The Art of (S)logging

I promise, there will be a blog entry - soon - on production. But I wanted to delve into more detail on something that's very important, and I think underreported: preparing your film for the editor.

In the previous entry I focused on the big post picture. Today I'm going to stick to the first three steps I outlined: transcoding, synching, and logging the footage. The goal is to get acquainted with the film you've shot (as opposed to the one in your head), save your editor unnecessary headaches (and you unnecessary time and money) hunting for footage, and get your brain thinking about sound, visual effects, titles, music, and other post elements.

Workflow: When To Do This

On a big enough film, your script supervisor would make the continuity book, the 2nd AC and the mixer would write reports, and your assistant editor would transcode, log, and synch, all while you're shooting. The advantages are fairly obvious: you'll find out about coverage or technical problems while you're shooting, and you'll get to a rough cut that much sooner. However, on micro-budget films, this is a comparative luxury.

On Found In Time, we had no script supervisor, the sound mixer was doing about three other jobs - though he did take very good notes - and we didn't have an editor in place during the shoot. I'm assuming that many of you are in a similar situation.

Transcoding

The Canon 5D records to an H.264 Quicktime-playable file. H.264 is a highly compressed format that somehow retains a lot of detail despite throwing out an enormous amount of picture information. Part of how it does this is by storing frame data in a long-GOP format. GOP = Group Of Pictures. Essentially, what the codec does is analyze a group of frames (in most cases, 6 or 15). It stores the first frame, then stores the DIFFERENCES ONLY between the first frame and all subsequent frames within the group.

There's a LOT more involved than this, but here's the main point: editing H.264 footage can be difficult. Your cuts are probably NOT going to be on the first frame in a group, which means the computer will have to analyze and rebuild frames every time you cut picture. The result can tax your system, leading to dropped playback frames and a lot of rendering time. It's also more difficult to do a final conform, render effects, etc. In other words, H.264 is a great origination and online distribution format, but you don't want to edit with it.

Transcoding the footage from the original H.264 files to an I-frame format (which compresses and stores each frame individually) is thus an easy decision. But there are several software programs to do the trick:

MPEG Streamclip is preferred by many, and with good reason: it's fast, user-friendly, free, and can batch-process clips very easily. But the quality of the resulting clips is not quite as good as we were hoping for. It also strips out the original timecode from the file, substituting its own.

Rarevision's 5DtoRGB on the other hand, is supposed to do the best overall job in terms of image quality, but lacks a batch feature (at this time; it's still under development). It also takes the longest to transcode.

We considered Compressor, but have had problems with batch transcodes in Compressor and haven't been super happy with the results. After going on Creative Cow and talking to a few folks, we decided on Canon's own Final Cut Pro plug-in, the EOS Plugin-E1. It produces decent results, processes batches of clips at a time without any hiccups, didn't take too long, and retained the original clip timecode.

The next decision: what to transcode TO. The obvious choice for editing in Final Cut was Apple ProRes, but ProRes comes in several flavors, ranging from Proxy (small file size/lower quality) to HQ (huge file size, better quality). After thinking about it, trolling the forums, and consulting with some experts, we decided on ProRes LT, which is somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum. The data rate is approximately 100Mpbs, roughly the same as DVCProHD, and nearly 3x the 5D files' 40Mbps. This means in practical terms that we were getting something very, very good - that we could put together into rough cut shape if we needed more investors or to assembly a festival screener out of - but we wouldn't kill our hard drive.

The long term plan, once the film has been picture-locked, is to note the selects (the clips that make it into the locked picture), and re-transcode the camera originals to QuickTime HQ using the 5DtoRGB utility.

Setting Up Final Cut For Transcoding

At this point, we set up a new Final Cut project with a sequence default of 1920x1080 23.976p, with 48KHz 16-bit stereo sound. During the shoot the DP created folders by day, running to lettered bins if he had to copy more than one card per day (so we have Day1, Day1b, Day2, etc. folders on the hard drive). We started out by creating camera reel bins to mirror the originals. Within each bin, I created three sub-bins: Scraps (for NG or goofing-off material), Video (for source video clips), and Audio (for source audio clips).

We also created a database in FileMaker (which is cross-platform, by the way), to capture information on each clip. Initially, we just dumped a directory listing of all the clips into a text file then imported that into FileMaker, so we'd have a list of the 840 video clips and 735 sound files (we had a good number of MOS takes).

During the transcoding process itself, we renamed each clip to "sceneshot-take" format, then also filled in the scene, shot/take, reel (camera reel), angle, and loggingNotes fields. We went in shoot (as opposed to scene order), and limited the batches to one-or-two scenes worth of material depending on the number of individual clips. The entire process took about four days, and was highly automated. A good tutorial on it is on Canon's own site. TWO THINGS TO NOTE:: when you name the clip (scene-shot-take), the utility actually renames the transcoded Quicktime file. So if you ever want to go back to your camera masters for retranscoding, make sure to keep a list of the original filename and the new one.

Also, the utility REQUIRES that all the clips be inside of a folder called DCIM off the root of the hard drive. That's because the plug-in is expecting to be reading from an SD card (which uses DCIM as the main folder to put all saved video and still files in). Note that you CAN nest folders inside of the DCIM folder.

