advice for my first film

horrorff

horrorff

I am a writer who is embarking on my first production as director. The question that I have is what is a realistic shooting schedule for my short film. The script is 8 pages long and here is a list of the details.

Locations

INT - Office - one page - mostly dialogue
EXT - Bar - quick shot
INT - Bar - one page - all dialogue
EXT - Motel - two quick shots
INT - Motel - two and a quarter pages - mix of dialogue and action
INT - Warehouse - two and a half pages - mix of dialogue and action (a fist fight)
INT - Doctors Office - half a page - all dialogue
EXT - Cematary- one page - all dialogue
EXT - Car - one line of dialogue
 
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Depends a great deal on your crew. Much of the bulk of time-consuming stuff is each new setup. Time can vary a great deal, for a number of reasons.

To make a very generalized guesstimation, however, I think you'd be safe scheduling two full days (10 hours each).

Good luck!
 
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h-

You really haven't given us enough info to base our opinion on, but here's a few quick thoughts:

- 8 pages is roughly 2+ days, I would schedule 3 days since this is your first go.
- Are the locations miles apart? It takes a lot of time to move even a small crew. You have at least 6 locations in 8 pages, that's a lot. In my mind, they better be really close to one another to pull it off in 2-3 days.
- There's more involved in a shoot schedule than how 'quick' the shot is or how much dialogue per page, a lot more. Try to find yourself an experienced 1st Asst. Director to help you schedule, that's what they do.
- Cracker Funk is right, set-ups can take a lot of time-- even with an experienced DP.

Don't freak about my comments, our first films are first and foremost learning experiences. Have fun! And let us know how it went.
 
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Are you're locations in day or night? Night you have more time especially now that it's winter, assuming you live in the western hemisphere. But for day, you have no more than 6 hours, if the sun is showing. Cause the sun changes, and it shows in the continuity of the scene. Unless you have enough lights and reflecting devices in your budget, to fake sunlight. Be sure to arrive early before the shoot to set up.
 
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Thanks

@kjones
The locations are pretty close together with the exception of the warehouse. Since it is the longest and most complicated scene in the script I was expecting to spend a day on that scene alone. Thanks for the advice. I will hire a first AD.

@harmonica44
Aside from the cemetery scene, the bulk of the script takes place indoors at night.
 
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Since you are new at this, do yourself a big favor and schedule one location PER DAY.
You will not feel rushed, and you can make your shots look good...so you're looking at
7-days (or partial days) of shooting.
 
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