Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video, Fourth Edition

432 Pages·2010·26.07 MB·english

by  Peter W. Rea

Producing and Directing the
Short Film and Video
This page intentionally left blank
Producing and Directing the
Short Film and Video
Fourth Edition
Peter W. Rea
David K. Irving
AMSTERDAM (cid:129) BOSTON (cid:129) HEIDELBERG (cid:129) LONDON (cid:129) NEW YORK (cid:129) OXFORD
PARIS (cid:129) SAN DIEGO (cid:129) SAN FRANCISCO (cid:129) SINGAPORE (cid:129) SYDNEY (cid:129) TOKYO
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ISBN978-0-240-81174-1(alk.paper)
1.Shortfilms–Productionanddirection.2.Videorecordings–Productionanddirection.I.Rea,PeterW.
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2009046285
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Contents
Web Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Student Fundraising Strategies . . 33
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Pitching the Project. . . . . . . . 34
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii The Elevator Challenge. . . . . . 34
Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii Steps to a Successful Pitch . . . . 34
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 1: Script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Creative Producer . . . . . . . 1
Part I
Developing the Script . . . . . . . 1
Do Your Homework . . . . . . . . 2 Preproduction
What Is a Script? . . . . . . . . . . 3
What Does a Script Look Like? . . 3
Chapter 3: Breakdowns . . . . . . . . . 45
Where Do Scripts Come From? . . 4
How Are Scripts Developed? . . . 6 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Breaking Down the Script . . . . 45
Legalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Production Book . . . . . . . . . 45
Basic Guidelines for the Short Proper Script Format . . . . . . . 46
Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Breaking Down the Script . . . . 46
Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
What Do You Do Now? . . . . . 17 Storyboards and Floor Plans . . . 51
True Stories and Events. . . . . . 17 Developing a Shooting Plan . . . 52
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Final Word . . . . . . . . . . 60
Supervising or Performing Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Rewrites . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Working with the Writer . . . . . 18 Chapter 4: Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . 63
Director as Storyteller . . . . . . 18
Producer (as Production
Story Questions . . . . . . . . . . 19
Manager) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Scene Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 19
Building a Stripboard . . . . . . . 63
The Shooting Script. . . . . . . . 19
General Guidelines . . . . . . . . 63
How Do Scripts Affect Budgets? . 20
Beginning the Schedule . . . . . 68
Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Creating the Schedule . . . . . . 69
Documentaries . . . . . . . . . . 20
The First Day . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Developing a Web Presence. . . 21
Making the Day. . . . . . . . . . 69
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Shooting During Preproduction . 71
Locking the Schedule. . . . . . . 71
Chapter 2: Finance . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Call Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Scheduling Documentaries. . . . 74
Raising the Capital . . . . . . . . 23 Student Scheduling Tips . . . . . 74
Basic Fundraising Problems . . . 23 Web Presence for the Project . . 75
Funding Options . . . . . . . . . 24 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Do Your Research . . . . . . . . 26 Determining the Visual Plan . . . 75
The Prospectus . . . . . . . . . . 27 Coverage ¼ Time ¼ Schedule ¼
SpendingtheMoneyResponsibly. 32 Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Digital Prospectus . . . . . . 32 Contingency Plans for Overages. 76
General Fundraising Suggestions 32 Things Change . . . . . . . . . . 76
Sources for Students . . . . . . . 33 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
v
vi Contents
Chapter 5: Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Wardrobe . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Creating a Budget. . . . . . . . . 77
Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Production Value . . . . . . . . . 77
Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Script and Budget. . . . . . . . . 78
The Producer’s Role . . . . . . 134
Who Creates the Budget? . . . . 78
Web Presence. . . . . . . . . . 134
Budgeting Software . . . . . . . . 78
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Budget Form . . . . . . . . . 78
Creating a Look. . . . . . . . . 135
Beginning the Budget. . . . . . . 91
Architect of Illusion. . . . . . . 135
Learn by Doing . . . . . . . . . . 92
How to Define the “Look” . . . 136
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Breakdowns:ListentotheScript . 137
Shooting for the Moon . . . . . . 93
Defining the Space with Visual
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Camera Tests . . . . . . . . . . 138
Chapter 6: Crewing . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Hiring the Crew. . . . . . . . . . 95 Chapter 9: Location . . . . . . . . . . 139
Who Hires the Crew? . . . . . . 95
When Do You Need a Crew? . . 95 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Securing Locations . . . . . . . 139
