Submitted by Scott Spears
Nothing is more horrifying to a first timer than realizing very early in your shoot that you're going way over schedule, over budget, and your crew is about to mutiny because of long shooting days. At this point, after shooting all day, you are forced to start cutting pages while trying to keep your film's story coherent and alive.
This little tidbit of advice is aimed at the beginning first time writer/director that is embarking on their first feature or even a long short. I hope this article can help you along in the scriptwriting and pre-production phase.
First, a little about my background; I have over seventeen years in film and video production, shooting over fourteen feature films, producing a couple of films and writing eight feature scripts, two of which have been produced. I have shot video features with tiny budgets and 35mm features.
Having worked with many first time writer/directors I've seen many great scripts and great plans and I've seen many of the pitfalls. I've seen writers who refused to cut scenes that were great little character asides, but bogged down the pacing and added very little to the plot. Many of the scenes were cut during editing because the film was running too long.
I've created an analogy for helping writer/directors gearing up for production. Think of your script as a wagon in the pioneer days preparing to make the trek across country. You have to carefully select what goes in your wagon before you start the long journey, just like with your script you have to select the scenes that are most important to your movie. Don't go loading that big old grandfather clock on the wagon and don't go adding a scene where a character goes to a bar and gets drunk with his friends that adds little or nothing to the story. You want to load on your meat and potatoes and the tools you'll need to set up your homestead. In your script, think of these as character development, sub-plots, motifs, plot points, and your major conflict. If your story is overloaded with extras (grandfather clocks and boxes of lace tablecloths), sometime during production, you're going to have to start throwing these items out and think of ways to patch your script back together. Doing this at the production phase is hard and can create plot headaches when you are cutting your script after a fourteen hour shooting day. Doing it at the editing stage is painful because you see all the expense and time that went into making those scenes land on the cutting room floor.
Here are a couple of stories from my rich life. A writer/director buddy of mine asked me to read his script. It was a long script and I recommended cuts. He made some of the cuts I recommended and some cuts recommended by others. It still came back a little long. He decided to stay with the length. As a side note, I did notice that his formatting was off and when he later formatted to the script into a shooting script is it ballooned to over 135 pages. On a low budget, that's huge. He ended up making cuts during production which he said were very painful because he was juggling shooting, prepping for the next day, and he was producing. Some were good and some muddied the plot. He regretted not making those cuts at the script stage.
On another film, the writer/director came in with huge sprawling script that he did cut after input. Again, he failed to format it into a shooting script and the thing exploded to 130 plus pages. So remember to get your formatting right. As a side note another friend just finished a first cut of his ninety pager and it ran only seventy-two minutes. So be aware of pacing and run time. I like to do a full cast read through with no stops so I can get timing. You can tape it to get pacing ideas.
So back to the sprawling epic, after the script grew to over 130 pages, he dug in his feet against any cuts saying that he didn't want to cut his poetry. We ended up shooting the script as written, but the days were long and nerves were frayed, but the director did adjust after some crewmembers did quit because of overwork.
Well, the first cut ran over 200 minutes. Over three hours. After much editing, they ended up with a ninety-one minute cut, so they effectively cut over half the work the crew did. It hurt because I think of all the wasted time we could have devoted to make those scenes that ended up in the final cut so much better.
What does all this mean? You have to focus on what is most important to your story. Only put in the wagon what you need, or in film speak only have in your script scenes that build your plot and streamline the story. Make those cuts before you start pre-production so you can focus your efforts on the scenes that matter, not the fluff which lands on the cutting room floor or, in today's editing room, being deleted off the hard drive.
My advice is to get as many people as possible to read your script and get a thick skin about criticism. Try to get people who have been through the process and understand filmmaking. Don't line up your close friends and family who love everything you do and aren't knowledgeable about filmmaking.
My final piece of wisdom is to raise a couple extra dollars and get yourself a producer. I know budgets are tight, but I highly recommend that you find yourself a friend, buddy, pal, right hand man or woman to help you because as writer/director you are already wearing some big hats. My friends who have tried it have said they wouldn't do it again. You'll spend too much of your time worrying about lunch, watching the clock, finding props, keeping the crew happy, setting up for the next day's shoot, and doing a multitude of other things that you'll hardly have the energy to direct and/or re-write if needed. Get somebody who's been there before, loves your project, and filmmaking in general. Some may work for free, but I always recommend that you try to pay them something. That makes them fiscally responsible to you. It doesn't have to be a fortune, but it will cover their time, any phone calls they make, and gas for the car.
