Sunday, October 10, 2010

Finding the Cast And Crew - Part One

As we draw closer to wrapping principle photography on Dark of Moon, my memories are drawn back to early summer (which feels both like a million years ago AND like yesterday), and how I assembled this menagarie to create this film...

First, let's start with the crew. I knew that I needed to assemble a technical crew before I did anything else, because all of the actors in the world would be wasted without a way to capture their performances. So I did what the producer for the "Extended casting call for Dark of Moon" did...I went to Craig's List.

In the Craig's list ad, I said that I was looking for a "camera operator" and technical crew to shoot my first film. After posting the request, a tech guy/friend of mine dropped me a line to say that I should have said I needed either a "cinematographer" or "director of photography", because a "camera operator" does just that...operates a camera. If I wanted what I was shooting to look GOOD, then I needed a cinematographer/DP. My first (but certainly not last) "doh!" moment of the film.

Lucky for me, DP's are used to dealing with tech-fumbly directors, because I had a few people contact me who knew what i needed. The first guy I spoke to looked great...his demo reel was top-notch, and (in a refrain I would hear a LOT over the next couple of months) he was looking for a non-horror project to shoot. Once I sent him the script, however, he passed...he was looking for something non-horror so he could show the movie to his kids, and unless one's kids are either teens or posessed by a Babylonian curse-demon, then my script was definately NOT kid-friendly! So I moved on...

The next person I spoke with was promising...again, his demo reel loked great, and his equipment list was juicy. However, his woprk schedule was NOT stable...he said that he didn't know from one week to the next just what his schedule would be, but was willing to use up his vacation time to shoot the film. I just didn't feel comfortable trying to shoot this thing in one 2-week block. So, the search continued...

Then, I got an e-mail from one Noelle Bye Hansen. She sent me her demo reel, and one scene in particular grabbed me. It was a scene from another movie she shot where 2 guys are having a conversation by a campfire. Knowing that I would have several scenes lit by candlelight, being able to light for flickering conditions was vital. The more I looked at her work, the more impressed I became. We had a meeting, and instantly clicked. These things being what they are, I decided to go on feel...and have been glad I did so ever since.

Throughout these past few months, I've found that my decision to go with Noelle as DP has been one of the luckiest things to happen in my fledgling film career. Noelle is anal-retentive about lighting, angles, shadows...everything you want a Director of Photography to be anal about. The technical aspects of film-making are the very things I'm least experienced in, and she's making me look good...very good. I just can't wait until I can hire her for a film that has a budget...then I can supply her with an army of strapping young PA's to slave away under her watchful, approving glare. She will have earned every peeled grape.

Along this time, I got an e-mail from a young tech-head who, while he had no equipment to put to use, DID have experience in sound and video production to
offer. At the end of the message, he had a MySpace url listed for his band, which I listened to and was impressed with. Also in the message, almost as an afterthought, he mentioned how he had also done some acting. So I wrote him back saying that I'd keep him in mind for crew, and that I might be interested in using his band on the soundtrack. While I wasn't ready to start casting yet (I was still doing the DP tango), I offered to send him the script to look over, and to see if there were any parts that he'd like to audition for. He looked at it, and said that he wanted to audition for the part of Miller (who he said reminded him of Randall Graves from "Clerks").

Little did I know it, but I had just made contact with my first cast member.