The Crazy Hard

Last Sunday night, I wrapped on my most recent short film.

If my last blog post didn’t already clue you in, this was the most complicated project (of my own) I’ve ever worked on. It involved a lot of characters, a small crew, and a whole bunch of locations.

But. It. Got. Done.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I once heard someone say that “The only people who fail in this industry are the ones who give up.” I’ve come to learn that’s completely true. It’s not that people can’t make movies. Anybody can. But they don’t because it’s too crazy hard.

If you’re directing/producing your own indie (which you will if it’s your first foray into this world) you’re managing everybody and everything that has anything to do with what, in the end, might just be a few minutes of film. And those who’ve worked on films know that hundreds of hours could easily go into creating just a few minutes.

Once you get past dwelling on the crazy hard, though, you get down to just doing... and the magic of starting to do something is that, once you’re in it, it doesn’t seem so hard. Not that you’re not exhausted, but once it’s happening, it takes on its own momentum. Before you know it, you’ve wrapped.

If you’re interested in film (and if you read this blog, you must be) all I can say is: no matter what the frustrations, stick with projects and see them through.

Start with simple ones. Maybe two or three friends to help as a crew, just a few characters, and hopefully just one location.

Then start to make it a little more complex, one project at a time (starting with the crew that will help make the end product look more professional). You’ll learn how to juggle more things than you thought possible, but most importantly, you’ll learn that making a film, beyond the crazy hard, is completely doable. Just one step at a time and a willingness to be exhausted for a while.

My last short was a big challenge. I didn’t only learn about locations, which I wrote about last time, but I learned about organizing necessary transportation and food for big groups (your responsibility, especially if they’re working for free), picked up some lighting tricks, and got hands-on experience working with different members of the crew. I learned about working with a director of photography and scheduling my shot lists according to daylight. I learned that, when short on time, there are certain shots I could cut to save time (and, by extension, certain details that didn’t need to be in the script, which will better inform my writing). I also learned about pinpointing the shots that were absolutely necessary.

But, long story short, these are all things I learned by actually making the film. In a nutshell, the most important thing I learned is that, despite the challenges of bigger, more complicated, and more polished productions, I need to just keep on diving into them and getting more and more done. As a result, what I do will become more and more professional.

I now have hours of video and audio footage to sift through, to begin the editing process. That means there are a few months to go before this project is totally done. But when I wrapped last Sunday, I felt proud knowing that I’d pulled off filming my most ambitious and challenging project to date. I grew as filmmaker because of it. What’s more, I’m now more ready to take on the crazy hard.

Location, Location, Location...

It’s been a long time since I tackled a narrative short film of my own... not since my first short, Chance. Otherworldly Encounters was a documentary, where I just needed to aim a camera at an interviewee and ask questions... Other shorts of mine involved voice overs and pictures instead of live action. And sure, I’ve helped friends on their shoots, but I kept putting off and putting off (against my own logic) doing my next dramatic short.

Why?

Because it’s really, really hard.

Well... ok, that’s only half-true. The thing about filming a dramatized story is that it just SEEMS completely overwhelming, which is why it’s easy to, well, never do it. Once you get into it, though, you go one step at a time and it's not so bad... despite the fact that there is a lot to figure out and organize. (Which is why you better be passionate about the project.)

A dramatic piece involves a LOT of planning, story-boarding, and... location-scouting.

Location scouting is something I never gave a moment’s thought and which has proved, on this project, anyway, to be the bane of my existence.

With Chance, I had two characters in one location - Grand Central. That in and of itself was hard, because GC is packed with lots of tourists who want to wave in the background and snap flash photos of your film-in-progress. It’s also a location where time was limited. But at least it was one location, two characters. Not too many schedules to coordinate.

But for this new short I outdid myself. Six characters, six locations where practically every character has to appear, a big crew... and basically, a big, big struggle.

As I write this, I believe the schedule has finally been nailed down... But getting to this point felt like nothing short of a Herculean task. As a result, on this second dramatic production there are several important new things I’ve learned about locations that I want to pass along.

