Feature Film : : Valley of the Sun

Sponsored by IRMI

Before we get into the details regarding the production stage of filmmaking, I’d like to take a moment and identify some of the key players on the set of a film.

• Director—the person with the vision who is generally in charge of conceptualizing artistic and dramatic development as he or she understands it from the script. This person serves as the guide for the technical crew and actors throughout the filming process. I’ve been informed that in reality, everyone but the director is disposable—if it came down to it, the director could pretty much play the parts of the following roles (thought that would be incredibly difficult).
• Producer—the person who is in charge of coordinating finances, personnel, distribution, etc. He or she is not really involved in the technical production process, but is present from inception to finish.
• Director of Photography—the term for this role is often interchangeable with “cinematographer”. This person is in charge of the technical aspects of filming, including directing the camera and lighting crews, or, on occasion, operating the camera his- or herself.
• Gaffer—the person in charge of lighting in film production, and often the head of an entire lighting crew.
• Editor—the person responsible for piecing together the movie and producing rough and final cuts. This person works closely with the Directors to ensure that the artistic vision is maintained during post-production.
• Production Designer/Art Director—the person in charge of the visual setting and props. He or she provides a space for the Director of Photography to work in.
• Makeup, Costume, and Wardrobe Artists—these peoples’ title are pretty self-explanatory. Usually an assistant accompanies each individual.
• Script Supervisor—the person who tries to maintain a high level of consistency in the details, by constantly taking notes during filming and going back to the script. You know how sometimes you’re watching a movie, and during a single conversation, a person’s hairstyle will noticeably change? It’s the script supervisor who’s supposedly in charge of keeping details like this uniform.

Interestingly enough, I spent the majority of the week (two weeks ago) observing and participating in the making of a commercial that Hotbed is producing. As a result I feel a bit more enlightened in regards to the production process, and while producing a movie is a lot different than producing a commercial, I now feel more certain about the validity of what I’m writing here.

So we’re talking about the production phase; filming begins. After being on the set of the commercial shoot, I’ve realized it’s the sort of thing that you must learn by seeing and doing. But still, I have some notes.

I read somewhere that the average feature film is in production for 48 days. Low-budget features generally shoot for less time; at this point, 25 days have been allotted for the filming of Valley of the Sun.

Depending on the shooting schedule, a typical day of filming can begin as early as 6am, and can last for 12 hours or so. Housing and food accommodations (generally breakfast and lunch) must be provided for crew and cast, as well as a standard amount of “turn around” time between the “end” of one day of shooting and the “beginning” of the next.

During filming, you must decide how much coverage you want—or in other words, how many takes of each scene you’d like to film. Keep in mind that the more extensive your coverage, the more expensive your film costs are. However, it is important to provide your editor with adequate coverage. As you film, you may find that actors fall into their characters, everyone becomes more comfortable, and less takes are required to get things right.

When it comes to shooting, you follow your shooting schedule. Often, this is organized around location availability rather than the chronological order of the movie. For instance, filming for Valley of the Sun is organized in such a way that the scenes set in L.A. will be shot together, the scenes set in a particular character’s house will be shot together, the scenes set at the community center will be shot together, etc., regardless of the fact that those scenes do not necessarily appear in the same time sequence as one another. It is all about efficiency.

Hopefully you stay on schedule as you shoot—if not, you will probably need to make adjustments to save yourself time. Once filming wraps, you’re done with the production phase!

I’d also like to note that, after observing the filming of a commercial in a single day, I have a profound new respect for the endurance required to film a full-length movie. Even the smallest, most insignificant shots require time and thought, and often multiple takes. Since my experience on the commercial set, I now catch myself pondering filming details—I wonder how many takes this scene took?—while I’m watching movies. Oh, the simplicity of just watching a film is gone!