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In this first episode, I speak with producer/director Jaena Sta. Ana, about her short film “Catch The Clock.” Focusing on her one shot opportunity to capture the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade.

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Homework, were both students again, with the exception that we’ve become each others teachers as well. I found that giving each other homework of watching movies and studying photographs resembling the style you are  envisioning based off of the script, is the best way to get on the same page.

Location scout, location scout, and lastly, location scout together. I see this happen far too many times. Either the producer or director is the only one who has seen the location prior to production day. As a DP, working like this will almost guarantee  your shot list to be null and void the moment you step on set. Location scouting as a team is crucial because it allows all parties of production to devise a game plan for production day. They well have addressed any concerns they may have seen while scouting and be prepared to solve them the day of the shoot. Allowing the producer to produce, the director to direct, the Director of photography to direct photography. Rather than everyone scratching their head and ass of what to do next. Take advantage of the HDSLR, bring it along with you, shoot story board images, be bold and even shoot video story boards. If you want to be even more discrete, use an iPhone or smaller point and shoot. I always use the “PANASCOUT” iPhone app from Panavision. The app provides you with an array of aspect ratios, time-stamping, geo-tagging, and compass positioning. It will even allow you to shoot video so you can also have video storyboards.

Shot listing the film. As a DP I have worked alone and or have worked alongside the director to complete this step. I prefer working with the director, finding that they will often see the script from a new perspective. Read through the scene together, talk about character motivation, then get up and block out the scene. I find this to really help not only you as the DP, figuring out exactly what the director is thinking, but it helps the director to solidify the choreography in their head. Consider it a date because this process will take you some time.

Production begins. I am already sweating and most likely exhausted from loading in gear. This is where PA’s (Production Assistants) become water boys. After catching your breath, both you the DP and Director should meet up. If possible have a directors viewfinder on hand so that you can be looking through the same frame. I know it is tempting to use your fingers to frame a shot, but that doesn’t always translate well or get your angle across. Go through the shot list one more time, know exactly where each camera is going to be placed. So when “cut! moving on,” is yelled, you know exactly where you are moving to next.

All of these steps may seem tedious and time-consuming but after a few projects it becomes like clock work. If all of the steps are done properly you will be amazed to see how productive your shoot will become. Time is money, and you want to be efficient as possible, saving all the money you can.

Credits:

Starring Rodrigo Lopresti
Presented by Marauder Film
Directed by Grzegorz Jonkajtys
Written by Grzegorz Jonkajtys & Bastiaan Koch
Produced by Bastiaan Koch

Sound Design by Andrew Duncan: playplayplay.org
Original Score by Audrey Riley & hithmedia.com

Awards:

Best Director Prize: HollyShorts, Los Angeles, 2010
Best of Show Jury Award: Nevada City Film Festival 2010
Audience Award: Maelstrom Seattle Film Festival 2010
Official Selection: Sitges Film Festival 2010

So the people I want to show my appreciation and give thanks to are the 1st AD’s (Assistant Directors), and Production managers. Without these two individuals doing their job, a set can be a bumpy ride and a guaranteed bad day. Each person has their own workflow and spark of creativity, and finding a way to channel the madness to a method is key. From my own experiences, pre-production is often overlooked, from the camera department. Directors wanting to be spontaneous and in the moment. Which is frustrating and demanding for the camera department. Without being close minded there is a give and take between the DP and director, leaving room for spontaneity but having a clear goal.

Coming back to the Blueprint reference, I like to imagine the shooting schedule and shot list as the blueprints of the film. Actors, wardrobe, props, crew, and camera are all the materials needed to make the film or “house.” The blueprint are in the hands of the 1st AD, or sticking to the construction analogy, “site foreman.” He or she is responsible for the assembly of the materials and meeting the appropriate deadlines. The 1st AD and production manager really add the much-needed guidance and organization to bring all the departments together.

Speaking from the camera departments perspective the way I always handle the shot list is by breaking it down into six categories. Such as, scene, shot, camera, lens, description and notes. I have added a photo of a recent shot list so you can better visualize my organization. After I have created the shot list, I work with the director and 1st AD to organize the shots into an appropriate  order that will allow us to me the most efficient during production. I found this organization has been key for the 1st AD’s I have worked with because they know immediately how many shots are required for the scene, which camera and lens should be built and staged. If possible, color coding works well to determine what shots can be captured at the same time.

This really scratches the surface when it comes to organizing your film in pre-production, but hopefully it has given you someone insight to a few methods that have been successful for me in the past.

The fact of the matter in today’s digital cinema climate, the cinematographer and DP work together in order to achieve a look and style that will provided them enough latitude and dynamic range for post production color. Adding a murky line to where the DP job begins and ends.

I currently fall in the middle of the seesaw, having the utmost respect for the DP who can take his or her vision and directly translate that onto film or memory card. Which is a skill that is certainly not learned overnight. On the other side of the spectrum is the current trending workflow of shooting for post color. A craft that too takes a tremendous amount of skill, knowing exactly how your media will react when in reaches the editing suite.

On the latest film I DP’d, Catch the Clock, I too was the colorist. Which was my first experience at grading a project of its magnitude. The film edited in Final Cut, I knew I wanted to step outside of FCP and grade in a more robust platform. Falling in love with the power of After Effects I decided I decided that this would the be the platform for color grading. However I had to find a way to take the editor FCP sequence and somehow translate that into an AE composition. I used a plugin for FCP called “Magic Duck” which allowed me to export an XML from FCP. From there I took the exported XML and imported that file into the program “FCPtoAE” which converted the XML into an After Effects script. Once I launched AE all I had to do was the run the script file, and opened up was a composition with all the edits in one composition synced in time.