too many things "To Do"

Maybe I work best under pressure, because the idea for my short film “To Do:” surfaced in a state of approaching deadline-induced panic. The deadline for pre-production had already passed, and my original idea of a superhero origin story (whose script was 20 pages long) was slowly falling apart. It became clear I needed to limit the number of locations and actors and scale back on the complexity of the story. I went back to square one and came up with an idea for a romantic comedy. I structured the story concisely with a clear beginning, middle, and end and limited dialogue. I liked the idea of organizing the story around a list to provide a clear progression and flow to the film.

Once I had my general idea I created an outline and developed the characters. I figured out I wanted three main parts: the beginning break-up scene, a montage in the middle, and an ending resolution. As far as character development, I wanted Ben to be extremely kind and maybe a little boring, Annie to be kind and confident, and Claire to be so over the top mean that it was comedic. From there, writing the script was pretty seamless.

The next step of pre-production involved laying out a production schedule, figuring out how many days it was going to take me to film, and how much I could cram into one day but still work around my actors’ schedules.

I contacted my actors to find days that worked for them. Jake and Jessie are two of the best actors I know but also two of the busiest people I know. It was difficult to work around their schedules, but because they’re also awesome friends of mine, they made it work for me. I would typically storyboard the scene the night before we filmed, and get any props I would need ready.

I drew a lot of my inspiration in the framing of my shots from Wes Anderson. I framed many of my shots symmetrically like he does in many of his films. Also, during dialogue scenes I used perspective shots and had my actors speak directly to the camera similarly to how Anderson shoots dialogue in his films.

(Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson)

( The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson)

I would also tell my actors what I wanted them to wear and what lines they needed to memorize for that scene.

Storyboarding was an essential step in pre-production that I couldn’t have completed my film without. It took foreeeeeeever to brainstorm different shot types and get my ideas down on paper, but it helped immensely in keeping myself organized on set and making sure I didn’t forget anything that would affect the film’s continuity. Filmmaking is so collaborative for good reason, because it was an enormous challenge doing this project alone. It was up to me to write the script, schedule, storyboard, figure out props, costumes, audio, confirm locations (Old Navy and my neighbors’ houses), operate the camera, direct my actors, and edit. The project was incredibly time consuming and I had way too many things “To Do” but it was so fun and I gained loads of experience.

Overall, I’m very proud of my first short film! The only part that really bothers me and that I would change is the insert of the phone.

I wish I’d used text in post-production to place the message on-screen like often seen in the television show “Sherlock.” My shot doesn’t focus right away and is disinteresting visually. Next time I could do more research on different ways I could shoot that shot before filming .

(Sherlock, Paul McGuigan)