Tip #40: Don't forget to send call sheets

By Dan Parkes (Director)

We have already mentioned the absolute necessity of preparation and organisation in regards to preparing shot lists and floor plans. But on the actual day of filming one of the most important documents you can have is a call sheet.

A call sheet is essentially a document issued to cast and crew with information they will need for that specific day of filming. Most importantly it lists the 'call times' -that is the times that they are expected to arrive or be on set. It is normally issued at least several days before filming so that everyone can be well prepared for all eventualities.

Please see an example of one of our call sheets here (some details have been removed for privacy reasons):

Click to download our
Ambleton Delight Call Sheet

A call sheet can have many different designs and purposes and there are several places where you can download templates on-line. However, we found it more effective to design our own specific sheet for the day of filming and for our own cast and crew. This way we could keep it simple and easy to use. Notice the following important elements we included:

1. Clear and easy to read layout, including a film logo
2. Call times. In this case it shows general call times for both cast and crew. However it is often good to prepare specific individual call sheets especially if the cast are only required for certain times of the shoot.
3. Specific contact information including names, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses where possible.
4. Weather information (if any exterior shots)
5. Specific location information with clear directions on how to get there
6. Parking information
7. Health and safety and set behaviour, with emergency procedures and behavioural expectations

Tip #39: Low budget make-up options

By Itsuka Yamasaki (Producer)

It's ideal if you have at least one hair and make-up artist on set, but realistically your budget does not always allow for that. With Ambleton Delight, we had a professional (Louise Hart) who was on-set during key days of the shoot (especially scenes involving blood and scars etc -refer to photos below) but did the rest of it ourselves.

We have a basic make-up kit for shoots and below is a list of what we find useful. This kit is mainly used for male actors (if you don’t have access to a professional artist it's often better and safer to ask female actors to do their own make-up) and for contemporary drama films that don’t involve zombies, blood, scars or explosions!

1. Translucent powder (soften skin tones)
   
2. Brush (for the powder)
3. Facial redness remedy cream
4. Concealer or liquid-type foundation (in case someone has a pimple etc)
5. Petroleum jelly
6. Pocket tissue
7. Make-up wipes
8. Comb
9. Gel or wax (for hair)
10. A bag to keep everything together

Some notes here - we used only the translucent powder for Ambleton Delight due to time, but if possible use the cream for redness of the face as especially the HD format seems to bring out the red in skin tones.

Before you go ahead and buy the make-up goods, it may pay to ask friends who are into make-up. I have a friend who is a beautician, and when I told her about make-up for film shoots, she gave me lots of goodies, like sample make-up in small bottles, which are ideal for filming.

Above: Actor Jos Lawton having specialised make-up
applied to his hand by make-up artist Louise Hart
on the set of Ambleton Delight.

Tip #38: Send out good press releases

By Dan Parkes (Director)

Writing a press release to announce important events in your film production is an excellent way to increase publicity and interest. The most important thing to remember is to write it in a way that means journalists can copy and paste information directly into an article; the easier you make their job the more likely they are to carry the story! I know that from my experience as a newspaper journalist…

This is an actual press release we sent to newspapers and magazines, in PDF format, here: PRESS RELEASE LINK. Take a look and notice these following points:

1. Make sure you have something newsworthy.
2. Format: A clear format, with a film logo and news feel to it.
3. Date it: In the top right it has a release date (in this case 23 April 2009). This is especially important if you don’t want your news released until a specific date, and makes it newsworthy.
4. A bold and interesting headline. Find the key most interesting aspect of your news that will catch the newspaper’s attention. In this case it was popular local actor Brian Capron’s name.
5. The first sentence of a press release should be a short summary of the news. The following sentences and paragraphs provide supplementary information.
6. Provide clear and detailed information, with full names, dates and locations.
7. Spell check and ensure it reads like an article with appropriate grammar.
8. Don’t use unnecessary flowery language and keep it objective –use an impartial voice.
9. If you want to include opinion you can create your own quotation, as seen here with a quote from the director, as if he had been interviewed. This saves time for the journalist –they don’t have to call to get a quote!
10. At the end provide contact details for more information and if possible always say that cast and crew are available for interviews.
11. Send by fax and e-mail (PDFs are ideal).

Tip #37: Always prepare a shot list and floor plans

By Dan Parkes (Director)

Preparation and organisation are essential for any shoot, and one of the most important documents is a thorough shot list. This can be a simple list of shots as they relate to the script, but the more information you can add to this the better. For example list, the framing (wide/medium/close-up) the preferred type of lens (50mm), any camera action (tracking, handheld) and any on-set effects. This can help the crew prepare in advance what is required and quickly speed the process along. You can also include storyboard frames for reference.

