Movie Producing Made Simple: Make a Short Film in 30 Days

I mentioned a contingency fund earlier and now we are going to talk about that in terms of time and planning your movie (pre-production).

If it takes 1/3 more time to build a business than what is usually expected, then that 1/3 extra time should be planned for, regardless of whether you know what that time will be used for.

What this means in terms of movie producing is planning a deadline a day or two before an aspect of your movie is absolutely needed.

Need the final draft of the script for the actor auditions on Friday? Then make the deadline for the final draft on Wednesday or Thursday, so that any hold-ups will not mess up the next step in the process.

Also, deciding how much time to allocate for pre-production can be confusing if you have never produced a movie before.

A good rule-of-thumb is to have a month of pre-production for a one to two day shoot. This will keep you moving through the movie-making steps fast enough so that you feel urgency, don’t get distracted with unimportant aspects from other areas of your life and don’t get stuck in any fear that might come up.

At the same time, one month of pre-production for your short movie allows you to schedule vital life activities (like driving your kids to school and feeding the dog) while the rest of your free time is devoted to planning your movie, rather than watching television or going to the mall for a sale, which are activities that you can resume after your movie is finished.

If you cannot be self-motivated to stay focused on your movie and finish it, an external deadline can often be very helpful. Try to find an event or deadline to aim for that requires that your movie be complete.

Perhaps you could read up on film festivals and choose one that looks awesome to you and that would be perfect for screening your movie.

HOW TO CREATE A DEADLINE FOR YOURSELF: Look for the application deadline for that film festival. That date will be your ultimate deadline, but then give yourself a week or two before that film festival deadline to actually have the movie finished because you don’t want to have to rush through editing, while thinking about the best route to take to the post office in order to get there before they close.

Going full circle, giving yourself a couple of weeks before your dream film festival deadline also gives you extra time you need, in case anything slows you down on the way to preparing your DVD for the festival.

When scheduling events for your production, you can work off of a digital calendar, such as Google Calendar or iCal, or off of a paper calendar or appointment planner.

This lecture contains a video that is a instructional screencast for the best way to use Google Calendar for your production.

I have also included a link to printable calendars if you prefer working with paper.

You may also choose to work with paper and then transfer the information to your digital calendar later (or vice versa).

If you work with paper calendars: the deadlines and scheduled events you create will sometimes change, so you may want to print out several blank calendars in case anything shifts in the midst of the producing process, but I encourage you to stick to the dates that you pick and not move things around too much.

This is your checklist for the section on scheduling the actual shoot dates of your production.

This is the to-do list in PDF written form, which you can download in the resources area for this lecture.

Your shoot dates should be selected before moving on to the next step.

This overview video introduces the concept of being strategic when selecting your script, and outlines some ways we will be selecting the best script for you, considering aspects such as who will write the script, the production budget of the script, sources of good script material, ways of securing stories for your script and a detailed pattern of discussing rewrites with your screenwriter (or to get feedback if you are the writer).

This video discusses strategies to keep your movie script inexpensive to produce and shoot. It is a good idea to stay within these guidelines, especially for your first few projects.

If you are still stuck on figuring out what your movie should be about, this video explores more sources of story ideas.

Stories are all around you if you listen carefully. If you keep your mind focused on thinking, "What would be a good script for my short film?" you will soon start to see source material everywhere.

Be sure to watch the video on Optioning/Buying Your Movie Script, which should not be taken as legal advice, but is definitely a good thing to think about when seeking your screenplay.

"Brainstorming Story Ideas"

In this PDF Student Activity, you will asked questions to help you get an idea of stories that might make good material for a movie script.

You might already have the story, but you don’t know who will write it. Here are some ideas for getting your story written.

This video should not be taken as legal advice, but optioning is definitely a good thing to think about when seeking a screenplay for your movie.

This prevents two producers from working on the same script, which is helpful. Imagine doing a year's worth of work on a feature film and then finding out a movie with the same story is being released just as you are going into production?