1. If you don’t have the right locations, postpone your shoot. It can be painful, but it’s better to take more time and get things right.
2. Have your locations confirmed BEFORE you do auditions. That way, everyone auditioning commits to the same days, days when you have your locations. (Don’t do what I did - set your days, audition and choose your cast, THEN get your locations. This ensures that you’ll have to change your original days as you struggle to find times that work for your whole mob of cast, crew, and people generous enough to let you film in their homes.
3. If you can’t pay them, throw the homeowners whose homes you use as locations all the perks you can think of.
4. Remember logistics. If a location is far away, you’re not only responsible for getting everyone there - you also need to make sure it’s possible to get all you want at that location in one day’s time (or you’ll be schlepping everyone out there again the next time they can all make it - which might be next year.)
5. Combine locations whenever possible. Also, if you have an actor coming from a long way off, try to keep your locations close enough so that he’s not on the road all day.

That’s it for now, but I’m sure I’ll think of more. Granted, these lessons apply to the low-budget filmmaker who’s pretty much coordinating these things alone and without a budget. In which case, I saved the best piece of advice for last:

Set your story in one location - preferably your own home!

Is Facebook the New Form of Journal-Writing?

Two weeks ago, I attended (for free, yay) some master classes at a theatre school in Manhattan. One of the speakers was David Lindsay-Abaire, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who also did the screenplay for Rabbit Hole, which garnered Nicole Kidman and Oscar nomination a few years ago.

During the Q&A, one of the attendees asked David what role he thought journal-writing played in the creative writing process.

He thought about it for a moment and then announced that, for him, it didn’t play any role - his worry with journal-writing was that it would be too self-absorbed, and so would any creative writing that would grow out of it.

I thought about this quite a bit (so much so that I did a journal entry on it!) Journal writing, for me, has always been a big part of the creative writing process, not because any stories grow directly from it, but because it’s typically during journal writing that I stumble upon my best insights on life.

But I had to agree that there was something about David’s “self-absorbed” worry... and I can admit that I’ve written many a one-sided, upset journal entry in my day. (That’s what they’re good for, right? Getting all that angst out?)

But the plus side of a journal - to someone who takes it to that level, someone who’s honest with him or herself - is that after some venting, and some self-defending, it also gives you a space in which to write about where you may have gone wrong, things that are nagging you and making you feel guilty - and a space to brainstorm how to do better in the future.

In short, a chance to understand yourself - and, by extension, other people - better.

Everywhere I look nowadays, I see narcissism. Instead of being contained in private journals, though, it comes in the form of super-abbreviated tweets and Facebook status updates. (Not excluding my own posts.) These are the key ways in which people are keeping track of their emotions. And how deep into their emotions can they go in just a few sentences?

This is probably why people get the urge to post rambling, too-much-information updates. They need an outlet. But mostly they’ll just get a few friends reflecting their rage and indignation right back at them, justifying it - so there’s no chance of growth there and, though it might temporarily feel better, the problems still remain. 

I agree that when going into our lives and our issues, there’s a danger of being self-absorbed... But whether it’s through creative writing alone, or also journal writing, the act of writing itself offers an opportunity to explore ourselves on a deeper level, in a way that just talking with friends can’t always accomplish... and in a way that just a sentence or two - the fast food equivalent of writing - could never, ever hope to reach.

Adaptation

Last week marked the completion of my first-ever attempt at adapting someone else’s work.

I wasn’t adapting from a book or a play, but rather, from a collection of songs that had been performed off-Broadway a few years back. The songwriter was someone I had met through a writing gig I got last winter, writing up a sizzle reel for a prospective new TV drama.

The material I had to work with (talking about the adaptation again) was fantastic. The songs were powerful and thought-provoking, the ballads beautiful. However, this didn’t stop this from being the most challenging project I’ve worked on to date. 

I’d always thought Broadway plays like Mamma Mia and Movin’ Out had it so easy - just cobbling together a story from already hit songs. What I discovered, though, is that developing a story that can make sense within the context of certain songs, and which allows expression for a range of different characters, is a major challenge. 