Even more vital, from the producer’s perspective, is the need for it to be tied into an actual shooting schedule –listing the estimated time for each set-up, with even an allocated time for each shot, along with make-up, meal breaks and setting up/breaking down times. This means you can be completely organised and ensure you stay on schedule and achieve all you need to get the shots. A comprehensive shot list and shooting schedule also inspires confidence in your cast and crew. But only as long as your stick to it!

For our production we designed our own simple shot list so that it could be read at a glance. Here is a page from our shot list/shooting schedule in the restaurant (click to enlarge):
Notice the use of the abbreviations W, M and C to indicate Wide, Medium and Close-ups. Below is is an example from our shot list/shooting schedule in the kitchen(click to enlarge):
Another element that should not be overlooked is the benefit of having floor plans. A simple map of a location can be helpful on the day of the shoot to use as a reference when describing actor or camera and light placements. Floor maps can also include indications as to where the camera will move, where different characters will be, and lighting and sent to principle members of crew prior to the shoot so that advance preparations can be made.

Here is the floor plan from our restaurant shoot in The Rainbow Inn (click to enlarge):

Tip #36: Storyboard key shots and scenes

By Dan Parkes (Director)

Especially thanks to detailed Making Of books and behind-the-scenes extras on DVDs, the art of storyboarding has become more popular in recent times, emphasised by the increase in elaborate actions sequences and CG effects.

However storyboards are not only for effects shots. We created some simple storyboards to work out scenes where blocking may become complicated due to the number of cast members or due to the logistics of shooting in a particular location.

Here are a few things to think about when it comes to storyboarding:

1. Storyboards are primarily designed to indicate character blocking, camera framing and angles, camera movement and edit cut points.
2. Storyboards are great for breaking a scene down into a series of shots-wide, mediums and close ups.
3. You can use them to calculate how many shots you can get from a particular angle.
4. They can be used to create a comprehensive shot list (it’s good to include the storyboard in the shot lists used on set) that you can show crew on set.
5. It is best to avoid letting actors see the storyboards, as it may cause them to perform unnaturally.
6. Do not start storyboarding until a location has been chosen, otherwise you may find yourself storyboarding something that is impossible to shoot.
7. Base storyboards on location drawings, photographs and floor plans.
8. Storyboards read vertically, rather than horizontally, as is traditional with cartoon strips.
9. They do not need to be elaborate art works; stick figures are just as useful.
10. Don’t over storyboard –just key or difficult shots or scenes.
11. You can even edit storyboard shots together with sound and music to simulate the finished piece and to establish pace; this is called “pre-viz” and can be done using computer software.

Tip #35: Have a second unit

By Dan Parkes (Director)

We discussed in a previous blog the importance of getting together crew who work as a team and to keep the numbers to a minimum as having too many people on set can create unnecessary work, expenses and distractions. One other key to this is to have a second unit for filming non-principle photography.


In our case this simply comprised of the camera operator (Roger Marshall, above) and myself as the director. This meant rather than filming general shots, exterior shots and location shots etc with the full crew, we could at a later point visit all the necessary locations and shoot the outside of buildings, village shots and countryside vistas etc. This certainly takes the pressure off the main crew, keeps the expenses to a minimum and also meant we could flesh the film out with much more detail and depth, but at a time convenient to us.

We were also able to hire just for one day our most expensive piece of hired equipment –a jib- and go round and shoot as many crane/jib shots as we could manage in one day! Crane/jib shots are an excellent way of showing off locations and buildings and creating a more cinematic feel to the production.

Tip #34: Have a tapeless HD workflow

By Dan Parkes (Director)

In addition to the 35mm lens revolution that is sweeping indie productions, more films are now being shot to 'solid-state', doing away with tape. There are many advantages –the instant playback and also the speed at which material can be edited afterwards are two major points.

However there are also some disadvantages that must be considered: there is the possibility of corrupt files and errors, plus archival storage of the resulting files can be an issue due to the size of the files, even if they are compressed. Our answer was to shoot both to harddrive AND tape! The harddrive files are what were used primarily for editing, the tapes we used for archival. This meant that we had instant playback on set when we needed it, but then we also had to remember to keep changing tapes! But overall we found this to be the ideal workflow.

The only issue is that many new cameras are now only solid-state, being without a tape drive. We made the conscious decision to purchase a camera (JVC GYHD201) that could do both and seriously recommend this option if available.

The next issue is how to process the files. We decided to use Cineform as an HD intermediate codec which created lossless, uncompressed files that were easy to edit. More about this in a future blog…!

