Now that I have all my pre-production work done, I need to get a crew together, and it needs to be a capable one. Most people will usually ask friends or family to help out, however, this may cause more problems than it is worth in convenience. I will usually seek the nearest educational facility of filmmakers looking to get hands on experience through volunteer work. So, I went through my contacts in RMIT University and located several class members who would be able to help me out. This works perfectly for me, because I know them personally, I can trust them, I know their level of skill/capability, and we all share a mutual interest in filmmaking.
With my delegation, I need to take into account the few roles that are crucial, and that could make or break a film. These include the obvious camera, and the dreadfully temperamental audio. With these two facets, I am careful to fully brief my crew in these areas, and to make sure they are trained fully with test runs on set. If sound is not perfect, it can really distract an audience. If the camera is shaky, too tightly framed, not calibrated correctly, it can make the Mona Lisa look like finger-painting.
So, I have gone through most of my friends and delegated roles accordingly, putting myself as Director, and assigning a Producer. The Producer is your best friend, without them, the film will go kaput, or you will be running around like a headless chicken trying to sort everything out, leaving your brain fried full of stress, and your directorial abilities next to nothing of what you are capable of.
I am not looking to shoot this film at the end, thus far, but the crew I have organised would be, and are very capable of shooting this film in the way I envision. My delegation also includes heads of department, so that I do not need to worry about every element of the production, except for directing. This is the best way to be able to get in touch with ‘higher-thinking’.