Once each batch was done, I moved the transcoded clips into matching day folders on the edit drive. This way instead of having over 800 clips in one folder to sift through, I would only have to look through a few dozen at a time.

Synchronizing

This was probably the most boring part. Anthony, our sound mixer, had wisely named nearly every sound file in the scene-shot-take format. So figuring out which sound take went with which video file was relatively trivial.

This is where Pluraleyes, from Singular Software, saved my butt. It's a standalone program which works with Final Cut sequences and synchs video-to-video (in the case of multi-camera shoots) and video-to-audio footage. It creates a new sequence for each synched clip. So instead of going clip-by-clip, I was able to drag a dozen or so clips at a time to a sequence in my Final Cut file, line them up very roughly to their matching audio sequences, and click "Sync" in Pluraleyes. A few minutes later I had a dozen sequences with synched sound. Since we used a slate and had the original camera audio as a reference, Pluraleyes rarely had difficulty finding the right sync point. (BTW: the software is free to try for 30 days).

NOW, there was one surprise. For whatever reason, the audio in the original camera file was exactly one or two frames AHEAD from the video - you could tell because the slate was ahead. However, there was no drift. So I had to manually check the sync on each new sequence and adjust by one/two frames - but again, because we had the slates, this was a no-brainer. Other people on Creative Cow have complained of the same problem. There doesn't seem to be a clear-cut solution, nor does it seem to be universal.

After moving the sound one/two frames, I muted the original camera audio, clipped the trailing and leading audio so the sequence would start on the first frame of video, and changed the sequence timecode to match the video timecode (so instead of starting at 01:00:00:00 the TC would start at 18:31:15:00, for example).

Last (but not least), we took the synched clips, along with the source video and audio files, and the scrap clips, and put them into scene bins. The scene bins ultimately replaced the day bins we had established, and had the same structure (Audio, Video, and Scrap sub-bins). Synched sequences went into a new sub-bin called Sync.

This process was also fairly mechanical, and took about two weeks (working part time).

Logging

Now I was ready to log the footage. This consisted of two parts: makes notes about each clip in my database, and lining the script. Lining the script is a BIG topic, and I'm no script supervisor, but the gist of it is that you want to visually indicate where each individual camera setup begins and ends within each scene, what lines and blocking have changed from script to shoot, what scenes have been omitted or added, and what gaps in coverage you might have. As you can imagine, this is a fairly time-consuming process.

In my database I had the following information already:
* individual clip name
* the scene, shot and take number
* the timing (media start, end, and duration)
* The angle (Master, CU John, OTS Jane on Jack, ECU pill bottle, etc.)
* Logging Note
* The original (camera source) filename
* The sound take file name

Most of this information I was able to get by exporting a file list from Final Cut, importing it into the database, then going through it quickly to make sure I didn't miss anything.

To this laundry list of information I added:
* the first frame of action (usually after the DP calls "frame" or set but before you've called "action")
* A description of the shot
* Some kind of evaluation of the shot
* A list of visual problems in the shot (boom dips in at 23:04:10)
* Sound problems

On Found in Time, we shot 840 individual clips. Of these, about 75 or so were complete mistakes, goofing around shots, slates for MOS series, and otherwise unusable bits. These didn't take long to log.

I later figured out that I was able to log between 10 and 20 clips per hour, depending on how complex each clip was. I managed to log everything in just over two weeks.

Why Do This To Yourself

You can get interns to transcode and synch, and maybe even do some of the logging, so why do this yourself? In my case, it was a way of getting familiar with the film that we shot (as opposed to the one in my head). This way, I don't have to waste time having this discussion with the editor: "don't we have a shot of..." No, we don't.

It also got me thinking about how to solve certain coverage problems, what effects shots I will need, and what kind of sound design/music choices would work. The big thing is that the editor didn't have to do this work - he was able to just look at the footage and start cutting. That is a huge time and money saver on any shoot.

Okay, so this post has probably been about as fascinating as watching paint dry. I promise, more fun posts to come!

Post Production Workflow

The shoot is over. I'm still figuring out all the things I learned, and at some point I'll integrate it and write a short blog entry on the topic. But at the moment my energy is going towards getting ready for the next step: cutting the film. What follows is a synopsis of the post workflow for Found In Time It's based on things I've learned while making this film, my experience as post supervisor on previous features, and a lot of consultation with other folks. Many thanks to Josh Apter, head of Manhattan Edit Workshop, Creative Cow Magazine, and as always Ben Wolf.

Don't Just Start Cutting
The temptation is probably just to dig in and start cutting scenes together, using the camera master footage. This is almost always a mistake. First off, if you're the director, you have no perspective on the footage. I know I don't. Secondly, you need to organize both the "physical" files on the drive, giving them a proper reel name and folder to live in; and the names of the clips in your NLE. Thirdly, you need to set up a schedule - what you want, when you want it, and what the end goal is. Hopefully you've done this before you shot anything, and now you're just revising it to match your remaining money/schedule/expectations. But if not, now's a good time to set it up.

