Independent Filmmaking:
The Production Process

• Introduction

• Pre-Production

• Production

• Post-Production

While learning the basics of chess only takes a couple of hours, it can take years to play chess well, and decades to become a master. Filmmaking is no different. Orson Welles said that it only takes two or three days to learn everything you need to know about filmmaking, but I endeavor to cover the basics of independent filmmaking within this article. Specifically, this article covers the production process of an independent film with a budget of up to $1 million, from pre-production through post-production.

As the producer, you are in control of what kind of film you're going to make. There are many questions to ask at this point in the process, and you are the one who needs to do the asking.

The biggest questions revolve around money:

• What kind of film do you want to make?
• How will you fund the film?
• How will you pay your own bills while you develop your project?

These, and others like them, are the questions that you must answer before you launch production. You may have written or found the perfect script, but if you can't afford to option the script or raise the money to make the film, then you are already in trouble.

"If you have any great ideas on how to raise money to make movies, send them to me in care of the publisher, because I don’t."
-John Sayles, author of Thinking In Pictures

Though you should try to answer finance questions at the beginning of the independent filmmaking process, be advised that unless someone says, "Here's $100,000 – go make a movie," you almost always must have a script, a script breakdown, and a budget, before you can begin to raise funds for your film.

Where should the independent filmmaker look for funding? The short answer: just about everywhere. Even big name producers and directors talk about the difficulties of raising money. It’s why some films take 7-8 years to get made, and why others never even get made.

The independent film world is full of stories of how people have raised money to make a film: medical experiments, personal credit cards, selling comic book collections, mortgaging the house, grants, student loans, parents and relatives, lawyers and doctors, businessmen, fellow church members.

While raising funds is difficult for any producer, the filmmaker who is a Christian has the added charge of doing so honestly and with integrity. Embrace the limitations. As you make the phone calls, hold meetings, and send out emails and letters, remember the words that have be attributed to Hudson Taylor: "Set out to achieve something that will only succeed if God is in it."

"Passion is contagious when it comes
to raising money."

Also remember that most people you talk to have no idea whether or not your script or concept is any good. Chances are, if they invest in your film, they are investing in your passion. Passion is contagious when it comes to raising money. The same is true in keeping spirits up through the entire independent filmmaking process.

As a producer, you must know what things cost. Factors that can significantly add to production costs are special effects, period pieces, multiple locations, and a large cast and crew. If you are making a low-budget independent film, it may be best to avoid trying to locate and transport a convoy of circa 1940 trucks and automobiles. This is common sense.

Much of Dangerous Calling was filmed in and by a lodge in the Georgia woods that the Daws Bros. - the movie's creators - had access to

Take a look at many successful independent films, and you will see that, oftentimes, few locations and few characters are used. Placing a group of teenagers in a single house for a horror film has been done a time or two because this type of story is cheap to produce and has built-in tension. The 2003 independent film Pieces of April, written and directed by Peter Hedges and staring Katie Homes, takes place almost entirely within the confines of an apartment complex, within one day's time. Limiting the time period certainly helped to cut back on wardrobe costs and continuity problems. Hedges’ concept worked: Pieces of April was shot in 16 days, got Patricia Clarkson an Oscar nomination, is an excellent story about forgiveness, and cost $150,000 to make.

Screenwriting

The next step in the independent filmmaking process is writing or choosing your film’s screenplay. Perhaps the story is your own, but you hire someone else to do the writing for you. Either way, there are a few basic things you should know as you pursue a screenplay. Feature films tend to range between 90-120 pages. The more pages you have, the more your production costs (as a rule of thumb, one page is about a minute’s worth of screen-time). Consequently, many independent filmmakers shoot for 90 minutes/pages. Many great films have been made in the 90-minute range, so try for that because your funds are limited.

"Like any other builder, you must consider the cost before moving forward."

