Crank Up the Action: Walkthrough The Script
The production kicked off for a planned three-day sweat in the kitchen. The AC had to be off for sound. Windows were covered with black garbage bags to fake midnight. The cast and crew hit the gas. We burned through the heat to crush the kitchen scenes in two days flat.
Now we had a story problem. After reviewing the kitchen scene footage it was apparent neighborhood chase scenes were too short. The script was a thin skeleton between the kitchen and the end battle royale.
A walkthrough of the script was overlooked. We did not know each scene’s run time.
I went back into action in my producer role.
More actors and locations were infused in the story. Otto’s street soldiers grew to inject life into fights. A new van jacking scene was cooked up. Finally, attack dogs were thrown in for extra grit.
Below is a scouting photo from one of the chase scenes added to the story.
Below is a photo for the fight choreography from the same backyard.
Wasting Crew Potential
INDEFINITE was our first big crack at filmmaking with a sizable cast and crew. We had zero plans for crew roles except one. Dirk van Sloten had a title: Director of Photography. The rest were “crew members,” with no defined roles and responsibilities.
Our biggest set with the crew was the kitchen.
Co-director Christopher Kuiper, Dirk, and I were swamped. As we set up shots we often neglected to involve other crew members. I was too hands on moving lights, props, and staging the scene.
The crew were left in limbo about 30% of the time idle in the basement staging area.
Assigning crew roles would give them a chance to go from drifting to taking initiative.
Never Skip the Crew Huddle
We skipped the pre-pro briefing with the crew. This was the place to lock in the tone of the film and set the chain of duty. The crew’s insight would grease the gears of the production machine. We blew it–a dumb rookie mistake.
INDEFINITE would have hit harder.
Safety First, Not Never
A no-nonsense safety briefing was never discussed.
That was dumb.
Physical action with prop guns took place in tight quarters. At least one actor was jittery spotting airsoft guns on set. We failed to prepare everyone for the prop guns.
P.S. The airsoft guns were neutered–unable to shoot. No BBs and no gas canisters were on set.
A trained weapons master would not let the actors walk around the set with any prop guns between takes.
The lights were blazing hot. One trip could cause a shocking accident.
My memory is hazy about using sandbags in the kitchen to anchor light stands.
For outside scenes sandbags should have been used to ground the lights.
We waited until winds were high to double up the sandbags for the final battle royal.
Every scene needed a safety walkthrough. Too often we just spoke the beats. We skipped showing the moves to use with prop guns.
With a budget a trained stunt coordinator with weapons training would be hired.
Lucky for us, we had a trained martial artist in command: Joseph Janswig. He choreographed the fights with safety in mind. The pace for every strike was in slow motion during rehearsals.
A Shot List In Shambles
Shot list? More like a ghost, ignored and forgotten.
A shot list was developed.
A shot list was semi-ignored.
We skipped crossing off each moment.The flow of the set was bogged down. Christopher and I were too wrapped up in all the scene setups.
We pivoted to grabbing a mix of angles for coverage. Some creative comic book style beats slipped through. Yet, in the edit all the essential moments were covered.
In the future I like a hybrid approach. Lock the must-have beats first. Then sweep up the alt angles with quick fast bursts of energy. Dirk’s creativity was very on-point. He was quick with the camera capturing the action in the kitchen.
The next level plan would be to build an animatic. Plan for the edit. Capture each moment to hit the cut exactly where it needs to land.
More Slates, Better Notes
We were hasty. Not every shot was properly slated. Slates were bare-bones without proper notes for context.
Hours were wasted sorting through the video files.
Too Bright In The Hallway
Blinding white walls in the kitchen hallway doomed our plan of a sneak attack. There was too much illumination. The hallway was scripted to be a shadowy space. “The Man in the Mask” character was to appear out of nowhere and then melt into the darkness when the guns were blazing.
We missed this dilemma because we only scoped the kitchen in daylight. Running a test shoot to map out light placements would have revealed the wall’s glare.
Draping black cloth to the walls would have darkened the hallway. A quick trip to a fabric store to snag thumbtacks and roll of cloth would have been perfect.
In editing a matte image was used to darken the hallway.
And, A Broken Window
There was an accident caused by the bright hallway. The actor in “The Man in the Mask” costume was directed to back up too far. He was fully visible on camera. He backed into the window and shattered the glass.
Luckily the actor was not harmed. The taped-up garbage bag held the glass shards in place.
We paid off the damage for a window replacement after wrapping up the shoot.
Boost Morale with More Grub
Snacks and drinks were neglected. Better quantities and higher quality food was needed.
The two big production days for the “kitchen” and the “office” were filled with low-quality junk food.
We underestimated the time on set and appetites. If people are working all day on a set they need to be fed well. Luckily we didn’t have a mutiny. The cast and crew stuck through the production days.
Providing lots of good food is the best way to generate good will and maximum effort.
I do apologize to everyone. I was not thinking about the food plan enough.
Amongst the chaos: remnants of a few soda bottles, chips, and a small thermos. The green cooler held the rest.
Final Production Thoughts
Dirk and Joseph were the rock stars of the production. Joseph choreographed epic street battles while sweating bullets inside the mask every day. Dirk cinematography splashed scenes with vivid color and sleek motion.
A silent force behind our production was Sara Zmudzinski, the makeup artist. She crafted characters straight out of a graphic novel. The fake wounds pushed our production to new heights.
Despite highlighting our screw-ups, the project was far from a flop. INDEFINITE was an exhilarating learning experience. The collaboration left all of us buzzing with great vibes.
Thanks to every cast member, crew hand, and homeowner who let us run wild in your yard.