What to do about this production problem?

[harmonica44]

I am scheduled to be shooting my first real short in October. My sound man dropped out, and now I have to find a new one. This is exactly what happened in my two previous attempts, the soundman and DP just lost interest, or something better comes up, and they dropped out.

Now I don't want to have to cancel on my actors for the third time (different actors than the last times), cause that will create a bad reputation, after two previous casting calls advertisements. I want to be able to show the people that I can complete a film and I told myself that I couldn't let crew dropping out stop me again. So I will continue to look for a new soundman, and whoever else I need to, if anyone else drops out.

However, I will be getting people on short notice, since the shooting dates are already planned. The more people drop out, the more quicker you have to hire replacements. So what's the best way to handle this problem, now that time is running short? If I cancel again, no one will take my adds seriously anymore, but if I keep the shooting date, I risk showing up with no crew, and having to get the actors to help out with sound, and possibly camera, when they are not on screen.

If my DP stays and it's just the soundman that has quit on me, then perhaps I can just shoot the whole thing without a soundman on set, and get a soundman to redub all the actors dialog in post, along with all the other post sound.

 

[SinEater]

You shouldn't be "hiring" these people months in advance. There is no reason you shouldn't be shooting a short next weekend. And then another the weekend after. At your rate you'll be making your feature in 2019.

 

[harmonica44]

Well the reason why I put out a casting call in months in advance, was so that I could get enough people. That's what other adds were doing and an article I read said to give a months notice before casting, and another month for shooting after. I only had one actress apply for the lead so far, so perhaps a couple of months was a good idea since I hope to get more auditions for the lead than that. I know what you mean at my rate... but how do I get enough people to make a short in just one week? Perhaps for my next one I can post an add saying auditions are in a week, but I'm afraid that I won't get enough people that way. Oh well lesson learned. I'll try faster for my next one after.

 

[SinEater]

Make a short starring one person. Anything to get you shooting with an actor to get experience. If you try to have a huge production with tons of people involved but you have no experience it's likely to blow up in your face.

 

[harmonica44]

Oh ya, I've still been doing my own stuff here and there, whenever someone can be an actor, and help. I can also post an add for a new soundman but it will be a more spur the moment add and I'll have to explain that one dropped out if that's okay. I think maybe a lot of people hate the script or something cause everyone I have shown it to dropped out, but the people I have not yet, have stayed. That very well could not be the reason, but just a guess.

 

[wheatgrinder]

My experience is that Iv only ever accepted craigslist film jobs (freebies) on a spur of the moment thing.

For example, its Wednesday today, I might see if anyone could use a DP THIS SATURDAY, as the wife and kids are out of town and I don't have any plans! (Not true by the way, but its been true in the past)

 

[harmonica44]

Okay thanks. If I can't get a new sound man in time I'll be forced to do it myself. Another problem is securing a venue for auditions. I thought I'd put up the add first a month before securing the venue. I have two weeks till the audition dates, and still haven't been able to secure one. Every office or venue either has an employee only, policy, or the establishment is so out of business that, no one answers the phone when you call.

It would be awkward and possibly amateur to use a friends house to hold the auditions. My dad has offered to his garage to me, but would a garage be reasonably professional enough really? I only have two weeks and no place has been accompanying so far. Where I live the only place you can rent if you aren't an employee, is a motel room it seems.

 

[wheatgrinder]

Dude, you ARE an amateur... like many of us here..

That said, look to cheap restaurants that have lounges that they close during the non peak hours. Promise to buy coffee for everyone who comes to the audition.. and tip like $20.

 

[voodoogmr]

You really need to learn to think fast and on your own if you expect to helm a production. Best way to do that is to just shoot a LOT. It's impossible to plan for every single thing in advance. Our boom operator had to leave during the middle of a shoot. Fortunately, I treated my cast and crew right from the beginning, so our FX artist gladly picked up the boom job for me. He had zero experience, but I knew exactly what to tell him, which made him very comfortable.

I use friends and family for crew. The key, though, is that I (somewhat) know what I'm doing. Therefore, they know they can look to me for answers. So, that means I had to dedicate a lot of time and effort to learn camera, lighting, audio, etc BEFORE I ever even started casting my first short.

I promise you, if you wander around the set clueless about what to do, you'll likely end up with an angry, impatient cast and crew. That's why it is so important to just shoot something simple with friends and family FIRST to learn your way around the process. That pays off in the long run.

 

[gorillaonabike]

Harmonica44 - don't let me down, dude. We appear to be shooting at the same time so let's just get out there and do it.

So let's you and I shoot and see who sucks less. We're going to suck big time as they're our first shorts but hey, this is a learning experience. And we're also polar opposites - You ask too many questions whereas I don't ask enough... and my first short is an arthouse (i.e. I'm a pretentious @sshole) whereas I figure you're as far away from arthouse as it gets.

I have helped out on other shorts so hopefully have an idea. Also, a couple of the guys I did stuff with on other shorts will be on set so I hope I have a little advantage but hey, this is too unpredictable. It could be a disaster but I'm just going to shoot it anyway.

So pull it together and see what you and I come up with. No excuses, just shooting.

 

[that1guyy]

I somehow doubt he will shoot his short before the year end. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[PaulGriffith]

You might consider film school. A lot of the people here say it's not for everyone and I agree, but in your case you'll have professors with all the answers to your questions and classmates assigned to work on projects with you. Even a community college course, you might consider it.

