5 tips for filmmakers

Share 5 Tips for First Time Indie Filmmakers:

As a video production company in the industry for over a decade specializing in transferring family video tapes into digital formats, disc duplication and video production in Toronto, we have the opportunity to work with many well known organizations. Companies include Baskin Robins, Toronto Metro Zoo, the Canada Revenue Agency, TD Canada Trust and many others . Feel free to read our testimonials.

For this month’s blog, I’d like to share what I’ve learned over the years about filmmaking, in hopes that it will help first time indie filmmakers with their projects. Here are 5 tips on how to survive a production.

1) Where’s Ma Team at? Building the proper crew is really important. Think about asking people that will work well together. You don’t want any problems to arise during production that could slow it down.

In the project we filmed last month, our team worked well together and I would like to thank everyone who participated in it: Deanne Wilder was the main talent in this project. She’s really great, runs a fashion blog & is also a social media expert. Lucas Cheong, is a Toronto D.O.P. who has worked on many short films, with his work submitted to festivals around the world. Jan Ian Chow, the comedian in our group acts as our 2nd camera operator.  An avid photographer he is pursuing his Masters at the University of Toronto. Vai Yu Law a professional fashion photographer with over 15 published works in the industry. Our behind the scenes videographer, Alex Chui who manages a video and photography production business for professional clients in the GTA. Milan Seki our make up artist specializes in bridal, beauty & lifestyle. We also have Karla, Raymond, Yue Dan, Nathan, and Cuong for production assistants, set, and catering. *THIS ENTIRE PARAGRAPH COULD BE CUT, IT’S TOO LONG AND WE DON’T NEED TO KNOW EVERYONE’S BACK STORY

Most of us have worked together for many years. We’re an organized team with the expertise and equipment to get a project completed!

That is why building a right team is so important. You can have a large disorganized crew wasting time or you can have a tight crew that knows what they’re doing and gets the job done quickly and correctly.

On our shoot last month, D.O.P Lucas Cheong discusses how the yoga shot will look.

2) Organized Paperwork & A Great Story: “This part is one of the areas in which I find extremely meticulous” OKAY I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO SAY. However, it’s a mandatory part of the production flow. All productions should have a concept. Normally from there, it will hatch into a script. Without a script there will be no project. The story are where characters develop. The foundation in where locations are determined. The decision in which crew members and talents are chosen.

I remember back when I was a child, my brother and I borrowed my father’s camera to film a short video with a couple of friends over an afternoon. We had a rough story outlined in our heads, but the ending was not determined and yet we had already finished filming some of the scenes. We wasted a lot of time filming and re-thinking the ending as we didn’t have the story completed. The film unfortunately was never finished.

So, you can see that without a story you won’t have a shot list, you won’t have call times, you won’t have talent and you won’t have a film.” THIS WHOLE SECTION NEEDS TO BE REDONE, OBVIOUSLY WHEN YOU’RE A KID YOU WON’T UNDERSTAND THE PRE PRODUCTION PROCESS BUT THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE ANY RELEVANCE NOW, THE FIRST PARAGRAPH IS KINDA WANDERING ALL OVER THE PLACE TOO LOL

3) Having the Right Toys: Remember the days when VCRs were the norm? Almost everyone watched films in the analogue format. I remember a long time ago I was trying to rush the completion of my short film to show my relatives that were coming over for dinner. I had two VCRs. VCR “A” had my original footage on VHS-C, and VCR “B” had a blank tape. Once I’ve selected the shot I needed from VCR “A” I will hit the record button on VCR “B” to capture the correct take. I will keep doing this until I had assembled the entire short. Music for the film will be recorded simultaneously through the same RCA jack as where the sound was coming from VCR “A”. As you can imagine, I had tons of problems with the audio between each take as the music was suppose to continue playing after a cut. But that’s what I had during that time and the technical problems hindered me from telling my story properly.