Once you have picked a script, you need to do a script breakdown to get an accurate idea of how long the film will take to produce, and how much it will cost you. There is software that can help you with scheduling breakdown and budgeting, but the better option is to hire a production manager to do the breakdown for you. Is this "better" option really practical for independent filmmakers? That depends on your budget. Of course, lining the script, doing a scene breakdown, and doing the boards can be learned and accomplished by any producer with the proper software. Yet, because so much hinges on this step – the shooting schedule and budget especially – hiring an experienced production manager is ideal.

The script and breakdown reports provide you with the blueprints for your film. Like any other builder, you must consider the cost before moving forward.

Choosing Cast and Crew

Unless you have a lot of creative friends, it's hard to start hiring a cast and crew before you've raised money, because you don’t know who will actually be available when production begins. As part of the planning process, be sure to determine whether you are going to pay the crew and actors and, if so, how much.

To find the personnel you need, go to meetings and film festivals, talk to rental houses, and search the internet. You are like a coach who is not just trying to find the best players, but trying to put together the best team. You want to find people that share your vision and sensibilities.

Again, finding an experienced production manager is key because there is a good chance that this person knows all the key production people in your area. He or she knows which DPs light quickly and which production designers can work magic in finding the right props with a $500 budget. They know who might drink too much, who is occasionally late, and who is prone to arguing. Your production manager wants to recommend people to you that will help him or her to do the job.

Once you've received funding, hired the cast and crew, and secured filming locations, equipment, and insurance, then you are ready to begin production.

Production

Even with feature films, you can get by with a small crew of people filling multiple roles on set. You may have a director/DP-cameraman, an audio guy, a grip/gaffer to help light, and a couple of PA's who do everything from moving furniture to pushing dollies to getting food. You can cover a lot of ground with a crew of ten people, not to mention having less mouths to feed and pocketbooks to pad, but obviously this is bare-bones.

"You can cover a lot of ground with
a crew of ten people."

In his excellent book, The Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint, Chris Jones breaks down crew sizes like this:

• Crew of 10ish (Ultra Micro Budget, 2K)
• Crew of 20ish (Micro Budget, 20-50K)
• Crew of 30ish (Low budget, 50k-200K)
• Crew of 40ish (Industry low budget, 200k-800K)

Key Players

While a big budget ($80M+) Hollywood film crew may number 200, you’ll find the same baseline players and departments there that you do in independent filmmaking projects:

• Director
• Production Manager
• Producer
• Director of Photography
• Production Designer
• Sound Mixer
• Craft Services

Director

A director is needed to guide production and be the captain who leads the way creatively. As the name implies, he or she is involved in the overall direction of the film.

Production Manager

If you are producing the film yourself, hiring the right production manager is one of the most important choices you will make. In Independent Feature Film Production, Gregory Goodell wrote, "A good production manager will always have a back up 'What if?' plan. What if it rains? What if the lead actor gets sick? What if the equipment fails?" Fundamentally, your production manager ensures that your film is shot on schedule and on budget.

On lower budget films, the production manager often doubles as first assistant director on the set. This person is the one who acts as command central for your film, knowing everything that needs to happen in order for the film to be brought in on time and on budget. Although the first assistant director/taskmaster is not always the most popular person on a set, he usually turns out to be the producer’s knight-in-shining-armor.

If you're a first-time producer working with a first-time director and a director of photography with limited experience, it is essential that you hire the most experienced production manager/assistant director you can find. What you learn about the independent filmmaking process from this person will be worth the money you pay for his experience and expertise.

Director of Photography

The DP/cameraman is in control of the overall look of the film. He works closely with the director to decide what it will take to pull off the director's vision where it concerns lighting, camera gear, and miscellaneous equipment.

Producer

The producer knows the overall budget for completing the film and writes the checks. Falling behind a day usually means that cuts have to be made – hard choices often made at the last minute. When you hear about creative disagreements on a set, they often occur because the director is locked into his vision and doesn't want to compromise with the producer, who is working to stay on schedule and budget. Are you beginning to see the importance of the production manager?

Production Designer

The production designer is in charge of the physical look of the film - as opposed to the DP who is in charge of the visual look of the film. To get his or her job done, the production designer works with the DP on the color palette of sets and locations. The production designer also heads up the art department, which is in charge of not only set design and construction, but props and set dressings, such as furniture.

