TAKE ONE is going to tap into knowledge and ideas which I have acquired over 30 years of making films, both on Super 8 and on Video. The title is suitably vague but nevertheless, film related and allows me to cover all aspects of constructing a movie.

This series will be as non-technical as is possible for a hobby which has always involved a huge amount of equipment and a certain amount of knowledge about it's operation. We will cover all the stages involved in producing a film and for “film” I mean either film as a strip with sprocket holes down the side, or more usually nowadays, video, on whichever format you choose. The medium itself is fairly irrelevant.

We will primarily be concerned with fiction film making, but many other genres will be included along the way. Feedback from readers is also welcome and I am sure that amongst our many enthusiastic and strong-minded IAC members, there will be many topics on which you may wish to cross swords with me. I am looking forward to it.

You can reach me by Email: kw@phase4.free-online.co.uk

So let's get started.

Contents

1. IEDAS
“Where do you get your ideas from?” I always say that ideas spring from real life events...

2. TURNING IDEAS INTO SCRIPTS
I have never found it to work, sitting at a typewriter or computer keyboard or with a pen and paper in hand, staring at a blank screen or page...

3. PREPRODUCTION I: ACTORS & LOCATIONS
“Are you willing to pay?” he asked. I hesitated, then told him we were amateurs and had no funding nor made any profits...

4. PREPRODUCTION II: PROPS, COSTUMES & MAKE-UP
Read the script through once again with “props” at the forefront of your mind... It’s amazing how something can slip through the net...

5. The SHOOT
Many things can happen! If your script involves outdoor locations, obviously the biggest worry will be the weather..

6. DAIRY OF A SHOOT
To illustrate a typical shoot, I will now recount the details of our most recent filming session as it actually happened...

7. DAIRY OF A SHOOT II
Sound recording in the modern world has become a huge problem and it seems that quiet locations are increasingly hard to find, if not impossible...

8. Editing
Editing is perhaps the most vital and creative time. Here our raw material, like a piece of coal, will be polished into a diamond...

9. Continuity
It's amazing for example how inanimate objects take on a life of their own when they feature in a film...

10. Sound
The boom mike operators' job is not the most fascinating in the World, and often the chosen person would tap the pole out of sheer boredom...

11. Adding Sound Effects and Music
The boom mike operators' job is not the most fascinating in the World, and often the chosen person would tap the pole out of sheer boredom...

12. Titles and Credits
The boom mike operators' job is not the most fascinating in the World, and often the chosen person would tap the pole out of sheer boredom...

13. Publicity and Premiere
The boom mike operators' job is not the most fascinating in the World, and often the chosen person would tap the pole out of sheer boredom...

14. Competitions, Judging and other notes
The boom mike operators' job is not the most fascinating in the World, and often the chosen person would tap the pole out of sheer boredom...

Take One: The Movie

- By Ken Wilson (first published in FVM)

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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