if they don´t know exactly what they are doing as long as they admit it before hand...

For me the problem is not that they don´t know what they are doing... but that they don´t accept it...

At least that happened to me with DOP students.. that came to the "set" and took 2 hours to light a single shot, that could have been done in 20 minutes... But If I rushed them.. then they´ll get mad.. because they wanted their MasterPIece... but didn´t know how to get there..
Then they blame the Equipment or the Director, etc...

I´ve also worked with directors that want the "perfect shot" but have no clue.. and then frustration becomes anger.. and shooting becomes hell.. and I´m sure most of us have been there at least once...

On the other hand I´ve worked with many Sound Guys (mostly stage music kind) that have no clue to what they need to do in a shooting.. but they Tell In Advance, so we can work it out... And usually get very nice sound...

I haven´t been able to find a good team... so as much as possible I will try to do the One-man -band... I do the light, the camera and the direction... and If I could I´d do the sound too...

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the kind words.
I did have that conversation with him, and he agreed to my terms, only to backpeddle later.
What can you do?.
Life goes on.
MG

I am getting ready to enter the Lion's Den myself. At this moment, I am at the top of the chain- I wrote it, am pulling the people together, and doing everything else- myself. Unless there is someone willing to drop some money into this project, I will be the Producer as well, and have no need to bow to anyone.

I am new to this, as I'm sure most of my crew will be, and a large portion of the talent as well. This doesn't bother me at all. I have a clear vision of what I want. It is a matter of getting the rest of the team to see the same vision, which is where experience would be nice. But, it should be a blast at the very least, which will make even a bad movie more bearable to do.

Thanks for all your input. I had to laugh a bit about the coincidence. MG... "MG"...

I think it's really good to get this topic out in the open like this. The advice to have a "heart to heart talk" with your crew and actors is GREAT ADVICE. I find that people are at their LOWEST when expectations are NOT met. Better to have NO expectations then to have LOFTY expectations and be smacked down.

I actually started this thread because there have been a couple times in the last year when people asked me to be a part of a project under the premise that they needed my expertise, only to turn out that they just wanted to save some cash on renting stuff.

If I'm called and I'm in charge of sound, I expect to be in charge of sound. If I'm called to be a lighting director, I expect to be in charge of lighting. If I'm called to be a cameraman, I expect to be running my own camera. On the other hand if I'm called and asked if I can be a PA and bring ALL my stuff. I'll tell them to get SCREWED. What has happend recently is I get SOLD on the idea of being a part of a project and then when I show up and I'm not making any lighting decisions, sound decisions, and not running my own camera... which I'm a WAY better cameraman then anyone else I've seen locally... I get pissed. But what are ya' gonna' do? I would NEVER be like MG's friend and screw over a bunch of people... so I swallow my pride and take a screwing with a smile. The worst part is when the end product looks so amaturish and all I could do is stand there and take orders!

So far the best point of this thread is the one about having a talk about what's what. I also see that everyone has had similar experiences on BOTH sides of this issue.

The best way to prevent any ill feelings is to ALWAYS be 100% HONEST with the people you bring into a job!

If you just want a free use of equipment then SAY SO... If you imply that your buddy is being asked to help create something and he just happens to have a complete studio in a van... then don't be surprised when he shows up expecting to have some creative power.

Basically, I'm gonna' repeat this, just make sure that everyone has a clear set of expectations BEFORE you get to the first shoot.

In the end you will be well on your way to building a great team and everybody will have their place. And most importantly, they will BE HAPPY in their place.

I almost wanted to start another thread on a similar subject, but as a "sidebar" to this topic. I met with a guy locally that was more then happy to explain to me and my buddies that our collective $40K worth of production equipment was meaningless and that his 10 page script was worth MORE then all our stuff. He explained how anybody can just buy cameras so HE was doing US the favor by letting US in on his project.

Do you know how many of us helped him? Zero. I've found that on the "entry level" of film making that there are a lot of promises and deals made ONLY to get a project made. People can easily find free work and then walk away from that burning bridge.

