DIY Filmmaking Sucks

Audition process for indie films

Auditions are key to a film's success, since the actors you choose will carry the emotional and narrative weight of the film. The audience will identify with (or scorn) them and that's the most powerful part of the filmmaking experience.

As the famous movie saying goes: 90% of directing is casting.

Auditions is where you get it right (or very wrong).

During the original casting phase of our DIY sci-fi feature, In-World War, I wrote about auditions in my posts Working with actors and Working with non-actors, particularly kids. These are definitely worth checking out (if only for the monkeys). But I also use a fairly standard audition process with each actor that might be helpful for first-time and even more seasoned directors and casting directors. 

We're in the midst of 2nd unit pick-ups on the film now and so once again doing some auditions. I wrote up our process for our NYC casting person and wanted to share it all here.

Here's what we do for each actor's audition:

- First thing: they sign in, get assigned a number and sign an appearance release form, since we film the audition. Whenever you record someone, you should have them sign a release.

- Write their number on the release form in large black sharpie (the same number marked on the audition sign-in, so you can quickly reference their name afterward).

- Have them hold up their release form with the number fully legible and take their photo like that. I usually have an intern do all that in the waiting area of the audition.

- Once it's time for the formal audition, the actor comes into the room, introduce yourself and then have them state their full name for the video camera, holding up the appearance release with their number on it again (very important, to allow you to match name to number to face -- it quickly gets confusing when auditioning many people).

- Reiterate that this is an unpaid role (or whatever the compensation is: deferment, etc.) and the dates they need to be available for the rehearsals and shoot. They might not be needed for all these days, but if they aren't available for any of them, you need to know.  You don't want to waste their time or yours. So if that's not something they can do, then no need to have the full audition. Life's too short.

- Then, ask some brief intro questions to help them get comfortable (no more than three or so of these -- again, keep it brief):
     - How did you hear about this casting?
     - Have you done much film acting? Why do you like it?
     - What's your favorite movie and why?

- Then have them do their monologue (you should ask everyone to bring a monologue of their choosing).

- Then have them read a scene a couple times for the role they're playing. Ideally you have sent them the sides previous to the actual audition to get familiar with, so some might even be off-book (not required but great to see). Have extra copies on hand, in case they didn't or forgot theirs.

- Each time you have them read, after the first one, offer an adjustment. You don't want to merely give an emotion (i.e. don''t say "do it more happy this time"),  but a motivation (something like "this time, you want the other character to be humiliated").

That's called "playable direction" -- always give them an ulterior motive through the adjustment. They will figure out the right emotions to use to do so. I would suggest at least one adjustment per actor if not two or three if you have time, to see how they take direction and how they work with it. (There's more about playable direction in my previous post Directing actors and great performances.)

This process will show you a ton. You'll probably know within about 15 seconds if they are any good, even before the adjustments (and also adjustments like that are what I like to use on set and in rehearsals to get different performances from an actor). You also get a chance to get a feel for them as a person, helping with those key questions: do I like them? would I want to work with them on a chaotic, stressful shoot?

Nearly every role was cast this way on In-World War (and we have over 70 speaking parts in the film!), and we ended up with some amazing performances.

You can even do all this remotely.

For instance, I'm based in Oakland, California and we're shooting these pick-ups for In-World War in New York City. We have an amazing local team (mostly Columbia film students) who are doing the casting and locations in NYC during pre-production. They will be doing auditions and following this process. And then sending me the video of the best performances via password-protected Vimeo (an online video website).

A number of key roles were originally auditioned remotely like this, and we ended up with wonderful, powerful actors to play these important characters.

One last bon mot: The audition process isn't about auditions, it's about creating a believable story through choosing people that can carry the film's emotional journey. So when you cast, don't fall in love with "a look" -- fall in love with the feeling they give.

Gaming Netflix: how to get Netflix to buy more DVDs from you (revealed by Netflix executives)

Increasingly, Netflix is the most important DVD distribution channel for ultra-low budget filmmakers (excluding -- if you put in the hard work -- your own website, a merch table at your screenings and perhaps, Amazon.com).

In the DVD rental world, Netflix is increasingly seen as the dominant force, at least until DVDs are dead. And Netflix is already positioning to rule that brave new "Watch Now" world as well.

So when your DVD is finally released, you'll be anxiously waiting to see the Netflix order come to you or your distributor. But what's more depressing than hearing that Netflix has purchased only a hundred copies of your DVD, or even just a dozen? Sadly, this is all too common for small indie and DIY films.

Understandably, you'll demand they buy more DVDs. It's a natural human reaction. Who do they think they are? Everyone feels that way. I'm sure James Cameron thought Netflix should have bought more Avatar DVDs.

Now we know how to make it happen.