In closing, during the writing process and even in the beginning stages of pre-production you must focus on what is essential to your story. You must be merciless and cut the scenes that don't help build or support your story goals. This makes you define the spine of the story, it saves you money because you don't shoot scenes you don't need, and it gives you more time to focus on the scenes that matter. Your crew will love you because they will not feel like they are wasting their time. You must FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS on story and do what's best for your screenplay.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Advice to First Time Writer/Directors
Submitted by Scott Spears
Nothing is more horrifying to a first timer than realizing very early in your shoot that you're going way over schedule, over budget, and your crew is about to mutiny because of long shooting days. At this point, after shooting all day, you are forced to start cutting pages while trying to keep your film's story coherent and alive.
This little tidbit of advice is aimed at the beginning first time writer/director that is embarking on their first feature or even a long short. I hope this article can help you along in the scriptwriting and pre-production phase.
First, a little about my background; I have over seventeen years in film and video production, shooting over fourteen feature films, producing a couple of films and writing eight feature scripts, two of which have been produced. I have shot video features with tiny budgets and 35mm features.
Having worked with many first time writer/directors I've seen many great scripts and great plans and I've seen many of the pitfalls. I've seen writers who refused to cut scenes that were great little character asides, but bogged down the pacing and added very little to the plot. Many of the scenes were cut during editing because the film was running too long.
I've created an analogy for helping writer/directors gearing up for production. Think of your script as a wagon in the pioneer days preparing to make the trek across country. You have to carefully select what goes in your wagon before you start the long journey, just like with your script you have to select the scenes that are most important to your movie. Don't go loading that big old grandfather clock on the wagon and don't go adding a scene where a character goes to a bar and gets drunk with his friends that adds little or nothing to the story. You want to load on your meat and potatoes and the tools you'll need to set up your homestead. In your script, think of these as character development, sub-plots, motifs, plot points, and your major conflict. If your story is overloaded with extras (grandfather clocks and boxes of lace tablecloths), sometime during production, you're going to have to start throwing these items out and think of ways to patch your script back together. Doing this at the production phase is hard and can create plot headaches when you are cutting your script after a fourteen hour shooting day. Doing it at the editing stage is painful because you see all the expense and time that went into making those scenes land on the cutting room floor.
Here are a couple of stories from my rich life. A writer/director buddy of mine asked me to read his script. It was a long script and I recommended cuts. He made some of the cuts I recommended and some cuts recommended by others. It still came back a little long. He decided to stay with the length. As a side note, I did notice that his formatting was off and when he later formatted to the script into a shooting script is it ballooned to over 135 pages. On a low budget, that's huge. He ended up making cuts during production which he said were very painful because he was juggling shooting, prepping for the next day, and he was producing. Some were good and some muddied the plot. He regretted not making those cuts at the script stage.
On another film, the writer/director came in with huge sprawling script that he did cut after input. Again, he failed to format it into a shooting script and the thing exploded to 130 plus pages. So remember to get your formatting right. As a side note another friend just finished a first cut of his ninety pager and it ran only seventy-two minutes. So be aware of pacing and run time. I like to do a full cast read through with no stops so I can get timing. You can tape it to get pacing ideas.
So back to the sprawling epic, after the script grew to over 130 pages, he dug in his feet against any cuts saying that he didn't want to cut his poetry. We ended up shooting the script as written, but the days were long and nerves were frayed, but the director did adjust after some crewmembers did quit because of overwork.
Well, the first cut ran over 200 minutes. Over three hours. After much editing, they ended up with a ninety-one minute cut, so they effectively cut over half the work the crew did. It hurt because I think of all the wasted time we could have devoted to make those scenes that ended up in the final cut so much better.
What does all this mean? You have to focus on what is most important to your story. Only put in the wagon what you need, or in film speak only have in your script scenes that build your plot and streamline the story. Make those cuts before you start pre-production so you can focus your efforts on the scenes that matter, not the fluff which lands on the cutting room floor or, in today's editing room, being deleted off the hard drive.
