the quest of the holy answers

hi everyone, first of all sorry for that outrageous accent of mine, but, you see, i'm french, and that's the only excuse i found...
well, i'm glad i found this place, because i'm actually preparing my first amateur movie, which i'd like to shoot on a miniDV cam.
i imagined the story trying to make the cheapest movie : everything takes place in the woods and at the sea, there are only two comedians, and one don't ever say a word... i make the music myself, and technically speaking i've got a camera, a microphone, a computer, a car, a sea, woods, energy, and i'm a bit weirdo (at least that's what the doctors said)... anyway, fact is that i didn't search for producers, but i asked for people, common people from my city if they'd like to give me money to help me making this movie, and, well, that works... just ask a thousand persons, and if they all give you a little something, sooner or later it'll make a quite but not so much big something... i'll just have work to write all their names at the end credits as "associate producers"... i feel that i'm ready to shoot now, but there is still something that disturbes me, and i don't know why... i read Robert Rodriguez's 10 minutes school film a hundred times, but i still wonder... that's why i'm asking you, wise people, what should i know before shooting, what are the questions i should ask myself ?

thanks very much
(oh, by the way, my name is uncle remus, pleased to meet you)

uncle remus.

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what are the questions i should ask myself ?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">1. What can possibly go wrong?

In answer to this question there are hundreds of answers eg. weather, actors/crew not turning up, going over schedule, not getting the location you want, batteries running dead, being arrested, 'actors' not being able to act, equipment being damaged/stolen, deserters, no food, running out of money, running out of time etc. etc.

Now you must try to contemplate what could go wrong and plan well to prevent these things happening so you can concentrate on the artistic side of things rather than production logistics.

With all the best advice in the world, I guarantee you would still have at least one problem, so be ready to think on your feet. Other than that you only learn by doing, so just get out there and do it.

Oh, and good luck.

IT's difficult to answer because we don't know what you already know. As Kev says - just pretty much go for it.

You may be doing this already but I would suggest you try to plan the shots you need (with sketched storyboards if possible, if not just a write a list) in advance rather than just heading to the woods and making it up as you go along. Depending how visual you are, try to play/see the whole film through scene by scene in your head first.

Get plenty of coverage - in addition to your planned shots - shoot from different angles, close-ups, reactions, shots of the woods, etc etc. Things will probably look different when you start editing things together. And let the actors know that they may be required in the future for re-shoots and pick-ups.

With regard to the audio record a few minutes of just the wood's own ambient sound - you can then use this when you are editing to smooth the sound on the cuts. And when editing try to cut on the action.

Ensure the actors know their lines inside out so that they never have to 'think' about the words - this leads to bad and clumsy acting. Try to get the actors to do some rehearsals before you start shooting - they should focus their attention on the other person not themselves and REACT NOT ACT.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 18, 2004 07:22 AM: Message edited by: Justin M. ]</font>

Hey, if you've got a really good script, and there's two comedians in it, AND IT'S FRENCH, try and get Dominique Pinon to be in it. He likes indie films and is a great comedian.