CHAPTER 31

BEFORE THE CAMERA ROLLS

Making a dramatic film is an expensive, industrialized process, with stages of manufacture made necessary by the need to work with maximum efficiency. With several well-respected films under his belt, such as Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Miss Julie (2000), Timecode (2000), and Hotel (2001), Mike Figgis has greeted the smaller, digital filmmaking process enthusiastically:

The further that I went into the digital world the more intrigued I became with the possibilities of this new and unexplored technology. What started out as a marriage of convenience turned into a love affair.

My dissatisfaction with the mainstream cinema scene stems from a deep frustration with the stranglehold that technology has in the 35mm, studio-based film business.

Visit any set and you can observe the bullshit at first hand.

Observe the reverence with which the camera is treated. The iconic status of the crane and the Steadicam; the vast armada of trucks and motor homes; the platoons of young men and women carrying clip boards and wearing status clothing with walkie talkies and hi-tech communication devices; the sense of self importance and Godliness that seems to permeate everyone involved with the process of pretence and fabrication; the deadly trios of execs and agents feeding their faces at the food table whilst talking on their mobiles to other execs on other films at other food tables.

One year later the results of this “holy” labour can be seen in a multiplex anywhere in the world. Another Hollywood film about nothing in particular.

Unpublished Interview with Mike Figgis at the Dramatic Institute, Sweden (courtesy of Göran Gunér)

No system or procedure is holy, and yours should be firmly adjusted to the needs and size of your production. Planning how things will be done and by whom has everything to do with how much you shoot per day and whether you come in on budget and within the schedule.

RIGGING THE STAGE

Although you are almost certainly shooting in real locations instead of constructing sets on a stage, we will use the conventional terminology for simplicity. The first shot of any scene will be the wide, establishing, or master shot, because:

• Wide shots take most light, and if this is in short supply you want to use your light wisely.
• Closer shots must match the wide shot for lighting and continuity.
• You want to work out blocking problems for the whole first and the parts later.
• All continuity matches must go back to the master shot, which is why it's often called the establishing shot.

Rigging the stage therefore involves placing lighting instruments and adjusting furniture and objects for the widest imaginable shot that will contain the expected action. Usually this involves deciding a general direction for the camera and hiding lighting stands and cables out of shot so there is an unobstructed field of view. Often furniture will be moved away from walls, so that anyone using a couch or chair doesn't immediately cast a shadow. By placing people away from reflective surfaces and setting lamps high, shadows are thrown down behind characters and usually out of sight. Because films are constructed from fragments of action, and walls tend to be bland planes, the audience will not notice any unnaturalness in the placing of characters in their surroundings. This is called cheating distances, because it doesn't register on film, and you expect to get away with it.

This is also when the sound crew sets up their equipment, in view of the set but out of the camera's field of view.

FIRST SETUP AND LINEUP

After generally rigging up lighting, placing props and furniture, and anticipating the action, the camera crew now asks for the precise setup from the director, who will discuss with the director of photography (DP) what is and isn't in shot and point out what the characters are going to do. The camera is now set in place and the operator can frame what's expected. The actors will probably be asked to do a walk-through so the operator can see general framings and report difficulties or make requests.

BLOCKING AND FIRST REHEARSAL

Now the actors speak their lines and move in stages, under the director's instruction, to the points where they will be standing or sitting through the scene. The DP and operator decide framing and lighting—in particular how to handle the key and fill lighting and what shadows will be cast that indicate the intended light source. This might be a table lamp, a window or skylight, or a candle carried by one of the characters. At this stage the crew is focused on getting the environment ready for a performance, not on any aspect of the performance itself. The sound crew takes a close interest in where the lights are going to be, which direction the characters face as they speak, and thus how they will cover the scene from the sound point of view. They may ask for compromises if sound coverage presents difficulties.

PLACING MARKS

Where a character stops to say something and where they next move and stop will be marked on the floor with tape by the camera assistant, who must follow focus and to whom these distances represent focus points. If the camera has a professional lens, the assistant will put tape on the focus ring and mark on it the salient points of the action denoted by the floor marks, so the camera will be in sharp focus at each important moment. The less light there is on the set, the less the depth of field, so it's important that the actor hits the mark and the camera assistant keeps the lens in focus.

REHEARSAL

The director, cast, and script supervisor now leave the set to rehearse elsewhere and do last-minute work on the scene. If an actor is missing, the script supervisor will read his or her lines or provide action cues so the scene can be worked over. This is called running lines. Similarly, for reaction shots, the script supervisor will read whatever lines the character is reacting to, unless the other actor is present. Some directors make it a policy to have all cast present for such scenes.

LIGHTING WITH STAND-INS

Lighting can be a long, slow business, especially if there are two or more characters with elaborate movement paths. This may require multiple key lights and a great deal of careful planning. Any practicals (lights meant to be seen in shot) must be adjusted either in wattage or with scrim or neutral density filter inside the shade so they render as the right intensity and color.

To see the effect of their work, the DP and crew will use stand-ins who move as directed so the DP can see the lighting's effect at each stage of the scene. In a small crew, stand-ins may be the least-busy crewmembers chosen for approximate height and bulk. The first shots of the production always seem to take an eternity to line up, and the AD should be on hand to supply some pressure and report as soon as the set is ready.

FIRST WALK-THROUGH

Actors now take the place of stand-ins and are brought up to speed with any revisions in the path of the action or the marks they must hit. They are first walked through, both for their benefit and for that of the DP and operator. If all is well, they get into their costumes. Their hair and make-up, first attended to in the morning, probably need touching up by make-up artists and hairdressers.

DRESS REHEARSAL

Next comes a dry run, which is a full rehearsal in costume and make-up but without running any film through the camera. The cast will do this at low intensity, as they want to conserve their energy and focus until the camera is running. This part of the process helps them internalize what they must think and do to make their lines and action coincide with the precise needs of the camera, its movements, and attendant lighting. At this time, the sound crew are covering sound and rehearsing what they must do to get the best sound without casting shadows or making any noise. If wireless mikes are to be used, they are running at this stage. The script supervisor will take a timing of this scene as a benchmark for other shots to follow.

Everything should now be in order, and everyone is ready to roll camera.