Should I CANCEL tomorrow's shoot!?

H

harmonica44

I took on directing and starring in a project that is short, one scene, and one day of shooting left. Only four shots left actually. I and the others are scheduled to resume tomorrow morning, but the focus puller had to leave town on a family emergency.

The person letting us use the location is being kind of cranky and says we can only have one more day. All I need is probably not more than 3 hours likely, but wonder if it's worth risking that one day chance with no one experienced in it. I want to do it tomorrow cause the weather predictions say, that the conditions will likely match. I need it sunny, but it's been raining a lot lately, and can only do it Saturdays. The actors are all only available next Sat, but not after. So if I don't do it tomorrow, I risk not finishing likely cause of how the weather's been.

One guy said he's willing to do it but he has no experience in that area. Other options might include using a camcorder with an autofocus maybe, but has no manual exposure control, so I would have to correct it in post to match the previous shot DSLR footage. It's either that, or the one guy, or risk waiting till next Saturday only, which could turn out to be a greater risk. I'd do it myself but I am already acting in the scene as well.

It's only four shots left, three of them are still, and one the camera moves. Any thoughts? Thanks.
 
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The person letting us use the location is being kind of cranky and says we can only have one more day. All I need is probably not more than 3 hours
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These are the key points of your post. You've got a schedule, stick to it. Can't you find someone else to pull focus? Get a PA to do it?
 
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Yes, do it!

A. Do it, it comes out great, or you need to reshoot but you'll figure that out if it happens.

B. Cancel and you won't have the chance to get it right due to not having the location so you end up with what you would have to reshoot in A.

So with A, you can get the footage you need. Just do it!
 
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jax_rox said:
To pull focus.....? I think it would be fine to get someone else to pull focus on a project such as this. However - as an AC myself.. pulling focus is more than just a simple thing that a PA could step in and do without ever having done it before.. ;)
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I was being sarcastic. That's how I feel about PSMs and boom-ops - those folks have to know what they're doing; just handing the job to a PA is asking for trouble.
 
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Okay thanks. The camera needs to move on a shot with me in. If I have to redo, I guess I can photoshop the out of focus me out, and greenscreen anothe focus shot of me in later, if it's a must. There are no PAs, just the sound guy and a replacement shooter. He knows nothing of focus pulling though, and has mostly done stills photography I think, and is unfamiliar with having to do it as someone moves, or as the shot moves. I will give him a quick lesson but that's all I can do.
 
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Do it, you're going to go through with it, or end up having this to use as a reason to cancel the project after all of this work... on a no/low-budget production, it's more important to your future projects that you finish the project than getting it "right"... have the PA pull focus as your focus puller isn't a professional 1st AC either. The PA can learn it as well as the person you've been dealing with... have them spend sometime with the camera following focus before the shoot starts.

I'm not being sarcastic (have the PA pull focus, or add more light to close the iris a little bit to lengthen the Depth of Field -- or both)... sometimes, you have to pull up your shorts and move forward no matter what. In the pro world, this is rescheduling and taking the hit in the budget, in the no-budget indie world, this is potential ending the career before it starts... finish the damn shoot!
 
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For that one shot, I would try to make sure you keep the depth of field as deep as possible, so that there's a lot more leeway in keeping things in focus. That should make it easier for someone with little/no experience to pull focus (or possibly even allow it to be avoided completely).

Sure, you might want a shallow DOF for aesthetic reasons, but in this case I think it's favorable to have a shot that's in focus with a deep DOF rather than one that's out of focus with a shallow DOF (since that's going to emphasize the wrong thing in the shot).
 
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harmonica44, do you want to make your f***king movie or NOT?????

Then finish it already and stop b**thing and doubting like a virgin girl being asked out on the prom date about locations, edits, actors, camera DPs, weather, food, effects..

If I was on the set with you as you were directed - I would have already bailed out on you because you don't have the guts to make your own choice.

Don't have the location? Shoot at another one! Don't have DP? Pick up the camera and shoot it yourself! I'm sure your "DP" isn't Charles Rosher. UGH!

Your short will be CRAP, doesn't matter who shoots it. Deal with it. Tough shit!
On my last shoot my camera ran out of battery so I got my stupid Iphone out and finished several shots with it, instead of running to indietalk.com and posting "Question about dead camera battery!"

You arent working on Canne's or Sundance award winning film. You ll post it on youtube that will be viewed by less than 300 people.

And yes, I'll get a lot of boo hoos and "Don't be mean" from the community, but h44's attitude really bugs me and I don't want other filmmakers to think that this sort of behavior is a good practice for making a damn short movie..

Ugh!

Sorry h44, i really DO want you to succeed in making it, but you have to rethink if you want to jump forward and make your movie or b*tch and groan about problems.
 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5jd6CMcD9c

Meanwhile ...

jax_rox said:
To pull focus.....?
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Totally agree with you, but I fear perhaps you've missed H44's 11ty million posts on this board. We should be encouraging him to get it done, whatever he needs to do.

He can find an AC with experience on the next project. The last thing our Canadian friend needs is ANOTHER reason to postpone/procrastinate/cancel/delay/otherwise find an excuse to not finish this project. Handing it off to a PA isn't the answer necessarily, but it's got to get done somehow, and as dlevan points out, it's not a masterpiece film festival submission - it's a short film to gain experience.

/$0.02.
 
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Okay thanks I will.

cameronchapman said:
For that one shot, I would try to make sure you keep the depth of field as deep as possible, so that there's a lot more leeway in keeping things in focus. That should make it easier for someone with little/no experience to pull focus (or possibly even allow it to be avoided completely).

Sure, you might want a shallow DOF for aesthetic reasons, but in this case I think it's favorable to have a shot that's in focus with a deep DOF rather than one that's out of focus with a shallow DOF (since that's going to emphasize the wrong thing in the shot).
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I don't need shallow depth of field. But the scene was indoors, with sunlight coming through the drapes, to give the look, plus an indoor light. I shot it with the aperture around 5, so if I take it down, I would have to raise the ISO to compensate to make it match, but the ISO is already at 800, and if I go over, then I just got more noise.
 
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