Alright, yesterday we talked about shot theory, now lets talk about pre production...

Alright, yesterday we talked about shot theory, now lets talk about pre production. What are some of the best tips for stream lining your film to go through as smooth and easy as possible?

be organized

Aditionally, what are some more daunting preparations that can pay off in the long run?

>tfw tons of ideas for film projects but no friends to discuss them with or work on projects together
I just want some fun people to be creative with for goodness sake

I feel you man, maybe our ideas are just shit, we gotta be real with ourselves.

storyboarding the whole movie and doing tons of location scouting
but what would I know, I just watch movies

Yeah, but I feel like even if my ideas right now aren't that great, I'll eventually build myself up to the point where I'm churning out great concepts regularly. I guess I'm just afraid that none of my ideas will ever be realized and I'll die with all my thoughts locked in my dead brain.

Definitely understandable, this is a problem I deal with every day, sort of. My problem is I never feel like my ideas are good personally, then I think of my favorite movies and how powerful their concepts are. I will be like upset I guess because I'm not talented enough to come up with genuinly /GREAT/ stories. Really its something that can be improved with practice and growth, though. I try to write a short story a week and come up with a couple ideas a night even if they are shitty log lines like "Nun with a gun"

Storyboarding. Really visualize your movie ahead of time, to the point that you've planned out how you'll cut your shots together. Don't pad out your shooting schedule with endless "coverage," don't have the actors play out the full scene on each lens from each angle, when you're only gonna use the closeup for 1 or 2 moments, and you're only gonna use the wide shot for the first part of the conversation, etc.

It's good to leave yourself with a little bit of flexibility in the editing room, and a bit of time for improvisation on set. But I've worked with directors that will spend 3 days shooting a 1-page dialogue scene, when they could've had it done in half a day if they actually knew what they wanted.

(I say "I've worked with directors" like I'm some kind of badass, but I'm just a grip/gaffer, have worked on a good amount of shorts and 2 independent features that didn't even get released)

>nun with a gun
You beautiful soul, I wish I could be friends with you

Upon further research it turns out Nun With a Gun is already a concept, and it includes nudity. I truly can't win in this industry.

Comfy thread yesterday my dudes.

Besides the obvious storyboarding and getting to know the location, most amateur filmmakers completely ignore planning the blocking of actors in the scene.
It may seem unimportant at the beginning, but a well planned blocking "choreography" will do wonders for the composition and overall flow.

It's not just where you place your camera, the xyz position of your actors affects the visual narrative of your film aswell.

Kek, it's alright. When I'm discouraged, I always thing of this quote:
>"An idea, my boy, is a powerful thing. When one is struck down, two more will rise up in its place, and you will achieve ultimate creativity."
--Sheev "the Sheev" Palpatine

Linked to yesterday's thread? I didn't know we talked about filmmaking here.

Get a team that understands the vision of the film. Get people who know what they're doing. Everything else is superfluous. Most movies drastically change in the editing. Go with the flow. Very few things go as planned.

...

one of the most important steps to making a quality film

>most amateur filmmakers completely ignore planning the blocking of actors in the scene

really? i would have thought everyone knew character movement is integral to film?

you would be surprised how daft some people can be, its appaling.

>character movement is integral to film
WHAT

It was pretty important in Night Crawler

I didn't notice it, most people probably didn't. Nightcrawler was great though.