Teamwork is essential in filmmaking

Its never straightforward producing a worthwhile movie, you will almost always find unexpected problems in every aspect that must be solved. Assuming you have a good script to start with, no matter how detailed it has been prepared, it is never possible to follow each shot rigidly. I am sure it is far more difficult than many people believe, and I think this applies especially to dramas. Though documentaries will always come up against pitfalls when it is a matter of working from a treatment rather than a detailed script.

The main difficulty that amateur movie makers experience, whether working on film or video, is that it requires a team. So often we find the main actor is also the lighting expert. Professionals don’t have this problem, but they spend vast sums of money and yet many turn out to be flops with little or no profit! In the case of an amateur production, if it is a flop they don’t win competitions..

So to get down to the nitty gritty:

The first thing you find is that the location is not as you imagined, so this means adjusting the script to fit the location.

Then there is the order in which you take the scenes, for it is rarely possible to shoot in strict order as scripted, especially if there are outside scenes as well as indoors, so this means getting the outdoor stuff done when the weather allows!

You are ready to start your first scene and the challenge begins. The room is small and there is no space for the tripod, so this means a hand held job as the camera man wedges himself into a corner. How is this scene going to be lit? There may be room for one small lamp outside a doorway, or a light outside a window, provided it is not raining or it might be on the first floor and this would mean clamping it onto a high step ladder. Then not forgetting to clip blue gels in front of the lights and set the balance in the camera for daylight. You are just about to start take one and the actors are getting fed up with waiting, when a gust of wind
 

dislodges the outside light. So you have another think while the actors patience is running out.
In another scene, there is more room to work but there is a problem with the sound. There is a hum or an echo, so you change the mic and hide it in a flower pot. You are finally ready to go, “camera rolling” the clapper board is announced, “Scene four take one,” and struck. “Action!” is shouted. An actor forgets his or her lines or bursts out laughing. Or the camera man says, “We’ll have to go again on that one, the director was in shot.” So there’s another and another take and so it goes on.

In the evening you sit down with a drink and assess the rushes. “The last shot in that scene was very good,” someone remarks. Then comes a scene that took a long time to set up, but an actor had forgotten a ring or someone was wearing the wrong pullover. It is very important to have a continuity person! This may seem obvious but mistakes are easily made. It is frustrating, costs time and no one is laughing! However, there are always a few laughs, I would go as far as to say there are times when even paroxysms of laughter are released and relieve the tedium that some may feel while a scene is being set up. So it is true to say that there’s never a scene that is straightforward, only that some scenes are much more tricky, but these problems are always sorted out with sweat, toil and as few tears as possible. The thing is that with the craft of movie making, all the team should be dedicated to the end result.

You have finished shooting, the script has been followed at the location as near as possible. So the crew go their separate ways. But of course this is just the start and it may not be long before you find that there is an important linking shot missing and there is even a shortage of Close Ups. Oh dear!

Even so that’s not the end of it, the real task is always in the editing. The team has gone and we are back to the few facing the final edit decisions.
 
 Jon Woolmer