One of the most integral parts of ensuring that we were able to keep on track of the timeline we had created (as shown in the previous blog post) was filming our promotional video. This would serve as something like the trailer for the film (although nowhere near as high-budget and cinematic as trailers often are), a way of introducing the project, its goals, our crew and more, while also doing perhaps the single most important task in a film pre-production: raising money.
See, for the first few months of us officially beginning pre-production on COCAINE TO LONDON, the only thing we cared about was the budget. The amount we were able to raise would determine everything. It would determine if we could cast actors from out of state (as we would have to accommodate their gas/train prices and housing) or whether we would have to cast locally. It would determine how much we could spend on creating the songs for the film, as well as how much we could spend on the instruments and other production design elements and most importantly it would determine if the people on crew would be able to eat a full Potbelly sandwich or would have to again settle for just a half one every meal (we all are okay with these conditions, don’t worry).
In order to obtain this figure, though, we had to create our Seed&Spark page (a page that is open for contributions for the next 5 days only, so check it out here, sorry for the plug). On this page, we had to define the components of the story from the plot, to the crew behind the project to the reason behind why I want to make this to begin with. The crown jewel of the site though is the first thing you see when you open the link: the promo video. So before, we could move forward anywhere else, we had to create this first.
The homepage of our Seed&Spark website!
It started, like everything else I do, with a script I scribbled together at 3am. This script would not go through many changes, but then would proceed to almost be completely ignored on the day of the shoot as it simply was not at all funny… my bad. In many ways though, this process was our test run of a lot of the ideas and desires we had for the actual shoot (minus the part where my script wasn’t funny).
After the script was made, we began making the shot list and shooting schedule, which would help us gauge how long some of our shots in the real film would take and how feasible they were to begin with. We did many similar techniques and ideas that we would employ in the actual shoot in January such as the long, tracking shot and the two angles we would use for our talking head portions of the film. This gave us practice and knowledge of these shots, how difficult they were, what we would have to prepare for, etc… and boy, did we need that.
Not only were both shots much harder to light than we anticipated (especially with the much smaller crew we had to employ for the promo video due to filming it over the summer in Baltimore), but we also learned that the teleprompter we had planned on using to make our actor’s jobs easier for the talking head sections worked as a super strong matte box, darkening the image to the point that it was unusable. This forced us to have to create a second day to the originally one day promo video production, but it allowed us to solve this talking head problem, which means we already know what to do when we eventually have to repeat the setup on set. We also sadly had to cut the moving shot that we had filmed for the film (again, it was not funny) but it did allow us to have practiced the movements involved in the moving long take, as well as help us visualize the way we would have to light the space.
One of the two of our talking head angles, as seen in our promo video.
And okay, listen, I’ll be the first to admit that the promo video shoot was not the greatest thing of all time: we went three hours over on the first day, many shots were cut or changed day of, a cigarette was lit indoors (and then properly extinguished), but most of these issues came down to us simply not having enough time to consider them before the shoot. In reality, the shots in which my producers and my camera team (the wonderful Sophia Lin and Isabel Salas) were able to sit down and discuss in depth, went incredibly smoothly. The second day, especially, which we planned way more to ensure we did not go over time as we did the first day, was one of the most efficient and relaxed days of filming I have experienced in a while.
By the end of the entire process (and another week or so of hating editing so much) we had a completed promo video and to be honest, there is a lot I don’t like about it. Luckily, though, I understand why I don’t like what I don’t like. I understand that these kinds of mistakes happen when I don’t plan as much as I should and don’t coordinate between all of my departments to the level I should be. Recognizing these issues is the first step though and we have already made steps to ensure that this form of under planning does not happen again, which I will go into more in future posts.
While I did realize this negative thing, I also realized just how much great there was in this promo video. From beautiful planned shots to fun dialogue to beautiful unplanned shots, I began to see my vision not only blossom, but expand to share the creative decisions and personalities of the crew surrounding me.
Some beautiful (but not yet color corrected) shots from the promo video.
Proud of the work, of the people who created it and of myself, I uploaded the promo video, proofread the rest of the Seed&Spark page and launched the site. COCAINE TO LONDON was now open to the public. You can view the promo video (with its color corrected footage) here!
Until next time…
Devin
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