So don't be like that! Respect others for pursuing similar dreams and may you eventually find a fantastic team of like-minded friends.

Hey, I'm reading this thread and liking it because everyone is speaking from experience. I'd like to add that (in my opinion) I'm much more apt to work with people that know LESS than others if they prove to be cool. I've found that the project is more about what you're doing on the downtime...like having lunch. If you can have lunch with someone and have a great conversation - chances are you're going to work together nicely. However, if you can't relate or talk to someone on downtime - you're going to be in communication hell during production.

I've done it all (like we probably all have) and at this point in my career its the company I keep more than anything else. The projects seems to overall go smoother when I know the people...have developed some soft of relationship beyond the production. That might only mean emailing to say hello...whatever. But, the old stand-bys work every time...send your crew Christmas cards...if you can't pay them a lot of money than do something from your heart to show appreciation. It's amazing how stopping someone in the middle of a task...taking them aside and looking them straight in the eye and saying, "I really like working with you and I feel you do a great job. I appreciate everything you do...and I'm glad we get along nicely. If there is anything I can do to make things better for you...let me know. You are doing things to make the film come out great, so come see me if you need anything."

Those are words that I use...and people really get a boost. The world is full of people that use (like someone said in this thread) people, so getting it straight is nice to hear.

Anyone in NH by chance? If so, let me know!

Murph

Hey Christopher,

I totally agree with you. Almost like you took the words right out of my mouth.

How long have you been in NH?

I was born and raised in Manchester.

- don

Don,

I've lived on and off in NH for my whole life. I'm not sure if you saw a post that I made a few days ago, but I mentioned working at WMUR from 1996 to 2000.

I've seen the video/film thing really grow here in the last few years. There are many reasons why NH is great for filmmakers. The topography for one, no taxes, easy access to all things nature...so many things.

I'd really like to tell a few NH stories too. I have had my eye on a few specific NH ones like "GG Allin". That's a film waiting to happen. Also, the whole Carl Drega thing that I witnessed first hand a few years ago. (for those not in the know - a guy killed 2 cops, a newspaper editor, a judge and few others in a rampage after getting tired of dealing with the town politics regarding his land and house) Anyway, that story tells the NH angle better than all others...Live Free or Die in every layer of the story.

I have done the Hollywood thing on and off. But, I've found that living in NH has advantages. It's 90% working on projects and 10% networking - as opposed to Hollywood where I networked for 90% of the time and worked for 10%.

I've yet to do NY and probably won't try because (in my opinion) Boston has a few advantages to NY. It's less crowded (ok, the big dig stinks) with people and the indie, coporate video and commercial market isn't to bad. I think the 40 minute ride from NH into Boston is the way to go...tax free and clean air. I believe NH is the best kept secret in the country - indie film would fair very well here. The cost of living alone is a major thing - the only downside to living in NH is the hard to find culture. It's there, but its a different kind of culture...it's hidden. However, for the common culture starved you have Boston...40 minutes away.

Ok, that's a rant! I just wanted to respond to your Manchester inquiry! By the way, we met at the NH FilmExpo this year...I was the one talking about the JVC HD10U and getting flack from everyone there about it. LOL!

Murph

Matt,

I couldn't find the chart you mentioned, but I did find this...which someone obviously put a lot of thought and effort into.

Thanks John, You've always been a big help in a lot of posts I've read.

I guess my rant woud be most people's disinterest in collaborative efforts. Of those I've met personally I mean, it seems like people are afraid a fellow videographer/film maker will steal their thunder. Everyone wants to do their own thing and do it their way, no questions asked with a big nose in the air.

DVinfo's the closest thing to the ideal team I've come across. Everyone's willing to help, dispense advice and honest critique, and egos are left at the door.

So, real-life socially speaking my experience thus far has been pretty lousy. But I hold on to the hope that there's someone out there like me, who believes that a film is the product of many talents, not just one.