Crew Sizes for Feature Films

I'm starting to budget out the next feature film and it's always a matter of figuring out what crew positions are needed.  It's like diagramming the X's and O's of football.  But instead of 11 players, you get to pick based on the economics and needs for that particular shoot.

I'm not really taking into account volunteers or interns.  Usually every movie uses a few to a lot.  And these can either be college students looking to fill their resumes, or can be people looking to get into films.  For instance, on Striking Range, we had a volunteer for assistant hair/makeup.  She did so well, that she now makes her living and is the go to indie film h/mu person for several producers.  You also might find a volunteer who is looking to move up-- somebody that has PA'd in the assistant director's department might volunteer to be the second.  Though more common is to take a pay cut to work upwards.

Some abbreviations: DP= Director of Photography.  H/MU= hair/makeup.  AC= assistant camera.  AD= assistant director. UPM= unit production manager.  POC= production office coordinator.

Extra Small (2)-- Documentary crew: 2 person Director/DP and Sound.
Small (7)-- Director, DP, AC, Sound, Gaffer, H/MU-- Office: UPM
Small Regular (22) -- Director, 1st AD, 2nd AD, DP, AC, Sound, Boom, Gaffer, Best Boy,  Key Grip, Swing, H/MU, Wardrobe, Production Design, Location Mgr, Script Supervisor, File Mgr, Props, Craft Service Person  Office: UPM, POC, Accountant
Small Large (38) -- Director, 1st AD, 2nd AD, 2nd 2nd AD, AD PA, DP, AC, 2nd AC, Camera PA, Sound, Boom, Gaffer, Best Boy, 2 Electricians, Key Grip, Grip, Swing, H/MU, Asst H/MU, Wardrobe Designer, Set Costumer, Production Design, Art Director, Props, Location Mgr, Asst Loc Mgr, Script Supervisor, File Mgr, Craft Service Person, Transportation Captain, 2 Drivers,   Office: UPM, POC, Accountant, Office PA, Office Secretary

Then you have day players as needed, which can include Special Effects (smoke, fire, water, gags, squibs), Stunts, Steadicam, Crane, Weapons Master, special things.  Also, you have vendors like the Caterer that comes with their own crew.  And I'm not counting producers.

The Gaffer's department and the Key Grip's department, which all report to the DP are often referred to by a number.  For instance "we had a 2 and 2 on that last movie."  Meaning a crew of 2 for each sub department.  If you have a script that needs massive lighting and rigging of huge silks and such, you might need a 5 by 5.

They Didn't Get It

For three and a half years, these men walked with Jesus, ate with Jesus, listened to him talk, share stories, preach.  It wasn't a once in a week, for an hour-- it was every day, sometimes 24/7.  They camped out and slept under the stars and in peoples homes.  When you go through that with someone, you really get to know the other person.

Yet, when Jesus was crucified, these people still didn't get it.  He had told them what was coming.  He told them straight out.  He told them in allegory.  He prepared them, yet still they didn't get it.

I think I have a tenancy to hear what I want to hear.  To see what I want to see.  Simon the Zealot probably was thinking all this talk about a new Kingdom was finally about to happen-- that's what Jesus was talking about... "The Kingdom of God is at hand."  Must mean it's time to overthrow those pesky Romans.  (What did they ever do for us?  Well, they did build the aquaduct... oops, I digress, and if asked, I never saw that movie.)

Peter was told straight up that he would deny Jesus three times that very night.  Yet he didn't get it.  Jesus said he would be dead for three days.  Tear down this temple and in three days I'll rebuild it.  But did any of the twelve recall this when he died on the cross?  I'm sure it was a three day gut check for the boys.  They hid wondering if every footstep outside was one coming to take them to a gruesome death.

So today, I haven't physically spent that kind of time with Jesus, but in my arrogance, I consider myself clued in.  That I have a corner on the Truth.  "They didn't get it, but at least I do."  When I think about the twelve, brings back a little reality check, and as I've written about in the past, understanding my true identity is real humility.

I'm not as clued in as I think I am.

Lonely

Jesus wasn't hip and cool.  Sure people liked Him for his parlor tricks, signs and wonders.  But instead of capitalizing on that popularity, He would preach harsh words that sent the crowds packing.  In John 6, they all leave to the point that Jesus turns to the 12 and asks "what about you?"

In this American church culture, we borrow from the American culture with rules like "if you're well-liked, then you're doing right!"  And "numbers justify whatever you do."  "Don't offend."  Well, Jesus was one that was not afraid to offend.

So what I'm seeing, as I study those that worked hard to be a disciple of Jesus, is that they became lonelier and lonelier.  So here's a word for you today-- do you want to draw closer to Jesus?  Then don't plan to win popularity contests, or be thought of as the "cool" one.  As a matter of fact, the more you chase God's purpose for your life, the more you'll realize the people you thought you shared common vision, just isn't accurate.