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Here is the Wikipedia definition of Option (filmmaking):

In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement between a potential film producer such as a movie studio, a production company or an individual, and a writer or third party who holds ownership of a screenplay. The agreement details the exclusive rights including the specified time period and financial obligations. The producer has to advance the essential elements, such as financing and/or talent, towards the creation of a film based on thescreenplay.

Similarly, producers can also option books, articles, video games, songs or any other conceivable works of intellectual property. A separate deal would be made with a screenwriter to write the screenplay. This is not an option.

Financially, the contract qualifies as an option and may be assessed using real options analysis.

The term is often used as a verb in Hollywood. For example, "Paramount optioned the short story by Philip K. Dick."

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When a producer options a script, that means that the producer is paying for the option to make the script into a movie in the future, but is not ready to buy the script right now.

I believe optioning is usually an unnecessary step when you are working with SHORT MOVIE SCRIPTS and that a producer should go straight to the purchase because producing a short takes much less time.

It is my opinion (not legal advice to you) that you can skip the “optioning phase” (see below) with shorts unless there is competition for the story or you do not plan on shooting for a while. If you do choose to option the script, there should be a nominal payment to make the option legitimate (I have a friend who options feature scripts for $1) and consult a lawyer on the paperwork.

Unless you are shooting your movie with a bunch of friends, it is really important to format your script properly and in the way that professional scripts are formatted. The reason for this is that (1) people who know anything about making movies will not take you seriously if you don’t format your script correctly and probably will not want to work with you (2) a properly formatted script often gives people who know what they are doing an idea of how long your movie will take to shoot and a rough idea of the final running time of your movie.

A script that is not formatted properly will make it challenging to make accurate estimations. These estimations are important to a producer because they will tell you how long you need to schedule locations, actors, when to plan meals, etc

Final Draft and Celtx will auto format for you. They take a little time to learn but once you understand how to use them, they will help you move quickly through the writing process.

It is very important that you get other peoples’ opinions on your script or the script you have written by someone else. There should be a few rewrites to the script before you finalize it and move on to step 4 (which is casting).

A good rule of thumb is to have the script read by 3 separate people, get feedback, note the changes that you frequently hear, make those changes if they feel right to you, then repeat the same process until you feel that the script is excellent.

Ignore feedback that is non-specific like, “The script was really hard to get through.” That doesn’t help. If the reader cannot answer WHY the script was hard to get through, then be polite and say thank you, but toss that opinion out of your mind as irrelevant. It is useless to you.

Are you ready to pull out your calendar? It's time to get a solid schedule for writing (or having someone else write) your script.

This video concludes this section on finalizing your screenplay for your short movie.

Additional details about rewrites, revisions, script feedback and deadlines are contained in this video which will help you move through this step, lock down a quality final draft and move on to the next steps in producing your movie.

This section reiterates the conclusion video for the section on creating your script, with step-by-step instructions to walk you through creating a writing schedule, getting the script complete and polished and ready for your next step in the movie producing process.

You need to finish these To Dos before moving on to the next step.

This is the to-do list in PDF written form, which you can download in the resources area for this lecture.

Are you ready to cast your movie?

You might already have the actors you need, or you may need to seek them out through a casting call.

In this module, we talk about the upside and downside of casting friends. We talk about human nature and how that can affect the reliability of friends you choose to cast.

This section of the course will discuss the process of the casting session and audition process.

There is a nuance to seeking actors for your movie.

This video talks about elements that should be considered when you start to ponder how you want to set up your casting session including number of rolls, unique special abilities that may be hard to find, how long to give each actor, whether or not to take breaks, etc...

Also, details you need about the production before you post anything about the rolls or production.

There is no set amount of time that is best to cast a project. Time allotted to casting is based on your schedule, the amount of money you have to rent a room (if you are using one in which you have to pay) and the number of rolls you have to cast.

I would give each auditioner 3-5 minutes. In fact, 5 minutes can often be too long. Sometimes you get into cool conversations with the actor and the audition will take longer. This is a good thing because it shows you and the actor have rapport which will be a good thing on set.

