Question about hiring crew.

H

harmonica44

I have a sound guy, a CGI effects guy, and DP interest in working with me to direct a short. I don't know if I'm ready to direct my first real short yet, but they are anxious to start working on their craft, and I don't wanna loose the talented help. I wanna make a good impression and appear confident and ready to being something for them. So maybe I should get something started and do my first real casting call. However, the short requires action scenes, and the DP has never filmed action before. Just music videos and some TV and internet journalism stuff. And the CGI guy is just starting out and hasn't done exactly what the effects the story action sequence reguires.

I know in order to work cheap you gotta get people who are just starting out and still learning, but for a film festival worthy short, are they likely going to do okay? The DP took a course, so do they teach them how to film action scenes particularly?
 
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harmonica44 said:
I have a sound guy, a CGI effects guy, and DP interest in working with me to direct a short. I don't know if I'm ready to direct my first real short yet, but they are anxious to start working on their craft, and I don't wanna loose the talented help. I wanna make a good impression and appear confident and ready to being something for them. So maybe I should get something started and do my first real casting call.
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That sounds like a good idea. Any experience is useful experience.

However, the short requires action scenes, and the DP has never filmed action before. Just music videos and some TV and internet journalism stuff. And the CGI guy is just starting out and hasn't done exactly what the effects the story action sequence reguires.
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Everyone has to start somewhere. How are they going to learn if nobody hires them because they haven't worked on that particular kind of film before? Even big name ASC/BSC Directors of Photography find themselves working on projects that are very different to their usual fare and there's a learning curve there, too (Phedon Papamichael said as much about working on Knight & Day). More to the point, the DoP has much more experience than you, so he will be a useful asset.

I know in order to work cheap you gotta get people who are just starting out and still learning, but for a film festival worthy short, are they likely going to do okay?
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There is no definitive line where a film becomes festival worthy. Your crew might be badly organised and incompetent and make the film unwatchable. They may produce brilliant work but your direction and writing makes the film fall flat on its face. You'll never know until you try, but I suspect they'll add much more to the quality of the film than they'll take away. Filmmaking is a collaborative art and these people want to work (for free) to help you realise your film.

The DP took a course, so do they teach them how to film action scenes particularly?
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How on earth would we know that?
 
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Okay. Are their any examples of good movies with bad scripts where the crew went wrong? Just curious. Another thing is I still haven't done any editing yet. Just some practice shooting and sound recording, but the editing program I ordered still hasn't come in yet, so will it bad to start shooting a real short, with hired actors, if I haven't even done that yet? I can still save the footage from the short, and play around with it, till I edit right though.
 
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You've been dipping your toes in the pool of filmmaking for long enough to know the temperature. From the fact that even folks on here are saying over and over to just shut up and go make something already, and the fact that these guys are persistent in wanting to get something made with you, I'd say the universe is saying to you, "jump in or I'll push you." Are you really going to fight the universe on this? If you're going to be a filmmaker, don't let anything stop you from making films, especially not a willing and eager crew. That would just be stupid.

Is filmmaking really what you want to do?
 
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I don't want this to seem like a knee jerk reaction but you're genuinely making me not want to visit this site anymore. I swear there used to be lots of interesting threads that I could contribute to and enjoy conversation and debate it, but now it's just incessant and incredibly specific questions.

This website is not Yahoo Answers, do some research for yourself on the web that has thousands of website that will supply you with the information. Or, at the very least, use the search function because almost everything you ask has been answered at some point.

I don't want to be unkind because you are persistent and I think you're genuinely very interested in filmmaking but you're preventing me (and, I presume, others) from getting the most out of the great resource that is IndieTalk with these constant questions.

Please go away for a week and come back with something other than more questions.
 
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NickClapper said:
I don't want this to seem like a knee jerk reaction but you're genuinely making me not want to visit this site anymore. I swear there used to be lots of interesting threads that I could contribute to and enjoy conversation and debate it, but now it's just incessant and incredibly specific questions.

This website is not Yahoo Answers, do some research for yourself on the web that has thousands of website that will supply you with the information. Or, at the very least, use the search function because almost everything you ask has been answered at some point.

I don't want to be unkind because you are persistent and I think you're genuinely very interested in filmmaking but you're preventing me (and, I presume, others) from getting the most out of the great resource that is IndieTalk with these constant questions.

Please go away for a week and come back with something other than more questions.
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+1
 
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Dreadylocks said:
You've been dipping your toes in the pool of filmmaking for long enough to know the temperature. From the fact that even folks on here are saying over and over to just shut up and go make something already, and the fact that these guys are persistent in wanting to get something made with you, I'd say the universe is saying to you, "jump in or I'll push you." Are you really going to fight the universe on this? If you're going to be a filmmaker, don't let anything stop you from making films, especially not a willing and eager crew. That would just be stupid.

Is filmmaking really what you want to do?
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Yes it is I was just worried that I wasn't ready, since I haven't finished as many shorts as a lot of people, before moving onto this bigger short that will cost more.
 
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NickClapper said:
I don't want this to seem like a knee jerk reaction but you're genuinely making me not want to visit this site anymore. I swear there used to be lots of interesting threads that I could contribute to and enjoy conversation and debate it, but now it's just incessant and incredibly specific questions.

