Can You Hear Me Now
Audio is one of those things that you have to have for your movie but don't want to really think about. You want it to just magically happen and let's face it, nothing in filmmaking happens "magically". It might look that way but it doesn't. What you need is a good audiophile, somebody that loves to hold a boom with a microphone on the end of it.
You can look for someone talented with sound or you can figure it out yourself. I suggest that you get at least 2 decent remote mics that sync with your camera. While your camera may have sound it is usually really bad. The remote mics can be worn on the body of the actor. These will work adequately but proper mic placement it necessary.
When placing the mic on the talent use your fist with thumb extended up and pinkie extended down in the ol' hang loose hand sign. Place the thumb under the chin and at the end of your extended pinkie is where the mic should be placed. This places the mic close enough for good sound but far away enough from the mouth to prevent popping and sibilance.
If you are fortunate to have a mic with a boom then this is the way to go with group scenes. It is a real pain for a boom operator to handle a boom for an entire day of shooting, but those audiophiles just love this stuff. They will hold a boom for days and love it.
Once you get your sound back in the studio you will need to edit it along with the image. Previously filmmakers had non-linear systems to edit their sound but now you have available non-linear editing. This means that NLE gives you the ability to move sound clips back and forth within the video itself.
Along with recording the dialog of the film there is always sound effects and a soundtrack to provide. The movie would be quite dry if there is no soundtrack or sound effects. Making a soundtrack can be quite difficult unless it is all original work. This is when you might look for music that is already recorded but that could present quite a few problems.
Violating copyright on anything belonging to another artist or their agent that owns the rights to the music, can hold up you up in post-production and keep you from being able to release your film. There are ways around this but only a couple. You can always use music that is public domain. Any piece of music or image that has not ownership attached to it means that there is no person or organization that has a proprietary interest in this music or image.
The second solution for adding a soundtrack to your film is to simply use original work. This is easy if you happen to have a friend that writes and performs music that works with you film. Many budding composers and musicians are looking for a chance to work with a filmmaker so that they can partner their music making talents.
Film Festivals and the Filmmaker
Chris Gore writes a book called "The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide". In the first 10 pages of the book he talks about going to Film Festivals all over the world and enjoying each and every one of them. I don't know about you, but this sounds like heaven to me. Whether you are a film aficionado or a filmmaker with a film entered, a film festival is an exciting experience and one you will want to repeat as often as possible.
There was a time when film festivals were far and few between. Studios controlled every aspect to filmmaking and there was not much of an independent spirit to be found anywhere. It seems however, with the rise of Indie films that every state in the country has it's own film festival. In California alone there must be twenty or more film festivals.
There was a time when films did not happen at all unless they were under the auspices of the studios. There was no real chance of the little guy getting his or her film out there. But now it is a whole different ballgame. The little guy likes to show his films anywhere he can, hence the rise of independent film festivals all over the country.
Sundance, Tribeca, and the Toronto Film Festival are the first and foremost festivals to submit your film to. However there are at least a hundred other film festivals that you can submit your film to. This is rather like the lottery; if you don't play you can't win. If you don't enter your film you can't get it shown. You must continue to submit your film as many times as you can until you finally get acceptance into a festival.
You might get quite a few rejection letters until you get your first acceptance letter. There are a few things that might help you out though. You must remember that a film festival board may have 800 submissions and only 40 spots for a film to be shown. Many a rejection letter has given the reason that they had far too many submissions to even view them all. My advice to you is that once you have your film done and you have the very first date they are opening for submissions then submit your film. Don't wait until the last minute.
Make sure your film is entered into the right festival for instance, you would not enter a children's film into an adult alternative film festival. I am not sure there is even the latter category, but you get the general drift. Also, read your application carefully. It may require your entry to be mailed, done online, or even in person.
In the category of short film, be very careful you adhere to any time requirements for your piece. If it is a little too long then do some more trimming. Just to be on the safe side if the film is to be 10 minutes long, make it for 9 minutes. Don't give them any reason to kick back a rejection letter.
