Quick Tips for Filmmaking

Shooting OTS for the Edit

We’ve all seen it – especially in TV where the production is moving fast and relying more on dialogue – flapping lips when there’s no dialogue, or the wrong dialogue.

Why does this happen?

Because the editor needed to speed up or slow down the pace of the dialogue, change a line entirely, or introduce a dramatic beat… but they didn’t have a take that worked with that timing.

So they simply replace the audio of the speaking actor, and picked an angle where it’s least noticeable – usually, over the actor’s shoulder.

This always distracts and annoys me, especially because it’s so easily avoidable on set.

Simply shoot these angles with less of the foreground actor’s jaw visible.

The further behind the culprit, the more you can get away with re-writing or re-timing performances in the edit.

But once you can see their jaw moving (or not moving), you’re much more locked in to what they did on set.

Or just shoot your closeups clean, without the other actor in the foreground.

Budget & Time Contingencies

Did you know that feature films almost always have a contingency built into the budget?

It’s almost impossible to exactly predict how much a film will cost to make, and – surprise surprise – when the dust settles it usually ends up erring on the side of being more expensive rather than cheaper.

So it’s good policy to calculate your budget conservatively (meaning, estimate the most expensive each item could be, not the cheapest), and then add in an additional 10% or so to the final budget as your contingency.

I know it hurts adding that big extra line into your budget for what seems like nothing, but it saves you from the greater pain of running over budget during the shoot.

Less stress, more realistic.

I recommend doing the same thing with your shooting schedule. Be conservative, and still add a contingency time slot each day of 45-60 minutes.

If you successfully get through everything on time – congrats! You can grab a bonus shot.

If you’re running behind that day – good thing you had that contingency time scheduled.

Need Energy? Cut Ahead

As an editor, whenever a scene starts feeling tedious, I always ask myself if we truly NEED everything in it, or if it’s just connecting the dots.

A movie isn’t about showing how someone gets from point A to point B, it’s about exploring the hearts and minds of characters, and creating emotional moments for the audience.

But it’s very easy to assume we need to show something like a character putting on a jacket, simply because he’s wearing it in the following scene…

Well, I’m here to tell you, we definitely don’t need to show that! The audience can fill in the gaps: I guess he put a jacket on when he left.

Never waste their time with mundane shit like that unless it’s serving another, greater purpose.

It’s often surprising how much you can cut out of a film and the story still works. And every time you do this, you’re gaining energy in the form of tighter pacing, and staying one step ahead of the audience, forcing them to keep up and stay engaged.

The key questions when making this decision are:

• If I cut this out, would the audience be able to figure out what happened in between?
• If so, is what the film gains in energy worth what it lost?

Music Cues

Another big question in the edit: Where should I put the music?

I think a lot of factors go into this decision, but even once you decide what scenes do and do not need music cues, you’re still not out of the woods…

How do you actually edit the scenes with music?

Do you cut to the music? Do you make the music work with the edit?

My personal rule of thumb is to edit the scene until I like it without any music.

That means the story is moving along and the visuals are holding their weight, and the addition of music should only elevate it even further.

There are some exceptions to this where the music is playing such a central role that it actually dictates the pace of the visuals, but I think my rule is the safe bet.

Write Characters like Animators

I recently learned a little about Walt Disney’s rise with his first feature film – Snow White.

One of the big draws to him with picking that story was the 7 dwarves, because he knew his animators would be able to imbue each one with a very strong personality, simply through their style of movement and appearance – and make them memorable.

I think a common issue with novice short films is the writers & directors not giving their characters enough personality, and they would do well to err on the side of caricaturing them instead.

What we usually see with shorts is a very “normal” protagonist, who is something like the writer/director themself.

But what’s more fun to watch as an audience, is a character who is like one of the seven dwarves – grumpy, or dopey, or happy, etc.

So I say pick a dominant personality type, and then try to throw in one contradiction or surprise to make them feel three-dimensional. That’s all you need for a lead in a short.

We don’t get a lot of time with your characters, so lean in and make a bold impression. It’ll be more fun for the audience to see how this bold personality faces the challenges in your short story.

Favorites this week:

Quote:

People call me a perfectionist, but I’m not. I’m a rightist. I do something until it’s right, and then I move on to the next thing. -James Cameron

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent