Virgin Film Experiences Part II: "Filmmaking is like war."

Hello all. After a week-long hiatus (barely a month on the job and I'm already taking a vacation)- I'm back and ready for Part II of looking back in the sack on my virgin film experiences...

My second semester in film school, and fresh off the aforementioned critical tongue lashing I received the previous semester- I was ready (somewhat) to make my next film. During this particular semester, my classmates and I had an instructor we aptly named "The General"- christened so because on the first day of class she claimed there was only one very important thing we needed to remember as we embarked on our second attempt at becoming filmmakers. "Filmmaking is like war," she said. You will have to fight for your film every step of the way. You will bleed your credit card dry and find yourself opening new ones (before the credit bureaus get wise to all the debt you are already in) just to finish what you started. There will be many casualties and you cannot possibly foresee all of the things that will go wrong. And sleep? Don't even think about it.

Say what?! No way. What sane person would make films if the process was even remotely like The General described it?

She then launched into diagram after diagram of the hierarchy of troops that would follow us faithfully into battle- complete with a supplemental diagram that laid out the perfect craft services regiment for your "troops"- down to what time of day to replace the beef jerky with some M&M's for that much needed sugar boost. Only a filmmaker could micromanage her students with such fervor and precision.

In the hall, after class, we laughed at her. Maybe her film sets were like being at war. But ours wouldn't be.

Is filmmaking like war? I suppose that depends on the filmmaker. But I can say for sure that filmmaking (especially low to no budget filmmaking) is riddled with obstacles. And the need to sleep is only one of many. That said, I think the most important thing that I took away from the experience of shooting my second film, was that if you don't surround yourself with the proper support system ("crew" or "troops" depending on your preferred terminology) those obstacles can go from challenging to a living hell very quickly.

By that I mean- delegation is key. Surround yourself with eager, imaginative, supportive people that you can depend on and those obstacles will seem more like something you can handle together and less like the reason you secretly fantasize about hitching a ride to Canada with the hope that your film will never find you. And use them. If you have ever nearly missed a rehearsal because you were too busy trying to get a hold your location contact to know what time it is, stayed up all night making fake blood the night before your shoot, or burned yourself in the morning making coffee to shlep with you to set- you need to realize that you have taken on too much and it is time to delegate.

Case study:

During day 3 on the set of my second film, we ran out of tape. Why I had the tapes in my possession rather than handing them over to my DP before the shoot was only the beginning of my problems. We were out in the middle of nowhere on a forest preserve with no hope of running out quickly to get fresh tape stock. Fortunately, we had enough to get us to lunch time, but in order to continue shooting, someone would have to drive back to my apartment during lunch to get the rest of the tape stock. It was strongly advised by my AD and my DP to send someone from the crew, but I felt so guilty about having forgotten the tapes that I refused to rob someone else of their lunch break and went myself.

Bad idea.

I got stuck in traffic on my way back and not only missed lunch, but was an additional hour late getting back to set. My DP and AD had to set up for the next series of shots without me and once that task was finished, the entire crew waited on me to return. In the end, rather than delay one person's lunch, I caused our entire day to go over- and the sequence that was set up without me never felt quite right in the edit room because my DP and I didn't get the chance to hash it out together on set.

A year later- I was the AD on a fellow filmmaker's shoot, and one day when she was adamant that she needed leave set to solve some oversight in her planning, I refused- and I promised her that the UPM and myself would gladly solve it for her. It was not her job to put out fires- it was her job make the creative decisions required to get the film made. And with all the shit that can go wrong on a film that can't afford to put the shoe in a shoestring budget, a few good fire fighters (or troops- or whatever it pleases you to call them) can save your life.

Have some virgin film experiences of your own? Feel free to share in the comments. And remember- when it comes to filmmaking- no matter how awkward and sweaty your first few times may be- if you keep at it, it can only get better.

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