This week we shot pre-production for our upcoming feature – a one-day production a month ahead of schedule.
I’ve never done this before, but from a creative perspective it’s very rewarding…
Originally I was just going to do some camera testing. But after some discussions with the cast and team, we decided to maximize the day by shooting footage that we could actually use.
For anyone who is about to shoot a short or feature film, I highly recommend doing your own pre-shooting.
Having now gone through this process, I have seen firsthand how it can yield many benefits. Here are just some of them:
Test cameras and lighting equipment
It’s always a good idea to test your gear and resolve any technical issues before production.
Standard camera testing can achieve this to some extent, but it almost always occurs in a highly controlled environment – such as a studio or rental property.
While this may be helpful, actually taking the equipment to the site will provide a more comprehensive view.
You don’t really know if a specific rig configuration will work until you get to the site. What works in the studio often doesn’t work in a live setting because conditions are so different.
Through the pre-shooting process, we found that zoom lenses (rather than prime lenses) best optimized our shooting speed. This is just one of many discoveries along the way.
Change everything in a real-life scenario – you have to focus not only on technical quality but also on the impact of on-site workflow.
Try reporting style
During pre-production, we shot about 3 – 4 pages of the script. That’s less than half of what we typically shoot on a daily basis in principal photography.
The benefit of shooting fewer pages each day during testing is that we can experiment more with coverage techniques. We did some filming on jibs, dolly, handheld and joystick – most of which we wouldn’t be able to do on a normal day.
Now, as we evaluate footage (and consider the impact on production workflow), we can determine which overlay styles will bring the best balance to the production.
You could try doing this on the fly during the main production process, but there’s much less room for error and discovery.
Work out with staff (and yourself)
On the first day of any multi-day production, you can always feel like problems are being solved. Things took longer, communication lines were weak, and there was no shorthand between team members.
Instead, by the end of the day, the crew often feels like a well-oiled machine—moving with ease and speed.
By pre-shooting like we did, you can get a head start by greasing the wheels early and get your team up and running as soon as you enter the main production window.
Evaluate tone and performance
When making any film, I’m constantly paying attention to tone and how it changes throughout the process.
I might imagine a scene one way, but once the actor actually reads the lines in front of the camera, everything changes. Sometimes things get better, sometimes they get worse.
In either case, it can be very helpful to identify these tonal changes early in the process to adjust as needed.
For example, you might be working on a horror movie but notice comedic undertones in the performance. If it works well, you may choose to enhance these qualities before production. Or conversely, if it doesn’t align with your vision, address them.
Establish a post-production workflow
Knowing your post-production workflow up front can save you countless hours of editing time. Pre-shoot provides another opportunity to make these critical choices ahead of time.
On our production, we chose to shoot in ProRes 422HQ (instead of RAW). This will allow us to work on set faster, dump cards less frequently, and potentially avoid the need for offline workflows in post.
Pre-shooting allowed us to test this approach while also establishing a good archival backup/archiving system that could be carried forward.
If any technical issues arise during the process (luckily there aren’t!) they can be easily resolved prior to production.
The purpose of all of these strategies, and the rest on this list, is simply to be better prepared when you start preparing.
There are always unknown variables that could throw you off track, but you can eliminate many of them by finding solutions ahead of time.
For those interested in scheduling pre-shoot, I recommend scheduling it about a month before principal photography.
This will give you time to adjust and make adjustments if needed, but still be close enough to your start date to stay motivated.
For exclusive filmmaking articles every Sunday, sign up for my newsletter here!
