You Don't Have to Travel Alone...

Class on March 4, a workshop on short film planning, was interesting to say the least. We started with our normal slide show, and discussed how to make our films flow smoothly and seamlessly. Firstly, we discussed the importance of good sets. You need variation in your sets, and especially something on the walls. You need to make your story interesting, not neutral. Next, you need fitting music for your film. It creates a certain mood, or atmosphere, that will deeply contribute to your vision. Lastly, and very importantly, it's important to have all your paperwork in order and a good producer to get all the details straight. The producer's responsibilities include getting location agreements from where you're shooting, helps configure the set, and helps the actors and actresses to be ready and well fed for their work. Additional tips we learned about were finding and screening your actors carefully and to give enough time for auditions and castings to take place.

We also learned that it's best to shoot your most challenging scene first, or the scenes that make the most sense to shoot before others. You don't need any changes to happen to the actors in one scene that affects the shooting of the next. If you shoot the hardest scene first you have the most time to work on it and ensure it gets a good amount of time dedicated to it. Another good pointer from the Youtube videos on cheap film-making we watched: lots of lists. You need a prop list, to-do list, camera position list, shot order list, and any others you might need. The more details and planning, the better. If anything happened or was forgotten, you can just consult any of your lists; you can consult what you've crossed out and what you need to do next and you won't be lost anymore. For fun, we then watched the low-budget creation of a corpse, with a wire frame, pantyhose, and paint. They show that you can make your effects realistic and amazing with the right amount of innovation and creativity, even if you're low on funds.

Our groups met to discuss our scripts and/or storyboards based on the first draft presented. I had written the rough draft of the script, which everyone read and brought good and creative ideas to the table about changing it for the better. We talked for a good hour or so, molding and sculpting the story to something with the most interesting small elements that would come together for the big picture at the end. We dove headfirst in brainstorming and planning our film and it was a very productive meeting. I believe we're definitely heading in a great direction and can't wait for us to start filming.