This website is not Yahoo Answers, do some research for yourself on the web that has thousands of website that will supply you with the information. Or, at the very least, use the search function because almost everything you ask has been answered at some point.

I don't want to be unkind because you are persistent and I think you're genuinely very interested in filmmaking but you're preventing me (and, I presume, others) from getting the most out of the great resource that is IndieTalk with these constant questions.

Please go away for a week and come back with something other than more questions.
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I googled several sites and read them. But each article is just one or two people that wrote their opinions, and I thought I'd come here for secondary opinions to compare, to be on the safe side. Especially when some articles have had different things to say.
 
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Not only do I endorse nubeness, I'm also a client.

I'd like to point out the site benefiting sheer quantity of "informed" (to varying degrees, which itself is enlightening) responses to Monica's... minigun-like questioning.
predator.gif


And you gotta applaud the guy's fantastically dense, nay, almost impervious hide.
It's scary dense.
Dense, I say.
His density is a benefit.
Some of us could benefit from his example of perseverance as a result of being dense.
Like a rhino's assssssets.
images


C'mon.
Give the guy a break, you big tough guys.
Man up. :blush:

:lol:

(Howzat for writing comedy?! HA!)
 
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Harmonica, you know, I'm thinking you may be getting ahead of yourself here. For one thing, you ought not be paying people that aren't entirely skilled in their area of expertise.

I suggest plan B. Buy an inexpensive camera for yourself with the money you have and start shooting quick and easy shorts by doing almost all the work yourself. Some of these shorts will be crap, but what you'll learn will pay off big rewards down the road -- you'll know a heck of a lot more than you do now when it comes to paying people to work on your projects.

Good luck!
 
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I never discourage asking questions, but now members are getting upset. You not only post a barrage of questions which flood the new posts, you hijack other threads by posting your questions in them; questions you could have answered yourself with a quick search or by doing. Filmmaking is a learn from mistakes business and you'll never get anywhere until you start making mistakes. Please respect the other members of this forum and realize their posts need attention too.
 
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indietalk said:
I never discourage asking questions, but now members are getting upset. You not only post a barrage of questions which flood the new posts, you hijack other threads by posting your questions in them; questions you could have answered yourself with a quick search or by doing. Filmmaking is a learn from mistakes business and you'll never get anywhere until you start making mistakes. Please respect the other members of this forum and realize their posts need attention too.
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Oh I'm sorry, I did not mean to hijack any threads. My sincerest apologies.
 
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GuerrillaAngel said:
Harmonica, you know, I'm thinking you may be getting ahead of yourself here. For one thing, you ought not be paying people that aren't entirely skilled in their area of expertise.

I suggest plan B. Buy an inexpensive camera for yourself with the money you have and start shooting quick and easy shorts by doing almost all the work yourself. Some of these shorts will be crap, but what you'll learn will pay off big rewards down the road -- you'll know a heck of a lot more than you do now when it comes to paying people to work on your projects.

Good luck!
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I have shot a couple of quick and easy shorts myself already. I didn't mean to get ahead of myself but I wanted to find some people who know the equipment and the ropes who also wanted to work on their craft. After finding them, they are now anxious to do a short with me. I was originally looking for experimentation and consultation, but they really wanna get started on a real short, and keep asking. I just don't wanna appear without confidence and loose the passionate connections. I mean it may leave a bad impression, when I wanna make a good one. I can still practice shooting ones myself in the meantime, but it would be a lot easier to edit once the software comes in and I figure that all out.

I know what you're saying and I agree, I should do some more practice first, but if I tell the contacts that, they will probably get a bad impression and wanna focus their work on other people wanting to get into directing. I was told since I need practice to find people to practice with who are in the same boat. Now that I have they are anxiously looking to me to make a real short.
 
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You've got a few motivated people together: well done!
I read you are worried (again). Now you are not sure you and your crew are ready for the task.
Prepare yourselfs!
You can read and ask all you want, but in the end you'll have to DO something.
So prepare yourself by doing :)

Ask the crew what the things are they want to work on and need practising on.
Put that in a blender, add some story (maybe add a few things from your script to practise) and you'll have a first short to practise, to learn and to make mistakes. Maybe it's only 1 scene, or 2. Maybe it will be more of a reel than a short.
In the proces all of you will gain experience, confidence, you will get to know each other and grow as a team.

I sometimes put something together with various people: not to make a 'real' short, but to make something fun, to gain experience, to try some stuff and to work with new people.
Last year I made a short easter-thingy and shared it here:
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=113943#post113943
(Shot in 1 day.)
 
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Sure. I hope that they understand I am at the practice level though. I told them I wanna work on my craft, but the DP and the sound guy have already made pro music videos, and other short films under their belt. And they act like they wanna make something submittable. We can still make something and try to submit it, but if it doesn't get it in, cause of not enough experience on my part, I don't want to loose the contacts or make a bad impression or reputation, since it's an early stage for me.
 
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So he's an audio engineer? Heaps difference. You need a location sound mixer for your production. This guys in post. He could work out though. Has he done production sound?
 
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