"Making a Great Suspenseful Film" Part II: How do I shoot my film?
Part of the Series: "ACTION!: How to Make Great Films and Actually Have Fun While Doing It"
INTRODUCTION
So in part 1 of "Making a Great Suspenseful Film" we showed you how to come up with a story concept and a visual storyboard for your suspenseful film based on the scene from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Now, we're going to take that story and storyboard and make a film out of it.
PRODUCTION or HOW TO SHOOT YOUR FILM
So there are 6 elements that you'll need to know to shoot your film:
Your camera
Stabilization
Lighting
Sound
Acting
Shooting procedures
YOUR CAMERA
So if you're not sure what camera to use in this project, you have a wide range of choices. If you're just starting out and don't have a large budget, I would just recommend to use a smart phone. The quality of the image on a smart phone gets better every year. There are films that have won at Sundance Film Festival that were shot on an iPhone like Tangerine. So if you have a smart phone and don't want to spend any more money, go for it. The biggest downsides are: it's hard to keep steady when shooting and the quality of the image might be inferior to the other choices. But we'll go over some techniques to make up for these areas below.
I personally use a video camera; specifically the Sony 4K HD Video Recording FDRAX33 Handicam Camcorder. The reasons why I use this camera are:
It's got high quality 4K video.
It's under $1000 and relatively inexpensive.
It's pretty easy to use and you can rely on automatic functions if you need to.
But you also can start using more sophisticated functions as well.
It's got great stabilization for the camera.
The downsides would be that it only has one lens and unlike a DSLR (I'll get to these next) you can't switch out your lens, the quality will typically be slightly less than a DSLR and it's designed for consumer use. Also, be warned that 4K video files are very LARGE and because it eats up a lot of memory, it can be challenging for computers without a lot of memory.
Finally, for beginners, the highest level is pretty much a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex camera). The DSLR is designed as a digital camera for photography but many videographers and filmmakers have been using them because the quality of the image is great and it allows for multiple lens. The downsides is that most DSRLR's have only under 30 minutes of recording time and sometimes, they can overheat. I find them more complicated to use than your typical video cameras.
STABILIZATION
So to get some of the tracking shots in this project, you're going to need to be able to move with the camera and make it as smooth as you can. There are multiple ways to do this.
First, you can just hold the camera in a specific way with your elbows pressed against your chest so that your arms don't shake.
Secondly, you can walk with your knees bent and as you move you walk very slowly with a strong sustained motion.
If that doesn't work for you, then, the next step is to get a shoulder rig. I use the Handy Rig Shoulder Mount Steady Support Stabilizer (shown above) and love it. It's not that expensive and because the camera is supported by your shoulder and both of your hands, you are working with a smooth shot if you also are very conscious of how you are walking. It also converts into different positions for different types of shots.
Then, there is the glide cam. I have a few of these and they work amazingly well for a smooth professionally looking shot. The big problem is they are a bit more expensive and are harder to use. To be honest, we mostly use the shoulder rigs.
Finally, you probably should also get a tripod for your stationary shots. It'll give you all the stability you need.
LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
You might not need lighting equipment for this project. I'm trying to help you simplify for this project and just focus on the fundamentals of creating a film, but I anticipate if you do have any major problems with lighting you might need the following pieces of equipment.
You can always first adjust the exposure on your camera. If it's too bright, you can lower the exposure and if it's too dark, you can just raise the exposure. This is a simple and completely free way to deal with lighting conditions.
Then, the next least expensive option is to use your onboard lighting system. Not every camera has one, but many do and it's an easy way to light up an overly dark situation.
Then, the next least expensive option is a reflector which just takes the light in the room/space and helps direct that light to whatever you need lit up. You'll need someone to man the reflector typically. Also, you can use it to block out undesirable light.
Finally, you might want to invest in lighting equipment. I'll go more in depth on how to use lighting equipment for more sophisticated lighting in later posts.
SOUND EQUIPMENT
For this assignment, I think using your onboard mic is fine. In many films including "The Shining," the sounds definitely add to the story even when there is no dialogue. But because this is a non-dialogue project, you don't have to worry about capturing high quality sound if you don't want to. As we'll talk about in later posts, sound is a whole different issue that you'll need to deal with and it's better to focus on that later down the line.
The main thing to remember in recording sound for this project is that you don't want to be talking or have extraneous sound on the set when you're filming so that you can use the sound in your film.
ACTING
For this project, acting is fairly straightforward. Your actor needs to make sure that they know what their blocking is. Blocking is the movement and actions of the actor in the scene. So for example, the actor needs to know from what location to what location on the set are they supposed to move and how they are supposed to move. Slowly? Very slowly? Quickly? So you'll have to be clear with them about their blocking.
Also, so much depends on the actors expressions on the screen. The audience needs to believe the actors' expressions for the story to work. I believe there are three major ways to accomplish this:
A. Multiple takes. Very often, actors are nervous and they need to do the scene several times for them to relax. Not all the time, but often, on the fifth or sixth take, the actors will forget about the camera and their performance will become very natural. I think that by going into filming with this mindset, you can avoid getting frustrated that it's not happening on the first or second time. And you can even tell the actor that you'll be doing it six times, or whatever you think you have time for. That way, they can relax.
B. Emotional Prep. I'll go into this more in later posts, but actors often need to set themselves up before the shot begins to get into the mood. If they are doing a shot where they have to be scared, then emotional prep is one way to accomplish this. So it works in three steps:
1. Closing the eyes and breathing. This helps the actor relax and focus.
2. Visualizing a specific image or experience that evokes the desired emotion. Details are key because when you visualize or think about key details using your five different senses, it can actually cause your body to physically react to that image or experience.
3. Open your eyes and then use that emotion in the scene.
C. Focusing on the action of the scene (not the camera). If the actor needs to walk towards the door, they need to focus on that action. They can even add a specific motivation for their action. They are not just walking to the door but they are checking out the door. They just focus on this action, and not the camera. Amateur actors often look up at the camera and ruin the shot. Keep them focused on the action.
SHOOTING PROCEDURES
So you're ready to shoot your film! You have your equipment and your actors prepared. Now, how do you shoot each shot? Here's a multistep process that will give your film shoot a clean structure that will make your shooting of the film efficient and effective:
1. Rehearse your shot with your actors.
2. Rehearse your shot with your crew.
3. Set the actors and crew up for the shot.
4. Yell "Quiet on the set!" This will make sure everyone is focused and that no one is making any distracting sounds.
5. Say, "Camera rolling?" The camera person will say: "Rolling."
6. Say, "Sound rolling?" The sound person will say, "Rolling."
7. Say, "Scene (number), name of shot, take (number)" This will demarcate what shot you're working on and will be helpful for the editing. Also, you can use the slate (The slate is the rectangular board that is used to mark the scene, the shot and the take as well as creating a sharp sound that helps with editing multiple shots. I'll explain this in later posts too.) too to make it visual.
8. Say, "And Action!"
9. Actors take a pause and then go ahead. The pause is to make sure in editing, you don't have any overlap with "Action!" and what the actors are saying and doing. They act out the scene with the crew filming.
10. Say, "Cut." Actors and crew should not stop until the director yells "Cut."
11. Check in with the Actors and Crew to find out how it went for everyone and then decide if you'll do another take or move onto the next shot.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So that's it for Production! I hope that was helpful in getting you started. I realize that was a lot of information but I find that as you repeat it multiple times, it gets easier and you have more fun with it because you can focus on the creative aspect even more.
Next week... Post-production or editing your film!