But it was important for us to shoot in HD. We shot in 1280 x 720 HD, which is known as HD1, as it is a slightly lower resolution version of HD. However it was more than enough for what we needed. It was also shot at 25p. Cinema frame rates are 24, so we were only one frame different. The ‘p’ refers to progressive –which means ‘full frames’ rather than the now being phased out interlaced frames which has alternating fields for faster action being played on a TV (e.g. 50i). So if you are looking for the filmic look make sure you are shooting progressive rather than interlaced.

Tip #33: A 'cinematic' camera

By Dan Parkes (Director)

A “cinematic camera” might conjure up the large expensive cameras seen in Hollywood productions. But the truth with film production has and always will be that it is a case of not what you’ve got but what you do with it. In recent times, large budget feature films are being shot with relatively smaller and less expensive cameras, the reason being that the “cinematic” look is now achievable on even “domestic” cameras. The explosion in low budget DSLR video production is the result of that.

But what is the “cinematic” look and how did we achieve it? Well, for us, “cinematic” firstly meant a wide aspect ratio. We filmed everything in 16:9 (widescreen) but then cropped it to 2:35:1 (cinema widescreen) in post. Secondly it meant the use of 35mm lenses to achieve a shallow depth of field (DOF). DOF has long been used as a tool to control what an audience focuses on in a frame. Especially on a large cinema screen, if everything was in sharp focus eyes may rest on some irrelevant background action instead of what is happening in the foreground or vice versa. The answer is to have a very narrow plane of focus, where the main object is in focus, and the background or foreground is out-of-focus. This is called a “shallow depth of field”. There are two ways of achieving this: 1. To use 35mm lenses, especially longer lenses. 2. If 35mm lenses are not available to use the longer end of the lens –ie to zoom in. This has a similar effect, but the problem being that the camera may have to be quite a distance from the subject!

We shot Ambleton Delight with the JVC GYHD201 camera, with a SGPro 35mm adapter that allowed the use of 35mm lenses. We had already tested the workflow on two smaller productions and so felt ready to shoot a feature, and the end result was fantastic.

Here are some vital ingredients to think about when attaching 35mm lenses to a video camera:

1. You will need a selection of prime and zoom lenses: for example wide (28mm) medium (50mm) long (85mm+) and a zoom if possible.
2. You will need more light as the 35mm adapter can lose a stop or so of light
3. Prime/zoom lenses result in an inverted image (upside down) –our camera has the option to invert the image so it was not a problem, but otherwise you might have to put your monitor upside down!
4. Always use a HD monitor if possible. The viewfinder and LCDs are not enough to ensure precise focus.
5. You will need a focus-puller –someone completely in charge of the focusing.
6. Always measure, check and mark focus points on the floor (actors marks) and also on the white ring on the focus dial.
7. With the 35mm lenses and adapter the camera becomes a lot heavier.
8. Prime lenses are better, as they are often faster (i.e. you can let more light in) –but they are fixed focus, so get the camera in the right position first.
9. Zoom lenses are more flexible for framing, but they are often slower (you lose light).
10. Factor in more time to set the camera up as you will have to select lenses and also mark your focus points
11. Make sure the actors hit their marks!

Tip #32: Crew who work together well

By Dan Parkes (Director)

In high budget mainstream films there are many famous collaborations between directors and DOPs, such as Steven Spielberg & Janusz Kaminski, Jonathan Demme & Tak Fujimoto, Alfred Hitchcock & Robert Burks, Peter Jackson & Andrew Lesnie to name a few… (for an extensive list visit here)

There are obvious advantages with this: a similar artistic vision and camaraderie, followed by communication shorthand (“we can set this next shot up the same way we did that similar scene in our last film”). The same is equally if not more relevant on low budget productions. It is crucial to surround yourself with people you have worked with before and you can trust to make things happen. However this is not always possible. In this case, there are some simple things to look out for when recruiting crew.

Find those who are:

1. Good at what they do, with proof (on-line showreel, a CV, general knowledge, referee)
2. A positive, team player (personality, references, worked with some already in your crew)
3. Willing to multi-task and work until the job is done
4. Has more passion for film production than money (particularly passionate about your project, not just doing it for the money)
5. Is local to the production (save on transport expenses)
6. Has own transport and/or equipment

Points 3 and 4 are very important; you do not want an “old-school” member of crew who will not pitch in and help when you are running short of time and need help holding a boom. Neither do you need someone who is going to complain about it not paying as well as other productions (they should already realise that!).

Also, don’t over-crew your film. Have only those who are absolutely necessary as a smaller crew who works together well can achieve more than a large, non-communicative, disorganised crew.

If you have crew you have worked with before and who have been selected carefully, then you will not only achieve your film objectives, but have lots of fun while doing so!

Final official trailer (#3) released!

We are very happy to release the final official trailer to the award winning UK indie feature film "Ambleton Delight". Enjoy!....