Take One

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.

So let's get started.

Contents

1. IDEAS	“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. DIARY 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. DIARY 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)

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