The Schedule
Take a BIG step back. Forget about the footage burning a hole on your hard drive. Think carefully: when can I realistically finish this film? What are the steps I need to take to get there? Who's going to do those steps?
At this point, post breaks down into nine BIG steps, that generally (though not always) follow the order below:

1. Backup, Transcoding, Logging. In an ideal world, this is happening on a daily basis. Every night the Assistant Editor takes the day's work (either on cards or drives), backs it up to another drive, then transcodes the footage to the editing format, usually while also logging it into the NLE.

2. Picture Cutting. The film is put together, reel by reel, by the editor.

3. Reshoots/Inserts/Additional Photography. You need it, you didn't get it. Now go get it.

4. F/X and Titles. As the film nears completion, visual effects artists go to work on the more complex material. In an ideal world, sequences are finalized in time for the online. In many cases, the online has to be pushed back until after the sound mix is done, to give the effects artists more time. Titles are usually done at this point (end credit crawls are often finalized only at the final output phase).

5. Online. The film selects (from the final cut) are retranscoded at the highest possible resolution/setting. The footage is color corrected, basic transitions (dissolves, fades) and effects work (taking out booms, minor tweaks, etc.) are done. F/X and titles are married to the locked picture.

6. Sound Editing. The dialog levels are evened out, and the "sound world" of the film created - effects, foley, music, voice-over, are inserted and brought together.

7. Music. The composer scores the final cut of the film (sometimes this happens during the editing process). Existing music is licensed (don't do this at home, kids! You don't have the budget. Trust me.). The music is premixed (ideally).

8. Mix. The various sound elements (dialog, effects, foley, music, ambiance) are brought together and leveled, to conform to both artistic and broadcast standards. The mixer creates final "bounce files."

9. Final Output. The conformed film is married to the bounce tracks, and the whole thing (all the reels) are output to the "final" master medium (tape or film).

So with this outline in hand, you have to figure out: who's going to be doing what (personnel)? With what tools (gear)? For how long (timeframe)? And what are the things each step requires (inputs) and what are the results (outputs)?

After doing some research, and thinking about what's worked best on previous low-budget films, I came up with the following chart [NOTE: I know Blogger doesn't want to format this correctly. I'm working on it]:

Num.	Step	Inputs	Personnel	Gear	Outputs
1	Transcoding Organizing bins Logging clips with scene/shot/take/other info	H.264 Clips on drive Sound WAV files on drive	Myself	Final Cut Canon5D FCP Plugin	Final Cut Project File w/bins Named ProRes LT clips in folders on drive Logging notes of some kind (database, spreadsheet, something)
2	Syncing	ProRes LT clips Audio files Final Cut Project	Me	Final Cut PluralEyes	Final Cut Project File w/bins
3	Script Notes	Final Cut Project Script	Me	Final Cut Pro	Lined script books with notes Binder with notes, sound reports, production reports, etc.
4	Picture Edit	Final Cut Project Binder Hard Drive	Editor	Final Cut Pro	Sequences in reels
5	Feedback Screenings	Rough or 2nd Cut on DVD	Editor, Me, Trusted friends	DVD projector	Notes for next cut
6	Reshoots/Inserts	Wish list of shots	Skeleton crew and cast	Basic camera/sound unit Props, set dressing	Video/audio footage
7	F/X and Titles	Final Cut Project F/X footage (shot on location) Add'l computer-generated footage	Ben Wolf Me Visual F/X Artist Editor (possibly)	Final Cut Pro Photoshop Motion After Effects(?)	Locked VFX sequences and titles
8	Transcode for Online	FCP sequences (reels) Camera master files	Me	Final Cut Pro 5DtoRGB tool	ProRes HQ (422) or ProRes 444 versions of selects only (clips that made the final cut) Notes
9	Conform	ProRes HQ clips Offline Final Cut Pro sequences (reels) VFX and title sequences	Me	Final Cut Pro	Final Cut Pro sequences, linked to ProRes HQ clips
10	Color Correction/Basic Compositing	Final Cut Pro sequences (reels) Notes	Colorist Ben (DP) Myself	Final Cut Pro Color Motion After Effects	Color corrected reels with all titles and effects in place
11	Prep for Sound Edit	Audio files Final Cut Reels (preferably color corrected, but at least the final conforms	Me	Final Cut Pro	Quicktimes for each reel per the sound designer/composer specs Sound tracks grouped per spec OMF files per reel Sound Design Notes in binder
12	Sound Design	OMF files, etc. as above	Sound Designer Foley Artist? Dialog Editor?	ProTools or other sound software Final Cut Pro	Stereo LTRT session files Possibly 5.1 session files
13	Music	Quicktimes and sound notes	Composer	Instruments Music mixing software	Soundtrack, broken into reels, premixed
14	Mix	Session files Quicktimes Soundtrack files (if not already part of session files)	Sound Designer Mixer(?)	ProTools Mixing hardware	Bounce tracks
15	Final Output	Blank HDCAM and Digibeta stock Final Cut reels Bounce tracks	Me Post House Editor Mixer?	Online suite	Projection master SD tape master DVD master (Quicktimes)

Some specifics:
1. We picked ProRes LT because it offers the best compromise between file size and quality. H.264 can be difficult to edit with natively - it's a long-GOP format, which means that Final Cut has to do a lot of math to reconstruct the frames at your edit points. This can cause machines to chug and drop frames during playback, which is not good. The whole long-GOP vs. i-frame discussion is beyond the scope of this article; but I'll dig up some good resources for you or talk about it more in-depth at some point.

