Pre-Production
The idea for this project originated with me as the director and screenwriter. Honestly, I’m a huge storyteller, and I already have self-published books via Amazon and BackerKit. I wanted more than anything to write the story and script for our group’s short film, and initially didn’t want to be the director. But the jobs go hand in hand; I am grateful for the experience.
Once we voted on our ideas and mine was chosen, I went right to work writing away. I wanted to make sure that I got the script right, so I asked the English Professor, Janine Gilbert, for feedback on the script. I ended up going through six different versions before landing on the final shooting script.
During all of this, I was coordinating with my team to make sure that we were on the same page. We used the program Milanote, which is still updated with our latest goals and tasks for this massive project.
After the script was finished, it came time to work on the shot list and storyboard. I worked closely with Parker Stevens, our cinematographer, to make sure we were on the same page for the final vision. I ended up drawing all the pictures for the storyboard, because I didn’t like the digital options.
We then had castings, and our lead actor, John Rapacz, was found quickly. The second lead, Frank’s role, took a bit longer to find. We ended up choosing Jack Edwards, who knew John, and that previous friendship came across on screen very well.
Then came the time to do the script reading. We gathered with our leads and went over the production.
I made so minor adjustments to the script and made sure that we were all on the same page for the shooting schedule.
It was time to go!
Production
Production was a learning experience. We originally planned three shooting days, but we ended up having closer to seven. One of the biggest things that I had learn as a director was that the more locations that you have in a script, the more time you need to expect.
We had a couple of tech rehearsals to practice the new gear and make sure that we knew what we were doing. However, problems always arise.
Day 1 of filming was John (Mitch) alone, in locations on campus, which introduced new elements and unexpected challenges as some of the spaces didn’t quite work as planned.
Day 2 was similar to Day 1, but in a more controlled environment, which ended up being a great learning experience as our gear kept having problems. Also, John was still figuring out the character, so everyone felt a little new. He also had his first chance to work with another actor, who was a young child, who also introduced some unexpected adventures. We got it in the end!
Day 3 was the first day with both the lead actors and the first day that everything felt more in control. It was helpful for the actors to have someone to bounce off of each other, and we had things down as a crew. It finally felt like everything was coming together!
Day 4 was a day I had to plan for a long time. We were working with around twenty actors, and coordinating that many schedules was chaos. I ended up recruiting everyone I knew and people in the BYU-I orchestra to make this orchestra scene. We really only had one hour to get everything right, so it had to be perfect. We also recruited a lighting assistant for the Barrus Concert Hall, who was very helpful in getting everything just how we wanted. I felt like I had finally gotten the directing thing down, and I was able to work with John to create some awesome scenes.
This is the time I realized that each shoot we had very limited time, just because we are all busy college students. We met as a team and planned out how we would shoot the last couple of shots, ending up having to shoot two more full crew shoots and one audio shoot.
Day 5 was a cold, cold day. We had about an hour of daylight to work with, so we also had to work fast. More unexpected gear problems made us really feel that crunch, but we also had to shoot one of the more important scenes in the entire film. It ended up working great. We did have to keep throwing coats on and off our talent, though, which was a fun experience.
Day 6 was the final full crew day with both an outdoor and indoor shoot. We had things down, though, so it went pretty smoothly. A fun story, though, is that to get the shot of the building we wanted for the opening title, we had to stand over 150 feet back! Anamorphic lenses are fun.
Day 7 was a pick-up audio day. I met with our lead actors and recorded a couple of the VO lines. And just like that, production was done!
Post-Production
And now we reach post-production. Adam Johnson is our main video editor, so while he was working on the different cuts, we started grinding the social media. We had a shoot day just to get some interviews with the cast and crew that we posted on our Instagram!
We also got the photo for the poster I was able to design. Funny enough, the lead actor, John, actually already has his mustache back, but since we only needed a back shot, it ended up working out.
We are now in the last phases with color and sound, which, as a director, I have been helping with, so we can capture the vision. It has been so much fun, and I can’t wait to show the film on April 7th!
Overall, as a director, I learned you kind of have a hand in everything. Everyone wants to help your vision come to life, which is awesome, but also scary. I’ve spent so much time getting to work with each of the people, and with over 30+ people in the cast and crew, this is the largest project I have ever had to work on. I feel ready for whatever comes next!