Rejection is a funny thing with Film Festivals; there is art even in rejection. The Slamdance film festival came about as an answer to the rejections from Sundance. The Sundance Festival shows in Park City, Utah. At the same time in Park City, Utah Slamdance runs. This is a deliberate attempt to show the films that have been over looked by Sundance. I'll bet there's a lot of action in that town during the combined running of both festivals.
If you get a chance to visit the Pacific Northwest during the end of May and beginning of June, the Seattle International Film Festival runs for almost a month sometimes showing as many as 300 films. They have great filmmaker's forums and there is their original "Fly Filmmaking Challenge" that they hold every year. Theirs is the longest running and shows the most films of any other film festival in the country.
I encourage you to do your own search of film festivals and check out their application processes. Do
Filmmaking: In the Beginning
In the years following the rise of the various social revolutions that took place in this country and abroad, the making of film changed vastly from the old world of film studio dominance to the exciting world of independent film. In the 50's, 60's and even 70's, independent film was synonymous with Underground film, art film, and foreign film.
Simply defined, a film that is independent is a film made outside of the umbrella of the studio without the funding or distribution options offered.
Producing a film independently has become quite popular, and this is due to the public no longer being satisfied with the Hollywood formula. The audiences of today have become much more sophisticated and expect something different and new every time they sit down to watch a film. The old Hollywood formula just doesn't cut it anymore for entertainment. It has been too predictable for film buffs. We look for cutting edge, quirky and groundbreaking films.
However, the most important aspect of independent film is that anyone with a song in their heart and the burning desire to make a film can now do so. We have the new technologies to thank for this as well as the public's yearning for raw footage with a gritty storyline. So this means you can achieve your dream of making a film, and you don't have to be a big film studio to get it made. It also means that you have the joys of the financial headaches and creative challenges.
There are three main phases of making a film: pre-production, production, and post-production. There might also be a 4th phase: distribution (if you're lucky). The longest phase of making a film is pre-production. This is also the most important part of the production, because it is what makes the film. Without good planning it will be difficult to get anything off the ground.
While you don't really need one, it is good to have a script. So in the beginning you have to have a story, a concept, or an idea. Once you have one, you can move on to all other modes of production planning. Of course, there are several ways you can tell your story, but in filmmaking there are two main classes of film. These would be the short film and the feature length film. It is usually better to start off with a short film rather than a feature length film, and if you are a film student, you rarely have time to produce feature length films.
A professional screenplay is typically scripted for a run time of 90 minutes in three acts. Each act is approximately 30 pages long, and each page is the screen equivalent of one minute. This is a timing consideration that is more typical of the American film industry than it is of the rest of the world film making community. European films have less restrictions concerning film length. Rather, they have the tendency to let the film unfold and tell itself, allowing however much time it takes to tell the story.
Once you have written your screenplay, if you have no immediate plans for production it is best to write a treatment, which best describes the film in a nice neat three-page write-up. These three pages represent one act of your screenplay in a treatment, and is the format commonly acceptable to shop your screenplay. Very often, this is all that gets read, and can make or break your screenplay's acceptance. However, for the independent filmmaker, all you need is a working script and you are on your way!
this research sooner rather than later. Don't wait until the last minute.
Filmmaking is Storytelling
My first introduction to film in school was during a film analysis class, although technically, it was classified as a philosophy class. The professor was quite pompous and made a big deal out of discussing how to actively view a film. No speaking was allowed, and we were to take notes while viewing. He was a little like the Movie Nazi. We discussed film theory and the power of the director in the making of a film at great length.
As a cultural phenomenon, film traces the human need to tell stories back to our oral traditions. Aside from recording history, we all want to be entertained and we all want to hear a good story. If you are going to make a film, you have to have a great story and then be willing to run with it. Talk it up to everyone you know. Enlist the help of others and win them over to the cause of your film. Give your film a catchy name--one that will pop out of people's mouths.
