When you are building a crew for your first, second, or even 100th movie, it’s always good to ask yourself just how much crew is necessary to complete the film. Do you really need all those people loafing around the set? Trust me, you won’t have to worry about left over donuts…the actors will take care of that.
There is a conventional wisdom when it comes to making movies, that is often expressed as “Show, don’t tell”. But that can mean alot of things to different people. I really think its one of those things that, essentially is good advice, but can be so easily misinterpreted, that it actually does more harm than good. Ultimately, it results in a huge mistake that first time directors always seem to make.
Maintaining a good crew
So now that you’ve found the right people, and said all right magic words (for those who don’t know the magic words are “Sundance” “Van Sant” and “Japanese”). You have a crew. How do you keep that crew?
It’s your first film, you’re under the gun and have to get things done. Money is disappearing by the second. The actors are getting antsy (or possibly drunk). You look up into the sky and scream…”Where the hell is everybody?”. Sound familiar? You need to learn how to find a good crew.
As they say, the clothes make the man. Never is that more true than in the realm of film. Pay attention the next time your watching any Hollywood, or even well produced indie movie. They aren’t running around in jeans and a t-shirt. Wardrobe counts for alot…but unfortunately when you are buying clothes for a full cast it gets quite expensive, but not if you know these tips…
Somehow I managed to find myself working on the set of two music videos over the last couple of weeks. Making a music video is usually a bit easier than most other types of productions, but it has some of its own unique challenges. But after reading this article you should be well equipped to face those challenges.
In the indie film world there has always been a debate over whether its better to rent or buy equipment for your production. Given the same amount of money, you can usually get much better equipment (and theoretically better production value). On the other hand, if you buy your equipment, at the end of the day you still have that equipment left over. You could use that equipment on your next production, and spread the costs out over two, three, or however many productions you make. Its an interesting quandary, which in this article I’ll show you how to solve…
Many aspiring filmmakers don’t know if film school is right for them. Some people are dead set against the idea of going to film school, while others say you aren’t actually serious about being a director if you don’t go to film school. So, I’m sure that those of you who are confused about what you should do have gotten some advice that has been pretty across the map by now.
Welcome to Cinema Advanced, a website dedicated to the creation of digital independent cinema. Here you'll find advice, tutorials, and tips on how to make your own digital films, as well as some of my own creations.
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