How Big a Crew Do You Need?. 95
Where to Look for Locations. . 139
Selecting the Crew . . . . . . . . 96
Scouting the Locations . . . . . 140
Key Crew Members. . . . . . . . 98
Securing the Location . . . . . 142
Developing the Right Chemistry 107
Web Presence. . . . . . . . . . 108 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Scouting Locations . . . . . . . 144
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Aesthetic Concerns versus
Hiring the Crew. . . . . . . . . 108
Practical Limitations . . . . . 144
Director’s Disease . . . . . . . 109
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Be Flexible . . . . . . . . . . . 144
The Power of Illusion. . . . . . 145
Chapter 7: Casting . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Identifying the Location . . . . 146
Walk-throughs . . . . . . . . . 148
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The Casting Director . . . . . . 111
Chapter 10: Rehearsals . . . . . . . . . 149
The Basic Casting Steps . . . . 112
Added Benefits of Casting . . . 115 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Web Presence. . . . . . . . . . 115 Working on Scenes . . . . . . . 149
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Before Rehearsals . . . . . . . . 149
Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Developing Mutual Trust. . . . 150
Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Researching the Character . . . 150
Audition Guidelines . . . . . . 117 Back Story. . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Casting the Documentary . . . 120 Rehearsals. . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Shape the Scene . . . . . . . . 152
Communicating on the Set. . . 153
Chapter 8: Art Direction . . . . . . . 123 Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Rehearsal Schedule . . . . . . . 155
Assembling the Team. . . . . . 123
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Production Design . . . . . . . 123
The Art Department . . . . . . 124
Chapter 11: Camera . . . . . . . . . . 157
Images Can Tell a Story . . . . 124
Responsibilities of the Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Department. . . . . . . . . . 125 Collaborate . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Communication with the DP. . 126 Keeping Up with Technology . 157
Set Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . 127 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Contents vii
Listen to the Material . . . . . . 158 Chapter 13: Art on Set . . . . . . . . . 219
Documentary . . . . . . . . . . 158
Do Your Homework . . . . . . 158 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Consult with the Director of
Final Walk-through . . . . . . . 219
Photography . . . . . . . . . 159
Set Procedures . . . . . . . . . 219
Camera Team . . . . . . . . . . 161
Set Dressing. . . . . . . . . . . 220
Basic Decisions . . . . . . . . . 161
Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Film Stock. . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Wardrobe . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Digital Video Format . . . . . . 163
Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
The Camera as Storyteller . . . 164
Additional Crew . . . . . . . . 223
The Frame. . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Size of Shot . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Keeping Track. . . . . . . . . . 223
Camera Movement . . . . . . . 173
Cover Sets. . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . 224
Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Second Unit. . . . . . . . . . . 178 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Greenscreen. . . . . . . . . . . 181
Lighting Style . . . . . . . . . . 182 Part II
Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Production
Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Video Formats . . . . . . . . . 192
Other Equipment . . . . . . . . 198 Chapter 14: Set Procedures . . . . . . 229
Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Integrating Animation . . . . . 200
Inspires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Organized Chaos . . . . . . . . 229
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Set Etiquette. . . . . . . . . . . 229
Technical Considerations. . . . 201
A Typical Day . . . . . . . . . 230
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Camera Moves . . . . . . . . . 234
Video Tap . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Digital Assistant. . . . . . . . . 235
Chapter 12: Sound . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Slates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Calling the Shot. . . . . . . . . 237
Recording Clean Tracks . . . . 203 Script Supervision. . . . . . . . 238
Why Getting Good Sound Is So Dailies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Important . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Sound Team . . . . . . . . 204 Coordinate . . . . . . . . . . . 239
The Equipment . . . . . . . . . 206 Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Responsibilities of the Sound Proper Wrap Out . . . . . . . . 241
Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Approaches to Recording
Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Chapter 15: The Actor . . . . . . . . . 243
Variables for Placing
