A lot of what you're saying isn't something low budget films worry about.
Yes -
and it's to their detriment
If more low budget films worried about these things, then they wouldn't have as many problems.
I guess I don't quite understand - I've worked on short films that I'd call pretty low budget but we've still had plenty of equipment, plenty of prep time etc.
To me, a production that can fly a DP from overseas and put them up for the duration of filming, and afford to shoot Alexa anamorphic.....
Yes, sure - low budget compared to say a mega millions Hollywood feature, but it's a very different realm to the ultra-low budgets that many work with on here. In the ultra-low budget world, sure sometimes you have to just work with what you get.
But I guess I see a disconnect between on the one hand flying a DP in from overseas and then saying you can't afford to even pay a half day for them to see some locations, meet the Director to even find out what their vision is, or pay an AC for a half day of camera prep.
For instance, instead of a crane we went with a drone and jib.
And how will you know when you're going to use them unless you get the input of your DP during pre-pro? Or will you just hire them for the duration of the whole film and have them sit around on days they're not being used? For someone who's very concerned about money, you don't seem phased by spending money on hiring things for extra unnecessary days...
A lot of what you're saying cannot, and I mean, never, can be planned prior to actually being on location for indie filmmakers. Do indie filmmakers really have access to locations for weeks prior to filming? I would say they do not. Sure they can visit the spot once, maybe twice, hell maybe a third. But how much gear can you setup on those days? Isn't it really just them and a light meter, sound check, and other unobtrusive equipment
I never said anything about setting up gear. Again, on the one hand you're saying your crew can't even have a day to check a location. Then here you're saying you can maybe give them three days...?
Location recce's aren't about booking a location for a week and setting up all your gear. But everything i mentioned
can be checked and sorted during a recce. It can be as quick as an hour or two per location. But it needs to be done, lest you end up with issues.
It's no good bringing a 5-ton grip truck along if you get to the location and you can only plug one light in along with crafty's toaster because the house doesn't have enough power.
You don't need to plug everything in to test that, but you do need to check the power box, the fuse box etc. so you know what you need. You say you'll take that into consideration yourself- but as you're not a Gaffer or DP how will you know what power you'll even need... how will you be able to consider power without understanding the power needs and effects of power..?
I don't know what that would entail.
You don't need to know. You're not the camera department. But you need to know that prep has to be done, and questioning the provisioning of time simply because you don't understand it does not make you a smart operator, nor does it make you any more 'indie' than someone else.
And if that's the mentality then I don't want those indie filmmakers around me.
I don't particularly like working on crews with people who are heinously under-prepared. If I politely request some meetings and location recces and the Producer fires back at me 'what do you think this is, some sort of huge Hollywood feature?! We don't have the money to prepare and plan!' then I'm going to lose interest in the project pretty quick.
Buried had Ryan Reynolds in a coffin the whole movie. I wonder how much prep some people would argue they need for that.
I guess it depends if you want to have interesting shots and coverage, ensure that the coverage and lighting and types of shots and framing you're going to get will be right for the movie, and will evoke the kind of emotion you want, and whether or not you want to ensure that all your crew and cast are going to be safe.
it's definitely cheaper to have each day planned out properly with one vision vs having everyone and their granny giving input.
Then why hire
any HODs? Just have your Director direct the grips, and the gaffer and the boom op and the cam op and do the art etc.
You don't hire HODs for them to undermine the Director. I've said it numerous times, but everyone's pulling towards making the Director's vision happen. But to make that happen requires planning. Not planning is what puts that vision at jeopardy.
I don't see how you could think that having no plan and no prep time could possibly lead to good results. How is that helping the Director's vision, yet putting into place plans and prep that ensures the Director's vision is able to be achieved is... not...?
Come to work, do the job your tasked and STFU. And to the people that have so far been hired they love that about this team.
I ask again: Why are you hiring a DP, or hell - any HOD - if not for their knowledge and experience...? Not to divert from the film's vision, but to assist and aid. You hire experts to aid that vision. But you're hiring experts and when they say 'we'd like to make sure we can definitely make this vision come off' you're saying 'nah, sorry - we'd rather compromise on the vision instead because we don't want to give you any pre-pro time'
If you fail to plan, plan to fail.
I'm not saying pay everyone triple their rate every day for three months to plan it all. I'm just saying adequate pre-pro and prep needs to be done if you want any chance of even having some sort of semblance of something that even remotely resembles what the Director's vision is.
Think of it like a client hiring you to put together a TVC for them. They come to you, an advertising agency - the experts at advertising, and say 'we want to increase sales'.
You drill down with them and come up with a few solutions and campaigns that you pitch to them. In collaboration with them, you come up with a campaign that will work for them. And it does.
Say a client comes to you and says 'make me a commercial' would you say 'look I'd like to meet with you and discuss what you want to achieve, what you like, and how we should move forward in making this commercial' or would you just go and make a commercial?
If you jsut go and make something, how do you know that the client will even like it, let alone whether it will achieve what they want..?
Same principle applies here.
I'll add that getting the shot at all costs, not caring about planning and ensuring everything was done right is what led to the death of Sarah Jones
. And I really do appreciate you telling me your thoughts.