My advice is to get as many people as possible to read your script and get a thick skin about criticism. Try to get people who have been through the process and understand filmmaking. Don't line up your close friends and family who love everything you do and aren't knowledgeable about filmmaking.
My final piece of wisdom is to raise a couple extra dollars and get yourself a producer. I know budgets are tight, but I highly recommend that you find yourself a friend, buddy, pal, right hand man or woman to help you because as writer/director you are already wearing some big hats. My friends who have tried it have said they wouldn't do it again. You'll spend too much of your time worrying about lunch, watching the clock, finding props, keeping the crew happy, setting up for the next day's shoot, and doing a multitude of other things that you'll hardly have the energy to direct and/or re-write if needed. Get somebody who's been there before, loves your project, and filmmaking in general. Some may work for free, but I always recommend that you try to pay them something. That makes them fiscally responsible to you. It doesn't have to be a fortune, but it will cover their time, any phone calls they make, and gas for the car.
In closing, during the writing process and even in the beginning stages of pre-production you must focus on what is essential to your story. You must be merciless and cut the scenes that don't help build or support your story goals. This makes you define the spine of the story, it saves you money because you don't shoot scenes you don't need, and it gives you more time to focus on the scenes that matter. Your crew will love you because they will not feel like they are wasting their time. You must FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS on story and do what's best for your screenplay.
Nothing is more horrifying to a first timer than realizing very early in your shoot that you're going way over schedule, over budget, and your crew is about to mutiny because of long shooting days. At this point, after shooting all day, you are forced to start cutting pages while trying to keep your film's story coherent and alive.
This little tidbit of advice is aimed at the beginning first time writer/director that is embarking on their first feature or even a long short. I hope this article can help you along in the scriptwriting and pre-production phase.
First, a little about my background; I have over seventeen years in film and video production, shooting over fourteen feature films, producing a couple of films and writing eight feature scripts, two of which have been produced. I have shot video features with tiny budgets and 35mm features.
Having worked with many first time writer/directors I've seen many great scripts and great plans and I've seen many of the pitfalls. I've seen writers who refused to cut scenes that were great little character asides, but bogged down the pacing and added very little to the plot. Many of the scenes were cut during editing because the film was running too long.
I've created an analogy for helping writer/directors gearing up for production. Think of your script as a wagon in the pioneer days preparing to make the trek across country. You have to carefully select what goes in your wagon before you start the long journey, just like with your script you have to select the scenes that are most important to your movie. Don't go loading that big old grandfather clock on the wagon and don't go adding a scene where a character goes to a bar and gets drunk with his friends that adds little or nothing to the story. You want to load on your meat and potatoes and the tools you'll need to set up your homestead. In your script, think of these as character development, sub-plots, motifs, plot points, and your major conflict. If your story is overloaded with extras (grandfather clocks and boxes of lace tablecloths), sometime during production, you're going to have to start throwing these items out and think of ways to patch your script back together. Doing this at the production phase is hard and can create plot headaches when you are cutting your script after a fourteen hour shooting day. Doing it at the editing stage is painful because you see all the expense and time that went into making those scenes land on the cutting room floor.
Here are a couple of stories from my rich life. A writer/director buddy of mine asked me to read his script. It was a long script and I recommended cuts. He made some of the cuts I recommended and some cuts recommended by others. It still came back a little long. He decided to stay with the length. As a side note, I did notice that his formatting was off and when he later formatted to the script into a shooting script is it ballooned to over 135 pages. On a low budget, that's huge. He ended up making cuts during production which he said were very painful because he was juggling shooting, prepping for the next day, and he was producing. Some were good and some muddied the plot. He regretted not making those cuts at the script stage.
On another film, the writer/director came in with huge sprawling script that he did cut after input. Again, he failed to format it into a shooting script and the thing exploded to 130 plus pages. So remember to get your formatting right. As a side note another friend just finished a first cut of his ninety pager and it ran only seventy-two minutes. So be aware of pacing and run time. I like to do a full cast read through with no stops so I can get timing. You can tape it to get pacing ideas.
So back to the sprawling epic, after the script grew to over 130 pages, he dug in his feet against any cuts saying that he didn't want to cut his poetry. We ended up shooting the script as written, but the days were long and nerves were frayed, but the director did adjust after some crewmembers did quit because of overwork.