Very few people are dedicated to being a disciple of Jesus... sure, many *say* they're dedicated to that, but how many can be convicted in a court by their actions and not just lip service?

Imitate Jesus.  If you dare.

Camcorder RIP

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to pay last respects to HVX200 and so many others like him. Yes, for Mr. HVX, life had been good. He was the one the young filmmakers hung out with. He set the standard. He had uprooted Mr. XL1 as the coca-cola of the industry, but sadly his time is passed.

You see, HVX and all his camcorder buddies are going to disappear. Those upstart DSLR's are taking over. And the manufacturers know it. The shelves are lined with all sorts of DSLR goodies. The HVX accessories are stuff for back shelves and eBay.

I was worried about my friend Red when my DP bought a couple of DSLR's and sold his HVX. My DP also has a Red. Could it be these DSLR's are better? Not even close. If they can ever solve the data wrangling, maybe someday... But Red still has that beautiful 4K going for it. But people are choosing the DSLR's for what the "filmmaker" camcorders were doing. Low budget indies... corporate videos... music videos. This seriously crimps the HVX market.

So project forward, what do you see? I see HVX200's selling really cheap on eBay. I see a world of DSLR accessories. I see Canon all but abandoning their camcorder market for the DSLR market. It's a reemergence for all the still camera manufacturers as they all get into this game.

Yes, the pro line of camcorders will continue-- broadcasters aren't going to change to DSLR's with that unwieldy shallow depth of field... But for the filmmaking side, from commercials, to low budget features, it's goodbye to camcorder and hello DSLR.

Two Christian Artists

The other night, I was driving the family home from vacation, listening to some tunes, and of course thinking.  It's interesting that out of all the Christian recording artists, two of the ones who took some of the biggest stands, died early.  There's been much written about how God took them/didn't take them/accidents/free-will over God's hand of protection... and that's not what I want to cover.

Keith Green died in a plane crash in 1982.  At the time, he was what I listened to the most.  I was an impressionable 17 year old and this death hit me like what I guess it hit die hard fans of Lennon in 1980.  Keith took a lot of stands-- and in the budding CCM industry, none shook like when he decided his albums would be for whatever a person could afford.  That didn't sit well with the "business" side of things.

Then there's Rich Mullins.  His death came in a vehicle accident in 1997, one in which his Jeep rolled and he was killed when he was ejected.   Rich was another one who did it extremely different.  Rich setup all his earnings (which there had to be much) into a trust, in which he drew a poverty line salary from.  The rest went to charities.  Here was a famous Christian recording star who would give his shoes away at the drop of a hat.  He lived what he sang about.

Actually, that best describes both-- they lived what they sang about.  I've known some Christian Recording stars through the years, and if you haven't watched "The Imposter," it might come as a shock to you, but there are lots of imposters out there singing one thing/living another.

Now, these two aren't to be idolized.  But Paul did write to "imitate me as I imitate Christ."  So for you budding Christian recording stars, I encourage you to imitate Keith and Rich as they imitated Christ.

So were they perfect?  No.  Keith, through a moment of Ego, led his two oldest children to death, and abandoned his wife and two younger children, depriving them of a father and older siblings.  His Ego moment was to show off the ranch to a visiting family in an airplane, and further that Ego, by carrying an air of invincibility over the laws of nature.  (The plane was seriously overweight).

Rich, fortunately didn't leave  or abandon a family.  A seatbelt might have saved his life.  Or maybe not.

Church Movie Night Part 2 of 2

This entry continues yesterday's post, by Jim David. He started a film ministry at his church by offering a once a month movie night. I really like his approach and I encourage all you out there-- does your church have a movie night? It can be a real powerful way to get discussion going and a great teaching opportunity.  If you need any help or assistance, feel free to reach out to me.

What about childcare?
Our teens provide childcare during the films (except summer months) for a small donation that goes towards youth mission trips. This really helps to give mom and dad the opportunity for a night out.

Do you recommend doing this to other churches? If so, what are the
benefits?
Yes. The benefits are widespread: strengthening existing believers, and providing another medium for reaching the community for Christ – all while providing family safe entertainment in a time where it is hard to find good safe options. By doing a monthly film event, your church will begin to get a following -knowing that there is a consistency of good quality films offered each month (as compared to an infrequent movie event offered from time to time). I would say that there are four primary factors that have made the ministry a success:

1. Our church leadership was behind the ministry and one of the success factors for us has been showing a preview of the upcoming film & short to the entire congregation so that your church family is fully aware of the film offering. Print media in program is good too, but is often overlooked. Showing the preview really speaks volumes as you have a captive audience for several minutes and your people will likely spread the word to their friends.
2. Form relationships with a couple strong local businesses (Christian & secular if possible) to help you get the word out. This has helped our ministry tremendously in reaching the community.
3. Carefully choose films that will reach the widest audiences for Christ. If you show a film that is too pushy or cheesy, you may lose your audience for future showings. Always know the content of the film and get feedback from outside sources.
4. Have a committed ministry team that’s reliable and works tog
5. ether to provide a consistent outreach to your church and community.

