There are a million and one issues that pop up during the process of filming a movie and I would like to give you fans just a small bit of insight as to what happens .
By : Jamie Santamore
It's no secret that when I got the crazy idea to make a movie I had no experience and I mean ZERO and I don't hide that from people, I started this journey with a script and the belief that I could make this happen, that was it and I had no clue what I was getting into from the word go.
I had no experience in film making or screenplay writing either for that matter I honestly figured I could learn on the fly and make it up as I went along and to a point that worked right up until I got on set the first day of the shoot last year .
After teaching myself how to write a screenplay and working on it for awhile with other scripts I managed to write the first draft of each of the scripts for the Sins of Man trilogy in less then 30 days .
Once I decided to take the script to screen I knew I had alot to learn and no time to learn it. I taught myself to do makeup FX needed to make stabs and slash wounds via youtube, I learned to make fake blood, I learned how to make my story flow with the 3 act structure and the 8 sequences, which honestly seemed to come to me with out really having to think about t too much during the writing process .
I learned many small things all at once and I had a helping hand in Chris Fyfe . We were able to work together right away because he had knowledge and I had passion and drive to make the project happen and I refused to quit.
As I learned how to be a director and how to film a movie in a way that allowed me to tell the story the way I wanted to tell it and hopefully in a way that the audience would respond to and enjoy I started to become for comfortable on set and in my role as director and became more confident in what I was doing .
I had no experience in film making or screenplay writing either for that matter I honestly figured I could learn on the fly and make it up as I went along and to a point that worked right up until I got on set the first day of the shoot last year .
After teaching myself how to write a screenplay and working on it for awhile with other scripts I managed to write the first draft of each of the scripts for the Sins of Man trilogy in less then 30 days .
Once I decided to take the script to screen I knew I had alot to learn and no time to learn it. I taught myself to do makeup FX needed to make stabs and slash wounds via youtube, I learned to make fake blood, I learned how to make my story flow with the 3 act structure and the 8 sequences, which honestly seemed to come to me with out really having to think about t too much during the writing process .
I learned many small things all at once and I had a helping hand in Chris Fyfe . We were able to work together right away because he had knowledge and I had passion and drive to make the project happen and I refused to quit.
As I learned how to be a director and how to film a movie in a way that allowed me to tell the story the way I wanted to tell it and hopefully in a way that the audience would respond to and enjoy I started to become for comfortable on set and in my role as director and became more confident in what I was doing .
When I created Mortis I didn't have a specific idea in mind for what the character would wear or even who it would be and that might sound strange to people but it's true as I started writing the script for Sins of Man started thinking about designing a costume for the character but didn't and still don't have the skills to make a costume so I reached out to California Costume Collections Inc. about a costume I saw on Amazon and I asked them for permission to use the costume in the movie and they agreed which I thought was really cool of them so Mortis had a look now.
I want to address something that I have been asked about many many times. Does Mortis look like Ghostface from Scream, Yes he does but they are different characters do they both kill with a knife, yes they do but they aren't the same characters and anyone that thinks Mortis is a rip off of Ghostface doesn't understand what I was doing with Mortis as it relates to Ghostface and Scream .
NOTE : California Costume Collections INC. has granted us permission to use the costume for all three of the Sins of Man Films .
I want to address something that I have been asked about many many times. Does Mortis look like Ghostface from Scream, Yes he does but they are different characters do they both kill with a knife, yes they do but they aren't the same characters and anyone that thinks Mortis is a rip off of Ghostface doesn't understand what I was doing with Mortis as it relates to Ghostface and Scream .
NOTE : California Costume Collections INC. has granted us permission to use the costume for all three of the Sins of Man Films .
There were alot of hard lessons I had to learn in front of everyone on set and I took my lumps and learned those painful lessons and more importantly then learning them I learned from them .
Now a year later when we have these issues pop up on set I know how to handle them, we have had a rash of scheduling issues with cast over the last few weekends of shooting but I have learned to be flexible with the schedule to make sure they aren't getting in trouble with their "real" jobs . See making movies is all I do, when I'm not shooting movies I'm writing, when I'm not writing I'm shooting content for the websites so I'm always busy doing something to further the building of the Wicked Carnival Productions brand .
Now a year later when we have these issues pop up on set I know how to handle them, we have had a rash of scheduling issues with cast over the last few weekends of shooting but I have learned to be flexible with the schedule to make sure they aren't getting in trouble with their "real" jobs . See making movies is all I do, when I'm not shooting movies I'm writing, when I'm not writing I'm shooting content for the websites so I'm always busy doing something to further the building of the Wicked Carnival Productions brand .
Like the title of this blog suggests I call the craziness on set "Controlled Chaos" in that even when things go off course we control it and make sure it doesn't derail the entire project for any length of time . When a scheduling issue comes up I handle it, when a timing issues come up I handle it .
I will give a great example of this one of my actors emailed me after I sent out the schedule for this weekend and said we need to reshoot a scene because it takes place after another scene and that his makeup wasn't right in the previous take and that slipped through even me so I'm glad he caught it because I don't want there to be any continuity issues in this movie . The scene wasn't on the call list so I added it into the schedule and problem solved .
Now people often ask me how I deal with the stress of film making and schedule changes and things like that and honestly I focus on the end because I know everything we go through from the beginning of this project til we wrap shooting on it will all be worth it in the end when I'm holding the DVD in my hand on the Release date :) Do I get mad of course I do . Do I think people need to be focused on the task at hand, absolutely . Is there anything I can do to make these issues not happen? Not really so why do I need to sit here and be pissed off about something I can't control ? I choose to just deal with the issue at hand and move on towards the ultimate goal of finishing the movie on time .
To a point I guess I enjoy the "controlled chaos" that comes with film making because I'm blessed to be able to do what I do for work. It's hard and challenging for sure but as my Dad used to say "If it was easy everyone would do it" I have to remember that all of the issues that come up build and shape me as an artist and helps me get better within my craft .
Every job has it's set backs and we learn to deal with them and film making is no different things happen that are beyond my control the trick is to learn to adapt to them and make the right choices moving forward .
STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :)
I will give a great example of this one of my actors emailed me after I sent out the schedule for this weekend and said we need to reshoot a scene because it takes place after another scene and that his makeup wasn't right in the previous take and that slipped through even me so I'm glad he caught it because I don't want there to be any continuity issues in this movie . The scene wasn't on the call list so I added it into the schedule and problem solved .
Now people often ask me how I deal with the stress of film making and schedule changes and things like that and honestly I focus on the end because I know everything we go through from the beginning of this project til we wrap shooting on it will all be worth it in the end when I'm holding the DVD in my hand on the Release date :) Do I get mad of course I do . Do I think people need to be focused on the task at hand, absolutely . Is there anything I can do to make these issues not happen? Not really so why do I need to sit here and be pissed off about something I can't control ? I choose to just deal with the issue at hand and move on towards the ultimate goal of finishing the movie on time .
To a point I guess I enjoy the "controlled chaos" that comes with film making because I'm blessed to be able to do what I do for work. It's hard and challenging for sure but as my Dad used to say "If it was easy everyone would do it" I have to remember that all of the issues that come up build and shape me as an artist and helps me get better within my craft .
Every job has it's set backs and we learn to deal with them and film making is no different things happen that are beyond my control the trick is to learn to adapt to them and make the right choices moving forward .
STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :)