Also, I know you're all dying to know the answer to the undying question.
Yes, I did watch Sunshine.
There will be a review of it soon.
In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of writing. One of the bigger projects I did was for a class last semester. You can check it out here:
It was a fun experience to be both the writer and director of a film. I had a lot of power. So much power, I didn't know what to do with it. I was mad with power.
Anyways, as someone who doesn't like to boss people around very much, here are a few things I learned from being the director.
- Know what you want. You can't expect people to do what you tell them, or even have faith in your leadership abilities if you don't know what you want. People will come up to you and ask how you want a certain shot done, or if an actor can say a line a certain way. You don't have to know every little detail of how you want things, you just have to know exactly what you want the final product to look like. Otherwise, your ideas might conflict with each other and your team will start to question your abilities. That's when conflicts rise and other members may try to take over.
- Respect yourself. This point kind of goes along with the first one. If you don't seem confident, others in your team will see that as well and take advantage of it. It's okay to have your doubts, but don't let them show! And don't settle for anything less of what you want. Keep the integrity of the film. Now, I'm not saying there won't be some big compromises you'll have to make, but as long as the heart of the film stays true to your vision, you're good.I'll talk more about this in another point.
- Be aware of time. Filming scenes (especially group scenes) can take hours. No matter how short the actual scene is. In The Moon, the very last scene we did took a couple of hours. The set up was actually what took the longest. I called our extras to get there at 10 but we didn't start filming until around 11. Be respectful of everyone's time and plan everything out to the best of your ability, keeping in mind what all needs to be set up and who all is called to shoot that day. We actually filmed the last scene first, so we could get all of the extras out of there as soon as possible. It's good type out and print a schedule for everyone on the crew to use, so that everyone is on the same page. Literally.
- Don't put yourself down. This point might be confusing, because it's going to directly contradict some things I said in the second point. As a writer, you have this perfect vision of your film in your head. It's the funniest, most magical piece of film you could ever come up with. Well, it's not going to come out like that. Factors beyond your control will prohibit you from making the perfect film in your mind. And that's okay! Don't put yourself down for it. You'll have to lower your standards a little bit. But like I said before, keep the integrity of your film! You'll have to find the perfect balance between compromise and that perfect film in your head. It's up to your discretion to decide how much you want to compromise.
- Have fun! Seriously. I know this is such a lame point, but it's so important. This is what you love to do. You don't want to ruin it for yourself. Filming can get very very stressful at points, especially when it gets down to crunch time. Don't let it get to you. Try and take breaks when you feel tensions rising on the set. Have a table of snacks nearby to munch on. Because you know you're not yourself when you're hungry. And relax. Whatever happens, happens.
I think that's enough for this post. Look out for some screenplays that I'll post up here soon! And I'll probably do a movie review of 'The Long Goodbye' soon. I just watched it today, it was really good.
Until then, go watch some good movies!