At a recent Sundance Institute guru-fest, Netflix execs revealed how to get Netflix to order more DVDs. It's pretty simple: have all your friends and fans put the film in their Netflix queue.

As more people save the film in their Netflix queue, the more DVDs Netflix will order to keep up with demand. And this helps Netflix recommend the film to others, thus providing you with free advertising on Netflix:

When enough people save a title, Netflix buys and puts into circulation an appropriate number of copies, and as more people watch the film it gains traction on the “You Might Also Like” sections.

That's all well and good, but even pure-hearted, ethical DIY filmmakers might wonder (purely academically, of course): can you game Netflix?

Can you orchestrate a campaign to get Netflix to order more DVDs from you?

The answer might be yes.

Here's a mind game for you -- pure speculation based on what the Netflix execs revealed to the Indiewood greybeards at the Sundance summit.

What happens if you get people (a lot of them) to put your film in their queue and always keep it in their top ten next DVDs? Of course, this would be after each getting the DVD from Netflix and watching it once or thrice -- and rating it at five stars too, just for good measure.

If this was done as a sustained campaign by an army of dedicated zealot fans (I'm talking to you Iron Sky and Arin Crumley and yes, you too Cory McAbee...and if we're lucky In-World War someday soon), I'm willing to bet it would move the needle and result in more DVDs ordered.

The downside: Netflix may not look too kindly on such hacking -- excuse me -- creative marketing efforts. They might see through the manufactured demand and not place the order at all. Or, they might take punitive action and remove your film from Netflix entirely as punishment. And as an example to others to discourage similar behavior.

Naw, they'd never do that. Right? Right?

Who's got the chutzpah to test the theory?

Let us know how it goes in the comments.

Read the whole press release about the Sundance event, direct from the source: Sundance Institute: A new world order

DIY film distribution stealing ideas from DIY music labels

The New York Times has a fantastic article that discusses how small indie music labels and others are leveraging DIY music distribution methods for DIY film distribution.

It makes a lot of sense -- the DIY music "industry" has been finding innovative ways to reach their audience for decades.

In fact, the self-distribution plan for the theatrical run of our film Quality of Life was a hybrid combination of indie band outreach and political grassroots organizing. We hired a political organizer and got an ongoing team of volunteers (both friends and interns) to hand out tens of thousands of postcard flyers in cafes, bars, clubs, bookstores, and more (literally over 50,000 of these little bastards printed up cheaply from Overnight Prints -- with times/locations of screenings in each city).

Taking another page from the indie music playbook, we aggressively targeted MySpace (this was before Facebook) and grew a huge group of friends. In NYC, it resulted in 2/3 of our sold-out audience first hearing about the film through MySpace. Go Internet!

In other words: us DIY filmmakers have a lot to learn from the indie/DIY music world.

Take-aways from the article itself:

- A few small indie music labels are using their channels and methods to distribute indie films that might match their audiences, including setting up screenings at bars where they would normally book a band.

- One label is experimenting with bundling the DVD with a special edition vinyl, to make the DVD package more attractive (in the the age of free downloads of anything via the evil Bit Torrent).

- Filmmakers are jumping in old vans and touring around the country showing the film like an indie band on a DIY tour.

This is great stuff and serious inspiration for DIY filmmakers trying to get to in front of an audience.

Read the article:

The New York Times: D.I.Y. Music Labels Embrace D.I.Y. Film

Lenses for indie filmmaking

Choosing a lens (or multiple lenses) to use on your independent film or video project is essential to nailing the "look" of your project.

I'm not a professional DP (Director of Photography) and I don't come out of the camera department, so I'm fairly ignorant (and in awe) of lens technical specs. But as a director, I'm drawn to the narrow focus and zoomability of a long lens (turns out, size does matter -- with a lens). The long ones just look so much more cinematic than a stout wide lens to me.

But really, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about when it comes to lenses. All I know is that it's "all about the glass" -- lenses make a huge difference in the visual look of the film.

In fact, lenses are far more important than the camera itself. All things being equal, most HD cameras perform well enough for the most likely viewing experiences for our projects: Internet video and DVD, plus any 1080 or 720 HD exhibition. On the other hand, the lens will make a huge difference; it's the difference between looking cinematic and like community TV.

So when I came across a basic primer on lenses by Matthew Galvin of Active Matrix Networks on the SF Indieclub Yahoo group, I learned some basics and wanted to share it.

Read on to learn the fundamentals of lenses for filmmaking.

Introducing a new website for indie and DIY sci-fi

As I've worked on my current science fiction movie project, In-World War, I've witnessed a growing movement of indie and DIY sci-fi films and video projects. The biggest challenge for all of us is getting at our audience, who are rabid sci-fi viewers like us.