Well, the first cut ran over 200 minutes. Over three hours. After much editing, they ended up with a ninety-one minute cut, so they effectively cut over half the work the crew did. It hurt because I think of all the wasted time we could have devoted to make those scenes that ended up in the final cut so much better.
What does all this mean? You have to focus on what is most important to your story. Only put in the wagon what you need, or in film speak only have in your script scenes that build your plot and streamline the story. Make those cuts before you start pre-production so you can focus your efforts on the scenes that matter, not the fluff which lands on the cutting room floor or, in today's editing room, being deleted off the hard drive.
My advice is to get as many people as possible to read your script and get a thick skin about criticism. Try to get people who have been through the process and understand filmmaking. Don't line up your close friends and family who love everything you do and aren't knowledgeable about filmmaking.
My final piece of wisdom is to raise a couple extra dollars and get yourself a producer. I know budgets are tight, but I highly recommend that you find yourself a friend, buddy, pal, right hand man or woman to help you because as writer/director you are already wearing some big hats. My friends who have tried it have said they wouldn't do it again. You'll spend too much of your time worrying about lunch, watching the clock, finding props, keeping the crew happy, setting up for the next day's shoot, and doing a multitude of other things that you'll hardly have the energy to direct and/or re-write if needed. Get somebody who's been there before, loves your project, and filmmaking in general. Some may work for free, but I always recommend that you try to pay them something. That makes them fiscally responsible to you. It doesn't have to be a fortune, but it will cover their time, any phone calls they make, and gas for the car.
In closing, during the writing process and even in the beginning stages of pre-production you must focus on what is essential to your story. You must be merciless and cut the scenes that don't help build or support your story goals. This makes you define the spine of the story, it saves you money because you don't shoot scenes you don't need, and it gives you more time to focus on the scenes that matter. Your crew will love you because they will not feel like they are wasting their time. You must FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS on story and do what's best for your screenplay.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Contracts and Low Budget Moviemaking
Submitted by by Peter John Ross
Have you ever heard of success stories like Kevin Smith making Clerks, Edward Burns directing The Brothers McMullen, or Spike Lee shooting She's Gotta Have It? Well, what if they forgot to cross every “T” or dot every “I?” We might not have ever heard of them. It would have been very easy for an actor or the owner of a convenience store to screw them over if the filmmakers had not gotten signed contracts. If you do not have a signed release form for the actor, or a signed location agreement with the property owner, they might become the owner of your film, or at least ruin any chance you have of publicly playing your movie. By getting certain blanket legalities in order, you can maintain control and ownership of your movie. A lot of independent filmmakers forget the business half of the movie business. Contracts are a very serious aspect of making movies. All too often it's enticing to go out and shoot your movie with a camcorder and then put it out there.
Even putting your movie on your own personal website is considered a public performance and if you don't have written permission to use the likeness or performance of your actors they can change their minds and legally there is no recourse. Interestingly enough there were some producers in Texas who worked with an up and coming local actress, actually had contracts, and even used the SAG Experimental contract which everyone thinks is a safety net. There's one problem with that. There’s a big loophole for people that are actually SAG members. If you use the SAG Experimental contract and then land a video distribution deal, any SAG actors have the right to veto the sale. This particular young actress made it big in movies like Jerry Maguire, and then these really bad movies made several years earlier became valuable, and the producers lost the sale because she exercised this little loophole. Even if you do a non-union digital video short with your friends, GET THEM TO SIGN RELEASE FORMS. This allows you to send it and screen it at film festivals, and if you should be so lucky to get the movie broadcast on television or distributed in any way, you are protected. You never know if this actor might become famous ten years from now, and if you don’t have a signed release form, you can’t sell your movie with them in it.
Locations work differently. Each state, and even each city, will have different laws and complications. Private property needs signed location agreements pretty much without fail. I know in Ohio you do not need any permits to shoot on public property, but then certain cities and towns have made their own laws concerning that, so it's not one-hundred percent statewide. In California you almost ALWAYS need a permit to shoot anywhere. Building exteriors work a bit differently. Usually a building that is large, public, and unable to be obscured is fair game, but if there is a trademarked logo of a company visible, you enter into a different arena of legalities. Trademarks are similar to copyright laws, but these protect the image of the company much more so, and lean heavily toward the corporations.
