Filmmaking / Directing : From shorts to feature films by Melissa Butler

it's just hard to build narrative, shoot page after page, working 13 to 16hrs a day, consecutive days/weeks, bigger crew, bigger responsibilities, Time, endurance and fatigue.

Partner with a Line Producer and breakdown the shooting script best as possible. I think the key is consistency, in front and behind camera. Have to motivate cast & crew. Good Luck.

Thanx Maxxie - Dump it all on the Line Producer - indeed!

If you haven't already I really recommend having your script proof read by a script doctor. If you're going to invest all the time, money and effort you wanna make sure your script is great, not good but great. I don't know what your budget is but if you can afford it, get a name in your cast, can be a tv name that wants to transition into 'movies', so money isn't a priority. Having a name will definitely help you in the markets selling your film, especially foreign markets. Also, even experienced filmmakers overlook distribution. You have to start thinking distribution now before production. Worth it to hire a publicist for 1 day just to guide you through what you need - things like stills, on set interviews, making of, daily blogs/diaries of key crew and cast. You're going to need all this for your marketing. Depending on which territory you're targeting, make sure you are listed in ALL the industry trades like Variety and Hollywood reporter. Don't hide, let the world know you have a feature in the making. Every studio/distributor read these trades every monday looking for new content to buy. They will call you. It may seem obvious, but this bear repeating - make sure you are all contracted (paperwork) all way from crew to cast and everyone. Again, if you can get E&O Insurance (errors and omissions). This is very, very expensive but you can leverage a better sale later if you have it, if not, the distributor will take it out of your deal. Get an entertainment attorney on board, you don't have to pay yet only when it comes to dealing with a distributor but make the connect now. Register a New LLC just for this one film. Too much to go into here message me if you need more.

Thanks guys, I currently have most of or at least have thought about and have a plan for what you guys have suggested. I have a really awesome producer on board. My question is more about my job as a director and if there is anything that will be different from shooting a short to a feature. Just trying to make sure I am well prepared.

OK. Shooting a feature, the first 2 weeks it's a honeymoon, everyone loves everyone. On the third week energy drops, so as a director, always know your next setups, know where to tell your crew the next setup will be and keep things moving. The worst thing is a crew waiting on a director trying to figure out the next shot, it kills the energy they start spacing out you don't want that. You should be waiting on them. Even if you're not 100% sure, at least know the general vicinity of your next setup it keeps everyone busy and moving. You, your DP and AD should have broken down every shot to the T, this is one good thing about the Hollywood system, it works. If it's a 6-8 week shoot, it'll start to become a grind but don't ever let your emotions get the better or you'll come across arrogant and the crew will start to dislike you or least they'll be bitching behind your back. Know your setups and shot-list well.

As a producer, i really hate it when a director is so indecisive. I killed a film once halfway through. It was a low budget 3 week shoot, we needed to shoot 5 pages a day but the director couldn't handle it. He was averaging 2-3 pages a day, so on the 2nd week I recommended to the investor not to waste any more money because we're not going to have a finish movie. So they cut their losses. Bad for the director, bad for me, bad for cast and crew.

yeah, I am curious. Can you tell us how many days shooting? Day vs. Night scenes? Location setups? Size of crew and cast? What type of camera, film or digital?

Dan; not that hard. Print off a Character Report, a Scene Report, a Location Report, run your script thru a Tagger and create a Props/Wardrobe report, then let me know what you got for Cast/Crew. Remember EXT shots are weather dependent.

Melissa, hopefully this stays within the spirit of your question where many answers may have not.

My comments below relate to your steering the ship on the journey you intend; none of this is about money or schedule or coverage; those things are a RESULT of what I am writing, not the focus.

The key directorial difference between short and feature is that you are saddled with taking the plot, subplot and character arcs you have chosen, and seeing that they are executed correctly over a much longer production period, which is usually proportionately far less work time per page.

We see many short films that take 5 days to shoot 10 pages, yet the same filmmaker does their first 90 page script in 10 days and we wonder " what happened? " when we see the resultant film. There is NO economy of scale for the Creative Hours. Again, this has nothing to do with money in and of itself.

It's about use of time, including YOUR TIME TO REFLECT.

If you are crazy-pressed for time- say a 9 day feature- your days will be too long to objectively confirm to yourself that performances and coverage are consistent with your plan. A good director can steer that film through it's compromises to "The End", but it will not be it's best execution.

If you have 18 days to put the script in front of the lens, how much the better? I am not suggesting you put the cast to sleep daily with 2 pages a day, there is an energy to maintain and dollars usually have a limit, but just as with stopping at a hotel rather than driving through the night, if you make the trip more pleasant, it will show up in performances on screen. And you won't be as likely to miss nuances. The director gets all the credit and all the blame, after all.

So, to circle back around, if you have more days to shoot, better. If you have a couple down days mid- shoot, better. If you have time ahead of the shoot to rehearse cast, better. Schedule and budget are always permanently entangled, but if you can get producers to allow you more breathing room, your success on screen will be far greater than the current "dirt cheap, lightning fast" production methods so many choose to employ, often for no real good reason (I am happy to argue that point separately as it's a producing subject, not a directing subject).

Lastly, if your gut tells you a scene does not quite work, HOLD OUT for your gut, even though the AD says move on. Get a re-shoot on the calendar, call grace at lunch if it's just one setup and you are almost there, whatever you need. You cannot cut a scene you don't quite have.

Get a good team in place that specialize in one job.