0

Category: Life

Jun112010

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Breakfast

1. Breaking Your Fast is Re-energizing

After a long night of not eating, breakfast is when you literally “break your fast”. It tastes great; it takes care of that morning stomach growl; it re-energizes you. How – after a long time between projects – working on a new production feels like the same thing. It’s the same re-energizing feeling. Enjoy it. The day has begun again.

2. Who Needs Variety at Breakfast?

We can have the same coffee, same toast or same cereal every morning – our fixed morning routine, yet for lunch or dinner we crave variety. Lots of variety. Some film shoots hire 2 catering companies to alternate weeks just to keep up the variety… not for breakfast but for lunch! It’s got to be because we’re sleepy in the morning. So, we really need that breakfast to help us wake up and get the brain functioning (on set) for the rest of the day! Set time is so valuable, you don’t want to waste it being sleepy.

3. For Some People, Coffee Is Breakfast

Some folk can eat a full bacon-n-egg breakfast every day, while others will find that a cup of coffee is quite sufficient to get the day started. Whatta range! Taking that to a film set, it takes a range of people and skills to put a production together. Assembling the right mix of people in the right roles can be quite a challenge, but how satisfying it is to do so… as satisfying as the first, fragrant cuppa joe on set on a cold morning? Hmmm…

Cheers & a good breakfast to you on the next shoot!
Deb

Apr22010

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… the Opera

1. You Can Do Almost Anything, So Long As You Sing It
How you tell a story is what’s important. Sure there are underlying messages beneath the overall framework of the story, but how you communicate the story will determine how how entertaining it will be. You’ve heard “write what you know” and when you think about what you know it may seem a little boring… OK, take the “boring” (which you know so well) and make it interesting by how you express it.

2. The Star System Makes It Happen
Even years ago when operas were first written, Stars helped to shape the final product. Take the Romeo & Juliet opera (by Charles Gounod). As I’ve heard the tale, Gounod was commissioned to write the opera for the opera house owner (who’s wife was going to be the Star). The Star didn’t like one of her solo arias and asked for it to be rewritten. Gounod was unhappy (to say the least) about having to rewrite it, so wrote a solo aria for her that was totally different in tone from the rest of the opera – a waltz. Perhaps he hoped to embarrass her with the “unfitting” aria… but what happened instead was that that waltz aria became his most famous song. How the star system helped push him to create some of his best work!

3. A Story Is Filled Arias & Recitatives
An aria is basically a melodic song, whereas a recitative is basically sung prose. You can’t string aria after aria for an entire opera – it would be too much. You can’t have only recitatives for the entire duration either – it would be too dull. You need pacing between songs and prose. That’s the journey. When it comes to movies, I see the arias as action sequnces, or comedic moments, and recitatives as deeper moments, linking moments. And yes, the right pacing makes it work.

All the best & an operatic shoot to you!

Cheers,
Deb

Mar52010

All That Olympic Excitement… Over (Why, It’s Just List Wrapping a Production!)

During the Winter Olympics the streets of Vancouver were packed with people. It wasn’t strange to see 5 and 6 hour line ups to pavilions and activities. Shoulder-to-shoulder people sandwiched onto public transportation. A constant stream of folk milled around downtown, walking up and down the streets.

Now that the Olympics are over, the streets are more back to normal, but somehow “normal” feels like ghost-town empty. An echo of all that excitement is all that remains. What a familiar echo. I know it. It’s the same echo I feel the day after working on a film shoot. Wrap. All those work hours, all that activity, all that interaction… over in a day.

It’s production wrap. I sit on the back porch, completed exhausted. Do I have the energy to make myself even a cup of tea? Will I ever have the energy to “do it all again”? How very alone I feel. Very uniquely alone.

Time to rejuvenate. Recharge those personal batteries. No more thinking about the needs of “today”, I need to think about “tomorrow”. But first perhaps take a trip. Time to take some breathing room time to remember the reason why I got into this business in the first place. I trust my internal flame will re-light. And it does. And yes… I’m be ready, actually eager, to do it all again! Whattabiz!

Best wishes & a great shoot & wrap to you!
Deb

Feb192010

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… the Winter Olympics

Winter Olympic fever abounds in Vancouver right now. I’m back from a trip and dealing with the daily to/from work challenge of navigating streets of an Olympic host city. Posters of support decorate high rises, line ups are outside pavilions, souvenir stores and the zip wire attraction at Robson Square. The festive atmosphere has permeated the city block after block.

Here are three things I’ve learned about filmmaking from the Winter Olympics:

 1. Well, you can plan for snow…

Even though you can choose a country known for its snow, a country that had incredible snow falls last year with great ski conditions… but it doesn’t mean you’ll have the snow you want when you want: during the Winter Olympics. I’ve filmed a recreation of the summer Olympics once where we had crew out on the field shovelling the snow away. I’ve filmed a Christmas special with no real snow and leaves still on the trees. Sure, you can minimize the risk by choosing your shooting location and time as best you can, but it’s not such a bad idea to budget for the ability to augment snow on a film set… you may to create screen snow from scratch.

2. The importance of being Internet

Can you imagine Olympic coverage in newspapers and on TV without coverage on Internet? Can you imagine a film without a presence on the Internet? When was the last time you watched a movie and didn’t surf at least IMDB at the same time to find out what else that Performer was in? Sure, we interact with the film itself in a different way from its Internet presence, but we need both, and the Internet provides potential to add a new dimension to the movie experience. Yes, Internet presence is essential, and during the shoot is the time to collect unique and timely information. We need to collect that information as an integral part of making the film.

3. We Line Up for Souvenirs

Line ups are everywhere! Line ups to see the delights of the free pavilions; line ups to experience the zip line across Robson Street (over 5 hours long!); line ups to get into the Bay to buy souvenir merchandise! The Olympics affect so many people across society and cultures and they want to be here, be a part of it in many ways. They want souvenir moments, souvenir items. We also need souvenir moments in films… and that’s where you need to not scrimp on spending the budget’s money.

So back to the busy streets of Vancouver for me. Go world go!

All the best &  a good shoot to you,
Deb

Jan292010

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Flying

1. Trust in crew & equipment
You may not understand it all, especially when technology keeps changing, but hire the best crew, let them use the best equipment you can, and trust in them to do their job.

2. See how small the world is
Above the clouds the world below looks in miniature; it can give you perspective on life. Yes, sometimes the film industy appears huge, but as years move along you run in to the same folk over and over again and you realize how small this industry is.

3. If you want to fly… start with small planes first
Can you imagine a first time pilot’s first day flying a plane being at the helm of a jumbo jet? They start by flying small planes first. Gosh, the love to fly, so why not experience flight from more than jumbo jet perspective? So too with the film industry, start and learn on small films as you progress to bigger budgets, and more adventurous script challenges. Enjoy the journey!

Happy travels & magical shoots to you!

Cheers,
Deb

Jan12010

A Comforting Sign Along The Way

1-way-pathWouldn’t it be nice to have the path (read “career path”) laid out in front of you, and a sign such as this one, in the photo, assuring you that you are going the right way!

I think freelance life rarely sees this clarity. Freelance life is choosing the non-path – in this case striking a new path – your own path – in the woods. Yes, it’s hard and scary and lonely to leave the groomed trail – the one that others have prepared before you. With freelance life, you are cutting your own trail. You can visit the groomed path now and then, but you do not have to stay there. Making your own way you will find yourself blessed with living close to your career dreams. And that is as lovely a place to be as it is scary.

Hmmm, I wonder… if you had such a path and sign as this, would you actually choose to follow it?

Best wishes for the new year to you, whatever path you choose!

Cheers,
Deb