Again, if you shoot at your friend's parent’s house, but you don't get written permission, and later they felt the use of their house in the finished movie portrays their neighborhood poorly, they can stop your movie from being released. However, they can't say much if you can present a signed location agreement where they gave you legal permission to use their house in your movie.
On the flip side of things, when working with friends, read the contracts carefully among yourselves. I have personally been screwed over by people that, at the time, I would never have believed would make things difficult. Now I have lost all the rights to two of my movies that I wrote, directed, produced, and edited. Whenever I put them on a short film site, shortly thereafter, a cease and desist order comes to the site from my former partners. No real reason, they just want to be annoying. Similarly, I know a filmmaker who had an idea for a movie and went to his friend and asked for help to turn his idea into a movie. Now he is legally entangled over who owns the character from the movie. In this case, the filmmaker did not get contracts signed beforehand, and never knew that his friend was going to screw him over until he presented the contracts after the movies were screened at film festivals and had some early buzz. Now he can't have any screenings without getting letters to his attorney about “alleged monies lost” for their client. We aren't Kevin McClory fighting over rights to Thunderball and James Bond, we're a bunch of morons who made some digital video shorts with a camcorder in four hours.
If your movie gets selected to play on television in Canada on the “Moviola Channel for Shorts,” or the Sky Network's “Short Film Channel” in the United Kingdom, or the “Sundance Channel” or “IFC” in the United States, they will be unable to play your movie without signed contracts. There's this thing big budget movies have listed called “Errors and Omissions” that deal with this kind of thing. Since most filmmakers are on the low end of the financial scale, simple contracts for locations and actors can be found for free online. Use them. Always.
Protect yourself and get it all in writing, that way if your movie is a success, you can grab on and enjoy the ride. Otherwise you may become one of the “almost got famous, but I forgot to get the contracts signed.”
Have you ever heard of success stories like Kevin Smith making Clerks, Edward Burns directing The Brothers McMullen, or Spike Lee shooting She's Gotta Have It? Well, what if they forgot to cross every “T” or dot every “I?” We might not have ever heard of them. It would have been very easy for an actor or the owner of a convenience store to screw them over if the filmmakers had not gotten signed contracts. If you do not have a signed release form for the actor, or a signed location agreement with the property owner, they might become the owner of your film, or at least ruin any chance you have of publicly playing your movie. By getting certain blanket legalities in order, you can maintain control and ownership of your movie. A lot of independent filmmakers forget the business half of the movie business. Contracts are a very serious aspect of making movies. All too often it's enticing to go out and shoot your movie with a camcorder and then put it out there.
Even putting your movie on your own personal website is considered a public performance and if you don't have written permission to use the likeness or performance of your actors they can change their minds and legally there is no recourse. Interestingly enough there were some producers in Texas who worked with an up and coming local actress, actually had contracts, and even used the SAG Experimental contract which everyone thinks is a safety net. There's one problem with that. There’s a big loophole for people that are actually SAG members. If you use the SAG Experimental contract and then land a video distribution deal, any SAG actors have the right to veto the sale. This particular young actress made it big in movies like Jerry Maguire, and then these really bad movies made several years earlier became valuable, and the producers lost the sale because she exercised this little loophole. Even if you do a non-union digital video short with your friends, GET THEM TO SIGN RELEASE FORMS. This allows you to send it and screen it at film festivals, and if you should be so lucky to get the movie broadcast on television or distributed in any way, you are protected. You never know if this actor might become famous ten years from now, and if you don’t have a signed release form, you can’t sell your movie with them in it.
Locations work differently. Each state, and even each city, will have different laws and complications. Private property needs signed location agreements pretty much without fail. I know in Ohio you do not need any permits to shoot on public property, but then certain cities and towns have made their own laws concerning that, so it's not one-hundred percent statewide. In California you almost ALWAYS need a permit to shoot anywhere. Building exteriors work a bit differently. Usually a building that is large, public, and unable to be obscured is fair game, but if there is a trademarked logo of a company visible, you enter into a different arena of legalities. Trademarks are similar to copyright laws, but these protect the image of the company much more so, and lean heavily toward the corporations.
