Movie a day from being complete but Mayhem Complete or resho

My movie has 2 leads. we have been shooting for 3 weeks, no pay for anyone. One of my leads brought a certain negativity to the family right away, but it was part of his character, so I let it go. Now I am getting in shouting matches with him. I have fired him twice. He can't act. The other night we are shooting a scene and he won't do it. I ask him, What is going on? He says, "It doesn't feel natural." I say that's why they call it acting. Not only that, he is real moody and it affects the rest of the crew.
If I was a amateur I would be the happiest person in the world to get a lead. he acts as though he is doing us a huge favor. Next shoot I will not allow the negativity, I will nick it in the bud.
Now I have five options...
1. beg bad actor to come back, kiss his ass for two days and acting like his acting is great.
2. Take what I got and try to pull a miracle out of the editor.
3. Hire a new Johnny, it would not take half as long, probably go really quick.
4. Cut a great trailer, with hot music to set the tone, great shots of the charger and use it for investor attention. Should be easy to come up with real money, considering the movie has already been shot once.
5. Re shoot everything.

To me one is no go. Two is possible but we run the risk of submitting sub par material. Three is a good choice, find someone with a great attitude, knows acting and nail his scenes in a week, week and half at most. plus the second actor would be able to revisit the scenes with his ever growing talent. Four seems like putting it off and losing everything everybody put into it, same with Five.

I am ready to move onto the next project, but this is suppose to be a calling card. Please forward your thoughts

sounds like you should hire a new actor to me.

I have fired him twice.

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3 & 5 are basically the same.

The problem with getting a new actor and taking another week & half to redo it, is the extra week and half that the rest of the crew are going to have to put in as well. Since they are unpaid, you would need to make sure you still have a crew available and happy to help for another 12ish days. That is a *lot* to ask.

Here's a question... Did you make sure the actor signed a release before you started filming? That would be a deciding issue, for sure.

Re: Movie a day from being complete but Mayhem Complete or r

brotherhood said:

2. Take what I got and try to pull a miracle out of the editor.

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As an editor, let me share an old saying with you: Garbage In, Garbage Out. No editor can make a bad performance good. That is up to the actors themselves. Also, look at the preformance that this actor has already delivered. Is it worth putting up on the screen? If not, the re-shoot option starts to sound better. If you can keep your crew & the rest of your cast on board.

Good Luck!!

Well the crew was pretty disgusted with this guy right away. Comments like princess and primmadonna were tossed about often. They all say they are in it for the long haul. Of course they would love to be done, but they will do what it takes. I will recast and reshoot the parts that included him. I just wanted to share my experience and get it off my chest with folks who have dealt with the same issues. Maybe I should of started a post with Actors. What do you think of 'em?

Always get the release up front. That way you make the best trailer they will never see.

Try to finish the film with the original actor. If there's only a few scenes left, this is your best bet.

He can't act.

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Two is possible but we run the risk of submitting sub par material.

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You see how these two connect? If he can't act, how good do you think your material is going to be? If you're shooting digital and the crew is willing to commit since there know what an a**h*** he is, I would say recast.

You could work in a bit of 3, 4, and 5 with a smidgen of 2. First, get your editor to cut a trailer to show to investors. Then get the investors money. Then cast a new Johnny. Then reshoot.

Or finish the movie with Princess Premadonna and hope for the best.

Poke