budget How much to do these?

Hello everyone,

First, the good news - some of my students have passed their bar exams and will be staying on as lawyers in my firm, even as the next group of students take their place. I have at least one more goal in Canada, for which I've got no results despite years of trying, and I've given myself five years to accomplish it - if nothing happens by then, I may retire; if something does happen, I may continue for 10 - 20 years, to finish my journey.

With this in mind, believe it or not, I'm thinking of filming some short scenes, just to get it out of my system. I've been typing about this for over 15 years, so I want to see if I really want to be a filmmaker after I retire from law. If not, I can still talk about it, for the time I'm around, and read and write books.

I'm therefore wondering if the experts can give their thoughts on this. I have the following scenes that have been buzzing around in my head.

Leisure Man

Years ago, I started a thread about people eating while talking to others, which is rude, because the others are not eating with him. Members of this forum hae suggested that is a sign of power, to show that those others have to organize their schedule around the person having his meal. From this, I have taken a character from the William Holden movie, "The Counterfeit Spy" where the British spymaster is eating breakfast and is a bit pompous.

Leisure Man would be a spy master, and there would be three scenes of him eating breakfast, dinner, and at a sauna/spa. In each scene, this pompous ass would be talking to others, and, when all three scenes are viewed, the audience would see he's talking on both sides of his mouth (contradictory statements). This would indicate hgw spooks use deception and falsehood to the outside world, though he is a dedicated professional. A few years ago, when I was at the AFM, I did a scene with someone who worked in the industry, and I found that to be an emotionally-powerful experience, so I would like to go through that again. I'm thinking of casting the proverbial British nobility or a Boston Brahman for Leisure Man.


Creator

This would be a conversation where a ship's captain would meet and talk to a representative of a highly advanced alien species. Again, I discussed this years ago, where he would be transported to a white space - which the alien says is null space - and discuss the nature of creation as well as the nature of God. In a different scene, that captain would have a further encounter with that alien, when they meet at a garden planet, which was paradise.


Enemy General (EG)

I haven't fleshed out this character. There would be at least one scene, where EG would be at the end of the war, sending out orders with his adjutant for their troops to hold the line. A soldier from the other side would then step into the scene, salute and apologize, saying that EG was now a prisoner. EG and the adjutant look around to see that they're surrounded, so they raise their hands. This is taken from a real scene in WW2, when a German general was captured even as he was directing the defensive forces.

In a follow up scene, the EG would realize they've been captured by juniors, so he keeps complaining as to how they're not fully trained. This is taken from an episode in Young Indiana Jones, where Indy and his colleague capture General von Lettow-Vorbeck, who rants and raves at them.



I am willing to pay standard rates for these read throughs. I'm also wondering, since these are just rehearsals, if one actor can play all of them, to be more cost efficient. I've never done this before, so I would welcome ideas and price quotes. Thank you very much.
 
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@directorik, I should apologize, not you, because I'm confusing the two. I'm thinking of short scenes with little or no props - like the improvs at the theatre that would be filmed.

I understand an actor would be $150 - $250 per day. What about a crew to shoot, say, two or three actors rehearsing for one day, and, if it becomes two days, would it be double or less than double.
A day rate is just that. No discounts for more days.

Figure the crew rates at between $100/day to $500/day. It depends (have
I used that before?) on their crew position. And how many you need for a
shoot like this depends on several factors - something I have written about
often. What you want to do could cost $2,500 or $7,500. It could also be...
Like what is the shoot date.

Shall we talk about it? 😄


Now it looks like Mogul might be in Los Angeles in November.

So my suggestion is for him to shoot local. Get it done by mid-February.

I spoke to my mentor, who is interested and will get involved. He still suggests LA, and he has asked for the drafts, being OK with simple table reads and rehearsals as my starting point. Our face-to-face meeting did wonders for me, as opposed to ...... never mind.
 
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I spoke to my mentor, who is interested and will get involved. He still suggests LA, and he has asked for the drafts, being OK with simple table reads and rehearsals as my starting point. Our face-to-face meeting did wonders for me, as opposed to ...... never mind.
I think filming a table read and rehearsal is a total waste of time. I'm
happy that you have a mentor who agrees with your choices.

I hope you can actually do this someday.
 
I think filming a table read and rehearsal is a total waste of time. I'm
happy that you have a mentor who agrees with your choices.

I hope you can actually do this someday.

The plan is to film the table read, then the rehearsal, then do the film(s). He also told me what he learned in film school - if you have a script for a $10 million movie, but you only have $2 million, then do the $2 million movie. We discussed it further, and he suggested to turn the scripts into proofs of concept.
 
The plan is to film the table read

But ... why? Seriously, why?

As an aspiring producer-director, there's almost nothing you can learn from pointing a camera or two at a guy or two in a featureless room reading lines from a script that's a symbolic excerpt from a movie that may or may not ever get made. You're not even treating this as a screen test for actors that you might seriously consider casting. If you only have $2 million to make a movie, why would you waste even a single cent on filming a read-through? You'd probably learn more from a weekend's YouTube binge and save the first tranche of your $2 million to, say, make an actual movie.

he suggested to turn the scripts into proofs of concept.

Only now? Did he not think of suggesting that right at the beginning? And scripts plural? What about getting one script drafted as a functional screenplay first.
 
What I learned by NOT going to film school: Write a 5 to 7 page script and make the movie.

I understand what you're trying to do better than most here.
I don't have a complete screenplay, but I would like to film some odds and ends, to see if I really want to be a film maker.
And I can see value in this. This isn't what an aspiring producer or director
would do - but in YOUR situation it makes some sense. Filming a table read
or a "rehearsal" will not give you any indication of what it's like to be a film maker.

Setting up a small, one day shoot with a crew will show you what it's like
to be a film maker. Even if you take the pages you already have and shoot
without costumes or a set, with a few props in an empty conference room
or photo studio you will actively see what it's like to be a film maker.
 
I think filming a table read and rehearsal is a total waste of time.
But ... why? Seriously, why?

As an aspiring producer-director, there's almost nothing you can learn from pointing a camera or two at a guy or two in a featureless room reading lines from a script that's a symbolic excerpt from a movie that may or may not ever get made.

First, I'm told to film anything, even if it's horrible; then I'm told that filming what I want to film would be a waste of time. So I'm not the only one contributing to the loop.

OK, since I don't want to waste my time, I will have to think about it and get back to you in a couple of months or so. 😁
 
I can't believe I'm actually commenting but...

Go through what you've written and turn a (small) sub-set of it into a 3-4 page short screenplay with a beginning, middle, and end.
2 or 3 characters, one location, and all of the action taking place in continuous time (no jumps to 3 days later etc).

Cast it. Find a location to shoot it. Decide who will direct it. Assemble a (very) small but knowledgeable crew. Rent any needed lights, camera, sound equipment, etc.

Shoot it.

Have an experienced person edit it with your input and have a good sound person do some solid post work.

Finalize it with a bit of music and maybe a poster.

Then, share it with us and anyone else who you'd like to show it to.

That will give you a real if abbreviated taste of what it's like to make a movie.
And you'll have something to show for it at the end.

There's literally NO reason why you can't do that.
 
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