Often there are a few no-show that will balance out the long conversations, so I would schedule each actor for a 3-5 minute slot with a 5-10 minute break at the end of each hour to catch up/go to the bathroom/have a snack.

I usually bring in approximately 20-30 people for each roll. That works out to approximately two hours of auditioning per roll. If you still do not find anyone for a roll, you can always hold another casting session.

No sense in holding a 5-hour casting session for one roll if the first actor who walks in is perfect for the part.

In this video we will be talking about the dates that you need to solidify before holding the audition.

These dates might shift around a bit, but hopefully not because much of your actor and crew selection relates to who is available for all of the required production days.

In this lecture we will be talking about the typical actor compensation for a low budget or no budget movie.

When I offer the actor the part, I like to provide a simple contract, even in informal settings.

This is to protect both parties and, more important, make sure that everyone is seeing eye-to-eye on expectations.

Before you post anything about your movie anywhere to find actors, you need to have a clear idea of what you are looking there and then convey that in a character description.

It is easiest to prepare this beforehand, ideally in a text document, so that you can just copy and paste the information whenever necessary.

This is especially helpful when posting in multiple places, like several casting websites or printing out a casting request at local theaters.

In this lecture we are going to visit a couple of casting websites that are popular in the larger entertainment cities (Los Angeles and New York).

There are several websites that will help you cast your movie.

It is especially easy if you are in a major city, but if you are not, it can seem challenging to find actors.

There are additional strategies in this video for you to use if you are in a rural area that will make finding the actors you need much easier.

Here is my own list of things I bring to my casting sessions.

To make the greatest use of your time at the casting session, it is good to get there early, set things up, and know how to efficiently conduct the flow of actors.

Also, a reminder on slating your actors.

I generally lean toward NOT casting friends in my movies without an audition unless it is a theater group that I have been working with for a while.

If it is NOT a theater group but just an individual friend that I know socially, I require the actor to audition. The reason I do this is because you want the actor to appreciate the roll because they will work harder at doing a better job at it. If you just hand it to them without work, it is likely that even a close friend with the best acting skills will “phone it in”. This has happened several times for me and I have become quite strict about this policy regarding casting.

Ultimately you have to do whatever works for you, but this is what I have learned after 10 years of casting. If you hire your friends to act in your movie, here are some questions to ask yourself about them.

In this lecture I share my process for selecting actors for my movie after the casting session.

You have now held your casting session and it is time to pick your cast from all of the actors you saw during the casting session.

But what happens after the casting session? If you have not already made a decision about which actors you want to cast, here are some methods to work through the decision making process and also the next steps with contacting the actors, letting them know they have the roll, and confirming that they are able to do the roll.

Sometimes choosing your actors is based on gut instinct, which works really well for me.

But if I am not sure about which actor to cast, I have a step-by-step process upon which I base my choice for actors for my movies that has worked successfully for me most of the time.

This lecture outlines the to-do steps for the section on Casting Your Movie, as presented in a previous video lecture.

This is the to-do list in PDF written form, which you can download in the resources area for this lecture.

Try to finish as much as possible before moving on to the next step. You might still be looking to fill a couple of rolls in your movie while working on other steps, but it is a good idea to lock this down as soon as possible.

In this step we will discuss locations for your movie. Sometimes what seems like the obvious choice brings up issues once you are actually shooting the movie.

We will go over potential problems with locations that you may not be aware of and characteristics of a good location.

In this lecture we will have a list of general characteristics of a good location for shooting a movie.

If you build your set with Wild Walls (movable walls) in a warehouse, you will be able to control every aspect of the design and lighting.

In this section we will discuss what you need for building your set, and some potential downsides to shooting that way.

Each member of your crew is an expert in their craft and will be able to spot potential problems in a location before shooting begins.

In this lecture we will talk about which crewmembers to bring and why.

This lecture is devoted to talking about some of the things you might not have considered when scouting locations.

There are many more than what we discuss in this video, but the general intention for the lecture is to make you aware that things might come up on the day of the shoot that you regarding the location that you never thought about.