ProRes LT is an i-frame format (individual frames are stored instead of groups of frames), but the file size is manageable.

2. Pluraleyes is a stand-alone program that can take clips in a Final Cut Pro sequence and line them up. Assuming you have camera audio, Pluraleyes can line up your separate-source audio files with your video (with camera sound) files.

3. I'm glossing over a lot of the sound post process (which could have its own diagram); I'll save that for another blog entry.

So now you've got a basic idea of what we'll be doing over the next few months. Future blogs will focus on the individual steps, with more specifics and how-tos. I'd go into more detail but this entry is getting pretty long as it is. Until next time then!

The Film Is On The Hard Drive!

After thirteen wonderful, challenging, action-packed days, Found In Time now sits on several hard drives. I've spent the past week dealing with equipment returns, catching up on expense receipts, and following up on the inevitable hangnails (missing batteries, damaged props, etc.)

It's hard to describe how I feel. Witnessing the cast and crew work incredibly hard to put the world of the story together, listening to the actors creating depth and texture, feeling part of a big electric circuit... it's an exhilarating experience, and one very good reason to go into production. The long hours, erratic sleep, physical hardship, mishaps, upset, and chaos are just checkpoints along the way.

By the end of the coming week, the production will be wrapped - all the paperwork filed away, receipts counted, everyone paid - and post will officially begin with the logging and organizing of the footage. By then, I'll have more perspective and a cooler head, and I'll be able to talk more about the production experience, including lessons learned for next time.

Simeon Moore, our gaffer, has posted some wonderful production stills on the Found In Time Fan Page. We'll be posting some behind-the-scenes clips at some point in the future as well. Stay tuned.

Casting, Props, Fun!

This has been a hectic month+. We've been casting, building props, and locking down our locations - getting ready for the BIG DAY: September 10th! So this blog entry will be brief.

Firstly, we have our cast:
MacLeod Andrews | Chris
Mina Vesper Gokal | Ayana
Derek Morgan | RJ
Kelly Sullivan | Jina
Eric Martin Brown | Anthony
Mollie O'Mara | Jess
Curt Bouril | Morton
Stephen Bradbury | Ananasi
Glenn Thomas Cruz | Mark
Stuart Rudin | Isaac
Mary Monahan | Nadine
Avery Pearson | Matthew
Allison F. Phillips | Joan
Justin Myrick | Nicholas
Jaden Michael | Billy
Tony Wolf | Randall
Adam Feingold | Carl

We couldn't ask for a more talented group of people to be working with.


PROPS AND WARDROBE:
Just a quick selection of props and design elements:
This is the spinner that Ayana (one of the main characters) uses to weave her special braids.


This is a logo we made for the Psychcops, the special unit of the police force that keeps track of vendors.

That's it for now. Hopefully we will be able to get one more blog entry out there before we start shooting.

A Good Preproduction Checklist

I realize I haven't been blogging very much lately. The truth is that the actual work of putting the film together swallowed me up for a bit, which left precious little time left over for reflecting and writing on what I was doing.

June was a very busy month. A few of the things on the to-do list:

• Two Location Scouts


• Filing the Tax Incentive applications with the City and State of NY


• Filing the Screen Actors' Guild paperwork


• Doing a new breakdown and schedule for the film


• Calling locations and soundstages


• Bidding on insurance


• Prop shopping


• Hiring the casting director and preparing for casting


• Further script analysis


• Setting up company credit cards, and the Quickbooks/filing system for the film

I've also been trying to study other low-budget fantasy films such as the recent Ink, The Science of Sleep, Cold Souls and Gabbeh (if you haven't seen these, I recommend them all highly). Gabbeh, in particular, fascinates me. Without any kind of special effects, it manages to utterly convince you of the authenticity of the magical world it creates.

Anyway, one of the overriding lessons of June is the importance of being organized. There are many preproduction checklists out there. But most assume a very idealized schedule and that you'll have a team of people working for you. Here I'm trying to condense it into a list that's manageable and more realistic for the folks who are producing films literally on their own or with one or two other people. As such it's organized more or less in priority order (of course, film preproduction is nonlinear and fluid).

CORPORATE STUFF:
Anything that involves should be taken care of as soon as you have a date set. This includes creating your production company, putting the legal paperwork together for your investors and partners, setting up your bank account and credit cards, getting a resale certificate, etc. This is time-consuming stuff and involves government entities, which move on a slow timetable. So don't put it off.


SCRIPT ANALYSIS:
You can never do too much of this. As a crew member, I used to hate it when the director seemed like the least prepared person on set. There's a difference between being "fresh" (not getting sick of the material before walking on set) and being unprepared. Properly analyzing your script will never make you sick of the material, only lead you to a deeper understanding of the story you're trying to tell. It will also give you the materials you'll need to help you communicate with the cast and crew.

