Question about hiring crew.

[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?

 

[harmonica44]

Well he's worked on the sound for short films so I am guessing that counts. He told me is a good at post audio engineering, but wants to get into being a set sound man.

 

[Alcove Audio]

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.

Opinions are like a$$holes; everybody has one and they all stink! What you do on a site like IndieTalk is gather applicable experiences from your peers and listen to the advice of those you respect.

The DP took a course, so do they teach them how to film action scenes particularly?

A piece of paper is no guarantee of quality. I've met folks with degrees who were terrible at their jobs, and others who taught themselves who were brilliant. Watch - or listen, in the case of a "soundie" - to their previous work to get an idea of their qualifications.



There comes a point in time where you just have to get out there and do it. After almost 850 posts for you that time has arrived. It just seems like you are so afraid of failure, you're so hung up on your first project being a festival winner, that you will never shoot a frame. Edison "failed" over 2,000 times to make an incandescent light bulb. Fear of failure did not stop him. And keep in mind that his research provided loads of information that he was able to use on other projects.

Your first projects will be bad; that's true for 99.99% of us. Have you read any of the scripts or watched any of the shorts people on this and other sites have posted for critique? For many their first projects were terrible, but each subsequent effort is a noticeable improvement. That's how you learn, you make mistakes and learn from them. So far you're all talk and no action.

 

[harmonica44]

I am doing action and shooting my own stuff. But I will shoot this short of mine that I wrote, that they wanna do. I just thought they might turn out to be disappointed and feel I should have done a better job, since I am working with people who have done submitted shorts before. But yes, I will do it. The CGI is working on some effects and after I see how they turn out, we'll go from there. The DP has never done set extensions or forced perspective yet, but has taken courses, so I'll see if he'll work on that in the meantime, but he's not as committed or passionate about experimenting before production.

 

[gpforet]

When you get to the point where you don't feel like this, you are done learning and growing. There has not been a project yet that I've worked on that I did not come out the other end thinking I could have done something better. That's the nature of developing skills. Repeat those things that worked well, and adjust those things that didn't. As long as there is a drive to do better, there will be a next project to improve.

I just thought they might turn out to be disappointed and feel I should have done a better job....

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

As a general ruile the entire post process is kicking yourself in the ass screaming "God how could I have been that stupid" and "why didn't I..."

 

[harmonica44]

That's good to know. What about the editing stage? I was told to edit a few shorts before actually hiring a crew. But since the crew came before the editing program, it's a little late now. Any tips on what I need to learn with the editing? It seems to me that editing is a mistake that can be correct though, since you can do it over and over, every which way till you the footage cut right. So what am I missing there?

 

[chilipie]

That's good to know. What about the editing stage? I was told to edit a few shorts before actually hiring a crew. But since the crew came before the editing program, it's a little late now. Any tips on what I need to learn with the editing? It seems to me that editing is a mistake that can be correct though, since you can do it over and over, every which way till you the footage cut right. So what am I missing there?

You're correct, modern NLE software means that there are no limits to how many times you can edit and re-edit a sequence. However, shooting something with an eye for the edit - making sure you get enough coverage, watching continuity, choosing shots that will cut together effectively - is a skill that you'll only have once you've edited your film together (or someone has edited it for you).

A good crew (particularly the Director of Photography, 1st AD and Script Supervisor) will help you avoid a lot of these problems, but you haven't really made a film until you've edited it together - it's just a lot of footage, otherwise. It's often said that in filmmaking you make three different films - the one in the script, the one on set and the one in the edit. The ability to cut a sequence together again and again goes no way to invalidating the old adage "garbage in, garbage out".

 

[harmonica44]

Okay thanks, I'll be sure to get a lot of extra shots for continuity then. Is this why a lot of action sequences feel like they are too quickly edited in modern movies? I might have to hire the crew with the cast simultaneously though, since I'm not sure if a DP I know is on board or not. What I could do is post a casting call for the DP, then after that's done and hired, post one for the cast, if that sounds like a good idea.

So even though I still haven't got to edit any footage yet, is it an okay idea to do my first real short I wanna submit to festivals without having done that? I will get on editing some scenes I shot as soon as I can, when my software comes in.