Should I go ahead with a movie shoot with no PSM?

H

harmonica44

I wanted to make decisions on whether or not to shoot a short I put out a casting call and crew hire for. I was not able to find much crew accept for a camera experienced person who might be in. I have to fill one of the actor roles though. Two actors minimum to make the story work, and I only have one so far I could find. So if I can either act and have someone be behind the camera, or vice versa, that should be good.

But I have no PSM or boom op, and really hate doing ADR, and wonder if it's even worth it, to make a watchable movie to show people. Should I wait or should I jump on it while I have an actor and possible camera operator available? Any tips if no PSM is present?

Thanks.
 
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harmonica44 said:
Okay thanks. How was she able to do it without a crew or with no actors, if she was in a similar boat as me?
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H, you need to buy an HD webcam, plug it in, hit record, aim it at yourself sitting at the 'puter and just let the hard drive fill up of you sitting at the 'puter text/type blabbin' at this forum.

You'd have enough material for a (very small) tent pole feature length series within weeks if not days.

Title the first two hours of you sitting at the 'puter text/typing blabbin' at this forum 'How Do I... '
The sequel will be titled 'Okay Thanks.'
The third two hour feature will be titled 'But... '
The fourth two hour feature will be 'Okay Thanks, But... '
The fifth two hour feature will be 'I Guess, But... '
And the sixth two hour feature will be 'I Know, But... '

Just charge $2.99 for the six feature box set.
In the fantastic likelihood some stupid bastard pirate torrents your "films" your new profession will be copyright troll. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_troll
You will make more money off of suing these bastards than you ever will making and selling an actual film.

Seriously.
This will work for you.

And I want WGA III A. 4. "Story by" credit: http://wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx?id=171 and 10% of the box-set gross receipts.



EDIT UPDATE: Actually, the more I think about this, you need a total of three HD webcams and a mic.
Cam one is mounted to record you, cam two on the keyboard, and cam three on the screen.
Yeah, that oughta work.
Will take some editing effort on your behalf, but it will vastly improve the product's quality.
http://paxatron.com/p/6381/Microsof... Webcam (Q2F-00013)-%2d%2d-0O0096XFOO098.html
 
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First Son said:
Ray thats a genius idea. He could make a docu about his struggles to make a film. Box office gold
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Yeah!
Well... courtroom gold, really. ;):lol:

Oh, hells-bells!
Documenting the courtroom proceedings could be the beginning of the next six feature films!
Gah!

hockey-green-men-o.gif
 
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The part that was not explained was that even if I say I go to the location and just say yes, I will shoot the scene today and accept no excuses, that doesn't mean that a PSM, focus puller, actor, etc, will show up.
 
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harmonica44 said:
The part that was not explained was that even if I say I go to the location and just say yes, I will shoot the scene today and accept no excuses, that doesn't mean that a PSM, focus puller, actor, etc, will show up.
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You do what you have to do to get it done.

Maybe you should attend a film school, where if you put something off for 2 years, you'll simply fail.

The first ever 'short' I made, I had a camera, a microphone, and two friends. I asked one of my friends to act (I'd written a script so that I could use just one actor), and I asked my other friend to hold the mic ('boomed' using a boom arm from a microphone stand).
I shot it, pulled my own focus, and monitored my own audio levels. I shot it in a day, and edited it in two.

Was it great? No. Was it Hollywood-esque? Not even close. Was it finished? Of course. Did I learn from the experience? Most definitely.

That wasn't my last film. I've since worked on hundreds of films, including shooting (DPing) many.

I could have made excuses, and put off making that first film because I couldn't audition actors, didn't have a PSM, couldn't get perfect locations, didn't have Hollywood-style equipment, didn't have any lights, couldn't get the colours right, didn't have a Focus Puller, didn't have any crew etc.
But then I might still be putting it off, and not be anywhere near where I am in my career now.

I've shot lower-budget stuff in the past where we can't afford to pay crew or actors. I've been on set, shooting with cameras like Alexas and REDs and I've had to pull my own focus, set my own lights etc. because we weren't able to get anyone to do it for free. Was it tougher doing everything myself? You betcha. Did it slow us down? Certainly did. Was I a diva about it? Nope. Did the movie get finished? On time and on schedule.

If I'd said 'look guys we can't shoot because I don't have a crew' we could've postponed, and then tried a different date and attempted to get actor schedules lines up, and attempted to find a time when my regular crew wouldn't be too busy and be able to do a freebie for me.
But then, the film might still not be finished if we waited to do that.
 
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jax_rox said:
The first ever 'short' I made, I had a camera, a microphone, and two friends. I asked one of my friends to act (I'd written a script so that I could use just one actor), and I asked my other friend to hold the mic ('boomed' using a boom arm from a microphone stand).
I shot it, pulled my own focus, and monitored my own audio levels. I shot it in a day, and edited it in two.
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H44 - This follows a basic dictum for micro/no budget filmmakers; K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid!

