Vacation? Bull! I worked my ass off this summer (and I managed to have some fun, too). What did I do this summer?

1. I wrote my first TV spec for the now canceled TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.
2. I found an editor for my feature.
3. I shot a live-action/stop-motion spec for Amazon.
4. I went to my first Comic-Con.
5. I went to my first Tiki Oasis.
6. I shot the first material for my multi-medium project.
7. I directed scenes for an actor’s reel.
8. I saw The Kills, Neko Case, Death Cab for Cutie and Andrew Bird in concert.

I’d say that’s a pretty damn productive summer.

Still, there’s always room for improvement. Next time I’d insist on walking through set with the actors and DP to nail down our shots and angles so we don’t waste that time on set. Also, we really could have used a few more qualified hands.

As I said before, I’m not editing. If the editor is reading this, you should know that we shot:

I can’t wait to see what the final product looks like.

Now on to something new. I think it’s time to start writing a new feature script.

Also, it’s about listening to those tiny, nagging voices. It is because of one of those voices that I sent one of my actors a little bit of background homework and this video:

F**k the Queen, God grant me a good night sleep.

First, I made a shot list from my crude storyboards. It breaks down like this: each actor gets 4 shots pointed in their direction, plus there’s the wide and at least 2 inserts. Total number of shots = eleven.

Second, I made a schedule (which is just a list arranged by time). I call us at 8 a.m. and wrap us by 2 p.m., taillights by 3p.m. I give us two hours from call to unload gear, walk through the scene with the cast & crew, light the set, dress the set and rehearse.

I then have roughly 90 minutes to shoot out each actor. Following the math, that gives us 22.5 minutes per shot on an actor. That’s 22.5 minutes to set up the camera, adjust lights, rehearse the shot, shoot a take, give an adjustment, tweak the lights, shoot, and so on.

I then leave 45 minutes to shoot the wide and inserts; this is also a buffer in case we’re running late (it shouldn’t take that long to shoot a wide and two inserts).

I feel confident that this is a doable schedule. We’ll hustle but it won’t be insanity.

So here’s the question of the day: is it better to shoot the wide at the start of the day or at the end? If we shoot at the start, it can lock us into a particular blocking, blocking we might grow out of. If we shoot at the end, we adjust the wide to the blocking we like but then we have to recall which takes we like. I know, it’s sorta a “chicken, egg” question when all you care about is eating your chicken omelet but these are the things you agonize about during prep.

Thoughts?

First, the shooting style. It’s all about long lenses either hand-held or very lose on the tripod. I don’t think we’ll be snapping the zoom ala BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. I think that’s just too edgy for this scene.

Also, we’re using the Sony DSR-450WSL. We’ll be shooting anamorphic DVCAM 24p. 24pA, with it’s 2:3:3:2 cadence, seems like one unnecessary hoop for the editor to jump through if this is ending up on 1) the web and 2) DVD.

But I’m willing to hear arguments otherwise.

I also started storyboarding and of course there are too many shots, at least a dozen if not more. While we are in one location and I know where to put the 180 degree line, that’s a lot to shoot in 3-4 hours when the scene is acting intensive and the client wants as much coverage as possible. One solution is to shoot long takes (2-3 beats per shot) with coverage that evolves. I’m talking about an OTS that becomes a stacked 2-shot and then a close-up. That should help the actors organically build their performance while cutting down on the number of times we have to stop and adjust the camera.

Still, I wish I could have an hour on set with my actors the day before the shoot so I could walk through all the camera positions but I have a feeling that won’t be possible. So it goes.

So how do I prep and run a rehearsal? I’ll answer the second part first.

In this instance I knew I’d first want to read the script and fix any dialog that sounds good in my head but doesn’t work when spoken. After a second table read, I like to get a scene up on its feet and start physicalizing. I’ll run through a scene once, starting and stopping at each beat so the actors and I can discuss motivations, actions and physicalization. We’ll then go over that beat again to see if our choices work dramatically. Once we feel that we understand a particular beat, we move on to the next one.

I think it took us over an hour before we got to the end of the scene. We then ran the whole scene from start to finish to see if the collection of beats added up to a unified dramatic whole. It didn’t; it never does. So then we repeat this process to refine our understanding of the work. The second time took less than 40 minutes.

As for prep, it’s best if I point you towards some very good books.

All three are great but I must mention that Delia was my directing instructor and I once saw her make Alexander Payne sweat for misquoting her so she holds a special place in my heart.

Some facts about the gig:

There are still a few variable left, the biggest one being this: do I shoot standard definition or in HD? Now, before all of you swarm to the HD corner, let me explain a few things.

First, I have two cameras at my disposal. One is the Sony A1U.

It shoot 1080 HDV but only 29.97 interlaced. It does have one of those fake “Cineframe” modes that can mimic 24 fps and 30 fps. From previous shoots, I found that the “Cineframe 24″ looks awful but the “Cineframe 30″ isn’t too bad. Lastly, the camera has a 1/3″ CMOS sensor with a single free floating ring that serves as both zoom and focus (i.e., blah!).

The second camera is a Sony 450WSL.

It shoots DVCAM at 24p. Also, it has a very nice Canon zoom lens with professional focus, zoom and iris controls and a 2/3″ CCD so it’s much easier to get that very desirable film-like depth of field which will help deliver the “look” the client wants.

Lastly, I should mention that the final product will be viewed on either DVD or on the web.

So, which do you think I should shoot with?

Now, at this stage I’d also be prepping my scene/directorial work but as I spent the first half of the day returning equipment from my vlog shoot and the second half will be spent working a double shift at my D-Cinema second job, that’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning (and did I mention that I have a 3 p.m. rehearsal?).

Over and out.