5 rules for managing volunteers at a film shoot

Some people need a good old-fashioned wedgie

I was clearing out old e-mail and I came across this little diatribe I wrote after my involvement in a student film a couple of years ago.

It's good to laugh about it now.

5 rules for managing volunteers at a film shoot

I volunteered to assist a fellow-film student with his shoot over the weekend and it was a good exercise in witnessing how people & time management skills apply equally to film projects.

Here are some rules that every budding director/producer should be aware of:

1. Make sure you know how to operate your camera before the shoot. Hire the camera for a few days before the shoot if you have to.

2. Make sure there's a prepared timetable so that people know what to expect and when they are likely to finish. They have lives outside of your film shoot.

3. Volunteers don't want to hear the struggles you are going through as a creative genious as you decide what shots to take or how you might edit the shots later. They don't care, they just want to shoot the scene and move on.

4. Don't spend hours in idle chit-chat, stick to the timetable. That's why you should have one.

5. Don't expect other people to spend money on your project. Since people are already more than generous in volunteering their time, then don't take advantage of them by expecting or hoping they will also spend their money on things like catering and props. At least offer to reimburse volunteers for every expense they incur for you, even if it's as simple as a battery. Otherwise you can guarantee they won't help you again.

Finding Inspiration with Anthony Eaton

Anthony Eaton - not typing for this photo

I was a little ambivalent about attending a half-day seminar at the ACT Writers Centre entitled 'Finding Inspiration' with Anthony Eaton. It was a gamble to know what I would get out of it.

But I'm glad I made the effort.

I'm accustomed to writing technical material on a daily basis, but creative writing for me is a hit and miss affair - there are times when the words just die on the page.

Hearing Tony's similar experiences and how he overcame them was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.

Those times when my words die on the page - I secretly thought that there was something wrong with me and I lacked the necessary talent to be a creative writer, but I discovered from Tony that I was simply jumping in too soon with my ideas and needed to build the ideas more before putting a story together.

Boy, what a relief!

With the simple practical strategies that Tony gave us, such as gathering ideas into a single folder for a book project, I know I can keep building-up a story idea for a time until it's ready to work into a manuscript.

I've now purchased two folders for two manuscripts that I'm keen to work on.

When a seminar gives me practical strategies that change the way I do things, then it was DEFINITELY worth the time and effort.

Thanks Tony. Now I'll read your books too!

Create and promote your own e-book

Preachin' the good word about e-books

On Saturday 29th March, I conducted another seminar at the ACT Writers Centre on the topic of creating and selling e-books over the internet.

I've been in the fortunate position of sitting in front of and watching the evolution of the internet since the mid-nineties, and it's an enjoyable experience for me to speak to others about it, when typically I'm sitting quietly all day at my keyboard, barely speaking to anyone.

Perhaps it's a ying and yang thing, but after all that talking, I'm keen to get back to writing this week.

Because there was a waiting-list for this seminar, I will probably run it again in July this year. Keep your eye on the ACT Writers Centre workshop calendar for updates.

Benefits of a writing-buddy

Cheesy but true

What the heck?

I looked at my blog and saw that I completely missed posting an entry at all in February.

I know I've been busy - I can tell from that frantic nervous feeling I have deep down in my gut.

I did do an online writing course, which had some interesting concepts that I found helpful as a writer, but that's something I might talk about at another time.

What I want to say right now is that I had a great couple of days preparing for a lunch meeting with my writer-friend.

I had to have something ready for him to review, and I can honestly say, that if we didn't have our meeting scheduled, there's NO WAY I would have written the article that I wanted to do.

It's a lesson I keep having to re-learn: unless I set a definite deadline to complete a writing project, it won't get done. It will just sit there in the 'to do list' of my mind, creating clutter and frustration. Then that vision is tagged with the cliche, 'I'll get around to it some day.'

SOME DAY NEVER HAPPENS.

I know this ABSOLUTELY from bitter experience.

There's no point beating myself up about it, about how poor my self-discipline is, or how scattered my mind gets.

Without a deadline, any writing project is meaningless.

My fortnightly meetings with my friend reminds me of the joy I have when I sit down to write creatively. He gives me the gift of connecting with that ineffable 'something' that sends electricity through my body when I write, like I'm a kid again and I'm just SO DAMN EXCITED.

I too often forget that feeling.

So my writing-buddy is one of the best gifts I have.

Becoming a Healthier Writer

Willing is not enough; we must do. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. - Bruce Lee

One of the 'problems' of being a writer is that your reality can be mostly what goes on inside your head, and as you sit at the keyboard, year after year, your butt and gut slowly swell before you realize it.

After recently discovering that my butt was reaching felonious proportions, I decided to take action, using a vehicle that I hope will keep me motivated over the long term.

I've started a separate blog which will track my progress to achieve physical fitness this year: Martial Arts Fitness.

Let's see how I go!

Comedy Structure

Larry David

Early this year, I came across this article in the New Yorker about one of my comedy inspirations - Larry David. See Angry Middle-Aged Man.

A part of the article that grabbed my attention is how he weaves his plots together for his great show, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Referring to his tattered notebook:

He leafed through the notebook. “Most of the ideas stink,” he said. “But you’d be surprised. See, a lot of these I’ll use, not as a big story but like a little piece of filler. And then all of a sudden it somehow leads into something.”

When the time comes to begin writing the new season, David scans his notebook for possibilities. “He’ll go through the notebook and find three or four stories and extrapolate them to worst-case,” ... “He starts to weave them together. Sometimes you can brainstorm ideas with him—you can even pitch B stories to him. He’s used stories from Larry Charles and me. Cheryl got a story in there. And then he just sits down and sweats it out.”

Larry David is the master of the setup. He places his characters in innocent situations that usually escalate to an unexpected catastrophe. The humor just pours out of those situations because of what the characters have to suffer.

It's the comedic structure that keeps his stories fresh and interesting.

Most stories have an 'inciting incident' that sets the protaganist (main character) on their journey, however Larry David gives his characters multiple inciting incidents so that they get boxed in and can't get out.

The hero in Curb Your Enthusiasm usually doesn't win the prize at the end (but he does in that great restaurant ending episode to season 4), but instead of the hero's loss being upsetting or depressing, it's usually hilarious.

I know his humor doesn't appeal to everyone, but I enjoy how he tackles human suffering seriously, which is fairly typical of American Jewish humor. Larry David clearly stands in that tradition.

He reminds me of that old joke attributed to the ancient Israelites, God's chosen people, "Next time Dear God, please choose someone else."

Semicolon Abuse

Dr. Who spots a misused semicolon

In a lot of technical material, it's very common for items to be introduced and listed in point form, for example:

• Point 1
• Point 2

Did you notice I introduced those two points with a colon?

I've lost count the number of times I've seen this instead;

• How can I hear you
• When you offended me with that semicolon?

There. I feel better now.

So please remember, hold down that shift key when pressing the button that has the colon/semicolon.

I found this site of a lovely man who is doing a good thing for the apostrophe, The Apostrophe Preservation Society.