Pre-Production

Before you worry about crewing your film, however, there is the small matter of the pre-production. You have a great script and now you must work on turning it into a film. Here the most important thing is: PLAN PLAN PLAN!!! One mistake I made was selecting my locations without consulting a sound recordist. It doesn't help when you are trying to shoot a dialogue scene in an alleged deserted town but you happen to be beside a busy motorway! You can probably select locations without a sound recordist, but if you do it is not simply a question of going to the location at the time you plan to shoot and seeing if it sounds OKAY. This is another one of those moments where you must be completely honest with yourself for the sake of your film. Spend some serious time there and listen for things like trains and planes. Planes were the biggest problem for me when I shot Mnemosyne in the summer of 2003.

When you have your locations sussed, it might be a good idea to contact the council to see if they plan to do any roadworks/construction during your shooting schedule. For Mnemosyne, we used the very centre of Letchworth town for a scene. I got some of it shot. I then planned to shoot the next bit the weekend after. Big mistake! The council ripped up the road where we shot - there was rubble and machinery everywhere. Even if they don't rip up roads, etc, they might still cause noise pollution close to your film, so it's worth checking.

The shooting schedule is more tricky, because sometimes the people working on your film might have 9-5 jobs and only be available on weekends. In my experience, it is better to just shoot the thing in a block of days, because if you dot the production about over weekends it will lose impetus. If your script is that good, people will take some days holiday off their jobs to work on the film. You could always shoot on the weekend and then part of the week. It all depends on how much there is to shoot, and how much coverage you want to get. Then, of course, there is the darned weather!!!

When you have a shooting schedule together, it is inevitable that it will not stay on course if you have never worked with a crew before. I learned the hard way (angry actors due to trial-and-error scheduling), but by the end of the shoot, we were pretty much minute-for-minute in sync with the schedule. Some tips I would give for the pre-production phase are:

• Make the first shot that you film a simple one. The first shot always seems to take the longest so don't make it complicated. This is because you and your crew will be working together for the first time, and it takes time for a team to gel and become used to each other.
• Start as early as possible. You may think you are being Mr Nice Guy by letting everyone have a lay-in, but this can only lead to overruns, and an angry crew. They are professionals so if you ask them to turn up at 8am, they will!
• Block off each day's shoot into a series of camera-setups, and associated shot numbers.
• Give yourself triple the time you think you will need for each camera set-up.
• Schedule in sizeable breaks.
• Storyboard the film by photographing each shot, then drawing the characters in using a paint-package. I did this (have a look) and it was extremely helpful to the cameraman and DoP (Director of Photography). Not only that, but it allows everyone to virtually see the film before you even begin shooting it.

Once you have a storyboard, a complete shot list, a shooting schedule, and good, reliable locations, you are ready to cast and crew your film. When you post your advert, state the name of your production company (You don't actually have to own a company - but it is more professional to have a 'name' which you operate under), a contact name and number, a location, an overview of the schedule, whether it is paid work or not (in most cases not), what the actors can expect (profit share, copy of film, reimbursement for travel+food, etc), and a desription of the characters (gender, height, age, traits, personality, etc). You will then receive a few mails back from actors who think they fit one of the listed characters. They may enclose a CV, or a link to a web-enabled CV, normally with a photo. If you think they sound right, send them the script. If they like it, they'll write back and put themselves forward for casting.

I arranged two casting days using a friend's flat in London, and my own flat in Letchworth. Always try and make it somewhere where the actors can get to quite easily and without too much expense, as producers never fund travel to auditions (otherwise we'd all be broke). I never actually interviewed my crew in person. I spoke to them all on the phone (one person I hired just from e-mail conversations). For casting I provided a web page with details of how to get to the casting. Here is the actual casting web page I made.

I have provided a few 'best practices' when it comes to casting. They are:

• Send the script ahead of time
• Give thorough and helpful directions to the auditions
• Provide as many contact details as you can
• Consider allowing the actors to choose a reading segment from the film that they feel will help them perform best
• Have refreshments on hand (tea, coffee, etc)
• Give actors an opportunity to bring showreels, etc
• Ensure actors are relaxed and comfortable
• Ask their permission to film them during the audition
• If you have permission, do an IDENT (They introduce themselves plus their character)
• Be honest about the limitations of the project
• Ask them about their thoughts on the character they will play
• Explain why the project might benefit them
• Check actors availability for when you plan to shoot
• Give them an opportunity to ask questions
• Remember actors don't like directors who are arrogant/condescending
• Let the actors know when they can expect to hear from you

Once you have made a decision, inform your first choices that they have been cast. Do not send out any rejection letters until you have had acceptance letters/e-mails from them. At this point, try and be as helpful as you can to the actors who did not get the parts. Actors appreciate honest responses about why they did not get the part. Some people do not even send rejection letters. That must be pretty awful, so if you can make the effort to tell them why, it will help them a lot. Also, if someone came in at second place for a role, make sure you tell them that and possibly enquire if they woul be interested in understudying the role (Sometimes people will drop out at the last minute for paid work). One other thing - I don't deal with agencies - I've never had a bad experience with one simply because I ignore their mails. It's up to you if you accept cast members from agencies, but remember it is another layer that could cause complications down the line.

The final thing I should mention on this pre-production section is insurance. It's up to you if you operate without insurance, and for a short film, sometimes not having insurance could be a risk worth taking. But for a feature film, ensure that you have got proper production insurance. This will cover you for accidents, equipments, etc.