One (1) actor, one (1) "crew," a camera and a mic. Jax shot within what was available to him and his experience at the time. It's great to be ambitious with your scripts and production values, but not so great if you never do anything.

Back in the mid '70's and early '80's I had some songs I wanted to experiment with some music concepts. I bounced between two really cheap-o cassette decks. I did it almost every day I wasn't performing or doing studio sessions. Every attempt taught me more, every one sounded better. They always fell short of what I had in my head. It's the learning that's important.

To achieve anything you must be persistent, you must do it a lot to reach your "10,000 hours."
 
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harmonica44 said:
The part that was not explained was that even if I say I go to the location and just say yes, I will shoot the scene today and accept no excuses, that doesn't mean that a PSM, focus puller, actor, etc, will show up.
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not the mention the masseuse and chef! how am i supposed to work under these conditions?
 
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You need 2 actors and 1 boom op.

I don't know how you communicate when you try to get things together, but starting recruiting 4 weeks in advance, should be enough time (although it could be tight) to get 3 people at the same time and place as you.

Do you have a location to shoot the short?
Do you have your shooting schedule ready?

Do you really need to hold auditions?
(Which means you are asking actors to invest time twice.)

Do you know this website:
http://www.filmpool.ca/membership/member-sites/ ?


DO SOMETHING!

In this case that means: get those 3 persons where you want them, so you don't have to act yourself.
Forget the masseuse, chef, focus puller, MUA, stuntteam, chopper pilot, DP, coffee maker, cookie baker, etc. Keep it simple!
 
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Okay thanks. How was she able to do it without a crew or with no actors, if she was in a similar boat as me?
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There's one thing about filmmaking you really need to become aware of. Every project starts without a crew and without actors. The person in charge has to attach all those people to the project. It's called being a filmmaker. You either can do it or you cannot.

What do you call a filmmaker with no crew and no cast? Not a filmmaker. He's just a guy on his own. While technically people can make films solo, I suspect you're not one of those people. I know I don't fall into the category that can do it all myself.

She's not even close to the same boat as you. While the way that she works frustrates the hell out of me and I cannot work with her (reasons I won't go further into), I really admire her tenacity. She knows what she wants and goes after it.

I said she was twice as useless as you, but she still managed to film 4 features.

Her knowledge of the filmmaking process was limited. Didn't know much about crew, distribution, lighting, acting, script format, sound design, editing and add almost everything to the list. You know more about cameras, editing, sound recording, sound design, lighting than she does. In all honesty, I don't think she even knows what sound design is. She's a retired old lady, on a very limited income (so, no real budget to spend) and the poor gal doesn't even have a drivers license. She manages to organize someone to drive her everywhere.

She's much like the h44 opposite. She doesn't think she knows everything but she can get things done.

She didn't use that as reasons not to film. For her latest project, she hired three people. A DP, sound mixer and an editor. Paid them a sum of 3 figures each (I know the amount, I'm just not saying the amount publicly). Everyone else volunteered their time. She solved every problem as she went. Location fell through, she found another. Actor dropped out, she did a little re-write. Someone couldn't turn up today, what scenes can we shoot?

Her only tools were a typewriter, a photocopier and a 1080p camera. She only uses a computer to email and doesn't use her mobile phone.

Now her movies aren't masterpieces, but I must repeat. She's completed 4 features.

You should ask yourself, if a poor retired lady with virtually no filmmaking knowledge has 4 movies under her belt, what legitimate excuse can you really have?
 
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  1. 'How Do I... '
  2. 'Okay Thanks.'
  3. 'But... '
  4. 'Okay Thanks, But... '
  5. 'I Guess, But... '
  6. 'I Know, But... '

  • $2.99 for the six feature box set.
  • In the fantastic likelihood some stupid bastard pirate torrents your "films" your new profession will be copyright troll. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_troll
  • You will make more money off of suing these bastards than you ever will making and selling an actual film.
  • Seriously. This will work for you.
  • And I want WGA III A. 4. "Story by" credit: http://wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx?id=171 and 10% of the box-set gross receipts.
 
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If any one tells you that you need a full crew to film a short then they are absolutely wrong. The life of an indie filmmaker is a struggle in the beginning. The only thing you need is yourself and the will to succeed at all cost. I once thought that i needed a full crew to film, but after being turned down i realized that the only person that will be completing the project was myself and alone. Learn how to use equipment. For audio a Zoom recorder and condenser mic/boom pole will work.
Don't expect people to help when you are starting off as a filmmaker. And don't wait for anyone when they say they are interested in helping. Start the momentum yourself, the rest will fall into place. Embrace the "Suck"! its something that in the future people will know you for.

-- Don't waste time! Go film your short!! Great film festivals are right around the corner. It would be cool to see your short film in one of them.
 
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People scratch film and make abstract films,shoot silent,timelapses,stop motion animation,one guy on vimeo films random everyday life and adds fantastic sound fx to make a story,people who can't afford video camera shoot stills and narrate the story. Cmon
 
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