So to support this rag-tag fleet of sci-fi rebels, we've just launched a new website for people who love to watch indie sci-fi:

Homemade Sci-Fi

It's your portal to a whole range of new and undiscovered indie sci-fi movies, shorts and web series. So check it out today.

And if you're a sci-fi filmmaker, with a feature, short or web series, get in touch with us and we might feature your project too.

If you're not a sci-fi filmmaker, isn't it time you joined the nerds?

Because everyone knows that nerd is the new black.

As I've worked on my current science fiction movie project, In-World War, I've witnessed a growing movement of indie and DIY sci-fi films and video projects. The biggest challenge for all of us is getting at our audience, who are rabid sci-fi viewers like us.

So to support this rag-tag fleet of sci-fi rebels, we've just launched a new website for people who love to watch indie sci-fi:

Homemade Sci-Fi

It's your portal to a whole range of new and undiscovered indie sci-fi movies, shorts and web series. So check it out today.

And if you're a sci-fi filmmaker, with a feature, short or web series, get in touch with us and we might feature your project too.

If you're not a sci-fi filmmaker, isn't it time you joined the nerds?

Because everyone knows that nerd is the new black.

How to choose the music for your film

Music is crucial to your project. It's the secret ingredient that goes directly to a viewer's heart.

I've been wrestling with music on my sci-fi feature, In-World War, which is currently in post-production.

It took me a while to figure out a process that works for me, in deciding which tracks go best where in the film, and which parts of the movie to score (i.e. compose new music specifically for a given scene).

If you want to learn from our pain and misery (highly recommended instead of going through it all yourself), find out how we are facing the challenges of selecting music for our film.

Read the story of being Lost in Musicland on the In-World War blog.

List of Film Festivals

Looking for a list of top film festivals so you can bring your DIY movie to the masses?

Here are a few great resources:

Indiewire Top 50 Film Festivals and Upcoming Festivals
Indiewire is the mouthpiece of the stratified "indiewood" industry. More interested in the latest film from established indie and foreign directors than us DIY types, they are a natural place to find the creme de la creme list of top fests. Hey, we love Indiewire. Just wish they cared more about us little guys.

Wikipedia's List of Film Festivals
I just stumbled across this and wanted to share it. It's an obvious one (Wikipedia knows all), but sometimes we forget to go with the obvious. They list festivals by continent/region. No particular order of importance though (after all, this is ultra-democratic Wikipedia), so the above Indiewire link is better if you want top fests only.

Without A Box
Every serious DIY and indie filmmaker knows about this site. Not only is this a great way to submit your film to many, many festivals, it also is a great way to find out about and research fests. Of course, many of the major fests aren't on the system, but for medium and smaller fests, it's a godsend.

Don't be an indie film bullshit emitter

Ryan Coseboom from the darkly delicious new band Stripmall Architecture had some insightful feedback on my last post (Royalty-free music for indie films).

Ryan felt it was disingenuous for DIY filmmakers to promise "exposure" to indie bands in exchange for using their music. Better to just say, in his words, "I'm no more successful than you are, which is why I can't pay you for this."

For him, that honesty was more likely to enlist his support.

He's right about that and I stand corrected. And there's a larger point to be made about hyping your project too much.

It's a common belief that we're giving bands a wide audience through our films, but let's face the truth of it: the audience numbers are small for most DIY films and really -- how many people who see the film will ask for the name of the band from scene 36?

Spouting a bullshit fountain of ersatz sunshine about a project is one of my big pet peeves. Indie filmmakers carrying buckets of steam for their vaporware films are some of the worst offenders. It's why I have such distaste for the Standard Indiewood Procedure of talking up a film like it's the next Big Thing.

Let's not fall into that trap.

Be honest. No need to hype up something that isn't there or isn't likely for your DIY film. More often than not, you'll look like a fool and to some, a genuine liar.

Just call it what it is -- by making a feature film you're already doing the impossible. The 500 screen opening weekend is less likely than getting hit by lightening. Just stay with what is real (the film itself, as-is) and you'd be surprised how many people will step up.

There's a quiet confidence in honest humility.

As DIY filmmakers unencumbered by the suits and sharks, we have an authenticity and artistic freedom that Hollywood "creatives" only dream about. That's attractive enough for other indie artists to contribute -- be them musicians, graphic designers, actors, DPs, set designers, or anyone else -- who all deserve respect for the work they provide.

In short, we're all in it together, so there's there's no need to talk like you're handing out ponies and rainbows.

Royalty-free music for indie films

Looking for royalty-free music for your film? Don't do it.

A friend asked me for suggestions for websites that have good royalty-free music for a friend's short doc and I thought the reply I gave (slightly edited) may be helpful to anyone considering using royalty-free music in their indie film projects.

(When I'm talking about royalty-free music, I'm talking about music that is marketed as "royalty-free" -- as opposed to getting music for free for your project, which I definitely endorse as you can see, if you read on.)

