new guy with a tough question (long post)

[niik000]

I hope no one i know is on this site but they should read this anyway.
Hi, i'm new to the site. i'm about to shoot my short if a few weeks, it's pretty much my first time time directing with a full crew with legitimate lighting and real actors and all that. I am a few weeks away and i am deep in pre production. I have a very eccentric older actor playing a lead roll. I met him at a film festival and he later worked on a shoot i did props for, and i realized he's perfect for my short, nobody else like him in florida he cant be replaced. I crewed up and started pre production and got to the point that i picked a date, and i found out that something came up and my actor could not make it for that date. i knew if i moved my shoot back a week to suit his schedule i would loose a few crew members (all classmates, with peers eager to replace them) but it would be worth it to get this guy. i can replace a few grips or a UPM but i cant replace this actor because he's just one of those people you know what i mean? looking at the schedule there was only one day we could possibly shoot with him unless i wanted to push my shoot back another week witch i did not want to do.

I talked to my 1st AD about what i wanted to do and he said ok, so i booked my out of town actors for the day and i emailed my crew to see who I lost, a UPM, a gaffer, and my DP (uncomfortable trying the position for the first time but willing to try). Keep in mind this is a few weeks out still and i moved it a week further away. I don't think i need a UPM for a 5 minute short but my AD wanted one (along with a 2nd and a 2nd 2nd for some reason) and there are better people for the other two positions amongst my peers. (all of these people are good friends but i'm trying to approach this professionally and think about what's best for my short).

The reason i lost them is because the last day of my shoot is the same day as another classmate's shoot. however he is doing a few hours in the morning and i am doing a few hours at night, not even a 12 hour day and there's going to be a few hours in between. Those crew members did not want to do both.

After we lost those crew members my AD called me and said he dose not want to shoot on that day because of the overlap. i knew we only lost a few people so i told him it's ether replace our lead, replace a few positions, or put it off for another week, even though i already have a professional actor coming from out of town for free. he wanted me to move it back, i wanted to shoot on the new days. He started making up reasons why i should move it, "its unprofessional to abandon those crew members at the last minute" "you cant loose your DP" "you cant light it yourself i want you rehearsing your actors 24-7" "you need this guy as your upm no one else is as good" "you need more time for art department" keep in mind this is a 4 page shoot. I found a new (even better) DP and told him but he still disagreed makeing up new reasons and i just kepped finding solutions to all the little problems he made up for shooting on that day. It got to the point ware i knew he was making stuff up he just ran out of stuff and i stumped him for a few seconds. (he said "well in the real world..." and i said "in the real world they would be replaced immediately if they cant come on the days we need to shoot") then i realized the only explanation is that he messed up somewhere along the line and now he is trying to cover his butt by changing my shoot date (forgot to check the rules on cursing on here)

Heres the real complicated part: i would just ditch him (even thought he's a friend) but he owns the camera i want to shoot on, and he's letting us use it. My best options for cameras are some hpx170's with stock lens or a cannon 7d that he owns. The 170's look like digital video and the 7d is on a whole new level, i know the look i want and i need to shoot with the d7 or it's not worth it. i think he may have bought it for leverage on people but i don't know.

Am i crazy, or am i being BS'ed by this guy? i'm thinking it's posable he got him self another gig on the day i want to shoot or loaned out his camera and how he is trying to move my shoot so he can have his cake and eat it too. unless he is just legitimately concerned with my production not having those three people but that doesn't make a lot of sense. I like they guy, but i get the feeling ether he is crazy or i am crazy. What do you guys think of this? is this what i have to look forward to in my career?
If anyone i know uses this site please don't get offended i'm just thinking out loud on here.

 

[niik000]

i think he got his act together today but i'm just curious what other people think of this.

 

[wheatgrinder]

EVERYBODY is replaceable, except you. Equipment is replaceable. Everyone bows down before the schedule!

You pay your money and you take your chances.

I hope your "lead" doesn't read your post, he might just start asking for more(some) money!

 

[ussinners]

People are fickle. The only concern I'd have is the camera. It's his, and if decides not to do your shoot, the camera might go with him. That's something you need to find out before it's too late.

When I shot my movie, the DP set up the Omni lights and worked the camera. A friend held the boom, and I directed the actors. For the few outdoor shots, I held the reflector while watching the monitor. That was it.

Yes. These problems are the life of a director. But, if the product comes out good, it's all worth it. If it sucks, try again.

Anyhow: GOOD LUCK on the shoot.

 

[Zensteve]

i need to shoot with the d7 or it's not worth it. i think he may have bought it for leverage on people but i don't know.

Am i crazy,

Dude - people don't buy expensive pieces of equipment so they can "get leverage" on other people.

Scheduling can be tough, yah, especially when there are last minute changes. Can't say I blame those crew members who don't want to work two different shoots on the same day, though.

looking at the schedule there was only one day we could possibly shoot with him unless i wanted to push my shoot back another week witch i did not want to do.

If all the other pieces will fall into place by pushing everything back a week, why do you not want to do it?

I'm sure there's a lot of other things going on that you haven't mentioned (that was a lot of meandering thoughts!), but you really ought to start taking some responsibilty for your project as opposed to projecting how powerless you are.

Maybe the AD is double-booking (as you suspect), or maybe he's just juggling schedules (for your project) to the best of his ability. Who knows. You could just ask the other shoot if he's workin' on it. You're all at the same school, right?

There's just no way to tell what's going on, with the info provided. It's all guesses, speculation and supposition.

i would just ditch him (even thought he's a friend) but he owns the camera i want to shoot on

No advice here, but I'll wager he's not the only person in Florida with a camera. Just sayin'.



Good luck with your project, dude.

Which school you at, btw? I know a guy who's at FS atm.

.

 

[niik000]

Sorry about the meandering thoughts i think I posted that at 3am during a spell of insomnia.
I had control over things, i was just venting and i wanted to hear other opinions. I guess i was flustered at the time. Now he pretty much understands that we have no option but to shoot those days. If we pushed it back a week i feel like that would be asking too much form our out of town actors who had those days set in stone, because the whole reason we had this dilemma is because of how tight their schedules were.

What i learned from this is that for now on I need to make sure I have an AD who has the same mentality as me. He is a good guy but i think he's just is not as gung-ho as me.

I'm at a school in orlando called Valencia Community College, it's a great school i love it. It's really a below the line school but if you want to go above the line you get the chance to when we do our in-house shorts.