Making a Feature Film: Vol. 2
In pre-production now.
It’s been a week.
So much so I’ve realised I missed last week’s newsletter, which is horrific, because I made a promise to myself never to miss a week (and I broke that promise once already!), so this angered me, but all things considered, it’s not the end of the world.
This week I’ve been in office working on Dali which is Look Aside’s first feature, and my first feature, too.
I have been asked a few times before starting work on this film whether I thought making a feature would be like making a short, but just upscale everything, and for the most part, I said yes, I think that’s more or less what I’m expecting; more or less I was right, there are a lot of similarities between these two processes (although the scale is much bigger), but there are also some things different. Mainly, that’s just all the details - and there are thousands and thousands of details to think about and pre-plan. So making a feature is like making a short, but it’s also like making ten different shorts, all at the same time, all meant to be incredible.
I can’t really say much, but here’s a rough list of everything we’ve been doing this week:
Breaking down the script - this means that every single prop, costume, shade of lipstick, item, set detail, etc., etc., needs to be noted and thought about.
Locations - this means that every location needs to be scouted (in person), talked about, and handled, and they all come with specific things to handle, too.
Scheduling - every person needs to have every minute of each day planned for around a month.
Casting - not only roles, but also extras, which is hundreds of people to find, and they all need to be right for it.
Budgeting - keeping on track that every single pound is spent wisely and that we don’t spend money we don’t have.
Cinematography - every shot for every scene is sketched out and storyboarded, and also electronically recreated, every piece of gear is talked about and sourced, every light in every corner is planned and thought of.
Music - every piece of sound is thought about and worked on.
Production design - every prop is discussed, every wallpaper is mentioned, every fabric of every carpet is approved, the set we’re building from scratch is designed and 3D rendered.
Costumes - every piece of every costume of every person is discussed and sourced.
Make-up - every shade on every face is discussed and tested.
Logistics - insurance is looked into, travel & accommodation are pre-planned, food is sorted, and a lot of contracts are written.
Acting - talks are had and rehearsals are scheduled.
And a lot, a lot more. That list is barely scratching the surface. So, it’s been a week, but it’s been a very successful and productive week, and we’re doing really really well (actually!), the team is amazing, and this is looking like it’s going to be a fire production.
I get asked most if this is overwhelming or scary and shockingly, it’s neither, but the one thing I didn’t expect is the amount of tremendous focus making a feature requires. There are hundreds of decisions made every day by every person and everybody needs to be focused enough to not only keep going, but to make the perfect decisions. So far, that’s been going really well.
68 days to do. Can’t fucking wait.