What are your plans for the future for the movie nights?
We plan to continue by showing the latest high quality, impacting films, and as long as there are enough films of quality, we will continue on a monthly basis. We like to whenever possible, to show films before their official DVD release dates and several distributers including PureFlix Cinema provide opportunities to do this.

For two of our films (WWJD & The Path of the Wind) we have been fortunate to have the producer/director come to do a Q&A after the film. We even had our teaching pastor host a Q&A following two documentaries (Lord, Save Us From Your Followers & The Case For Faith) we showed.

For more information and movies they've screened, check out their website: http://www.whfriends.org/pages/CinemaFaithPast.shtml

Church Movie Night Part 1 of 2

Jim David ordered "The Imposter" for his church a year ago.  Since then we have communicated back and forth a lot and so I asked him if he would be willing to answer a few questions about how and why he created this unique ministry for his church.

His church, Willoughby Hills Friends Church in Ohio has this as their Cinema of Faith mission statement:

The Cinema of Faith ministry offers an ecumenical outreach to fellow churches as well as the community as a whole to provide a resource for Christian family entertainment. The films are not only entertaining but are seeded with biblical truths and illustrate the love of Jesus. Our hope is that you leave these films feeling entertained, inspired, and perhaps take a thought or idea to contemplate.

What is it that you do for your church?
I started a ministry with friend Ben Landfeld (a Christian from Czech Republic) called Cinema of Faith.  Each month we show a quality faith-based film with a Christian theme. Rather than just darken the room and hit play, we try to best duplicate the “movie” experience starting with a pre-show that has constant media on the screen with new or future film previews, or some behind the scenes of a previous film we have shown (I found that if we “half darken” the room and have fresh current content, we get more people coming in sooner, and makes coming and going less intrusive).

Then we have a short film that starts promptly at 6:30pm which can run between 10 and 30 minutes (we fill any extra time between the short film and feature with additional relevant content).  Finally at 7pm, Ben comes on stage to welcome everyone, make announcements, and talk a little about the evening’s film.  Then we go right into a “theater like” Coming Attractions reel followed by the Feature Presentation (the coming attractions give a little extra time to latecomers as well).  I have a good friend in the music business from Nashville who put together a drum & bass stinger for this portion to again help mimic the cinematic experience.

After the show we accept a “free–will” offering and sometimes sell DVD’s to help support the ministry( this is not intrusive – rather we just place the offering plates by the exit doors). From a financial standpoint, there are license fees that range from $100-$300/per film, as well as internal marketing expenses, and our main goal financially is to just break even.

Why did you decide to start doing this?

I’ve always had a passion for film media and used to be an editor by trade. When I began digging deeper into my faith 6 years ago, I started seeking out any good Christian media I could find. At that point, I wanted to learn more deeply about my faith. Although I had been brought up in the church, I never really “owned” my faith and really started that journey shortly after my father died in 2004.

The first thing that really grabbed me was when I discovered the “Matthew” film which is a word for word (NIV) dramatization of the Book of Matthew. I found that the film really spoke to me as the pages of the Bible came to life in front of my eyes. I then started seeking more and more. There is a lot of “dated” Christian film out there that the average secular and church audience would gloss over, but I have watched most of it - the good with the not so good, mainly feeding the Bible teachings into me through media. I began to find some wonderful Christian films that most people had never heard of, and I wanted to find a way to share these great films. My good friend Ben Landfeld believed in the vision as well.

We were encouraged and supported by the Teaching pastor at our church, who believed in the idea, and it just began to build from there. The main reason was to let the average Christian and non-Christian alike know that there are some great movies out there that most have never heard of (sleepers I believe is the term). I wanted to raise awareness of the level of quality that is available.

I also wanted to provide our church, neighboring churches, and the community as a whole the opportunity to attend a free film once a month. The film that started everything was on called “The Perfect Stranger” which was an independent film made in Louisville, KY, by Kellys Filmworks & City On A Hill Productions. We actually sold tickets for this first film as we decided to present it “dinner theater” style, so the ticket cost covered the catering cost. We limited the event to 100 tickets as a pilot/test, and sold out. We had such a great reaction to the film that we continued on a monthly basis in the church worship center as free to all who could attend, and we have been showing a film every month ever since.