"Making a Great Film that Connects: Part II" How do I prepare to shoot my film?

Last blog post, we taught you how to write your story for your great film that connects with audiences. Now, we help you prepare for your film shoot or pre-production.

Like in the series "Making a Great, Suspenseful Film" we encourage you to make a photo storyboard. This is your film broken down into pictures. By taking pictures for each major shot of your film, you'll really get a much better understanding on how to shoot your film.

So grab a camera, some friends to stand in for your actors (or the real actors themselves) and go to the locations where you will be shooting and make that storyboard! Now, to help inspire you, we're going to break down the shots of the sample film, Erin Gould's Will You? that we shared with you last post.

Part I: The Set up

So in the first part of your film, you want to set up three things:

The Main Character (In this case, the boy.)

His Objective. (In this case, asking the girl out.)

The Setting. (In this case, a school.)

Let's look at how Erin sets this up visually. The first shot is a wide shot of the boy walking through the corridors of the school with the note.

You notice how this shot captures so many clues to show it's a typical elementary school. You have the iconic elements of a kids' painting taped to the wall, the institutional water fountain, those hallway doors, etc. With only one shot, this image takes you to that character's world.

Then, Erin goes to three quick images to establish the main character and his objective. He uses tracking close ups to show the feet walking, the hand with the note and the boy's face looking nervous. Although we don't know what his objective is exactly, we can tell he's on a mission and these three shots give that sense and draw us in.

Part II: The Obstacle

Then, we come to the obstacle or conflict of the scene. It's captured in this wide shot:

In this one shot, Erin shows us what this boy is up against. He clearly wants something from this girl but she's not paying attention. He is clearly uncomfortable because he's keeping his distance. It's a situation the audience can relate to.

Part III: The Tactic

Now, we get to the heart of the film. The boy uses the tactic of giving a note to ask the girl if she'll go to the dance with him. Erin captures this in a series of shots that illustrate the 180 rule.

The rule is important to understand when you're shooting two people or more who are talking or interacting with each other. So let me explain with this diagram:

So the 180 rule refers to the fact that when you are shooting two or more people interacting usually, you should only shoot on one side of the "line of action." The reason is that if you do shoot on both sides of the "line of action" then you will confuse the audience about the physical relationship between the characters. It may appear that both characters are looking in the same direction. So for clarity sake, follow this rule!

In Will You?, Erin uses "Cam B" and "Cam C" type shots (also called Over the Shoulder close ups) seen here:

When you look at these shots, it gives you the feeling like you're the character looking at the other character. Also, notice that the face is in complete focus while the character with his/her back to us, is blurry. This is also standard.

These shots are very important because the action of the story is happening on their faces. We tell the story by how they react to each other's movements and expressions and it's key for you to get these shots done well.

Erin does use a "Cam A" type shot (or Two person Wide shot) to show the two characters physical proximity at the end:

Erin shoots this in a very wide shot and saves it to the end of the scene. Some filmmakers might go for a two person medium wide as it shows in the diagram. It's really up to you and what you think tells the story best.

In addition, Erin uses a close up of the hand written invite to the dance.

This is key because it shows what the boy wants and it's important to capture this close up with clarity so the audience can read it. Also, he chose a note that was clearly written by a young person which adds to its charm.

Part IV: The Resolution

So Erin finishes his story with several resolution moments. You see in the close up, the boys reaction to the girl saying "yes" to his request and then you see him walking away and again, Erin captures this in a tracking close up on his face to show his slight smile. And then finally, we end with the wide shot of the boy doing a little dance in the hallway out of sight of the girl.

All of these resolution shots are important because the audience doesn't just want to see a character face an obstacle and deal with it, but they also want to know how the story impacts that character. They want some kind of emotional closure to the story and these final shots give that to them.

In addition to making a photo storyboard, I have a few tips re: casting and locations.

Casting

In our first project about suspense, casting anyone that you could rely on was important, but acting experience was probably not that important. In this project, I would recommend that you find two people with at least some acting experience if you can. When you watch the film, you'll notice that both kids while young are pretty skilled at showing their emotions naturally. This is not easy and it'll make your life easier if you find someone who can really do this on camera.

Locations

The location in this film was really important and that goes for your film too. Carefully choose what is the best place for your film. But you want to also be aware that some locations can cause real trouble with your film. For example, shooting in a school, you'll need permission from that school and you might need for them to sign some kind of agreement. It always helps if you know someone in charge and can get permission that way. I find it helpful to start with locations you already have permission to use and then build the story from there. But if you go in the other direction, you really need to think carefully about permission issues and also what kind of traffic (both people and vehicles) will be at the location when you're shooting.