Last week, I talked about how to pitch. Now, I go into the planning phase of our project.

Timeline, [should-have-done-a] storyboard, and auditions...

I'm a photographer, not a filmmaker. So phrases like 'pre-production', 'script analysis', and 'casting call' are not really in my regular rotation. That all changed with this project. I'd learned to use a working script on the set of 'Cold Brewed', and had cast that piece person by person, using folks I knew (all real life baristas, as a matter of fact). Lance and I had kicked around ideas, brainstormed on locations, etc.... but we had 2 advantages on that project; no deadline, and no outside expectations.

But THIS project- "the Joplin Undercurrent"- was entirely different. Now we had a budget- a small one considering the scope of the project, but a real, bonafide budget- and with that came new pressures to create work. It had to satisfy the purpose for which it was funded, while still telling the kind of story we enjoyed telling. Here's a quick idea of that pre-production timeline:

Carrie proposes her 'what if' to Lance & I, and then, to her boss Patrick- mid-2013
serious conversation begins about funding/logistics- January 2014
proposal & mood pictures developed in prep for proposal- March 2014
idea pitched to the the CVB advisory council- April 2014
funding approved, planning quickly kicks into hyperdrive- september 2014
timeline established- October 2014
script goes through strenuous revision process- October-December 2014
auditions for actors- December 2014
shooting schedule developed- late December 2014
shooting begins- Jan 03, 2015

Before I ever got to the set, I began to learn that it would benefit me much more to think like a filmmaker than a photographer. Lance taught me a lot on this one, having had a lot more experience on actual film sets than I’ve had- as an actor and a producer, not just as a writer. And to think like a filmmaker, you have to learn how to PLAN, a LOT and WELL. And, ideally, to plan a heck of a lot further ahead than I knew to...

LESSON LEARNED: When it comes to large scale projects, give yourself [more than] enough time in the pre-production phase. If you haven't done anything quite like it before, tell the client (or even just yourself) that the planning and prep will take 2-3 times as long as you actually expect. If it ends up only taking as long as you originally expected... awesome! you've got time to spare. If you UNDERestimate, that can be one of the most stressful things you'll ever face. Time is a healer of many 'newb' mistakes. If you have enough, you can fix them before they happen, without having a heart attack every day you're on set.

frame from 'jaws' original storyboard, by artist Joe Alves

NOW I KNOW WHY FILMS HAVE STORYBOARDS BEFORE SHOOTING EVER BEGINS.

When you don’t look at the big picture and break it down into every single element, you don’t set realistic needs and expectations (for yourself or for others you need content from), and you never quite have what you need at the time you need it. The goals in our project were established by many meetings, timelines, and categorized to-do lists- which we kept up with via e-mail, regular phone conference calls, and google docs. Apps like ‘slack’ can also be super helpful (we discovered this one a little late for our project). And even with all that, we could have used wayyyy more timing and planning yet. This next bit is for the creatives among you::

Artist- I know. You hate spreadsheets, charts, schedules, and color coded lists. But if you want to go big- and especially if you want to work with others- you need those organizational tools, and you’ll be amazed at how much they lower the stress, not raise it.

Ive been listening to old Alfred Hitchcock interviews lately, which you should do if you haven't; they're educational and hilarious, giving true meaning to the word 'droll'. Here's some of his words on being prepared for the set:

People say to me, don’t you ever improvise on the set while you re shooting? And I say, certainly not! With all those electricians around and everything. I will prefer to improvise, in the office. …It’s cheaper, and it’s quieter. And after all, musicians are allowed to put down their compositions on paper… and architects can put down their buildings on paper! So why not a film? It’s a visual thing!

….imagine a composer; with sheets of blank lines in front of him, and a hundred piece orchestra. And he’s thinking, and then he calls up, and he says, ‘flute’, give me a note, would you? And you get the note, and he writes it down. That’s what improvisation is, on the set, and I don’t believe in it.

If photography or filmmaking isn't your area, being 'on set' will take a different form... but this can still be very applicable to you.

Back to the Joplin undercurrent team; in our excitement (and out of my horrible estimation abilities), we didn't give ourselves the time we should have to move through that timeline I showed above... considering our very small team. We got it all done, but it could've happened with a lot less stress if we'd stretched out our prep time another few months.

With a script to think about & hone, an executive producer (the CVB) to work with, a cast of actors to pull together, a prop list to fill, locations to scout, a budget to balance, and a whole lot more, I began to see that THIS is what goes into telling a story on this scale. It's not easy- and I haven't touched the added elements of film, (like, say, people actually talking and moving for more than a second at a time).

But, in the end, we did it.

It worked.

And next time I know how to do it with a few less anxiety attacks...

AUDITIONS:

I'll end this post with some shots from the original cast auditions- many of these folks we were meeting for the first time. Some we knew but not in the capacity of 'wow you can ACT!'

You can see the 'Joplin Globe' article back from December of 2014, HERE, chronicling our 2 days in the basement of City Hall...

Larry Griffith, later cast as 'uncle Monroe'

fun fact... Larry has also played Santa for me a couple of times now, and has been a professional santa for over 20 years... who woulda thunk!

these guys came in full civil war costumes... of course we had to use them...

I think our favorite part of this whole project was asking dozens of people to make the same faces. Surprise/disgust tended to be the most entertaining..

trivia: the fella in the middle is Gregg Murdock, father of Caleb (Jett Cropper in 'Cold Brewed'). You can find him in a couple of the later scenes of 'the Undercurrent'.

I don't remember what expressions we were asking for... but they did them well.

Our 3 lead actors, shown below...

Muchengatwa Bgoni- known to most as 'Bgoni'.  We knew he was a ridiculously expressive person from the start.... — Muchengatwa Bgoni- known to most as 'Bgoni'. We knew he was a ridiculously expressive person from the start....

Fun fact: Kolourz didn't make it to the original set of auditions and thought she'd lost her chance. I ran into her in a coffeeshop and talked her into coming to my studio for a separate audition; she came and we all knew she was the one for th… — Fun fact: Kolourz didn't make it to the original set of auditions and thought she'd lost her chance. I ran into her in a coffeeshop and talked her into coming to my studio for a separate audition; she came and we all knew she was the one for the role, on the spot. She also has experience modeling for comics illustrated by local legend, Jeremy Haun.

Then poor Lauden... it was down to 3 possible actors for the lead role, and we called him back in to my studio for round 2 of auditions. I say 'poor Lauden' bc Lance sat in on this audition virtually from Brooklyn, NY, and helped direct... assigning him dance moves, chair spins, and a walk on the top of the bannister... all of which Lauden passed with flying colors. And of course, he got the part.

here was our fuzzy view of Lance while he yelled fun directions to Lauden during auditions, like 'do a coffee grinder!' and, 'go pretend to nap on the couch!'

Lauden Baker auditioning for role in photonovel

That's all for this one, guys. More next week...

-Mark

catch up on this series::

INTRODUCTION (how'd this thing start?)
"THE PITCH" (gotta get the moneys)
PRE-PRODUCTION (the script, the auditions, and assembling a team)
SHOOTING (how to think like a filmmaker)
POST-PRODUCTION (finding a format)
NOW WHAT? (phase 2?)

How to make a photonovel, part 3 (Pre-production)

AUDITIONS: