Automate Production

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chenjie108

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum, and relatively new to filmmaking.

Last time I produced/directed a short film, I found myself filling in every extra hat, making sure we got all the shots in and the makeup was done on time and the craft services were ready and the crew worked together. Because of this, I wasn't able to focus on directing the actors and it was a bit of a mess in post.

There's this awesome 26 minute "Day in the Life of Game of Thrones" video on HBO, and I was amazed how they shoot two units at once and the MUAs communicate makeup continuity to other MUAs in different countries, and how the concept artists, production design modelists, and scene-setters get everything up and running in ten days, and how all the extras get moved around.

I know this is a crazy extreme. I make shorts, while they make HBO-produced 6 million dollar episodes. But there just seemed to be a constant flow to everything, like the production was an automatic machine.

How can I emulate this? What specific jobs or producing-styles or whatever are required for this to happen? Ideally I'd like to both produce and direct, but is there any way to do so without doing everything myself? What do you recommend I do to learn more about it?

Thanks a lot anybody who answers!!!
 
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Welcome to indietalk.
chenjie108 said:
Ideally I'd like to both produce and direct, but is there any way to do so without doing everything myself?
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First; it's not "automatic" or automated". The machine (and it IS a
machine) is skilled people doing their job.

They way you can both produce and direct without doing everything
yourself is to bring on other people. The person who makes sure you
got all the shots in and the makeup was done on time and the craft
services were ready and the crew worked together is the First Assistant Director
A very valuable person on a set. Even a short. In general the DP is in
charge of making sure the crew is working together leaving the director
to work with the actors.
 
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It's very easy to emulate - just spend $6 million per project.


Oh, you want to do it on a micro budget? It's all about planning everything to the last detail, something most filmmakers never do. You have to spend ENORMOUS amounts of time on preproduction. Remember your economic basics, TIME = MONEY. So if you don't have the financial resources to expend you have to use all of your other resources to their ultimate, and the resources you have in bulk are time, talent and drive/ambition; use them.
 
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