Stand-Out Shorts

by Russell Evans

  Authorities get a bad press: invariably corrupt and immoral. The hero is self-reliant and pitted against the state as much as against the local bad guy. But don’t make life easy for him or her; always push them further than other genres dare by isolating them from their community, with more deprivations and fewer weapons than the enemy. Above all, find the best enemy you can.

  PREPRODUCTION ESSENTIALS

  Storyboards; script; location photos; release forms; style sheets/designs; costume designs; backstory; treatment; lighting designs; budget; permission forms for locations; health and safety sheets; contracts; copyright release for music; shot list; shooting schedule.

  See Chapter 11, Brief Directory of All the Paperwork You Need.

  USING THE CAMERA

  The western makes the landscape or cityscape a central attraction – almost an honorary cast member – so use it well. Have extreme depth in your shots, by showing something right up close to the camera and other stuff far away in the distance, producing a kind of flat vertigo. This depth of field, as it’s called, makes the viewer feel uneasy, and makes the scene more tense.

  Close-ups are essential, especially cutting from extreme depth to a closeup. They let you get right to the emotional heart of what’s going on – showing the sweat of the forehead, the shaking hands, or the ticking clock.

  Try placing the actors center in the frame, perhaps a few meters away, wide angle, and against an empty backdrop. This makes them seem isolated and apart from the world.

  EDITING

  Time takes on a different scale in the western, with the simple plots allowing a stronger suspense, build-up and shoot-out. But suspense is more than just a stay of execution; if handled well it can add extra layers of meaning to the movie, by reflecting a while on the film’s themes. Also include cutaways to every element of the scene, from harmless spectators to close-ups of the props of the action.

  Foley will be crucial, but to create sounds that feel authentic to the location you shot in, record the sounds in that location, rather than in a studio or back home.

  Westerns use the landscape like musicals use the chorus line: echoing whatever point needs to be made about the story. Use strong sounds of wind, rain, storms and wheat fields to match the mood of your hero, bringing the landscape into an almost human role. In urban westerns, try the same idea but with city sounds. Make it sound sparse and empty.

  Experts’ Tips

  John Francis, director, Cowfusion, UK

  “Make it fun. If you’re trying to get people to help you, make sure they enjoy it. Before you think about making a feature, make loads of short films. This is the best way of learning how to get a film made for nothing as well as giving you something to show people when you’re persuading them to act for you, lend you their car, hold a microphone in the air for three weeks, allow you to blow up fruit in their house or just borrow their cat for five minutes.”

  “In terms of editing, I used some of the western conventions such as fast cuts to bring out the speed of action sequences when compared to the slower sections of the films. Shooting on a budget, it was my primary goal to keep the pace moving quickly. Effectively compressing time and space was integral to creating narrative momentum throughout the film. Each scene was deliberately concise and with as much action as possible to provide the audience with constant stimulation.”

  “Try and be original. It sounds funny coming from a guy who made a western but the idea behind Cowfusion was totally fresh. Take a look at what you’ve got that someone else hasn’t. Keep it simple. A major attraction of the western genre is its simplicity.”

  “Don’t take yourself too seriously. Your primary goal is to have fun and make something that people will enjoy. If something more comes of it, good for you.”

  * * *

  LEGALESE

  Make sure you have done the following:

  Music clearance – use original music or music from local bands to keep costs down.

  Before you shoot – get permissions from the landowner of location you want to shoot in.

  Get release forms from every actor stating that they agree to your use of them in the movie.

  Agree how everyone wants to be credited in the end titles.

  Upload It

  Best sites to upload to:

  Vimeo and YouTube

  Best communities to join:

  Western X web series on Vimeo

  Best channels to watch:

  Westerns at Vimeo

  * * *

  WESTERN FILM SCHEDULE

  Westerns rely on locations more than most genres, so if you have that sorted this movie should fit into either 7–, 21– or 28-day schedules.

  Chapter | Forty – Six

  Howcast

  WHAT IS IT?

  A howcast is a short, usually online, movie which shows you how to do something.

  Howcasts get used everywhere from universities to corporations to charities and campaigning groups. Usually, you have a presenter or demonstrator facing the camera, cutting to close-ups and examples.

  We use them because everyone learns things differently; some people learn best through words, some through visuals. As you’d expect, a lot of visual people (like filmmakers and artists) learn better through seeing something explained visually or, like this book, prefer text broken up into chunks, allowing them to scan the page and gather what they want. Online movies are a great way to pass on knowledge and because they are so visual, they appeal to people.

  MY KIND OF MOVIE?

  You’ll enjoy working in a calm, meticulous and ordered way, laying out the process just like a police procedural. You use the camera well – nothing flashy, just straight down the line and precise. You have the ability to see a movie from the viewer’s point of view, so you’ll know when the presenter is losing the viewer’s attention, perhaps by going too fast or not being clear enough.