In my mind, script analysis includes the following:

• Preparing a character breakdown for the casting director


• Taking general notes


• Looking at the script from the characters'/actors' POV (see Judith Weston's books on this)


• Storyboarding


• Shotlisting


• Preparing a "vision statement" that uses other films, stills, artworks, music... anything that someone can grab and watch/listen to/read to get a sense of what you want to accomplish


• Figuring out what sides you want to use for auditions


• Rewriting the script based on the above

This should be happening throughout the preproduction process. It becomes harder to do as preproduction goes on, since it demands stretches of uninterrupted time. So start this as soon as you have a draft that you think could be shot. I also recommend "saving" everyone (including yourself) huge headaches by refraining from publishing new drafts until you've "ganged up" a few significant changes. Publishing new pages every couple of days is not going to endear you to anyone. On a really low budget film, you are GUARANTEED to get out of sync (with actors, crew, director and producer all showing up on set with different drafts).


PRODUCTION ANALYSIS:
This broad category includes breaking down the script, scheduling it, and budgeting it. This should start as soon as you have a workable draft and will (for better or worse) be an ongoing process. You should try to generate a budget, a location breakdown, and a cast list as soon as possible. I've written about this before, so I won't go into too many details here.


LOCATIONS:
Try to nail your locations, or at least start exploring possibilities, as soon as possible. I've written extensively on location scouting considerations, so I won't go into it here. I want to add two things: be prepared to bribe people to turn off their radios, park somewhere else, etc. And have a backup plan. You don't want to lose a day of shooting if a location gets scotched.

Use the best aspects of a location - even if it means bending the story a little bit. I once worked on a film where we had to find a country house for a corporate law firm partner. We found a beautiful, "rich-looking" house with two giant floor-to-ceiling, two story windows. But the scene was set at night, and we were shooting during the day. The DP and director wouldn't budge, so we gelled the windows (which took forever), and shot away from them - blocking everything in front of an interesting but rather "non-opulent" wall. The issue of wealth (important to the characters and the film as a whole) was lost.


CASTING:
You should start thinking about this as soon as the script is done. Do you know a "name" actor (and I mean know in the sense of actually having met, talked, worked with, and NOT in the sense of having lots of posters of him/her in your room or that you've stalked them or followed them on "E")? Do you know good "non-name" actors? Do you know a casting director?

The casting process is in many ways the hinge that the rest of the film swings on. If you cast well then many of your headaches will disappear on set (to be replaced by others, of course). Cast badly and you'll be wasting a lot of money and time. Note that casting well doesn't necessarily mean casting a name, or even someone with a lot of experience. But:

• Do they bring the role to life?


• Do they think of things you haven't thought of?


• Are they committed to the sometimes arduous nature of the process (they refuse to coast on indication and cliche)


• Do they have chemistry with each other?


• Will they show up on time?


• Do they understand the hours and time commitment, or will you have to compete with their day jobs or significant others?

These last two sound funny, but they're not. I've worked (as a production manager) with musicians cast as actors. They tend to be very good, but many don't understand the concept of a seven-AM call time.

I've also worked with actors who told me on the day that they had to get to their catering jobs two hours before we were scheduled to wrap. My sympathy is limited - I've passed up day job money, sleep, sex, a few friendships, and a vacation or two to stay in this business. If you can't walk the walk, don't talk the talk.

On the other hand, if you're working with an actor who's got another ACTING commitment, then you have to respect that commitment and work around it. If you can't, don't cast that person, or wait until their commitment is over before you shoot.

Also, if your dates aren't solid (they won't slip by more than a few days), you can't expect any actor, no matter their level of experience, to wait around for you.


CREWING UP:
Crewing up is both difficult and easy at the same time. It isn't hard to find people who want to crew on films. The problem is finding people who are willing (see above) to stick with it during some tough times, and/or are also willing to take a pay cut to work on an indie film. Also, since everyone is a freelancer, you can't ask someone in May what they're schedule is going to be like in December. Unless the paycheck you're offering is awesome AND your dates are solid, you're going to have to settle for a "if nothing else comes up" commitment.

So start looking at reels and interviewing people, by all means, but don't count on hiring people for sure until a couple of months before the shoot starts.


PROPS, SET DRESSING, COSTUMES:
I like to create shopping lists of the props, set dressing, costumes, wigs, etc. that I'll need to obtain for the shoot. In creating this list, I focus on the following:

• What's already at the location that I can use for free/cheap?


• What do I own?


• What can I borrow for free?


• What can I rent for cheap?


• What can I "buy and return?"


• What do I have to fabricate or purchase?

This leads to a lot of dumpster-diving, making phone calls to friends, closet-raiding, and other activities. The good news is that you don't have to do all this work at once. The bad news is that, like everything else on this list, you should start it as early as possible.

One thing I would caution against is assuming that actors can bring their own wardrobe. Depending on their financial situation, day jobs, and/or taste, you may not be able to find a three-piece suit or formal evening gown in their closets that you can use. And if you do, keep in mind that it's your responsibility to make sure they show up with it on the day, that it's cleaned regularly, and that a second rented/purchased, if possible. Actors sweat a LOT - the lights are hot, the AC has to be off for sound, and the work itself is nerve-wracking and physical - so make sure they can get into a clean version of their clothes the next day.