When you are on a location you are considering, try to think of all of the potential problems you could run into. You may still use the location, but at least you have brainstormed solutions to those problems before you have everyone on set and the clock is ticking.

Knowing what issues could completely mess up your shoot will put you ahead of the game and ensure a smooth shooting day. In this video get some tips on what to look for and check in a location that you would not think to check.

Your movie crew is your team behind the camera, making sure all of the elements of the movie look as realistic and appropriate as possible.

Their creative choices feed into the look and feel of your movie. On an indie movie set I like to have friendly people who are flexible and that also don’t mind jumping on camera in a scene if necessary.

An on-set crew could be comprised of hundreds of people, but for your indie-short movie, I will be covering the bare bones crew members you will need.

In this lecture we will be talking about some online and offline sources for your crew.

Some may work better than others depending on your location.

Once we get into the individual crew positions, I will also mention some places to find that crew member.

The key is to think creatively, consider the skill sets required for the position, and if you cannot find someone who has done the position on another set, fine someone who has skills that would be helpful for that position.

In this lecture I will be talking about some things crew members want out of their participation in your movie other than money. This will help you when you are encouraging others to get involved with the movie you are producing.

Negotiating with your crew often depends on how much experience they have, and what direction they are going in terms of working in the movie industry.

Knowing what they want helps you help them move forward in their career (or at least see the upside of getting involved) and also makes participating in your movie production more appealing to them.

But before we do, let’s make an analogy.

Think of your movie as a wedding.

If the producer is the event coordinator finding all of the details for the wedding (like church, reception hall, date, invitations,etc), the director is the person involved with selecting the color scheme of the reception hall, the paper for the invitations, the songs the band will play.

If you are having trouble finding this member of your crew, we talk about some unconventional places to look for cinematographers.

Boom Operators hold the mic close to the actors using a stick-like device called a boom. On low budget indie sets, like yours, they will also be in charge of the sound quality, which is usually what a sound mixer does, but it is unlikely you will have one.

An assistant director makes sure that the movie is being shot on time, anticipates the needs of the set beforehand to make sure those elements are ready to go when needed.

For Example: If the crew is almost done setting up for a scene, the A.D. will get the actors needed in that scene and make sure they are ready to step on to set as soon as the crew is finished with the setup.

The A.D. also makes adjustments to schedule with the producer and director if the production is running behind schedule, in order to get the shots that are vital.

I have a friend that calls A.D.s “Traffic Cops” on set, but I think there is a lot more nuance to it.

If you are having trouble finding this member of your crew, we talk about some unconventional places to look for your Assistant Director, or at least some characteristic that good Assistant Directors have.

A makeup artist’s job is fairly self-explanatory, but sometimes they need special skills like prosthetics or “practical” special effects (like gunshot wounds or cuts). (as opposed to digital special effects or VFX which is done during post-production.)
If you are having trouble finding this member of your crew, we talk about some unconventional places to look for a makeup artist for your movie.

This crewmember is also referred to as “continuity” and makes sure everything matches properly within the scope of the movie.

They also record data, such as the length of a shot, the time the crew gets the first shot complete, the time the day ends, and makes sure all of the dialogue is covered in the script.

On a low budget short movie set, the production designer is the art department. The most simple way to say it is that the production designer makes sure that the set looks correct. If you are working with someone who has never done it before, make sure they know that they are in charge of covering any logos that are showing. No logos may show if you are planning to publicly screen (or post online) your movie.

If you are having trouble finding this member of your crew, we talk about some unconventional places to look for your Production Designer, or at least some characteristic that good Production Designers have.

On a low budget short movie set, the production designer is the art department. The most simple way to say it is that the production designer makes sure that the set looks correct. If you are working with someone who has never done it before, make sure they know that they are in charge of covering any logos that are showing. No logos may show if you are planning to publicaly screen (or post online) your movie.

If you are having trouble finding this member of your crew, we talk about some unconventional places to look for your Production Designer, or at least some characteristic that good Production Designers have.