  You enjoy editing precisely and pride yourself on shooting clean footage with clear sound.

  WHAT’S IT FOR?

  This movie is destined to make the rounds on the web as part of other information on a subject. Take moviemaking skills, for example. You might be part of a filmmakers group, and want to share a method you use for creating strong lighting. You can upload the movie and link it to your local film school, and share it in your networking and video sites.

  Howcasts are a fast and easily shared way to get information across. Most people respond better to these than to complex, weighty manuals. Software use, filmmaking techniques or practical skills, such as drawing or cooking, all benefit from a video howcast.

  HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME?

  This project is short, but taking a few rehearsals will save time in the edit room. Before shooting, run through the demonstration to get a feel for how it looks on camera, seeing how close you need to be to focus on details, and whether there’s enough lighting. Expect to shoot it a few times, mixing clips from each edit to get the right overall cut.

  Editing is straightforward, with no effects, transitions or graphics to mess with. Use Chapter 21, Editing Methods: Narrative Continuity.

  HOW HARD IS IT?

  Difficulty level:

  Howcasts are a disciplined form of movie – but if you get it right you stand to get a decent paying job making them, since the skills they teach you are going to help in just about any movie you make. It’s about good basic skills in moviemaking like clean sound, showing what’s going on, and editing clearly.

  You need:

  Skill in lighting

  To be able to shoot detail so no one gets confused

  To follow a series of actions so the viewer can make sense of it in the final cut

  To record clear sound and use mics well

  To look out for things that look weird on camera – the howcast can fall down if a strange angle or setup gives an unintentional moment of comedy

  To be able to work slowly and calmly

  WHO ELSE DO I NEED?

  This movie is great pract
ice for working in corporate or public information films, which could become your subsistence money to help support your own personal projects. Try to rope in some more people to work with you, and maybe set up a small company to pitch for similar work locally.

  WHAT KIT DO I NEED?

  One key light

  One smaller lamp

  Tripod

  Boom mic

  Tie-clip mic

  IF YOU LIKE THAT WATCH THIS

  Go to www.wonderhowto.com or www.ehow.com/videos.html for instructional videos on a wide range of subjects.

  PREPRODUCTION ESSENTIALS

  Script; release forms; budget; health and safety sheets; contracts; copyright release for music if used; shot list; shooting schedule.

  USING THE CAMERA

  Continuity is crucial to this sort of movie. Plan your footage so that you get every shot you need and that each one shares the same color, lighting, use of camera and sound. If any single shot looks like the odd one out, it will get harder to convey even simple information.

  1. Set up the camera at a distance from the action and keep it there – two meters at most. This camera records the main master action. It looks at the subject and doesn’t move.

  2. Use a tie-clip mic to record sound from your subject.

  3. Use a second camera to record cutaways. This camera can have more fun, moving around the subject and perhaps hand-held.

  4. Keep lighting constant throughout. If you are interviewing several people, use a common background, or even greenscreen it so you can add your own background to each one later.

  Run through the howcast with your subject. While they are doing their stuff, practice with the camera to get the right angle, set up the right lighting for maximum clarity (try a key light three or four meters away from the subject, softened by a smaller lamp on the other side, and avoid shadows if you can).

  Bear in mind that most howcasts are destined for the web, so use filming techniques in Chapter 27, Web Your Movie.

  EDITING

  The howcast depends solely on clarity, so the golden rule is, as with shooting, continuity. Edit to show step-by-step processes so there’s no doubt about what happens and when it happens. The only aim is to convey information. If it’s demonstrating something, use long cuts (a few seconds or more) and intersperse wider shots where we see the whole scene with close-ups.

  Take your time, don’t hurry, and don’t use gimmicks or effects.

  Use titles to enforce what’s happening on screen.

  If you want to add some style to the movie try playing around with the hand-held cutaways, for instance using them as black and white.

  Go to Chapter 21, Editing Methods: Narrative Continuity for more help.

  LEGALESE

  You’ll need release forms from all performers, or demonstrators, or interviewees.

  Upload It

  Best sites to upload to:

  YouTube

  Best communities to join:

  How to category on YouTube

  Best channels to watch:

  videojug.com on YouTube

  * * *

  HOWCAST FILM SCHEDULE

  This movie is ideally suited to a 48-hour schedule.

  Section Six: Make It

  Happen: Schedules

  MAKE IT HAPPEN

  You can make a 90-minute feature in a week or a 5-minute short in a month. The length of time you spend on your movie doesn’t have to be related to the length of the movie. Your schedule is your business. The only thing that everyone has in common with all these schedules is that you have to prioritize, sorting out which jobs to do and in which order. Try out some of these schedules to find out what suits your project and your temperament.

  Chapter 47: Slacker Schedule. OK, not really just for the slacker but for the slacker in all of us who wants to make the movie when it’s right, not just because you have a deadline.

