Best Advice I Received While in Film School: Set Etiquette 101

I recently wrote the following simple set etiquette guide for a project I'm working on. Many people on this particular project are first-timers. Sets are intimidating places, even for seasoned vets. But I found that the following advice works fairly well for a set, regardless of the size.

• Arrive on time! Once the production schedule is made, you will be given a calltime. The time you are given is the latest you should arrive on set. If you are running late, you have to alert the AD.
• Report all issues and concerns to the AD. Safety issues should be reported immediately to the AD.
• It is considered a major faux pas to direct issues to the director or producer. Ideally, the director will talk to certain people one-on-one. Talk to the AD instead.
• Do not bring unauthorized people or animals to the set. This is a safety precaution.
• Do not take photos of the set without permission from the AD or producers.
• Only smoke and eat in authorized areas.
• Drink water. Drink water. Drink water.
• Tell the AD when you are leaving set to go to the bathroom or handle personal business.
• Film sets are known to be “casual workplaces.” Language and jokes that may be inappropriate in routine office settings may be heard on sets. If you find some language offensive, alert the AD. We want to make set comfortable for everyone.
• Listen and obey all of the AD’s commands. Commands may include “Quiet, please.”
• Do not pick up or handle any equipment, unless authorized to do so.
• Do not touch the camera.
• Do not use a cell phone while on set. The vibration setting on a phone may disrupt sound equipment. Turn phones on silent or off.
• Keep up with your trash/water bottle. You will be given a sharpie to write your name on your water.
• Do not block the “video village.” This is usually a monitor set up for the director, the camera crew, and the script supervisor. If not present on-set, do not block the director’s view.
• Crew members should dress in dark colors to avoid bounced light.
• Closed-toed shoes only!

What do you think? Happy Filmmaking.

Best Advice I Received While in Film School: Embrace Magic Hour

Natural light is amazing, especially in the summer. We cannot live without it, it illuminates the world around us, and it delights us with its color spectrum. As manipulators of light, we learn to embrace its properties while controlling its path. We tell stories with it, but often we rely on artificial providers of light, believing natural light to be insufficient or weak for our purposes.

That’s why indie filmmakers should pay homage to the beauty of natural lighting by embracing the “magic hour.” Magic Hour is roughly the minutes after sunrise and before sunset. The sun is at a flattering angle in the sky, resulting in reduced shadows over the face and beautiful natural coloring.

I consider myself a mise-en-scène filmmaker, which means I prefer to use my surroundings rather than edit a look in post. Mise-en-scène filmmakers embrace a cinéma vérité or “true-to-life” style filmmaking. Planning your shoots around magic hour makes use of the beautiful lighting with little manipulation. I took the following photographers about 4 minutes into magic hour. 

Magic hour. Actually #nofilter.

Slightly different exposure.

The following video was also taken at magic hour. Note the color in my skin tone and the vibrant greens. Skin tones tend to have either a blue or green undertone, which magic hour brings out nicely. The result is glowing skin.

Magic Hour Test from lagniappe cinemas on Vimeo.

Although daylight is bluer than indoor tungstens, magic hour light is usually a subtle orange. Mobile, Alabama, nearly has perpetual summer, so depending on the climate and season, your location’s magic hour may be grayer/bluer or warmer in tone.

I use the Magic Hour app which tells me an hour before magic hour occurs and when I am in the magic hour. It’s my favorite astronomic tool for field videography/filmmaking. 

Happy Filmmaking!

Best Advice I Received While in Film School: Are you growing as a filmmaker?

You may have heard of this little social media trend called #ThrowbackThursday. Because nostalgia is marketable, #ThrowbackThursday has expanded from personal stories to reflections on how "stupid we were back then."

Reflect back to the start of your filmmaking career. What mistakes have you made? How far have you grown as a filmmaker? Are you better at your craft? Have you tighten up your story?

I made this video while at the Richard Lawson Studios. I nearly forgot about it. It was shot around November 2010. It made me smile because my career was facing a lot of uncertainty. I had just left my day job to concentrate on filmmaking. I also failed at it several times. Several doors were shut in my face. 

Now in 2014, my career is taking a more positive turn. I finally have a car, and I own better equipment. This is my point: if you want to make a career in film, you WILL face some uncertainty and some moments where you would want to give up. This #ThrowbackThursday video reminded me how optimistic I was about my career, even with my limitations. In the end, isn't this the point of #ThrowbackThursday? Failure is a constant for truly successful people. Embrace it!

Happy Filmmaking!

Best Advice I Received While in Film School: Art for Business' Sake!

I credit this pearl of wisdom to Professor Drew Casper, Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Chair for the Study of American Film at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. The Man, the Legend. Let's face it: if you were a cinema major at USC in the past *CENSORED* years, Dr. Casper was the first person to tell you that your knowledge, as well as your taste, in films was pathetic. Guess what? He was right. He's always right. Hang your head in shame. He also taught you a valuable lesson on day one in his "Introduction to Cinema and Television" (CTCS 190) class. Film is an art, but it is also a business.

A business. Artists forget that part. In fact, most film majors forget that one single most important lesson for the rest of the time in film school. I learned about producing because no one else wanted to do it. We preferred storyboarding to boardrooms. MOS to ROI. Ask a film student about incorporation, and he'll say "LL-what, now?" We made fun of business students for having no vision. After all, they will all end up in human cages, colloquially known as cubicles.

When you leave the palm-tree laced campus of 'SC, you quickly come back to earth. Yes, you know how to make a film from start to finish, creatively-speaking. But can you promote it out of the bowels of Development Hell? Do you know how to sell distribution rights? Can you negotiate for soft money or tax reimbursements? What about raising the money for the film's production in the first place?