Similarly, locations are seldom perfect and may change between the scout and the shoot. You may have to live with the location as is (not always the worst thing in the world), or spend some time before the shoot crew arrives rearranging things. The key on a low budget is to be flexible.

There's more to come, but I've got to get back to work here. Casting begins in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know how that goes!

Scouting For Fun And Profit

So over the past few weekends, my director of photography Ben Wolf and I have been hitting the pavement. Starting in Astoria, jumping down to LIC and Greenpoint, and finally hitting some major paydirt in the Bronx, we've been taking in the sights and sounds of NYC.

We're looking for a side of New York that isn't often seen. Our everyday experience of New York, especially of Manhattan, is of a very close horizon with tall buildings and not much in the way of sky. This first image, shot in Astoria, is of the Hellgate Bridge. The vines growing up the supports help beautify the bridge, and the slight incline allows for a dramatic view. There's also a good contrast between the enormity of the bridge and the small (two-to-three story) houses next and under it.



The next couple of pictures, also taken in Astoria, show some nice diversity as well. The parking lot/alley, while generic in some respects, is broken up by the trees poking through the fence. And the park (Astoria Park) has several meandering paths and a nice incline. This allows for some good foreground/background blocking, creating depth in the frame.

The Bronx

The Bronx offers a "hilly" landscape, featuring a mix of residential and commercial buildings, lots of sky (a good lighting source, as well as a nice break from skyscrapers), and constant activity. The incline allows for some blocking opportunities that can create depth in the frame. The wide sidewalks are a big boon, since they will allow us to do profile shots without having to walk in the street. Many of the scenes take place on a "street vendor" corner, which means we need room for the camera, passersby, vendors with folding tables, and customers.

I'm also looking for a few other things in a good location:

Access to holding: Industrial landscapes and abandoned buildings are beautiful, except when you have to go to the bathroom or eat lunch, change wardrobe, or go somewhere to be quiet. I usually try to make a deal with the nearest church/synagogue/temple/mosque, community center, or hotel/motel.

Power: This is mostly for interiors. Gaffers usually love bringing along a generator and distribution, but on a low budget, it's impractical. Tie-ins or "plug-and-pray" are your better bet. Look out for tie-in-proof boxes (where they've sealed the distribution box cover so you can't get at the leads), old wiring, or 10 amp circuits (I still see some of these in old apartments).

Noise: The only downside of the part of the Bronx we saw was that we were only two or three blocks away from the elevated 4 train, and there was a tremendous amount of car and pedestrian traffic. We were there on Saturday, however; I'm going back during the week at some point to see how bad it is. The subway is on a somewhat predictable schedule and may be far enough away. Or we will have to decide to use it as part of the mix.

There's a lot of construction in Astoria, though not as much directly under the bridge. The Hellgate only sees the occasional freight or Amtrak train.

Goods: How far away are you from the nearest hardware store, supermarket, office supply place, and copy center. The last one is especially important at the end of the day when it's time to distribute callsheets.

Emergency: I worked on a film last year up in the Catskills that only had a part-time medical center in the nearest town. The closest full-on hospital was a good 30-to-45 minute drive. This was a little scary. On the other hand, the State Trooper barracks wasn't far away, and the volunteer fire department was fairly close by. The nearest snowplow and towing services were down the road.

If you're in the city, you can sometimes walk or drive faster to the nearest emergency ward than if you wait for the ambulance. So at least learn where the nearest fire/police/hospitals are.

Breakfast and Lunch: I usually try to find a variety of diners, restaurants, delis, etc. nearby so I can either send everyone away for walk-aways, or make deals for catering. It's almost always better to contract a local business for catering (they won't get lost, for one thing), but it's important that they understand the differences between Kosher/Halal, vegetarian and vegan cuisine. Astoria has a ton of restaurants. We spotted a number of good choices in East Burnside (the Bronx).

Public Transportation: Astoria is dependent on the N train and a couple of buses, while you have more options in Burnside.

Parking: No matter how hard you try, you'll end up with more vehicles than you'd like. If you have a shooting permit that gives you street parking (as opposed to "parking as available") AND you've coned out your parking the night before, you CAN technically ask for a tow service. But do you really want to piss off your temporary neighbors? Sometimes its better politics to find a cheap nearby garage.

Time To Location: A long commute will either be on the clock, or at least impact the turnaround, resulting in a "creeping call." It will also eat up gas and toll money (all non-production-value-enhancing costs). So shoot locally whenever possible.

Well, that's it for now - more scouting to do. Now that the rewrite of the script is done (finally), I have to break it down for the next draft of the schedule, and start thinking about interiors, props, and wardrobe concerns.

Being Smart About Money

I've seen this happen. Genius starts a business. He's got a great product (or film), a lot of goodwill and interest from people, and a loyal team.

What's the first thing he does? Gets himself in hock buying or renting a LOT of stuff. Spending money (either his or his investors) on "publicity parties," glossy packages, and a really really impressive desk. He rents an office space.

Everything's going great, until the bottom falls out of the market, or Genius B comes out with the same product only cheaper, or your investor decides to shut the faucet off. Then Genius is left with a set of awful choices: close up shop, plow whatever's left into finishing the film/product, change horses and make something else, lay everyone off and try to go it alone, ask everyone to take pay cuts, and so on...

