Organizing Chaos - by Nate Haustein

I just finished an exhausting 24 hours of shooting, in several locations and for several different clients and purposes. Traveling between 4 different cites and even more locations within them gives even the most in shape team a run for their money, especially when you’re hauling around an entire set of equipment. Though exhausting, its always rewarding to look back on the projects and see the footage or performances my crew and I achieved.

Last night we shot in Minneapolis, MN in a fairly active part of downtown, as well as some other various locations. The purpose: a webisode for a small internet-based company. More or less, we had an actor in full “rockstar” garb walking down the street acting like he owned the place. It was a lot of fun, and no one on the street really knew what to think of it. One thing I’ve learned from shoots like this is that organization is possibly the most important part of a complex production. Making sure that everything is completely planned out before the camera is even out of the bag can make or break a production day. Without a plan, we’d be dead in the water.

Producing films with higher levels of professionalism takes more people, more equipment, and more time to set up. I appreciate my team every day as we distribute production jobs, making sure that everything works how it should, and in the way the others expect it to be done. Getting along with your team, and being able to think alike makes a complex shoot enjoyable to do, and incredibly fast to complete. Even if you are working with a completely new team, clearly communicate your intentions on what the project is, how you want it to look at the end, and what people are responsible for. Making sure that everyone knows exactly what is going on saves time, and more importantly, money.

Some things I think are necessities for any shoot:

• Make sure everyone involved knows when they are needed to be available. Then have them show up 15 minutes earlier.
• Plan out exactly what will be shot. Make a list, or even better, a storyboard of the angles, lighting, and blocking.
• Note the equipment, props, people, and anything else that has to be at each location.
• Have roles! If you have people to help out, agree on responsibilities so that things get set up faster, and so there is less confusion or deliberation during actual production.

The list could be even more specific with things like charging batteries, having enough tapes/media, but it might go on forever. Something else that should be noted is that shooting also takes flexibility. Being in the field brings many challenges, mostly ones you don’t expect. Like that janitor walking down the hallway with a loud garbage can, or the worker who starts using a circular saw a few feet to the left of the camera. It’s raining? Uh oh. Being able to think on your feet, fixing problems without jeopardizing the flow of production is perhaps the most important skill to have. It takes time to learn, but once you figure it out, things get a lot less stressful when something goes wrong.

So now, it’s time for a vacation away. See you next time.