The Dogfather Week 1

[Guest]

Hello All,

 

Week one is over and I survived it!

 

It was a great week, Dennis and I are thrilled with the footage we are getting. The dogs and actors are all giving great performances.

 

Two forum members are on this crew with me, Stephen Whitehead who was my 1st AC on Dark Reprieve and now works as the second unit director of photography on The Dogfather, and Michael Armstrong who was my key grip on Dark Reprieve but is now a talented gaffer in his own right. I also have two cast members from Dark Reprieve making appearances in this movie as well. It's always great when you can bring back cast and crew from previous shoots.

 

In the first pic our star Bulldog, Gabe, gives some technical advice to Stephen Whitehead as the operates the 535. The rest are self explanatory, lot's of crew lot's of gear.

 

R,

[David Mullen ASC]

Looks cool... any issues with shooting animals so far?

[Guest]

Looks cool... any issues with shooting animals so far?

 

Not really. The dog actors need about as many takes as the human actors :D

 

This film is rather historic in a way, it's the first "dog movie" that uses the British bulldog in the lead role. There was one in hotel for dogs in a few scenes, but this is the first time the bulldog is in every scene as the lead.

 

Bonnie Judd, our animal co-ordinator, has done an amazing job so far. Many members of the crew have been quite surprised by what she can get the dogs to do.

 

I had at least seven animal trainers tell me this movie could never be made because the British bulldog is un-workable. Bonnie is proving them all wrong.

 

R,

[David Mullen ASC]

You're lucky because most people's experience with trained animals for movies is hit or miss. But of course dogs are a bit more trainable than some other animals...

[Guest]

You're lucky because most people's experience with trained animals for movies is hit or miss. But of course dogs are a bit more trainable than some other animals...

 

This team has been specially prepared for this movie, each dog is used for a different set of actions. As Denis and I where watching the dailies on Friday night we where concerned some people will think we have used a CG dog in spots. The dog's actions are so precise and so good, that some people might say, "they must have done that with computers."

 

And yet it is all in camera work by the dog.

 

The team behind the dogs is just very very good at what they do.

 

R,

[Saul Rodgar]

. . . so jealous . . .

[Ram Shani]

look great

 

thank you for shearing

 

:)

[Guest]

Not much time today but here's a shot from this week's shooting.

 

I'm very happy with how it's looking!

 

R,

[Saul Rodgar]

That looks frigging hysterical!

 

Good job!

[James Steven Beverly]

:lol: I LOVE IT!!!! I saved the poster!!! Richie, you da man!! :D

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Oh for want of a 535 :/

Looks awesome so far!

[Guest]

Thanks guys. The scenes are cutting together beautifully, and it's all pretty hilarious if I do say so myself :lol:

 

Denis' cinematography is absolutely stunning, I am so lucky to have him.

 

We are just past the half way mark. The days are long and tough, but great at the same time. We average 45-50 set ups a day so we are really moving. I think that's a sizable number of set ups considering our large crew that needs co-ordinating, and the number of extras and and animals we have on set daily.

 

I have been been seen sprinting across sets between the main unit and the second unit. It's fun though.

 

R,

[Guest]

CUT! That's a wrap. Here is our cast a crew photo.

 

That was a GREAT shoot. Very challenging for all of us tackling an ambitious script with a breed of dog that had never been used in a "dog movie" before and completing in 20 shooting days as scheduled.

 

To all the members of my crew that read this board, thank-you for your hard work and incredible effort. Many of you went above and beyond what was expected in order to make this a terrific film.

 

It's always sad when a shoot ends and every one goes their separate ways.

 

As for me, onward to post!

 

R,

[James Steven Beverly]

Congratulations, ol' buddy, now the hard work begins, EDITING! Hard but also fun. Do you have a lot of footage to plow through or did you do a Woody Allen and limit the takes so you don't have to make too many decisions. :D

[Guest]

Congratulations, ol' buddy, now the hard work begins, EDITING! Hard but also fun. Do you have a lot of footage to plow through or did you do a Woody Allen and limit the takes so you don't have to make too many decisions. :D

 

I rarely went beyond three takes. My actors and dogs where so good I didn't need any more than that.