Editors are not usually on set (although sometimes they are). They are part of your post-production crew (or he/she IS your post production crew), in charge of putting the clips of your movie together to make a movie.

They also sometimes do things in post production like color correction, visual effects, motion graphics for credits, dialogue and sound correction, foley, music and DVD authoring.

If you are having trouble finding this member of your crew, we talk about some unconventional places to look for a movie editor for your project.

This lecture is just a few things to keep in mind as you are going through your To-Dos for Step 6, Finding Your Movie Crew.

In this lecture we are going to talk about the required quality of your movie, how the movie will be shot and how tha play into the cost of your equipment.

These factors must be balanced correctly for you to optimize your budget but also get the best looking and sounding movie you possibly can.

It is beyond the scope of this producing course to go into specific equipment choices, so here are some people you can ask that will help you make the best decision about equipment.

In this lecture we are going to be talking about camera equipment to shoot your movie.

We will also be talking about bare minimums for your camera’s capabilities and features.

In this lecture we are going to be talking about audio equipment to shoot your movie.

We will also be talking about bare minimums for your audio equipment’s capabilities and features, and comparing the pluses and minuses of a couple of different mics.

In this lecture we will be talking about the one piece of equipment which I consider to be a MUST on every movie set and that is a clapper or clapboard, and why it is important.

These are your options for getting equipment for your movie production. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

In this lecture I will be covering some of the details to keep in mind as you work on the To Dos for Step 7 - Finding your movie equipment, which is presented in the next lecture.

Try to finish as much as possible before moving on to the next step. It is likely you will be solidifying locations while working on other steps, but it is a good idea to lock this down as soon as possible.

It is time to pat yourself on the back because you have made it to the week before principal photography (shooting the movie).

So far you have been working on the overarching necessities of the production.

Now you will be focusing on the flow of the day of the shoot (or days of the shoot if you have chosen to do two days.)

The practical issues of food, water, shelter, communication and organization of cast and crew are the focus.

This is also when you MUST lock down any production needs (crew, location, actors, etc) that have evaded you so far.

The first activity for this step is to assess what you still need. There is a PDF in the next lecture to help you with this assessment.

PDF STUDENT ACTIVITY: In this lecture you will be making a list of what you still need for your production.

This downloadable PDF will help you make a list of what you still need in terms of location, crew, cast and equipment. These items are top priority this week.

In this lecture we will discuss what storyboards and shotlists are, and why you need them as soon as possible from your director.

In this lecture we will be talking about the importance of a shotmap and how to read one, and why it is very helpful to the movie production when your director creates one.

In this lecture I will talk about how your Assistant Director will create a shot order based on the shot list, shot map and storyboards that were created by the director.

Each location will have a shot order.

If you do not have an Assistant Director, you (the producer) will probably be doing this job.

In this lecture you will be shown a call sheet and instructed on how to read one and create one.

Yet again, I am asking you to make sure everybody knows the schedule.

Sure, it may be a bit overkill, but you would be surprised how often people get confused with when they have to be on set and where they have to show up.

In this lecture you will learn what you need to prepare for the production meeting and gather the information you need from various key crewmembers so that you are ready for the meeting.

t is a good idea to rehearse actors before they arrive on set.

The producer can be there, but you do not have to go if you do not feel it is necessary.

The director should be there to help convey her vision to actors through their performances.

Your Craft Service table is a table of food on set that allows your crew or cast to grab snacks throughout the day when they get a chance.

There are no formal breaks on a film set aside from meals (lunch and dinner). There is also no time for a crew person to drive down the road to go get a bag of chips at 7-11.

Therefore, you have to provide that for them so that they can grab what they need and go back to work.

You are going to want to pick up breakfast and breakfast beverages in the morning before the shoot so that everything is fresh and hot.

Here are some ideas of good things to offer for breakfast.

When considering what meal to feed crew, realize that you are trying to please the most people at one time. Will everyone be happy? Probably not. Aim for high quality food, though, and if people have diet restrictions (like vegetarianism or gluten-free) do your best to feed those people even if it costs a little more money.