Not that 'SC didn't remind its students of these things. It's just no one listened. They were too busy memorizing all the cool lingo used on professional shoots, like OTS (over the shoulder) and "dutch angle" (that overused sideways perspective). No one told us the b-school students would be our bosses! And now they are pissed due to the years of snarky comments from artsy-fartsy types, as Temp X and the Anonymous PA would tell you. Because of the lack of business skills and marketing, many former film majors will get frustrated and eventually go to law school when they get tired of eating spam and Ramen for 600 days in a row. Or when they knock someone up. Whichever comes first.

But it's not too late. Remember most people are in the film business to make money (even the ultracool indies). Most films, even runaway budgets, are funded with equity, and your investors want their money back! Now more than ever, the indie filmmaker has to be a salesperson. Making deals is where the money is at! Lucky for us, good businesspeople are made, not born. One good book to check out is The Producer's Business Handbook. It covers everything from gap financing to completion bonds. At least, once you have the business side down pat, you can move up from Ramen to boxed macaroni and cheese. Just remember milk costs money.

Happy Filmmaking.

Best Advice I Received While in Film School: Take Care of Yourself

One of the best pieces of advice I received from film school has nothing to do with film. It has to do with you. Often, taking care of yourself falls to the wind. You are too busy networking, writing, and making your reel to worry about things like "health insurance" and "doctor's appointments". In fact, unless you work for a studio and/or a member of a union like DGA, you will probably have a hard time keeping health insurance. But this business is a stressful one, which is why is it so important to stay on top of your health.

When I first received this advice, I didn't follow it. I spent most of film school sitting down: watching the classics, writing, researching, editing, and rewriting. While there is an inside industry joke about writers being overweight and unattractive, there is some truth in at least the overweight part.

Personally, I gained 90 pounds while attending college. A combination of hours of sitting, plus junk food and Rockstar energy drinks, used to stay awake to make sure my short script was completed in two days. Add stress in the mix (Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, lack of funds to attend school, family issues, working extra jobs, but no internships) and you have a recipe for disaster. While I did go to the gym, cycled, and walked, I did not do enough to reverse the hours spent sitting on my ass putting as much sugar as possible in my system. I wanted an A too badly.

There is a joke at USC Cinema. While there, you will either be addicted to coffee or cigarettes. I was addicted to coffee, but the number of smoking students was staggering. I also minored in the Roski School of Fine Arts. Given how much time I spent at both schools, I've probably cut my lifespan by a few years from all the second-hand smoke.

My addiction to coffee and my long-distance relationship led to many sleepless nights. Sleep is uberimportant. Neglecting sleep will also lead to health problems. I still don't follow this like I should, but I'm getting better at it.

I was never a large drinker (despite being part-Irish), so I don't worry about drinking too much. I usually only stick to wine or mix drinks. I had to learn to drink socially to be more effective at networking. I've been drunk a grand total of three times. It's not a good feeling, and you may have a problem if you find yourself at the end of a bottle more days than not.

Learn from my mistake: take care of yourself. You will feel better and be more productive. For example, I have lost 30 pounds and try to squeeze in a little more activity in my day before sitting down to write. I eat better, even though I still have a habit of eating in front of a screen. I also stretch and walk around between pages. I go to the doctor now, mostly out of the motivation I would want to have children in the very near future. I still have a long way to go, but I am now making progress.

Happy Filmmaking.

Best Advice I Received While in Film School: Playing With Others

Last weekend, I attended a career seminar hosted by my alma mater. While the advice was superb all around, one key phrase lit a light bulb in my head: collaboration with fellow alums. Cue "a-ha moment".

As young people, we live in a constant world of competition. It's a myth that my generation needs such a self-esteem boost that the "everyone is a winner" manta is a standard. Even as a little girl, I was told to stand out from the competition.

Competitiveness drives our reasoning behind many of our life goals. If we don't get into one of the big-three schools (That's USC, UCLA, or NYU), or if we don't land that mailroom position at William Morris, we are doomed to fail in life. One sidebar: there are very few industries where people literally beg for low pay, substandard benefits, and office worker abuse like the entertainment industry. But that's the Industry for you!

Our competitiveness may just be a by-product of our capitalistic society. If that's the case, then collaboration just sounds plain socialist. Socialist or not, film is a collaborative art, even if pro-auteur theory fans don't want to admit it. Collaboration was something my film professors had preached throughout college, and for good reason.

When I collaborate, I learn to listen. Listening is an underrated skill. It allows me to gage various points of view, while encouraging everyone to work towards a common goal. It can be frustrating, yes, but also loads of fun. Not to mention, if you crew on someone else's film, he or she might return the favor. Industry collaboration works like the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

So the moral of my story: Kindergarten was right. You really should have been graded on how well you played with others.

Happy Filmmaking.

Another mini-series topic: Best Advice I Received While In Film School.

In addition to "Do I smell a SCAM???", I've decided to start another topic series called "Best Advice I Received While In Film School." In this topic series I will concentrate on those little pearls of wisdom I received from mentors, professors, and Industry Insiders.

And, yea, I pass on this scared wisdom onto you. The first pearl:

HIRE A LAWYER!!!!!!!

Or at least have access to one. Entertainment law is big business, and for good reason. Whether you are starting a production company, selling a script, buying distribution rights, or simply paying taxes on your residuals, you will need an attorney.

Finding an attorney is not hard if you happen to live in New York or Los Angeles. Elsewhere, maybe not so much, but it's not improbable. Trust me on this one. Last thing you'll need is someone suing you because you promised to compensate them for his/her services.

Happy Filmmaking.