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| | | | | | | | | | | | | Chris Moore - Shooting Is Hard
Hey, did people see the reviews for "Stolen Summer" coming out of Sundance? Pretty good stuff. It wasn't all wine and roses though, so stay tuned to see how Sundance really went.
This episode and next week's are sort of self-explanatory. Shooting is hard. The goal of shooting is to get all the raw materials the director needs in the editing room to tell his or her story. On "Stolen Summer" Pete Biagi and Pete Jones thought shooting was going to be easier than it was. They really went for beautiful lighting but with a real life kind of look, and the elaborate set up for shots started eating into precious production time. They also really wanted big shots, like the fire and the beach. The production team felt these types of shots were going to be difficult, risky and might not produce the results needed for the movie. Good tension and good drama for TV, but maybe not the best way to organize a movie. I still say planning and sticking to what you have planned makes a movie go better. Organized use of time also gives the editor and the director more time in post to put the movie together.
These decision of when to blow the whistle on a DP and Director who are pushing too hard on the shots, at the expense of the production, is one of those hard moments in producing. It is even more difficult when the scene is a pivotal scene in the movie. Pete really sees the shots oneway and I believed they could be great for the film. But the execution of Pete's vision of the scenes is harder than he or you think. So what do you do as a producer? Not risk it for an awesome shot? Just do everything from the least risky point of view? I try to be in the middle. There is a level of acceptable risk for great shots, but there are also unacceptable risks. I feel planning is what mitigates the risk.
Unfortunately Biagi made his position clear in the episode that he felt planning was for "big" movies. I feel differently. I think planning is even more important when you have limited resources. I think Pete made a mistake in giving the whole visual control to Biagi. I think Biagi shot a beautiful movie. I think he is an awesome cameraman and shooter. I just wish he had realized that a more collaborative attitude would help the overall film and give Pete more choices in the editing room . Biagi seemed to think fewer choices in the editing room would make sure that Pete got what he needed. Biagi and I certainly have two different philosophies, but ultimately the movie is good - so who knows who is right.
The thing I love about this week's and next week's episodes is the attitude the crew had going in and making it happen. I think this crew was awesome and up for anything. I say "Give me a great movie crew and anything can be done." The ability to hold it together and to keep trying hard to do your job in the face of crazy decisions and bad luck is just so cool to see in the show. I really would like for everyone to recognize that the innocent, hard-working folks of movie crews are the backbone of our business. Later in the series someone says that Pete may not understand how good a crew he had. I agree.
When we started this we were worried that a good crew and a good cast might be hard to get on this budget and with the documentary crew following them around. I could not have been more amazed by these people. And the movie they made is great and testament to their efforts.
THANK YOU ALL!!!!! | | | |
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