 

Plus I had an assistant editor working on it as we went along. The scenes are cutting together beautifully, this film might actually look like a "real" movie :D

 

My final stats where 130, 000 feet of film shot in three perf and I think we did about 1000 set ups over 20 days.

 

It's going to be a fun post process though. I bought the new 17" Mac Book Pro just for the occasion.

 

R,

[Hal Smith]

130,000' of film, 1,000 set ups, 20 days, cast, crew, dogs (lions and tigers and bears, oh my?), etc. And you finished on time.

 

Sounds like you're going to be a very busy Director as the word gets around.

 

Mazeltov!

[Guest]

130,000' of film, 1,000 set ups, 20 days, cast, crew, dogs (lions and tigers and bears, oh my?), etc. And you finished on time.

 

Sounds like you're going to be a very busy Director as the word gets around.

 

Mazeltov!

 

Thanks Hal, one can always hope. Well back to my edit...........editing........editing...........

 

R,

[James Steven Beverly]

I rarely went beyond three takes. My actors and dogs where so good I didn't need any more than that.

 

Plus I had an assistant editor working on it as we went along. The scenes are cutting together beautifully, this film might actually look like a "real" movie :D

 

My final stats where 130, 000 feet of film shot in three perf and I think we did about 1000 set ups over 20 days.

 

It's going to be a fun post process though. I bought the new 17" Mac Book Pro just for the occasion.

 

R,

 

HUUMMM, 130k of shot footage on 3 perf with an average of under 3 takes per set up and 1000 individual set ups. I may have screwed up. I am budgeting for 120k of raw stock on a 90 minute horror/action-adventure picture shot on anamorphic. I MAY have to revise my estimate. :unsure: What is your estimated running time for Dogfather?

Edited August 13, 2009 by James Steven Beverly

[Guest]

HUUMMM, 130k of shot footage on 3 perf with an average of under 3 takes per set up and 1000 individual set ups. I may have screwed up. I am budgeting for 120k of raw stock on a 90 minute horror/action-adventure picture shot on anamorphic. I MAY have to revise my estimate. :unsure: What is your estimated running time for Dogfather?

 

Run time should be 87-90 mins with titles and credits. Kids films can't go much beyond that. Although most parents I know wish kids movies where five hours long on DVD :D

 

I ran two cameras on almost every scene though because I had tons of action to cover. You could probably get by with one camera and that will keep your film stock down.

 

R,

[James Steven Beverly]

Run time should be 87-90 mins with titles and credits. Kids films can't go much beyond that. Although most parents I know wish kids movies where five hours long on DVD :D

 

I ran two cameras on almost every scene though because I had tons of action to cover. You could probably get by with one camera and that will keep your film stock down.

 

R,

 

Actually, like you, due to our relatively short schedule, we were planning on running 2 cameras on a lot of the action sequences , possibly 3 since we have them. Our shoot is budgeted for 28 days, 4 of which are rain days, so it's really close to yours, the difference being ours shoots mostly at night in the deserts of New Mexico, so I may have to re-budget for 150K or even 160K. I'm just hoping we won't have to go as high as 200K. We DO have a contingency budgeted, but I want to try and not dig into that if at all possible. At this point it's still a bit academic, we're searching for funding. HOWEVER, it's been less than a month. and we've have gotten some real good feedback and there are a still a lot of people we haven't heard back from yet, so I don't want to short ourselves on any of the essentials especially is someone says yes.

 

One thing, I DO plan on using a lot more wide angle 2, 3 shots and masters than what I imagine a comedy like yours used so maybe I won't need as much coverage as you have. 1000 set ups seems a bit excessive to me, though I can see why a comedy would use that many especially if you used a lot of quick cuts. But that means you averaged 50 set ups a day which would be around 7 to 8 set ups an hour over a the 7 working hours of an 8 hour day. THAT averages out to be 1 set up every 8 minutes more or less. Once we do the script breakdown, story boards and scheduling, I should have a better idea of just how many set ups we'll need.