 

[harmonica44]

You really need to learn to think fast and on your own if you expect to helm a production. Best way to do that is to just shoot a LOT. It's impossible to plan for every single thing in advance. Our boom operator had to leave during the middle of a shoot. Fortunately, I treated my cast and crew right from the beginning, so our FX artist gladly picked up the boom job for me. He had zero experience, but I knew exactly what to tell him, which made him very comfortable.

I use friends and family for crew. The key, though, is that I (somewhat) know what I'm doing. Therefore, they know they can look to me for answers. So, that means I had to dedicate a lot of time and effort to learn camera, lighting, audio, etc BEFORE I ever even started casting my first short.

I promise you, if you wander around the set clueless about what to do, you'll likely end up with an angry, impatient cast and crew. That's why it is so important to just shoot something simple with friends and family FIRST to learn your way around the process. That pays off in the long run.

I tried learning as much as I can, but still not sure what exactly I am doing right and wrong with the equipment, so not totally sure I can make the best out of it yet. I still haven't gotten the software to do sound and footage editing yet, so I haven't posted anything for feedback that I shot. I will get it as soon as I can though, just having trouble deciding on which to get that's best for me, so I don't make a mistake.

Harmonica44 - don't let me down, dude. We appear to be shooting at the same time so let's just get out there and do it.

So let's you and I shoot and see who sucks less. We're going to suck big time as they're our first shorts but hey, this is a learning experience. And we're also polar opposites - You ask too many questions whereas I don't ask enough... and my first short is an arthouse (i.e. I'm a pretentious @sshole) whereas I figure you're as far away from arthouse as it gets.

I have helped out on other shorts so hopefully have an idea. Also, a couple of the guys I did stuff with on other shorts will be on set so I hope I have a little advantage but hey, this is too unpredictable. It could be a disaster but I'm just going to shoot it anyway.

So pull it together and see what you and I come up with. No excuses, just shooting.

Okay thanks. I've tried helping on other shorts before, but the people shooting them said they didn't need any additional help.

You might consider film school. A lot of the people here say it's not for everyone and I agree, but in your case you'll have professors with all the answers to your questions and classmates assigned to work on projects with you. Even a community college course, you might consider it.

I wanted to go to film school, but the cost it would take to move to the big city, and go, would drain any budget I have for making a future feature film I want to do. It would take years to get that money again, after film school.

As for renting a lounge after closing hours. I will try that. I will have to go around from lounge to lounge asking complete strangers to rent their property, so because no one has done it for me before, while I was looking for a venue, I doubt they will with lounges. But I will try. Most lounges close at 11 or later though, so I will have to find that does earlier. I only have two weeks till the audition dates though, so if not, I guess I will have to use my dads garage or a friends house. One other place that might let me is the church, perhaps they will for a donation or something.

And there is one last coffee shop I can try but they close like at 9 or 10 though.

 

[GuerrillaAngel]

Make sure you have two rooms -- one for everyone to wait in and a private room for the actual audition. An elementary step, but often overlooked.

Check out your library. Sometimes they have space.

 

[voodoogmr]

I tried learning as much as I can, but still not sure what exactly I am doing right and wrong with the equipment, so not totally sure I can make the best out of it yet. I still haven't gotten the software to do sound and footage editing yet, so I haven't posted anything for feedback that I shot. I will get it as soon as I can though, just having trouble deciding on which to get that's best for me, so I don't make a mistake.

Of course you should try to avoid making mistakes. But if you box yourself into a corner because of fear of making mistakes, you'll never get anything done. You only fail when you don't try.

My philosophy is this: n00bs shouldn't be perfectionists. I consider myself a n00b too. My short films are horrible (you can see some of the older ones on Vimeo. Each of these were shot just over a weekend or two at most, using family and friends. My first short ("Legion") was a total disaster (I scribbled down the script in one evening, and it shows; plus, I had no idea what I doing with any of the visual FX). But I learned more from that experience than I did from books, college, or the Internet.

KEEP IT SIMPLE!! Let me repeat that...KEEP IT SIMPLE!! If you don't know how to use the equipment, then you certainly don't want to try shooting a complex short until you do. Shoot simple shorts to learn the basics FIRST, and then move on to bigger productions.

Since it's football season, a good analogy would be expecting to be the starting quarterback of a NFL (or CFL in your case) team when you don't even know the rules of the game yet.

 

[harmonica44]

Okay thanks. I learned the basic of the equipment. The camera is somewhat easy once you know what settings to have it on, it seems. The sound is kinda hard to get the hang of not clipping it. I might have to do the sound myself now, but so far I have a DP on board. Hopefully he won't leave too. I think I might have found a possible place for auditions. And yes I will make sure that they have two rooms. I have been to two auditions myself so I know what to have I think. Thanks for the input.

 

[Muddy_Wizard]

then perhaps I can just shoot the whole thing without a soundman on set, and get a soundman to redub all the actors dialog in post, along with all the other post sound.

Since your low budget, there's no chance you can afford to do this properly. The time and effort to do this far exceeds that of recording it properly on set in the first place. Offer him 400 for the production this is common for lo/no productions.

 

[harmonica44]

Sure I'll try. I think the DP is out now. If I can't get him to stick, I'll get the actors to use the equipment when they are not on screen, as suggested. I hope when the audition dates come I actually have the same actors, and won't have to hire, whoever shows up.

Well it turns out now that not as many showed up as I was hoping. I don't have a lead actress since only one actress showed and she wasn't that good. I'll have to just go around meeting women and asking them if they are interested in doing some sort of private audition before the shooting dates.