I've been frustrated for a while about how much of the internet discussion on filmmaking revolves around gear and is often in a consumeristic way (what to buy). I decided to do something productive about it and have started writing a series of articles with what I hope is helpful points on producing a micro-budget short. I titled them:

"From a Vimeo clip to a narrative short"

because I imagined them for somone who is experimenting with their dslr and making some test videos but wants to try to do a scripted, narrative short. Here are the first three posts:

INTRO

A lot of people are making camera tests and small experimentation with the gear they bought and uploading that to the internet. There is nothing wrong with that, but the kind of approach is very different from the one needed to produce something scripted. In these cases you need a more conscious, prepared approach, and work in a more organized and linear fashion. You also need to work with other people, and if you don't have the budget, use a lot of creativity to achieve what you need.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=187

WORKING WITH OTHER PEOPLE

I don't believe any advancement in technology will make a significant change in the process of making narrative content. I'm very skeptical about all this rhetoric about a new camera coming out and "evening out the playing field" between the low budget and high budget guy. Films are for the most part a sum of the amount of human talent you put into them, where technology used is a secondary concern. The big focus then, of the aspiring filmmaker, should be to form relationship with people and find ways to mobilize them. But it's a big challenge to get talented and disciplined people to work with you, from a professional to a family member, and this proposes different concerns and also ethical questions. When should you work for free or low pay, and when should you ask others to do the same?

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=189

LOCATIONS

It's really important to get the locations early on, because in the linear process that pre-production is, a lot of things depend on the locations to be finalized. Art department, camera, lights, etc need to know what they are working with before they can proceed with a lot of things. The relationship you have with the locations owner is also crucial because of how important the location is and the stakes it would create if you lost it last minute. I actually advise in some situations to push for paying for a location, even if you could get it for free, just to establish some sort of moral right on using it. It's also very sad, that most filmmakers would not want to lend their apartments up for shooting, because accidents do happen. So there are also a lot of moral concerns about not ruining the reputation of the rest of the film community and being really careful with other people's property.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=196

SCRIPT BREAKDOWN

In it’s simplest form, it’s about making a list out of each scene about the stuff that needs to be taken care of. If you’ve ever tried shooting something longer tha 5 pages – you’ll know this has to be organized. With experience, you will learn to translate a written scene into a list of problems. These lists will then form the basis of your budget and your scheduling. You can use standard methods or even some software, but the basics are all the same: Look at a script and break it down into small little problems to solve.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=244

BUDGETTING

The budget is a necessary tool to prioritize where you put your limited resources to make them count the most. To be useful, the budget must be a blueprint of the making of the film, where there is a real relationship between the plan and the execution. I also discuss how you assess and understand your budget when most of the costs are covered with favors and deals.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=269

PRODUCTION CHECKLIST

Working on a micro-budget project with an understaffed crew and often a lot of first-timers in the mix, the producer has to stay on top of a lot of small and big things, making sure they are being dealt with. To facilitate that mental task, I'm collecting a checklist of items that you can go over in the pre-production phase to make sure your not forgetting anything.

Read the rest at http://www.otraluna.com/?p=304

I have a few years of experience in filmaking, but as I say in the intro, I'm not claiming to be the most experienced producer out there. I do think that I have some experience to offer on the micro-budget level (unfortunately!).

If I think this is helping someone, I'll cover more topics.