LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WEEK 4: OH DEAR

Weekend four of this shoot and we just had one of those days where our luck ran out. Our main location was a bar and the big idea was that several disparate storylines would come together here, linking characters and creating a more unified piece. Problem number one: time and money are against us. The schedule for the weekend involved 13 scenes, and nearly 80 setups. Well-oiled tv crews can absolutely blitz setups, but they have the bodies and the experience to do that. We don’t. It was always going to be a big ask, but then other problems just exacerbated the problem.

You have to be creative when you have no money so it’s a challenge

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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: DEVELOPING THE SCRIPT

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard people tell me that ‘everything comes from the script’ how they loved ‘the script’, how ‘you have to get the script right first’ only for the final product to be a bag of ass. These things are a bit like saying ‘I love you’, it’s easy to say, but it’s worthless unless you actually mean it, and will probbly get you into a large amount of trouble too. The thing is, it’s absolutely one hundred percent true, you really do, but producers and directors say it because it makes them sound like they know what they’re doing. For me, it shouldn’t even need saying. Scripts always need developing, and you will continually rewrite your story even into the editing process because until you lock the cut it’s all up in the air. Ever seen that trailer for Top Gun that makes out it’s a gay love story? That’s what I’m talking about.

There’s no room for scenes that don’t create a struggle

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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WEEK 3, MERLINS, MOISTURE AND MASTER SHOTS (OH AND WE SAY A GOODBYE TOO)

Exactly halfway through the shoot for Ladies and Gentlemen now and you can tell the novelty’s starting to wear off. We are on the skinniest of budgets and little things like a hot meal for the crew suddenly become a moaning point. Minor niggles we put up with initially are starting to grate now. This weekend was easily the most trying of the lot so far and though we’re hardly cracking it’s going to be important for us all to keep pushing on, enjoying the work as much as possible. We spent both days shooting in a legal office, a brilliant place with frosted glass walls, great depth, lines, wood panelling and space, sweet, sweet space. Filming in cramped flats becomes very wearing very quickly.

I think I just underestimated how essential a strong working knowledge of the 5D would need to be

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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WORKING WITH ACTORS

Directing is such a multi-faceted job, you’re required to be knowledgeable about cameras, art direction, wardrobe, screenwriting, editing and composition and above all else you need to understand how to work with actors. I watched a good number of the ‘Story Beyond the Still’ films and a great many of them suffered from truly abysmal acting which really reduces the credibility of the work. Often this happens in conjunction with awful screenwriting, but you have to accept that just shooting something on a 5D with L lenses ain’t going to make it good unless you learn a bit about the craft of acting.

I firmly believe that you have to devote as much time to crafting performances as you do into crafting your shotlist

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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: SHOOTING ON A MICRO MICRO-BUDGET

Right from the outset we knew this project was going to be a guerilla undertaking. We always had minimal budget for hiring lights, equipment. Everyone on the project is working for free. This has major implications for how you work. When you are crewing up, you are at the mercy of whoever you can get hold of to give you their time while simultaneously considering whether they’re actually any good or not.
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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WEEKEND 2, DAILIES

Weekend 2, dailies from the pilot shoot of Ladies and Gentlemen, shot on the 5d mkii, 7D, and various Canon L series lenses, 14mm L, 35mm L, 50mm L, 85mm L, 100mm f2, 24-70L. Directed by Robin Schmidt, written by Robert Lucas, 1st AD Pedro Rilho, Producers Joanna Defendi, Robert Lucas, Linda Taimre. … Continue Reading