In the BEST-CASE scenario, the movie gets made, the software comes on the market, the appliance ships. It does reasonably well and the company skates by, but Genius has now burned pretty much everyone around him (usually including his spouse/significant other), is in personal debt up to his eyeballs, and may have to close up and go back to work for someone else for a few years before getting another chance at-bat.

I witnessed this behavior first as a computer consultant, then as a line producer. At this point I've been around long enough to watch small businesses in just about every sector fail. In trying to keep my own business afloat, I've had to learn (sometimes the really, really hard way) how to be smart about my (and my investors') money. This is a WAY-TOO-SHORT list of things to think about in this regard.

Limit Your Overhead
This should be obvious, but for some reason it's not. To start making a film you need (a) a cellphone, (b) a computer, (c) a printer, (d) your brains. [obviously you need more than that as time goes on] If you need to get away from the house because it's too distracting, find a cafe/bar/library/someplace, preferably free. Or make or buy a cheap desk and stick it in a corner of your room. Likewise, hiring people before you're ready to use them, buying lots of gadgets (more on that below), throwing launch parties, buying expensive desks... not good uses of money.

Get Good Tools
This seems to contradict to what I just said, but not really. You will need a smartphone, a computer, a printer, and probably some piece of furniture to put them on. Fortunately, good tools aren't always expensive. Almost any machine you buy from HP, Apple, or Dell will give you decent horsepower and all come with good warranty options. You'll need a laser printer (but not an expensive one) if you want to print bulk copies of scripts and business plans (it'll be cheaper than Staples or an inkjet). Most cellular plans come with decent promos for smartphones. A desk can be put together for about $50-60 in lumber or a trip to Ikea, or by salvaging a door and some filing cabinets (one of my favorite methods). A decent office chair (or better, a stool) can be gotten from Staples or Quill for cheap.

The price of buying bad tools that break or underperform is high - lost productivity due to tech support calls, cash spent on replacing items that are just out of warranty. Investors also take stock of your tools when you meet them (just as they do your clothes and hair). Appearing somewhat thrifty is good; appearing too cheap suggests that you don't have a good gauge on when to spend money.


Renting Gadgets vs. Buying Them
If you're a DP, a sound mixer, an editor or compositor, then your livelihood depends on having good tools (see above) and being able to use them when you want/need to. Purchasing a camera, lights, an editing system and/or DDR may make sense. But if you're a producer, buying gadgets usually doesn't make sense, and here's why:

* Unless your business model includes working for hire and bringing the gear along (for a fee), or renting the camera out to other people, then your gadget will never make back its cost. When I bought a Mac to edit my first film with, I also used it as my main computer for four years; between web programming gigs, line producing and the occasional editing spot, I'm sure I was able to pay back the cost of the machine. Can you say the same thing?

* If you rent something and it breaks down, you call the rental house and they replace it - on their dime. If you buy something and it breaks down, it's your responsibility to fix it. As a computer geek, buying a computer (vs. leasing) made sense because I could fix most problems myself. But if you're on set and your camera dies, you'd better have a backup unit or a good relationship with a rental house.

* Are you looking at the real cost of ownership, or just the basic model price? If you're buying a camera, did you include the tripod, carrying case, cables, spare batteries, and additional cards?

* Today's gadget is tomorrow's doorstop. Make sure you aren't buying something that's going to be outdated in a year when the next model comes along - then you won't even be able to rent it out as frequently.

It's often more cost-effective in the long run to rent gear when you need it. An important exception to this is documentaries, where you may have to pick up and go on a moment's notice, or if you're shooting somewhere way far away from a rental house for months on end (then you might as well buy, and just take really good care of your gear).


Take The Cost of Living Into Account
The cost of living - due to real or artificial inflation - goes up roughly 3% or more per year. It's hard to measure exactly, because some goods stay the same in price while others rise.

But most people don't take this into account. If you have a savings account that's earning below the cost of living increase, you're essentially losing money every year (less than if you put the money under your mattress, but still). Likewise if you go without a raise for a couple of years at your day job, you're effectively taking a pay cut. This is also why you can't use a budget from a film made more than a few years ago as the basis for your own (which you shouldn't be doing anyway). El Mariachi and Blair Witch would still cost more if made today, even if NOTHING in the way they were filmed changed.


Credit Card Debt Vs. Savings
Most of the time, saving is better than spending. HOWEVER, there are exceptions. Right now, CDs are offering less interest than the rate of inflation (see above). Credit card interest, on the other hand, has not come down as much, and credit card companies are constantly finding new ways to stick it to us - late fees, interest rate jumps, new ways of calculating interest, membership fees, "rewards program" or "fraud protection" fees, etc...

If you're putting money into a savings account (or IRA or 401K) but are also carrying credit card debt, STOP saving and pay down your debt first. Start with the highest-interest cards first, and "snowball" your payments (as you pay one card off, apply the payment to the next card).

Don't pay your taxes on your credit card. The IRS will take monthly payments, and the interest and penalties charged are usually far less than the credit card companies will charge you in interest.

Don't put staple goods on your credit card - food, gas, etc. - unless you can pay it off every month or you're using a debit card. If you can't pay for your food in cash, that's a sign that you're living above your means.

