Shooting a low-budget TV Pilot | Pt. 2 | Shooting with Amateur Actors
How much goodwill do you have to build up before heading into production on a micro-budget film project? The answer, in short, is a lot.
As the writer, director, producer, cinematographer... you get the picture one of the hats you wear inevitable is the favor-caller-in guy. My main job was to get people to agree to go along with my vision and to commit to shoot days, rehearsals etc.
For County Line the cast is made up almost entirely of friends and family who have never acted in a high school play let alone a 45 minute Tv Pilot. On paper, directing in that scenario can be daunting. There are pros and cons to working with a cast that you know and love. While they can be more patient with you and can be more emotionally invested in the outcome because they care about YOU personally, there is also the flip side of that coin where you don't want to take advantage, you want to make sure they have fun and in some cases they aren't afraid to call you out on your bull.
The principal cast of County Line
We're shooting out Pilot using a one camera setup (The Black Magic Cinema Camera). When shooting with a one camera setup you often have to shoot using the "Coverage" method.
Coverage is a cinematography term that refers to shooting a scene from a variety of angles and distances so you will have the raw material necessary to edit the scene together into an interesting visual and emotional experience for the audience. Each of the shots, or individual angles, requires a different setup.
Source - 4Filmmaking
We would do a camera/lighting setup on an actor and run through all of their lines for the scene in a close-up or medium shot before moving on to the next actor in the scene. Lastly, once everyone is warmed up, you can do a wide shot and then a loose roaming shot. These roaming shots tend to be my favorite and oftentimes provide a necessary break from the less interesting dialogue shots.
Wide Shot
Medium Shot focusing on Subject 1
Reverse Shot of Subject 2
The real movie magic comes when editing all of the best takes or lines together. Below is a link to the rough edit of this scene on DTube, so be sure to check it out! Looking forward to your feedback.
Click Here to View a rough edit of the scene from the thumbnails
Your characters look interesting. But remember though, film making is all about story!!!
Thanks Brian! I usually spend the better part of a year on a screenplay — but I challenged myself to write this Pilot in 10 days, while still telling what is my opinion, an excellent story.
Stay in touch. I'm expecting to build out a site for filmmakers using an SMT built on the STEEM blockchain.
movies that are interesting to see
i usually try to tell stories that couldn’t necessarily happen in the real world. I have nothing against romantic comedies set in modern day but creating one doesn’t seem interesting to me (or like something i’d be good at)
Rough cut is looking pretty clean to me! love that first image btw lol
Thanks! That moment was after shooting all night - A very serious scene broken up by a much needed improvisation.