The six-minute short film Family Law, produced by Royal Entertainment in association with Powers Productions, saw a mixed cast and crew of professionals, semi-pros and amateurs. While everyone gave their best, I saw a unique difference between the experienced and the non-experienced.
Knowing in advance that I would be directing a mixed crew, I called a meeting at the beginning of the shoot to share how I work, and explain on-set etiquette. I also talked with several members of the cast and crew in advance to get a feel for their backgrounds and abilities. During those discussions, I asked key questions of each person, according to their production role.
When the inevitable problems arose on set, the professional would immediately notify his or her department head and the issue would be addressed in time for the problem to be overcome. Some of the amateurs, who wanted to make sure they did everything perfectly in hopes of being on the next production, kept quiet about their mistakes. This silence resulted in costly postproduction nightmares.
CJ Powers works with Francine Locke and Dan Bredesen on Family Law
I noticed that when asked a difficult question, most newbies told me they were familiar with what I was looking to achieve and confirmed that they could do it. The pros shared that they might be able to accomplish what I was looking for and then asked me a series of questions to clarify their understanding of my vision. Once on set, I realized that the professionals gave me exactly what I asked for and it became very clear that the amateurs hadn’t understood my goals, let alone … Continue Reading
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