Again, if you shoot at your friend's parent’s house, but you don't get written permission, and later they felt the use of their house in the finished movie portrays their neighborhood poorly, they can stop your movie from being released. However, they can't say much if you can present a signed location agreement where they gave you legal permission to use their house in your movie.
On the flip side of things, when working with friends, read the contracts carefully among yourselves. I have personally been screwed over by people that, at the time, I would never have believed would make things difficult. Now I have lost all the rights to two of my movies that I wrote, directed, produced, and edited. Whenever I put them on a short film site, shortly thereafter, a cease and desist order comes to the site from my former partners. No real reason, they just want to be annoying. Similarly, I know a filmmaker who had an idea for a movie and went to his friend and asked for help to turn his idea into a movie. Now he is legally entangled over who owns the character from the movie. In this case, the filmmaker did not get contracts signed beforehand, and never knew that his friend was going to screw him over until he presented the contracts after the movies were screened at film festivals and had some early buzz. Now he can't have any screenings without getting letters to his attorney about “alleged monies lost” for their client. We aren't Kevin McClory fighting over rights to Thunderball and James Bond, we're a bunch of morons who made some digital video shorts with a camcorder in four hours.
If your movie gets selected to play on television in Canada on the “Moviola Channel for Shorts,” or the Sky Network's “Short Film Channel” in the United Kingdom, or the “Sundance Channel” or “IFC” in the United States, they will be unable to play your movie without signed contracts. There's this thing big budget movies have listed called “Errors and Omissions” that deal with this kind of thing. Since most filmmakers are on the low end of the financial scale, simple contracts for locations and actors can be found for free online. Use them. Always.
Protect yourself and get it all in writing, that way if your movie is a success, you can grab on and enjoy the ride. Otherwise you may become one of the “almost got famous, but I forgot to get the contracts signed.”
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
The Truth About Robert Rodriguez
Submitted by Peter John Ross
It's been ten years since El Mariachi burst onto the scene and it's still as prevalent in the filmmaking community as ever. How many independent filmmakers have been affected by reading Rebel Without a Crew or by watching the DVD extra Ten Minute Film School? Hundreds? Thousands? I know I was. I remember renting the laserdisc back in 1994 and seeing the movie made for $7,000 and even listening to the rare pre-DVD commentary track, which Robert himself dubbed “how to make a feature film for under $10,000.” I can say that without a doubt, I felt empowered by the commentary and everything I read about Rodriguez and how he became a major Hollywood player with a movie that was meant to be a Spanish language video release.
After having been down the path of making my own movies now for a little over four years, I recently re-read the book Rebel Without a Crew and went back and watched Ten minute Film School with a new set of experienced eyes. Let's just say that a few clarifications are in order.
1) $7,000 was only kinda-sorta the budget. Rodriguez never hid it, but Columbia Pictures and ICM Talent did. The $7,000 got Rodriguez a ¾” master tape of the movie and that's it. Columbia spent a hell of a lot more money to get a 35mm print made that they could screen at festivals. The $7,000 bought 16mm film stock, processing, transfer to video, and a few dollars worth of props. This is important to note because there is a misconception about what the movie cost and what that means. It means saying that the movie cost $7,000 is a great marketing ploy that paid off well.
2) One of the only reasons you, me, or anyone has ever heard of Robert Rodriguez is because the state film commissioner of Texas gave him a referral to International Creative Management. The dichotomy of Hollywood is that you cannot get in unless you know someone. It's an insider’s club, and Rodriguez got a free pass. This is underplayed by the book, Rebel Without a Crew, but it's crucial to understand that the second largest talent agency in the world can manipulate the studios. I do not mean to denigrate Rodriguez’s obvious talents, but based on seeing movies like Glitter and From Justin to Kelly, there is evidence that talent is not a prerequisite for getting a movie made. Rodriguez was lucky that he had the talent and the skills to back up the promise that El Mariachi displayed.
3) No one seems to remember that Rodriguez had made well over 200 movies on video from the time he was nine years old. How many other filmmakers, even in our cheap DV 1394, non-linear world, can claim to have made over 200 movies? I've been making movies for four years, and I'm barely over thirty movies. Let's just say that Rodriguez had a distinct advantage when he decided to make El Mariachi. It’s called experience and it's highly undervalued if you went solely by the descriptions made in Rebel Without a Crew and in the Ten Minute Film School.