As a filmmaker you need to have the right tools to create your art. Luckily today, it is fairly easy to record video with affordable DSLRs and even on your own cell phone if DSLRs are too costly. An artist today can fairly easily edit their work as well without too much knowledge in the editing realm. There are software’s like iMovie for MAC and Windows Movie Maker for PC. Both should come with the operating system when purchasing. And of course there is Avid, Final Cut; I’m not saying what version:) and Adobe Premiere. Some of the most popular video editing software platforms out there.  AGAIN, THIS SECTION IS WAYYYYYYY TOO LONG, CUT ALL THE PERSONAL ANECDOTE STUFF, IT SUCKS BUT NO ONE CARES, YOU NEED TO GET TO THE POINT ABOUT A PARAGRAPH SOONER OR ELSE NO ONE WILL TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT

4) The Little Things Help! During a production, little things that you do in advance will help save time in the long run! If you have time to access the location in advance, setup what you can in the space. In our most recent project we had most of our lighting on standby,  and our glidecam was pre-balanced the day prior to filming. Our cameras had tripod plates installed in advance and ready to go. Little things like this go a long way, especially in independent film productions. As a bonus, we were also able to dress the set in advance so that on the day of the filming when we got there, no time was lost.

It’s also a good rule of thumb to have back ups of your equipment. You would want to have a variety of lenses in case one breaks or fails, a 2nd camera if possible, extra media (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? LIKE SD CARDS?), sticks (tripod), and even extra bulbs for lighting.

Also it is a good habit to have a meeting with your D.O.P (or whomever is operating the camera) in advance and perhaps if time permits have a walk around on the set or location to discuss the types of shots needed to cover the scene the following day.

5) Fast, Cheap, Quality?  You can have 2 but never 3 of them. Think about it, if you want to make a film with a limited budget and with quality it’s going to take a long time. But if you don’t have time and you want quality then it’s going to cost you. However, if you don’t have funds, or time, then you won’t have quality! I know, this world sucks! (LOL TOTALLY DON’T EVEN NEED THIS POINT, IT’S KIND OF OBVIOUS)

And Finally, Just a Little Bonus Tip: I think this applies not to just filmmaking, but on how to become successful at what you do in life. To become successful at what you do, people have to know that you’re good at that task. So you have to meet people and prove it to them. I believe that the most important thing about meeting new people is to maintain contact with them. Respect everyone you meet and never look down on anyone. Building a successful career doesn’t happen over night. It takes years and sometimes decades of commitment. With each new person you meet, keep their name and contact information. Ask them how they are doing once in a while because you’ll never know who you will come across that may be able to help get you to where you want to be in life. Give and donate back to society when you’ve made it and always be genuine and polite, especially in our industry where a lot of things are fake!

A few years ago, I once did a video for an interior designer. The video went well but she decided on continuing the series of videos with someone else. It didn’t bother me because I believe that one should choose someone they enjoy working with. In the last few years, I stayed in contact to see how she was doing. Then just recently, she was frustrated with her current vendor and said that they couldn’t deliver. I took on the project that was left over from them and re-think the strategy that will work for everyone. This summer we have created several videos and we’re looking forward to create more in the next few months.

So you never know, stay in contact with the people you meet even if they decide not to work with you. Perhaps things will change, and when they do ask to work together again, always get back to them promptly when they ask many questions, as they are just concerned. And remember, always say what you do. I hope you’ve enjoyed the tips in this post, stay tuned for next month on part 2. If you have any questions regarding our video production project last month or this article feel free to contact us… and like always happy editing.

(K, LIKE HALF OF THIS BLOG COULD GET CUT OUT, YOU’RE INCLUDING WAY TOO MUCH PERSONAL CONTENT/OPINIONS, ETC, THIS LAST BONUS POINT, AGAIN, NOT NECESSARY, I’D CUT THE WHOLE THING)

7) Who’s Job Is This? As a director or producer, you can’t do everything! Remember to delegate. When you build your crew, assemble a team that is an expert in their field. If everyone’s a volunteer, ask them what they have the most interest in and get them to familiarize themselves with the gear. You’ll run out of gas if you try to do everything yourself.

Have a person in charge of your cameras, someone for lighting, audio, make-up, catering, set etc. That way, the production will run like a well oiled machine as each person knows exactly their responsibilities.

10) Where’s my Union Break? need to rest, supply good food.

8) Making the Look: show pics of us spending time on setting things up, getting the shots right etc…

4) Location Scouting: Being a filmmaker is a long term commitment. Nothing happens over night. I normally am constantly searching for locations and thinking of how that location may serve a scene or shot in a future project. When one finds a good location, they should take a picture onto their phone and make a note of it. Perhaps see if they can get the contact information of the property owner. When the time comes, it will make things run smoother if you have this information available at hand.

About a decade ago, I volunteered to create a documentary video for my local community centre. The building we were filming at had many large rooms that could be used as a studio. I kept in contact with the staff there and when it was time for my personal project, they were extremely nice to give me a room to use.