This month I finished shooting my first indie feature film, the film is now getting edited. In this post I will tell you some of the problems I faced during the production of my film. This is keeping in mind that we are making an indie film with very less budget and this post is not about professional actors with experience. This post is gonna be useful for both film makers and actors. I will also be providing few tips on how to deal with the problems. Before we start, I have to tell you this post can be a little bit controversial. But, This is my personal opinion and I'm just telling you what I experienced. Lets dive in.
"Actors are cattle" - Alfred Hitchcock
The above words may seem rude, but the meaning behind it is deep. Actors are also artists. But, they are one of the most vulnerable type of artists. Because, acting is the only art which is dependent on other artists. To get a good performance, the actors need a good director, a good co-actor and an efficient crew. Acting can get really difficult if the all these things are not there. This will also make actors very vulnerable. We all have to respect actors, because without them there won't be any film.
Problem #1 - No discipline in the set
When shooting your indie film, you are most likely not able to afford professional actors and you are most likely to ask your friends or family to act in your film. Since, they are your friends they will be all over the place. They will think they can do anything and everything in the set. And when you tell them not to do something or to sit at one place or to not disturb other actors when they are acting their reaction is some thing like this.
This will again lead to a lot of unwanted discussion in the set, which in the end will be eating a lot of your time.
This can be solved by telling them you are the boss in your set. I was also facing this same problem for first few days. Then I shouted at on of my friend because he was disturbing other actors by making them laugh. By shouting at him it made everyone clear that I was very serious about the work I was doing. If you are not serious then there will be no discipline.
Problem #2 - The continuity
Many non-actors or armature actors don't understand the concept of continuity. This mistake is also seen in professionals work too. Your actors should look the same in each shot. What non-actors usually do is they will comb their hair for every new take which will make their hair look slightly different at each shot. If you are using a cigarette in your scene make sure the length of the cigarette is the same in every shot, you might need more than on cigarette to shoot the scene.
Non-actors tend to move around after their shot is taken and totally forget how they stood or where they stood and also their posture. It is good to show the actors their previous shot and making them to mimic the position just like the previous shot.
To avoid mistakes like this, just remind your actors to remember their position sand posture before the relax. This will save you a lot of set time.
Problem #3 - Dialog memory
If you are trying to make an Al Pachino out of your stoner friend, then make sure your camera is completely charged, because he may take 500 takes to tell his dialog properly.
Dialog can make or break the scene. One of the techniques used by film maker to make the actors look like they are telling the dialog are by shooting them from back and telling them to do some gestures with their hands. After the shot is taken the voice is added later. This is one of the solution.
But, since you know that you are gonna use your stoner friends for acting. Then try to avoid complicated dialog in the scenes. There are other ways to avoid dialog. Show not tell.
Problem #4 - No commitment
This has happened to me more than a few times. Many people will agree to act in your film, but on the day of the shoot they might not come. People like this will create a lot of trouble to you and all the actors. So, look for people who can commit. Make sure your actor doesn't have a girl-friend or boy-friend, I know this may seem funny. But, most of the time I get trouble from the actors loved ones, It could be their parents too sometimes.
There's no way to really solve this problem. You just have to trust your actors. Anyways you will not be able to pay your friends for the acting they do, because of the budget. So, you can't really blame them. Who would want to act in your film if there a party in town.
Problem #5 - Actors who wants to become a Super Star
If a person is in your team and is trying to become a Super star celebrity actor, please avoid that person. It is really difficult to make these people do certain things. People like this will not be ready to say certain dialog or do a certain scene because they think that it will ruin their image. Try to avoid these people because they could be a real pain in the ass during the shoot.
One incident that happened during my shoot is an actor was not ready to lay on the ground and pretend to be dead. In the end I wore his outfit and played dead face down so that the face is not seen.
One last thing I want to tell is don't be afraid when there is a problem. If there is a problem the solution is always around the corner. Cheers !
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