Sound Mixer

The sound mixer is in charge of recording sound – not only that of the actors in the scene, but the ambient sound as well. Depending on your film’s budget, the sound mixer usually has 1-3 assistants. Having one experienced boom operator is a must. If your film does not have the budget for ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement), getting good, clean sound in post-production is a must!

Craft Services

The crew members in craft services service the other departments, doing anything from protecting the set area to providing snacks. "Food is fuel" is a filmmaking axiom. If you aren’t paying your crew the full industry rate, it is all the more important that you feed them good meals. Having coffee, juice, water, and breakfast on the set from the minute that the crew begins to arrive is the only way to start the day.

Timeline

In the past, feature films have been shot in one day, over a weekend, or in one week. However, a common shooting schedule for a low-budget independent feature is three weeks worth of six-day shoots – each work day being at least 12 hours long.

Three weeks is a good length because it doesn't require much time from people who will probably be working for free or very little, simply because they believe in your vision. To maintain a positive overall atmosphere on the set, feed your people and do your best to limit work days to the length you promised. Either that, or pay overtime.

Post-Production

Editing

The director may double as editor on a low-budget film. For that matter, one talented person may be the director, DP, and editor. While this isn't common, Robert Rodriguez performs all three roles on big-budget Hollywood movies. Sometimes, he functions additionally as stedicam operator, composer, visual effects supervisor, and even actor! All this to say that multi-tasking can be done, and short films are great arenas for trying on different hats.

A new trend in the filmmaking process is to edit while on the set during a shoot. Obviously, there are pros and cons to this method. Steven Soderbergh reportedly uses this method, now that he is shooting his films digitally. He's said to even be able to present a fairly refined version of his film at his wrap parties.

Distribution

Distribution is perhaps the greatest mystery of the filmmaking process. Sometimes, even good films don't find a distributor. This is because distribution is one of the hardest processes to navigate. Unless you've received a grant to make your film or money from your rich aunt, you probably want to at least earn back the money that you raised. Making a profit is also good, as I'm sure your investors would like to see a little return on their investment.

To do this, you need to find a distributor who believes in your film and can get a national release, while also negotiating foreign, television, and cable rights. This can be done in many ways, but there is essentially one way to open the right doors: make a film that a lot of people want to see.

"There is essentially one way to open the
right doors: make a film that a lot of
people want to see."

A common means for an independent filmmaker to find a distributor is to show the film at film festivals. Keep in mind that entering and attending film festivals costs money and should be accounted for in your original budget. If you were to look at the number of films that win awards at film festivals, but don't find a distributor, you would get depressed and ask that uncle of yours for a job in the restaurant business.

But take heart! I think that individuals in the independent filmmaking world will trend toward a kind of social marketing, where people will hear about a film and want to buy or download it directly from the filmmaker. As movie theaters eventually move to digital projections and something like satellite downloads, it will lower the cost of distribution and open doors for many independent filmmakers.

Embrace Limitations

As an independent filmmaker, you may feel as though the world is certainly not at your feet. You may be haunted by a lack of resources, kept awake at night by the vision you have caught and the impossibility of ever seeing it come to fruition. Reality check: filmmaking is not for the faint of heart. Many aspiring filmmakers aspire until they expire. Do your research, and do not rush to production before you have poured every ounce of effort into the pre-production phase.

"Reality check: filmmaking is not for
the faint of heart."

Whatever you do, do not give in to finance fears caused by limited resources. Do financial limitations need to limit your creativity? The short answer is no. Creativity is fostered by setting boundaries, not by unlimited freedom. Let's say your uncle has a restaurant that he offers to let you use for free, after hours. It’s illogical to think that this limits you. Instead, this creates an opportunity for you to work within set boundaries. Even basketball great Lebron James does some pretty creative things within the dimensional limitations of a basketball court. "Freedom to create" is perhaps the biggest myth in creative circles. Orson Welles had a similar idea when he said that "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations."

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