1.What is your role / contribution to the film in the pre-production phase?
I am the director and screenwriter for this project. I am in charge of writing the script, breaking it down into shots with my DP, and to come out with the floor plan and storyboard with my DP as well. I have also been involved in the casting and the securing of some props alongside with my team mates and the securing of props.
2.What have you learnt in the pre-production phase?
The earlier the script is done, the earlier we can enter pre-production. The generation of the script this time round is considered fast (within days), but the main problem we face this project is the date of shoot. As we needed a public bus crucially, we have no choice but to bring forward our shoot as it clashes with the NAVY open house and they have fully booked the bus from SMRT. Putting the shoot on a weekday has dire problems. We have a huge problem casting people as many are working (they act part time). Furthermore, extras are even harder to come by (no full time extras/no budget to hire them). Finding the right person is a painful thing. They may fit the role, but they may not fit the schedule. It is always good to do castings as far from date of desired shoot dates as possible so we can still make arrangements (AFP project is a different thing as the deadlines are packed on purpose).
In problem of castings, and due to logistics in our current case that we are unable to change our shoot dates, characters are modified to fit the talent who are available. In desperate times, quality of the character are being overlooked just to ensure “the shoot goes on”.
One Comment
Something for you to think about.
“You plan to change and you change according to your plans.”
No plan will remain unchanged and most plans in the stage of execution will go through changes. Thus be prepared for changes during the planning stage and be prepared with Plan B, C and D.