Making of the independent film "Trade Offs"

I recently discovered footage of making of the Trade Offs. One of the team members Anup posted the following footage shot during the making of my film. I got nostalagic watching it. It really captures the essence and positive vibes on the set. Enjoy...

Is my story worth telling? Questions you need to ask before shooting your first film

It is always difficult for a new writer/filmmaker to make a call on when the script is ready for shoot. Essentially, the script is the blueprint for the film. The script can be changed till it is shot and often (read always) changes in the editing room. However, it is always cheaper to change the script on paper. Let me emphasize this. Take your time writing and then re-writing the script.

In my case, I was confident that my script was complete. My friend Asit came up with an excellent title for the script. “Trade Offs”.

A Script is a dynamic document. It constantly changes. Shooting a script is simply capturing the story at that moment. As you evolve from script to production to post-production, it becomes increasingly hard to change the story. So, before you declare that the script is ready ask yourselves the following questions:

• Who is the audience of the film?
• Am I making the film for myself? Film festival audience? Art house audience? Internet audience? Mass audience?
• How can I reach the audience for my film?
• Do I have resources to reach the audience? Marketing dollars?
• Are locations or actions in my script within the scope of my budget?
• Film is a visual medium. Is my script “telling” the story or “showing” the story?
• Can I cast characters in my film easily based on my schedule and budget?
• Is there a conflict in my central story? Clear theme? Are all sub-plots serving the central theme?
• Do all the scenes in my script serve a purpose? Does each scene propels the story ahead or deepens a character?
• Does the script follow the three act structure? Are all the plot points and beats in place?

You can rebel and make a statement and say “I don’t have to follow the rules. F*ck the rules. I know the story very well. I will tell it without any structure” In order to break the rules; you need to know them If this is your first project, you better know the rules very well and master them. Break them later if you wish.

Above are a few questions, I am struggling with in my second project. I have a first draft ready, but I want to work more on it, till I get it right. Remember it is a lot cheaper to change it on paper.

I am very impressed by a recent film called Hard Candy. The film has 2 main characters and only 3 additional characters. It is shot in 2-3 locations, most of it shot in a house. The performances are incredible, the script is tight and direction is impeccable. I am most impressed by the producers of the film. They seemed to have understood their audience and chose/wrote the script to match their exact goals. I strive to make a film like that. One day. One day soon…

Story/Script is the king

As I journeyed through making my first feature film “Trade Offs”, I learned many lessons in filmmaking. This blog post is my attempt to pass lessons learned from my successes and my mistakes for anyone who might benefit from these. Following blog chronicles my experiences of writing my first script “Trade Offs”.

I am not a writer by birth or even wrote anything worthwhile while growing up. All I had was dream of making a feature film. After I completed my MBA, I decided to give a shot at my dream of making the film.

Being an actor in the past, I knew the importance of a compelling story. So much so that I even named my film company to be Katha Films ( http://www.katha-films.com/ ) . “Katha” is a Hindi word for a story. This was to reinforce my belief in the importance of story in storytelling.

Step 1: Getting my feet wet

First step in my journey was to identify the story for my film. I talked to many script writers but quickly came to the conclusion, that if I have to tell a compelling story then it has to come from me. I have to take the plunge in learning the craft of the scriptwriting and tell a compelling story. There are no short cuts.

As a first time script writer, the story has to come from my own surroundings. It does not have to be autobiographical, but I should write about things I know the most about. I am an Indian immigrant to US working in high-tech industry surrounded by internet stock mania at the time. My story had to come from these experiences. This gave birth to a story about a couple coming to US in late nineties. The story about their aspirations and their challenges. This evolved into my first script Trade Offs.

Step 2: Training

I am a strong believer in absorbing the skills from experienced filmmakers. Scriptwriting is a craft more than an art. In order to learn the craft, I must read as much as I can about the craft. Amazon.com became my friend. I bought dozen books on scriptwriting . The crash course in scriptwriting helped tremendously. Following books were extremely useful for me to learn the craft:

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert Mcgee

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting; A step-by-step guide from concept to finished script by Syd Field

The Screenwriter's Workbook by Syd Field

Power Screenwriting: The 12 Stages of Story Development by Michael C Walker

The above readings gave me the courage and some basic understanding of the structure of a script.

Step 3: Writing the script

Once I had some basic knowledge about the script structure, I made my first big mistake. I chose to write the script using MS word instead of choosing any script writing software like Final Draft or Movie Magic. It may seem a trivial thing, but choosing a script writing software will pay dividends all through out the script writing process and during the production planning.

Script writing is a lonely sport. It was quite tough for me to lock myself in a room and wrestle with my story. Each writer has their own style. You can develop your script by choosing any of the different styles:

• Develop the outline extensively and start writing when you are sure about each and every plot point of the script.
• Use index cards to outline your story.
• Develop characters and start writing. Sometimes, you are surprised what can come out of this exercise

I am an impatient writer. I developed my characters as much as I can, and then started writing. I often brought two or more characters in a scene and let them interact. It was lots of fun to see how the characters reacted and thus my story started to develop. It was an amazing experience. I fell in love with scriptwriting.

I shared my work in progress to my friends and often got feedback from them. This feedback was often encouraging and useful. Occasionally, it made me doubt my script writing abilities. I kept going.

Once, I had written my first 100 pages, I had a good draft of the script;

or that’s what I thought

(to be contd...)