Working the music in without having it be too abrupt was a major challenge. (We're keeping it a musical.)

Having four different “lead” characters, whose stories all had to have interlocking beginnings, middles, and ends, was a major challenge (and it was also the first time I worked on anything that could fall under the heading ‘ensemble.’)

But what’s hardest of all in doing an adaptation is taking into your hands and heart something that was originally created by someone else. You wind up needing to be a lot more precious about it than you would with your own creation, since you don’t know which aspects of the original work the original creator is going to value the most. And when you do make creative decisions, you worry that the original creator might take offense to them or just be outright horrified at the direction in which you took their baby.

Will he be devastated that I made this character such a monster? Will he feel like my overall theme and message are wrong? Will he think that my representation of this particular under-world, which I’ve researched but not had any personal experience with, is laughably inauthentic?

Which brings me to the most difficult part of doing an adaptation - waiting to hear from the original creator what he thinks about what I’ve written.

Director Bashing

No, this isn’t a post where I’m going to bash a director. I’m just surprised how much of what I read online involves director bashing. 

Or, if it doesn’t, the comments section for the articles are loaded with director bashing.

The director is a strange creature in my opinion (despite the fact I sometimes am one). They’re all incredibly different and, despite collaborating with huge crews to put something together, typically receive most of the praise (or blame) for a film, depending on how it turns out. Truth is, making a film is such a detailed and arduous process, that, vision aside, it’s very difficult to get a finished product to even closely approximate what had originally been intended.

But I digress...

The article that sparked this blog post was Terry Gilliam: The Difference Between Kubrick (Great Filmmaker) and Spielberg (Less So). Check it out. The core of Gilliam’s argument is that creating happy or successful endings (even for otherwise depressing films) is less “great” than creating films people have to go home and think about.

I regard both of these directors very highly. Kubrick is in my top two all-time favorite directors (along with Hitchcock), but Spielberg is definitely in my top ten, and close to breaking my top five. What shocked me reading through the comments section of this article is that it instantly became Kubrick vs. Spielberg. I mean, I understand why - the article is about comparing their styles, even though, as a few people pointed out, it’s like comparing ‘apples to oranges.’ 

But even so, the comments were less about comparing and more about ripping one or the other to shreds (and usually it was Spielberg getting shredded.) One participant who came to Spielberg’s defense - not ripping up Kubrick, but trying to show why Spielberg contributes something of value - got massacred by the others. 

The more comments I read, the more my jaw dropped. I think it’s obvious that both of these men are incredibly talented, and that anyone interested in film can benefit from studying both of their techniques. I understand feeling super-passionate about Kubrick (or whichever director affects you the most) but to go on to say that one director is COMPLETELY worthless just because you like the other one more is a bit ridiculous.

Who can argue that Spielberg has had a tremendous affect on cinema, and that he’ll go down as one of its legendary figures? How many images from Spielberg films have become an ingrained part of our culture?

A few people ripped on the fact that Jaws was only a success because the shark broke and Spielberg had to improvise... but isn’t the ability to creatively solve such problems on-set the hallmark of a great director?

I don’t think the entire body of work of one person (who is undeniably talented) can be totally discounted just because one person of (arguably) greater talent also exists. Have your preferences - but be open-minded.

Besides... Jaws is simply wonderful. :)

BONUS NOTE: I had one other thing to say about director bashing, because of all directors, this is the one I probably see get bashed THE MOST: M. Night Shyamalan. In my opinion, his undoing lies in the fact that his first movie, The Sixth Sense, is so amazing that everything after it fails to measure up. But honestly, he’s made quite a few movies since then that I’ve enjoyed. I thought Signs, The Village, and Devil were all pretty good, maybe with a few things I would have changed, but thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing none the less. Also with some excellent, artistic shots. If these had come before Sixth Sense, I think this might have been a director who developed a loyal following based on his knack for building suspense that later would have made him more main-stream. As it is, he was catapulted to major super-stardom overnight, giving everyone free reign to be super-critical of his future efforts.