In this lecture I will briefly cover some safety issues such as food allergies and general safety reminders for your set.

In this lecture we will be talking about what to do two days before the shoot. Be sure your phone is charged because you are going to be using it a lot today!

In this lecture we will talk about what to do the day before the shoot.

Obviously, if you still need to get stuff done, then do it, but presuming you have done your job and have almost everything ready, it is a good idea to channel any nervous/excited energy into mundane activities.

This is a short lecture about having petty cash on set for last minute purchases that your production might need.

I am putting this is STEP 9 because you are typically going to be getting your on set money organized some time during the week before the shoot.

PDF for To Dos for Step 8: The Week Before the Shoot

Be sure you do the To-Dos from this section before moving on to the next section. This is very important

The day is finally here! Are you nervous? Excited? If you have done all the necessary preparations, this day should go smoothly, and your job on set is to make sure everything goes smoothly and on time, that your cast and crew stay focused and that you solve any problems that may occur.

In this lecture we will be going over what you will be doing BEFORE the first call time.

After 6 hours of working, your crew will be anxious for a lunch break.

In this lecture, I will explain how to make sure it goes smoothly and on time.

One the last shot is complete (the “martini shot” as it is often called), there is still a need to break down the set and the equipment and make sure the space is left in proper order.

In this lecture we discuss what happens after the shooting is done.

In this lecture we discuss things to keep in mind if you are shooting principal photography for more than one day.

I am very proud of you for getting through your first shoot day.

This lecture is a review of the day, which I covered in the previous lectures in this section in greater detail.

This is more of a framework or checklist for the principal photography day (STEP 9) rather than a To Do list.

It is good to keep it with you and maybe set silent reminders to your phone at the appropriate times to let you know when the next “To Do” should be done that day.

Once the frenzy of the shoot is over and you have all of your footage, the question you will have is, “What do I do next?”

After you have rested, and you are staring at whatever you used to capture the footage, it is time to take the raw materials you now have and put it into something that reflects your vision for the movie, markets your talents to the world and gets the word out about your awesome movie!

It is also good to keep in mind that for every filmmaker, there is a different goal and a different vision for where he or she wants her movie end up.

This is a framework of popular ways people screen their movie. I am sure you will make it unique to your own needs and desires.

In this lecture we will get into the details of editing, starting with the different software options.

This list is not exhaustive, but presents you with the most popular movie editing software selections. These are also the ones that give you the most flexibility in terms of output (or final rendering) and are most adaptable to unconventional shooting formats.

In this lecture we talk about the different stages of post-production movie editing.

You may think that it is just cutting one person's dialog to fit logically with another person's dialogue.

This lecture introduces you to many elements that are added and changed during editing.

Even though this might be much more than you need right now, I want to make you aware of it because sometimes something needs to be added that you didn't know so it is better to be able to anticipate these things before the editing begins so that you can "guestimate" the proper time for editing. (Hint: it almost always takes longer than you think it will, especially if you are just beginning to learn to estimate these things.)

There are a lot of advantages to screening your movie at Film Festivals. In this video we talk about some of those advantages.

PLEASE BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF THAT IS IN THIS LECTURE FOR ALTERNATIVES TO WITHOUT A BOX.

Several years ago I would have said to use WithoutABox, but without a box is now owned by Amazon, which, according to their user rights, can take your movie and use it however they want to if they want to without paying you.

They are also ripping of the film festivals and making it hard for them to survive financially.

In this lecture, we talk about sending your movie to film festivals WITHOUT USING WITHOUT A BOX!!!

SCREENING YOUR MOVIE ONLINE

Here are some ideas to screening your movie online and some reasons you may want to do so.

In this lecture we will be talking about some of the challenges of DVD authoring, as well as the importance of sending thank you notes and DVDs of the finished movie to your cast and crew.

Also, don’t forget all of the people that helped you along the way. Send thank yous to EVERYONE that helped you along the way and let them know how your project turned out. I’m sure they would love to hear from you when it is done!