Don't buy into fraud protection insurance or any of the other crappy insurance programs offered by credit cards. They add very little value to the protection built into your account (and enforced by law). Likewise, be wary of rewards programs - they tend to encourage spending.

I'm all for having a little rainy-day fund in case you get laid off. But nothing will eat into that fund faster than debt, so I still think it's better to pay the debt off first and save later.


Get Organized
If your car ashtray or shoebox is your bookkeeping system, you need to upgrade to something better. If you have investors, they will sometimes ask you how things are going with their money, and you'd better be able to answer.

I recommend learning QuickBooks. It's hard to get a reliable, good bookkeeper for what you can probably afford to pay (which is usually next to nothing). It's not an easy program to learn, but once you do you'll be working with the industry standard. You can budget and track expenses, add credit cards as well as bank accounts, and generate statements and invoices.


Keep Your Money Separate...
... from your investors'. It's VERY tempting to use investor money for personal use. Maybe you think you deserved a dinner on the company's dime because you worked late. Or you think you should lease a car. Or have the company pay part of the rent on your apartment (since it's the production office anyway).

There is a legitimate case to be made for each situation. If you're in preproduction and you're saving money because you didn't have to hire a PA to collate all those scripts, then having dinner makes sense. If you're in production and your shitbox isn't big or reliable enough to transport your actors and crew, you should rent a vehicle. If your production office is your apartment, you may need to reimburse yourself a little (at least to cover bumps in utilities, furniture breakage, and/or spousal irritation).

But if you're in development or postproduction, these arguments don't really hold up as well. If you're in development you should be saving as much money as possible; if you're in post you're probably coming close to running out of it. Your investors may or may not scrutinize these expenses. If they think you're using their money as a "free ride" they may not be as generous the next time around. Or they might want some of it back.


Auto Pay Is The Way
Especially when you're in production, you really don't have time to keep track of your personal finances. Many of us (myself included) hate doing it in the first place. So I get the bank to some of it for me - I have my bank account automatically pay all my bills. I have an overdraft on the checking account so I'm not worried about a bounced check. Since doing this my late payment fees have dropped to about $15 per year; also, my interest rate increases (due to late payments) have disappeared. The few times I've had a shortfall - when a payment has come out of the overdraft because my paycheck hadn't cleared - the charge was nominal. At the very least, turn this option on during production.


Don't Let Out Of Pocket Expenses Accumulate
Your first instinct will probably be to let the crew pay for their expenses, then reimburse them after they submit receipts. After all, there's always the chance that if you hand them their money, they'll just walk away with it, right?

The truth is that most people won't do that. They want to work again. The short-term gain is too small. They have pride in their work.

The solutions are to give them floats, give them credit cards with specific limits, and/or pay for certain expenses directly. Review their spending on a weekly basis and stay on top of things (or hire a line producer to do it).

If you give your department heads piles of cash and say "that's all you're getting," they will spend that pile. If you tell them you'll reimburse them later, they'll spend more than that pile, and be upset if you say that you won't reimburse them for everything. This is not evil on their part - they're just trying to help you make your movie, and are often going above and beyond to do that. But people don't tend to keep as close track of their own spending, or they just assume that you'll cover it anyway, or maybe they're a little pissed because they're going out of pocket... for a variety of reasons, you'll end up spending more.


Think Opposite The Herd
When everyone sells, that's when it's time to buy. When everyone's buying, that's when it's time to sell. That's the best way to survive in the world of investing.

This principle applies to filmmaking in general, however. Make a film in the winter (when no one is working), shoot in a town where no one else goes, pick atypical locations, cast under-utilized actors... you get the idea. If everyone is shooting a romantic comedy, maybe you should put yours on the shelf and take down that horror film - otherwise, you'll end up with just one more low budget romantic comedy, aiming for the same jackpot your competitors are.


Student Loan Consolidation? Think Carefully...
Consolidating your student loans may lower your immediate overhead, but it will usually cost you more in the long run. The consolidated interest rate can often be higher than at least some of the individual loans. And of course you'll end up paying more in interest over the long haul (sometimes three times as much). Some of your loans (particularly certain types of Federal loans) aren't "consolidatable" in any case.


Hire Good Professionals
You'll need a good lawyer and a good tax accountant (unless you're skilled in either of these areas). Build their services into the film's budget. I've seen far too many people get into trouble because they wrote their own (badly worded) contract, or filed the wrong LLC forms at tax time or when forming the corporation.


Pay Yourself Last
Yes, everyone says "pay yourself first," but if you're making a low-budget film, your crew really aren't going to understand why they're working deferred or at a low rate if you're getting a better deal. If you want people to be loyal to you, it's better to forgo some perks (a fancier desk, a better salary, early-day Fridays) and work your ass off.


People Are Your Best Resource
You don't have to suck up or even be particularly nice to the people working for you, but you do have to publicly acknowledge that their contribution is valuable. This doesn't always mean spending a lot of money - sometimes a sincere "thank you" or a drink, or hiring them on your next better-paying job, are sufficient. You can't buy people's loyalty and trust, you have to earn it through your deeds.

Well, that's it - really truly. Time to get back to rewriting.