  Chapter 48: 48-Hour Film Schedule: Make a 5-Minute Film in 48 Hours. An ideal length for the weekend shoot, just long enough to shoot in one day, edit the next.

  Chapter 49: 7-Day Schedule. For projects a little more ambitious, or just for the perfectionist.

  Chapter 50: 28-Day Schedule. Ideal if you want to spend longer planning and editing, with a week to shoot in the middle.

  Chapter | Forty-Seven

  Slacker Schedule

  OVERVIEW

  Forget planning, just get camera, go shoot, assemble and view.

  Table 47.1 Make a movie on a slacker schedule.

  Time What to Do

  When you get the urge You’ve got an idea for a movie. Get a coffee and go through three questions:

  Who can I call to help me?

  What can I get for free (camera, lights, people, etc.)

  Where can I shoot with minimum hassle for free?

  Check batteries are on charge.

  Later Limit the movie to just a couple of locations close by. Go there and get inspired about the place. Create a quick movie based on what you find there. You might get to a disused house; there might be a ladder, a broken telephone, a beat-up car and a torn curtain. Think up a movie that involves these things and the people who turned up to help you.

  When you are ready Run through what you want to shoot. Check there’s enough light. Use light reflectors, or lamps if you have them. It doesn’t matter what you don’t have, the movie will work regardless.

  Soon after Shoot. Make it quick, limit yourself to just a couple of takes for each bit. Don’t stop or get bogged down with discussions. Play music to keep motivation going. Stop every 30 minutes for a laugh and a coffee. Let anyone argue who wants to. Listen if they have good ideas.

  While having a break Check footage so far. Don’t judge it, just a quick check to find out if the sound is OK.

  After a break Carry on shooting. Stop when you have what you need. Then shoot some sounds like effects, ambient noise and maybe some Foley if you need it.

  Just before dusk Wrap it up.

  When you want to Start editing. Look through the footage to get a feel for how it’s looking. Then limit yourself to just a few hours to get a rough draft.

  Later Watch through the first edit.

  When everyone turns up Show the movie as a rough draft. Get some ideas about it so far.

  If you need to Re-edit if needed.

  Chapter | Forty-Eight

  48-Hour Film Schedule: Make a 5-Minute Film in 48 Hours

  OVERVIEW

  You’ve got the creative bug; you can’t hang around planning for weeks. You need a hit-and-run project and you want it now. Here’s how to think up, shoot, edit and show your movie all in one weekend. Start Friday 6pm and finish Sunday 6pm – one film richer.

  Check out www.instantfilms.tv – a company that makes movies in two days.

  You need:

  Three people, plus however many actors you need (limit this to three main roles to make logistics easier)

  Camera; batteries; tripod; four × 60 minute DV tapes; one strong lamp; white reflector board or sheet; smaller lamp; shotgun/boom mic; tie-clip mic

  Table 48.1 Make a movie in 48 hours.

  Time What to Do Role Chapter to Get More Help

  Friday

  6PM-8PM Brainstorm your ideas on what to shoot.

  Prepare a one-paragraph outline of the story.

  Spend one hour discussing and writing ideas for the script, including characters, the structure of the movie and the overall style.

  Check you know:

  •What’s the atmosphere/mood of the film?

  •What is the movie about in ten words?

  •Describe the film in three adjectives or descriptive words (e.g., warm, sparky and energetic; or dark, solemn and spooky)

  •Describe one image that you could work as a poster for the film. Use this image as the defining style for the film.

  Whole group Chapter 1 Ideas

  Chapter 5 Designing Your Movie

  8PM-10PM Limit the movie to just two or three locat
ions and keep these close to avoid lengthy travel times.

  Write complete script-aim for five pages, so one page equals one minute of the movie. Whole group, or writer and director Ch 10 Working with Locations Chapter 3 Scriptwriting

  10PM-12MIDNIGHT Create a breakdown of everything you need and when.

  Make copies.

  If you use tapes, stripe them now: simply press record while the lens cap is on and leave it to run the full hour of the tape. Meansyou’ll get continuous timecode (those number sthat tag each bit of the tape) without errors. Director/producer Chapter 8 Script Breakdown and Shot List

  Saturday 12AM-2AM Make sure batteries are on charge.You need at least three charged for tomorrow’s work.Rest. Camera operator

  2AM-4AM Sleep and dream your movie. Wholegroup

  Saturday 4AM-7AM Sleep (or pace the room with anticipation).

  7AM-8AM Prepare for shoot: get crew together for an early break fast meeting to make sure everyone is up to speed on what to do today. Whole group Chapter 15 Manage Your Production: Be a Producer

  8AM-10AM Travel to the first location. Shoot at least one scene. Aim to get a certain amount of finished footage on tape. A good target would be one to two minutes by noon.