But, feel free to disagree in the comments... just keep it all in perspective. :)

My First Distribution Deal!

About a week and a half ago now, I celebrated a pretty big milestone… I signed my first distribution deal with a web channel for my short films.

Meaning that, for each short film I churn out, I can actually be paid. Paid. For SHORT FILMS. Who knew?

Short films are up-and-coming. (Yet another reason to make shorts, in addition to learning about film-making, getting your name out there, building a resume, and making connections.)

Shorts have always existed, but in a way that was pretty much limited to film festivals. The average person didn’t see too many of them. Now, thanks to the proliferation of online content, shorter attention spans, and the encouragement of the big leagues (this year was the first year that the Academy of Motion Pictures released a DVD of the Oscar-nominated short films), they’re in demand.

What’s more, a number of web channels have sprung up and are looking for content, and this includes short films. I got my deal by responding to a post I saw on one of the many industry newsletters I subscribe to (I think it was Media Source) about how iflixtv.com was looking to build new content partnerships. I applied, submitted my links - and the rest is history.

I signed a 6-page contract (after asking about 1,000 questions) and will now receive 70% of what viewers pay to iflix to watch my shorts. I can upload as many as I like (once each short makes it through their clearance process, that is.) What’s more, the deal is non-exclusive, so I am still allowed to submit my shorts to festivals or post them to my Vimeo or Youtube pages if I so choose.

I think this will provide a great means through which to learn about what’s marketable and what’s not. Since my earnings correspond directly to what people will watch and how long they watch, this deal gives me a great new tool for gauging what people like and want.

The best part of all though is having both #1. Validation that my short films are worthwhile, and #2. Inspiration to make more shorts in the coming months. A producer friend and I are discussing one in particular, and this opportunity is making me reevaluate what I can do on my own, cheaply and quickly, to get more shorts up fast.

Also, since a recent study I read showed that people are more likely to watch and pay for ‘episodic content’ than to log on for one-off shorts, I’m mulling over ideas for a few series… stay tuned. J

Meeting Bob Goodman

Occasionally, I meet interesting people with the same type of creative dreams that I have and, occasionally, they agree to meet with me and answer a few of my questions about what they’re doing with their lives and why.

Bob Goodman is one of those people.

I met him during a Christmas party at an NYC film school and instantly wanted to know more about his two babies: The Actors Ensemble and Done in a Day. In that first meeting he described how he’d created these things because he’d often come across acting students who, out in the real world, had very little idea about how to approach their careers.

It sounded familiar. 

A SAG actor who has been teaching, performing, writing, and directing for 30 years, it was only when Bob lost a full time job of 8 years that he discovered a new opportunity to put his expertise toward his passions. He’d realized that, in other acting schools, film equipment was antiquated, teachers hadn’t actually performed in years, and students weren’t actually getting to be onstage or on-camera. It was no wonder that, after graduating, they were lost in the woods. 

It occurred to him that there’s no summer stock equivalent for film, a way for newcomers to learn through immersion. A typical acting degree consists of learning theory, having a few stage performances, and - usually - no TV or film experience. 

As someone who loves to teach, Bob found that not having an MFA caused him to hit a wall whenever he applied to bring his teaching methods to most institutions; so, he took matters into his own hands and started his own programs. This is the same DIY spirit that I try to embody with the No MFA Project. His emphasis is on small classes, so that his students get the chance to try, fail, and therefore grow. Everyone is involved in every aspect of production. Bob is even known to cause a few (on purpose) disruptions on-set so that flustered students learn what it is to cope with issues at work. As he says, “You can’t prepare trying to be perfect.”

Done in a Day is another one of his programs: within one day he guides student actors in creating their look and their image, does their headshots, brands them with social media, and follows it all up with an end-of-day acting class and panel discussion with industry professionals.

If you’re struggling to become an actor in NYC, I highly recommend checking him out:

www.theactorsensemble.com