Promote your film shamelessly before you ever have anything in the can. Sell T Shirts with your film logos and sell bumper stickers. Make a website and develop a fan base. Start a blog and be just as edgy and out there as you can, but make sure that people have your film's name on their lips, regardless of how good <or bad> it is.
I have a friend who produced a film about her high school experience 10 years ago, and this summer it will be distributed. She developed a website, sold things from her film promotion stock, and made a very good fan base for herself before the film was even edited. Her fan base, through the purchase of T-shirts and other promotional items, paid for various things throughout production of the film. She managed to get it made and now her film has been picked up for distribution 10 years later.
To be a filmmaker is to have a big picture mentality on a small picture budget. It is tough to stay true to the storyline when you have a bottom line that is keeping you from the production. One of the reasons you want to talk your film up is that, in the beginning, you will need to find a crew. Usually you will have to use talent that is willing to work for nothing (or next to nothing). You may have to act in your own film as well....and write, direct it, and edit it. Do what you have to do to get the film "in the can" and ready to edit.
You will have to develop tunnel vision with the project. If you have a day job, get used to the idea that you may have to take an extra job for a while to buy a camera or other necessary equipment for shooting. If you have the good fortune to still be a student you have great resources for equipment. If you are not a student, then maybe you can decide to go back to school and study film. You will have at your disposal some of the best resources an aspiring filmmaker can have. Film programs at universities have awesome loan programs that are a hidden resource.
At college, while you can take film equipment out on loan, you may also have access to edit bays and sound booths. In some cases, they are available 24 hours a day. Students are up all night anyway, right? Also, when forming a production crew, students provide good talent for your film when you are in need of actors. You may want to take turns crewing for your friends' films, and they, in turn, will act in yours. Do what you can to build a crew, gather the bare minimum of equipment needed to shoot, and develop a shooting schedule. Once you have the crew and the guns to shoot, everything starts to gel. Press onward.
Finding a Location or Your Film
Being a location scout would seem to be the most fun out of all the jobs offered in the filmmaking industry. It seems that it would be a dream vacation to travel and see if a location checks out or not. Believe it or not, headaches abound in securing a location to shoot.
There are many more details involved in securing a location to shoot a film than simply finding the location. There are permission and releases to be obtained from everyone involved. Proof of liability insurance and authorizations of access to the location may need to be obtained. The scout will convince the owner that having a 150 person crew camped out on their front lawn it going to be good fun.
Previously it might have pacified the local authorities if you gave them some small compensation, like a good bottle of whiskey, but these arrangements are no longer available. Now you must have official permission from the local authorities to use certain locations for filming. These releases must be paid for and put on file so that they can be accessed during the shoot. Once the location scout has secured the location they become the location manager. This means they are responsible for parking access and accommodations for he cast and crew.
Sometimes unusual arrangements are made in order to use a location. Stephen King's "Rose Red" was filmed at Thornwood castle in Lakewood, Washington. This castle was brought over from Europe, brick by brick, and rebuilt on she shore of American Lake by Chester Thorne. Chester Thorne was one of the founders of the Port of Tacoma. Initially while it was a good location, the castle needed to be returned to its old grandeur. The production and location managers struck a deal to refurbish the castle.
The result was that almost $800.000 of renovations were preformed on the castle. The restoration work done to the castle can be seen at Thornewood castle's website. The work done was in exchange for the use of the location once it was finished. The owners of the castle in exchange for the use of the location received $800,000 in renovations. I am sure they thought it was good deal. This case exemplifies the lengths to which producers will go to in order to secure a good location.
Location scouting was previously done at a time when the digital technology was not available to the location scout. Scouts were required to travel to the actual location and they usually ended up using Polaroid shots for their reference. Now there are location agencies that can give you virtual tours of locations and the scouting can truly be done online. All you need to do is put in a request for locations on the Internet and you will find scads of listings for location scouting agencies.
Now for those of you that are producing your own independent films, you will have to use your wits to secure your locations. If you are using your own house or apartment it will be no problem but if you are using a location that doesn't have general public access you will need to secure releases from the owners of the facilities you want to use.