Microphones . . . . . . . . . 212 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Recording Concerns . . . . . . 213 Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Video Sound . . . . . . . . . . 214 The Process . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Documentary . . . . . . . . . . 215 Technical Requirements for
Web Site Information. . . . . . 215 the Actor . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 The Director’s Tools . . . . . . 246
Controlling the Environment . . 215 Types of Characters. . . . . . . 246
Equipment Needs for the Shoot 216 Directing Actors . . . . . . . . 249
How Big of a Sound Package Interviewing for Documentaries 250
and Crew Do You Need? . . 216 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Accommodating . . . . . . . . 251
viii Contents
Socializing . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Music Tracks . . . . . . . . . . 296
Contracts and Deal Memos . . 251 The Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Different Formats . . . . . . . . 300
Music Tips for Students and
Part III
Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Postproduction
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Supervising Postproduction . . 305
Chapter 16: Pix Postproduction . . . . 257 ...And Distributors . . . . . . . 306
The Moral . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
The “Final Draft” . . . . . . . . 257
The Director as Editor . . . . . 257
The Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Chapter 18: Finishing/Online/
The Editor Speaks. . . . . . . . 258
Laboratory . . . . . . . . 307
The Documentary Editor . . . . 258
The Editing Process . . . . . . . 258 Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
The Finished Look . . . . . . . 307
What Is Editing?. . . . . . . . . 258
The Choices. . . . . . . . . . . 307
Evolution of the Edit . . . . . . 264
Film Workflow . . . . . . . . . 307
Locking the Picture . . . . . . . 266
Opticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Technical Considerations When
Cutting the Negative . . . . . . 309
Editing Film on Video . . . . 266
Digital Basics . . . . . . . . . . 267 Film Matchback. . . . . . . . . 311
Basic Workflow of a Nonlinear Timing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Editing System . . . . . . . . 271 Types of Prints . . . . . . . . . 312
Traditional Linear Video
Editing Sequences . . . . . . . 273
Online . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Basic Sound Editing . . . . . . 274
Video-to-Film Transfer . . . . . 313
Special Digital Video Effects . . 275
Nonlinear Online Edit . . . . . 314
Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Animation and CGI: Rendering
Film to Video . . . . . . . . . . 278
The P2 Workflow . . . . . . . . 280 and Compositing . . . . . . . 316
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Advise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Keeping Track and Looking
Ahead (and Back If
WhatYouWantfromaSystem? . 280
Necessary) . . . . . . . . . . 317
What Is Available? . . . . . . . 280
Looking Ahead/Key Points . . . 317
Editing Room . . . . . . . . . . 281
Postproduction Schedule . . . . 281
Stepping Back and Looking
Chapter 19: Distribution/Exhibition . 319
Ahead. . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Key Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Launching the Film . . . . . . . 319
Chapter 17: Sound Postproduction . . 285 Start Early: Have A Plan from
the Beginning . . . . . . . . 320
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
The Markets . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Sound Design . . . . . . . . . . 285
Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
What Is Sound Design?. . . . . 285
The Internet . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Respect for Sound . . . . . . . 286
YouTube. . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
What Is a Soundtrack? . . . . . 287
iTunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Post Flow Options . . . . . . . 287
Internet Sites . . . . . . . . . . 323
Spotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Cell Phones . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Dialogue Tracks . . . . . . . . 290
DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Automatic Dialogue Replacement
Television . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
(ADR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Theatrical Markets . . . . . . . 324
Walla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Nontheatrical Markets . . . . . 324
Voice-overs and Narration . . . 293
Foreign Markets. . . . . . . . . 326
Sound Effects Tracks . . . . . . 294
Distribution Options . . . . . . 327
Contents ix
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Appendix E Safety Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Publicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Appendix F Music Clearance and Insurance . . . . 361
The Academy Awards . . . . . 335
Appendix G State Film Commissions . . . . . . . . 365
Appendix H Film and Media Programs . . . . . . . 369
Appendix A A Short History of the Short Film . . . 337
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Appendix B Genres and Animation . . . . . . . . . 339
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Appendix C Script Sample. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Appendix D Screening List . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351