 

I DO agree with you emphatically that getting the right people is essential to having a smooth running set. Once the cash is in place, I fully intend to surround myself with brilliance (obviously to make up for the lack of mine :rolleyes: ).

[Guest]

Our shoot is budgeted for 28 days,

 

That's a pretty long schedule for an "indie". Cutting the schedule means you spend less money of course.

 

But that means you averaged 50 set ups a day which would be around 7 to 8 set ups an hour over a the 7 working hours of an 8 hour day.

 

8 hour day? A standard film day is 13 hours. 12 hours of work plus one hour of a non-paid lunch. Film crews only work 8 hours in NM? 13 is the norm in Ontario, for both union and non-union crews. And the Dogfather was ACTRA and IATSE. FYI, a few days we did 65 set ups. Had no choice, we had to pack an ambitious script into 20 days.

 

R,

[Saul Rodgar]

A standard film day is 13 hours. 12 hours of work plus one hour of a non-paid lunch. Film crews only work 8 hours in NM?

 

That would be nice! In Northern NM, we spend 14 hrs x day on set on average, a really short and incredibly rare day will be 10 hrs but more and more 16 hrs plus x day seems to be the norm on lower budget (union) movies.

 

As far as a 28 day indie, it does seem rather long. If things go well, will be DP'ing a 16 mm road indie in September with a total of 14 shooting days.

Edited August 14, 2009 by Saul Rodgar

[James Steven Beverly]

That's a pretty long schedule for an "indie". Cutting the schedule means you spend less money of course.

 

 

 

8 hour day? A standard film day is 13 hours. 12 hours of work plus one hour of a non-paid lunch. Film crews only work 8 hours in NM? 13 is the norm in Ontario, for both union and non-union crews. And the Dogfather was ACTRA and IATSE. FYI, a few days we did 65 set ups. Had no choice, we had to pack an ambitious script into 20 days.

 

R,

 

Not the crew, the actors. SAG rules. after 8 hours they cost more.

[Guest]

Not the crew, the actors. SAG rules. after 8 hours they cost more.

 

Yeah same here, you just budget for a 12 hour day, and include the OT.

 

By the time you get an actor though hair and make-up and back to their hotel each day you have burned through a lot of that 8 hours. SAG rules state that the actor is getting paid once he/she starts traveling to set, and they are off the clock once they arrive back at their hotel.

 

So if your actor has 15 mins travel time each way to set, that's 30 mins gone. Plan on at least 30 mins for a male actor for hair and make-up and at least one hour each day for females for hair and make-up.

 

Pretty soon you are down to 6.5 hours of actual work and that will fly by in no time.

 

If I where you I would not start production until you can budget for a full 12 hours to have your actors on set each day. Otherwise you will be in OT every day and your budget will get a hole blown in it while you are in production.

 

Just a word to the wise ;)

 

R,

[James Steven Beverly]

That's a pretty long schedule for an "indie". Cutting the schedule means you spend less money of course.

 

 

And the Dogfather was ACTRA and IATSE. FYI, a few days we did 65 set ups. Had no choice, we had to pack an ambitious script into 20 days

R,

 

Probably so but I wanted to make sure we had enough time to do what I want t do. I'm kinda in the same boat you were in that the script is ambitious and will require a lot of lighting on Condors at night in the desert, some of the shots I'm planning are a bit complicated and there will be some set up time involved. BMR has some pyro, stunts and process trailer stuff ALSO I'm a rookie at least at helming a feature film shot on 35mm so, I figured maybe a bit more time couldn't hurt. I am planning to limit coverage though which should help with costs. Anyway, please email me if you have any advice, Richie, I'd appreciate any information you have to give. :D