4) “All you need to know about filmmaking, you can learn in about ten minutes.” I have never heard anything more dishonest in my entire life. This coming from a guy who had been making movies, and honing his skills, and mastering his craft for over ten years, not ten minutes. I think if Robert had never made a movie before, and this was his first or second effort, then maybe I could take this at face value. Instead we get a lot of alleged “rebels” that have no clue how to tell a story with a camera or even the slightest concept of editing. Too many people feel like they can do as good their first time out. Try making 200 movies first and then maybe you can pull off El Mariachi.
5) Rodriguez suggests to not use a film crew. A film crew, specifically a cinematographer, is not a bad thing. Yes, Hollywood big budget movies spend too much money, but honestly having a sound guy or a camera man who has a clue can enhance your movie. A good production assistant can save serious money when you need something fast. Rodriguez preaches not to use a crew at all if you can help it (a notion which caused him serious union problems on From Dusk to Dawn) and I think that is a filmmaker’s choice, although not usually the right one. A good crew can add a lot of support to a director's vision, not detract from it. Shooting your own movies can also shut down the input from someone who can offer options you never considered. Again, a bit misleading is that fact that Rodriguez shot all of his own movies and knew more about framing a shot than most NYU film grads. A wise friend of mine constantly reminds us all that filmmaking is a collaborative art, and it takes several people to make a movie. Even Rodriguez had actors. They are collaborators and bring something different to the table than a one man show. Also note, Rodriguez has never made a movie without a crew since El Mariachi.
When I watched the Ten Minute Film School all I could think was how this guy really, really knew what the hell he was doing. When he made his choices of shots and describes how he would edit it all together, I was in awe. There is no way in hell a person who has never shot a film before would have a clue as to what he was really doing. It's taken me nine years to start to get a grasp on the genius of what Rodriguez pulled off. Rodriguez barely had a 1.5:1 shooting ratio (if you don't know what a shooting ratio is, then you need to take more than ten minutes to learn). The kind of risk that shooting on 16mm presented was only viable because he had a great deal of pre-planning and experience. Not everyone, I daresay hardly anyone could have done what Rodriguez did and had results that good.
I am not saying that everything that Rodriguez advises is bad. The idea of writing a script for the locations and props that are already available to you is very true. There is a lot of wisdom in what he writes and says, but be aware that this came from someone who already learned what not to do from making 200 movies before he wrote and directed El Mariachi. Don't expect the same quality results if you've never made a movie before.
I don't dislike or disrespect Robert Rodriguez. As a matter of fact, I have met him twice and found him to be the most unpretentious and modest filmmaker on Earth. But I lost count of how many filmmakers quote his book or El Mariachi as the inspiration for kick starting a digital video endeavor. It's just that he has started a trend of “anyone can direct” and it's misleading. Everyone can direct, but not many people can direct well. The inspirational words from Ten Minute Film School and Rebel Without a Crew are great, but you have to read between the lines. There was a lot more to it than the way it is presented. I still believe everyone should go out and make their movie, I just think a more realistic approach is required.
It's been ten years since El Mariachi burst onto the scene and it's still as prevalent in the filmmaking community as ever. How many independent filmmakers have been affected by reading Rebel Without a Crew or by watching the DVD extra Ten Minute Film School? Hundreds? Thousands? I know I was. I remember renting the laserdisc back in 1994 and seeing the movie made for $7,000 and even listening to the rare pre-DVD commentary track, which Robert himself dubbed “how to make a feature film for under $10,000.” I can say that without a doubt, I felt empowered by the commentary and everything I read about Rodriguez and how he became a major Hollywood player with a movie that was meant to be a Spanish language video release.
After having been down the path of making my own movies now for a little over four years, I recently re-read the book Rebel Without a Crew and went back and watched Ten minute Film School with a new set of experienced eyes. Let's just say that a few clarifications are in order.
1) $7,000 was only kinda-sorta the budget. Rodriguez never hid it, but Columbia Pictures and ICM Talent did. The $7,000 got Rodriguez a ¾” master tape of the movie and that's it. Columbia spent a hell of a lot more money to get a 35mm print made that they could screen at festivals. The $7,000 bought 16mm film stock, processing, transfer to video, and a few dollars worth of props. This is important to note because there is a misconception about what the movie cost and what that means. It means saying that the movie cost $7,000 is a great marketing ploy that paid off well.
