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Chris Moore - The Importance of Prep
Ben and Jon Gordon embarrassed me about memos and emails last week, and this week I have been made fun of by Pete and Jeff. So as we head into the meat of the series, and the meat of movie making, principal photography, I want to spend one last minute on pre-production or "prep" as we call it. This week's episode is the last episode of prep. I cannot overemphasize the importance of prep.
In this episode you see location scouting, wardrobe fitting, shot listing, the planning of extras, and the budgeting of the art department. This is all happening at the same time as script revisions, overall budgeting, and casting. We have won the battle for Chicago as a location. We are setting the movie in 1976. We have 25 days over 5 weeks to shoot. So we know the boundaries within which we need to function.
Thanks, again, to Aidan for fighting so hard for the 25 days. Also, Pat Peach, Jeff Balis, Michelle Sy and Pete all deserve big credit for their fighting and negotiating and budgeting and rewriting to get Chicago and 1976. Now that those things are done, the big issues are: who is playing the mom, and what will be the shot lists and appetite of DP Pete Biagi and Pete Jones on what they want to shoot each day?
Prep is important because it is the time you get to plan everything. What people tend to forget about shooting is that it is all about planning. There are a lot of problems you can solve on the fly, but always, and I mean always, the better solution comes from planning. The reason prep is so hard is that it requires the kind of planning that you must be accountable for. So if Pete Jones or Pete Biagi say two weeks in advance how we are going to shoot something they are stuck with that. This makes directors and DP's very unlikely to be 100% focused in prep. It causes them to commit to as little as possible. On "Stolen Summer" Pete and Pete did just that and as you keep watching the show you will see how their poor planning creates disorganization and lack of efficiency, which cost time.
TIME is the only thing anyone wants. Time to prepare or build or light or perform or rewrite or set up. Time is what every department wants. This is why Bruce is so key. He determines the time. And this is why Bruce is in such a hard place because no one was committing to time or shots so he was guessing the whole show. But in this week's episode you start to see how Pete may have been a little naïve about time and commitment up front. You will see how nervous everyone is for the first day.
I really feel this lack of organization and commitment to shots in prep is what plants the seeds for the upcoming episodes' problems. So watch closely and remember all the choices made and you will really be able to see how hard movie making can be. It so sad to me when Pete says I have had enough prep let's start shooting. He is wrong.
Before I sign off for this week I also want to comment on two other things. One is that Aidan Quinn is worried that people may perceive him the wrong way in this episode. I do not know how they could, but I just want to say on the record that he was a true professional. He helped this movie immensely and when you see him asking for things and questioning things it is because he is trying to understand and make sure the movie is good. He is not acting like a star. He is not causing unnecessary time or trouble. He is making the staff be professional. This is not a college project. Always remember Aidan has been on more sets and in more movies than anyone else on this crew. He is a professional and he wants those around him to act professional too. So understand him and do not judge him.
The second thing is the beginning battles between the Art Department lead by the Production Designer, Devorah Herbert and the camera/lighting crew led by the Director of Photography, Pete Biagi. Biagi is in charge of the look of the movie. Now normally it is the DP's job to realize the vision agreed to by him and the director. But by Pete Jones' own admission Biagi had the visual reigns on this show. Biagi was hard to pin down and very unclear and non-committal in his prep work. This made Bruce and Devorah nervous because they have to make a lot of decisions and do a lot of work beforehand and they need to count on Biagi's prep decisions. Biagi seemed to be making decisions that would allow him the most freedom on the day of shooting. This means the Art Department and Bruce must have everything there on set each day like actors and cars and safety personnel. This is expensive and time consuming and it's just hard for everything to be ready all the time.
This is, again, why prep is important. Why prep on "Stolen Summer" was the beginning of future problems. Biagi's desire to have maximum freedom on every day of shooting, combined with Pete's giving Biagi all the power visually, made for a bad situation between Bruce, Devorah, and Biagi. So hopefully now you have some perspective as you watch this fight (which will continue through the show) beginning.
All in all, this week is a great episode about the craziness of prep and the nervousness of a production crew as it heads into shooting. Also, why prep is so important to making a good movie. I hope you enjoyed it. Next week we finally see Pete on set.
Thanks for reading. . . .
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