Birthing Pains
Here are a few notes I took about what I’ve learned through making In The Wind. It’s not everything — not by a long shot — but it’s what comes to mind when I think about what I’ll do differently next time.
First to do different:
* My previous year’s taxes. Having $2000 suddenly disappear is a bummer. And speaking of money …
* Pay everyone. They deserve it. And they know it.
* Get a dedicated Location Manager. There’s just too much at stake to lump this duty in among others. An experienced one was in the offering early on, but she got paying work at the last minute and we had to improvise … see the previous note.
* Get a dedicated Assistant Director. Again, too much going on to lump this in with other duties. Although Christal Segura did a fine job serving in my stead when I had to deal with an off-set emergency.
* Pay closer attention to the props that are available while constructing shots. I’m not talking about continuity here .. I’m talking missed opportunities for coolness.
* No more candlelit scenes. Not without a dedicated Light Board Operator. We had some skilled hands at those boards, sure, but managing light continuity across multiple scenes over a month is really damned hard in the first place. Either no candlelit scenes, or manage the continuity more stridently from the beginning.
* Reserve the set for many days at a time instead of over a few weekends. It’s easier to manage everyone’s time that way. If money is changing hands, this is definitely the way to go.
* Buy certain equipment instead of renting. It costs about the same after X many days. Not that Field and Frame didn’t treat us very, very well. But I’d like to have a pro mic or two for myself, you know? And hey: I can rent out too.
That’s just a few of the lessons I’ve learned. The rest will go into my memoirs.
For my first film — heck, a lot of people’s first film, I judge we did awesomely. Let’s not forget that the industry’s humble beginnings started with experimentation, improvisation, and just plain “hold this thing here for a minute while we get this done” necessity. (Do you know where the term “gaffer” came from?”)
New Mexico is tipping over into the birth of a new form of the industry, creative features driven from the ground up. We can’t do it Big Hollywood style, but we can adopt, adapt, and improve with what we have. That kind of thinking is what In The Wind came from. It’s a rough, unpaved road. We walked it.