The filmmaker in question had a short film which had been named after a classic big-band song.

Here's my take on royalty-free music and what I suggested she do:

I'm not a big fan of royalty-free music. It generally sounds cheap and like musak.

I'd suggest she find a local swing band that has their own songs (Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers?) and see if they would let her use some music. Smaller local acts are often totally open to that, particularly if it's a cool flick with no commercial potential (which the short sounds like).

Real songs by real people are so much more engaging than canned royalty-free music.

You'd need to get a formal licensing agreement, but you can get for very very low rates from Brooke Wentz of the Rights Workshop. Maybe a couple hundred dollars for the contract?

If you have about $1000 (yeah right -- who has that?), they can actually find and clear a song for you -- doing all the legwork. I think that's their rate; you should contact them to confirm. Might even get an actual rendition of your dream song that's in the title of the short. Their website:

http://rightsworkshop.com/

Have you tried to find out if you can clear the song yourself? Who knows? Might not be that expensive for a small short film that's only going to be shown at festivals.

On the other hand, it's more likely to be way too expensive for you. And finding a local band would be the smart choice.

One other approach would be to create a tune using Apple's Soundtrack or Garage Band software. They have samples that you can build into a song or soundtrack. That would be royalty free, but still might sound a bit canned.

Lastly, you might want to consider changing the title of the film, since you're obviously invoking the song (a great tune, by the way).

There might be rights issues with using that title. I *THINK* you're in the clear since I recall that titles cannot be copyrighted -- but then I remember Spike Lee talking about having problems with that on one of his films (so I read).

So, bottom line: I can't help you find royalty-free music (other than suggesting a google search), but I do recommend finding a local band who would let you use their music, in return for helping expose a new audience to their music via the film.

UPDATE

My pals Ryan and Rebecca Coseboom of the deliriously-good band Stripmall Architecture had some important feedback on this post from a musician's perspective.

Ryan felt it was disingenuous for an indie filmmaker to offer exposure to indie bands in return for using their music. He's right. This inspired a wider rant from me about indie filmmakers that spout endless bullshit about their projects (read it here: Don't be an indie film bullshit emitter)

Rebecca also had some great feedback for DIY filmmakers looking for music for their films: "You might also consider music released under a creative commons license which is slightly different from strict 'royalty free.'"

Phases of editing: assembly, rough cut, fine cut and pic lock

We're nearly done with the assembly edit of our indie sci-fi feature, In-World War. As we've started the editing process, our great editor, Sharon Franklin, has helped me understand the different milestones during editing.

If you're confused on the difference between assembly edit, rough cut, fine cut and picture lock -- this glossary might be helpful.

Assembly edit
This is the first stage of the editing process. The footage from your shoot is organized into scenes (usually be an assistant editor). Then, all scenes are assembled roughly, with the editor's choice on takes. No music or effects are included.

Rough cut
The editor replaces takes as needed, based on the director's notes. The assembled film is reviewed and scenes/dialogue removed in order to get the film to an appropriate length, based on what works and doesn't work. Pickups are added, as well as music and story-critical sound effects. If time allows, editor may make another pass at addressing notes.

At this stage (before beginning fine cut), the Asst. Editor or someone should check to make sure all the sync sound is in correctly and synched. It's not uncommon (particularly with the RED, which we used for 80% of the film) for sound being recorded at the wrong rate so it slips out of synch, particularly for longer takes.

For In-World War, we expect new footage from pick-ups will come in through-out the rough and fine cut process.

Fine cut
Another round of director's notes are addressed. If you need visual effects, you begin farming out effects and adding in rough versions of effects shots as they come in. Finalize music (make sure you're working with music that has been cleared or is possible to clear). You might screen for friends to get feedback. Overall, you eliminate any other extraneous scenes or lines of dialogue and fix anything else that isn't working.

Now is the time to record any remaining ADR (re-recorded dialog) before beginning pic lock.

Pic lock
As Sharon says: "here is where the frame f*cking begins. :-)"

We work to get the film as tight as possible, going over it with a fine-tooth comb. All effects are finalized and incorporated into the cut. Additional sound work is done, as necessary. Director and editor will be working closely together to make sure all notes are addressed and the director is happy with the film.

How long does it take?
It really depends on how much footage you have, how long the piece is and how much time you can afford. For our feature, we're assuming about three weeks each for assembly and rough cut phases, and then another six weeks total for the last two phases (fine cut and pic lock).

However, since we have so many effects shots (about 100 -- it's a sci-fi film after all), this editing time will be spread out over the next year (or so) as the FX work is done, rather than sequentially.

Want to help us get done quicker? Feel free to help us out with a donation. Every dollar helps us get closer to the finish line.

If you're curious, find out why it took so long for us to get into editing on In-World War.