2) One of the only reasons you, me, or anyone has ever heard of Robert Rodriguez is because the state film commissioner of Texas gave him a referral to International Creative Management. The dichotomy of Hollywood is that you cannot get in unless you know someone. It's an insider’s club, and Rodriguez got a free pass. This is underplayed by the book, Rebel Without a Crew, but it's crucial to understand that the second largest talent agency in the world can manipulate the studios. I do not mean to denigrate Rodriguez’s obvious talents, but based on seeing movies like Glitter and From Justin to Kelly, there is evidence that talent is not a prerequisite for getting a movie made. Rodriguez was lucky that he had the talent and the skills to back up the promise that El Mariachi displayed.
3) No one seems to remember that Rodriguez had made well over 200 movies on video from the time he was nine years old. How many other filmmakers, even in our cheap DV 1394, non-linear world, can claim to have made over 200 movies? I've been making movies for four years, and I'm barely over thirty movies. Let's just say that Rodriguez had a distinct advantage when he decided to make El Mariachi. It’s called experience and it's highly undervalued if you went solely by the descriptions made in Rebel Without a Crew and in the Ten Minute Film School.
4) “All you need to know about filmmaking, you can learn in about ten minutes.” I have never heard anything more dishonest in my entire life. This coming from a guy who had been making movies, and honing his skills, and mastering his craft for over ten years, not ten minutes. I think if Robert had never made a movie before, and this was his first or second effort, then maybe I could take this at face value. Instead we get a lot of alleged “rebels” that have no clue how to tell a story with a camera or even the slightest concept of editing. Too many people feel like they can do as good their first time out. Try making 200 movies first and then maybe you can pull off El Mariachi.
5) Rodriguez suggests to not use a film crew. A film crew, specifically a cinematographer, is not a bad thing. Yes, Hollywood big budget movies spend too much money, but honestly having a sound guy or a camera man who has a clue can enhance your movie. A good production assistant can save serious money when you need something fast. Rodriguez preaches not to use a crew at all if you can help it (a notion which caused him serious union problems on From Dusk to Dawn) and I think that is a filmmaker’s choice, although not usually the right one. A good crew can add a lot of support to a director's vision, not detract from it. Shooting your own movies can also shut down the input from someone who can offer options you never considered. Again, a bit misleading is that fact that Rodriguez shot all of his own movies and knew more about framing a shot than most NYU film grads. A wise friend of mine constantly reminds us all that filmmaking is a collaborative art, and it takes several people to make a movie. Even Rodriguez had actors. They are collaborators and bring something different to the table than a one man show. Also note, Rodriguez has never made a movie without a crew since El Mariachi.
When I watched the Ten Minute Film School all I could think was how this guy really, really knew what the hell he was doing. When he made his choices of shots and describes how he would edit it all together, I was in awe. There is no way in hell a person who has never shot a film before would have a clue as to what he was really doing. It's taken me nine years to start to get a grasp on the genius of what Rodriguez pulled off. Rodriguez barely had a 1.5:1 shooting ratio (if you don't know what a shooting ratio is, then you need to take more than ten minutes to learn). The kind of risk that shooting on 16mm presented was only viable because he had a great deal of pre-planning and experience. Not everyone, I daresay hardly anyone could have done what Rodriguez did and had results that good.
I am not saying that everything that Rodriguez advises is bad. The idea of writing a script for the locations and props that are already available to you is very true. There is a lot of wisdom in what he writes and says, but be aware that this came from someone who already learned what not to do from making 200 movies before he wrote and directed El Mariachi. Don't expect the same quality results if you've never made a movie before.
I don't dislike or disrespect Robert Rodriguez. As a matter of fact, I have met him twice and found him to be the most unpretentious and modest filmmaker on Earth. But I lost count of how many filmmakers quote his book or El Mariachi as the inspiration for kick starting a digital video endeavor. It's just that he has started a trend of “anyone can direct” and it's misleading. Everyone can direct, but not many people can direct well. The inspirational words from Ten Minute Film School and Rebel Without a Crew are great, but you have to read between the lines. There was a lot more to it than the way it is presented. I still believe everyone should go out and make their movie, I just think a more realistic approach is required.
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