Absolute beginnings
Starting a film, and how a film starts.
Part of the reason for this Substack is to share the whole process of filmmaking in a more transparent way. So, as promised, I’m going to start posting about making this new feature documentary.
Hopefully I won’t do that so regularly that it actually derails making the film, which is a concern with Substack for me. Am I now just talking about making films, not spending enough time on trying to make them?
Anyway, for now, here’s the plan. I’ll make short, loose and open posts that let you all in on specific thought processes. Fully transparent, full of ideas and doubts and excitement.
Early on, that’s going to be based around my notebooks. If it goes well, I’ll start using research, frame grabs from shoots, behind-the-scenes material and - if I am really brave - some early scenes as we edit.
If the film falls apart, you’ll all be able to tell me exactly why.
For now though, notebooks. And in this post I’m going to look at beginnings. How I start thinking of a film starting at the start of making a film. (You might need to read that sentence a few times for it to make sense, sorry.)
But how do I start imagining how a new film will start?
This is a film about different people around the world trying to decipher language in birds. I’ve talked a little bit about the finding of these people here:
These notebooks are from after the first shoot, and are my notes on how I structure the film. I carry this book around on all the shoots, so it’s constantly being updated, rewritten and added to.
How we meet our characters is the biggest question I like to dive into. What are they doing? Will it represent something important about their work? Their character? Their story? Their world?
I want to drop audiences in and have them want to know more. When I watch a film that overly explains its set-up, I’m always much less vested, much more detached.
With this film, I want to dive in and leave as much as possible to mystery and wonder.
And I want my characters to change and evolve as the film unfolds. If they don’t the film is dead and informational. Gradually revealing what my characters know, and then challenging that is essential.
The final bit in this note is also something to remind me as I shoot. We want to fall in love with this character. We’re going to follow them, and so we have to be captivated by them.
Looking at this note, I can see that I’m clearly fixated on the idea of a mysterious opening. One in which we don’t quite know what they are doing, or why. And I want it to be fun. I’ve described the film as having a touch of the Coens about it. Swinging between deep and bizarre, beautiful and ludicrous. There’s real joy in that and I think if we can nail the opening scenes in that way, then audiences will get on board.
Could we meet one of our characters like someone from Lost City of Z, deep in the jungle? Or fixing a robot?
The rest of this page is me starting to unpick what their arc’s might be. How do we establish their mission, as it were? And the challenges that they’ll face?
I’m not a big fan of the Hero’s Journey being applied to all films, but I do like the idea of your characters having something that they want to achieve. A desire and need that drives them and a framework through which their decisions are made.
This won’t be an overly informational film - it’s an immersive, emotional film about dedicating ones life to curiosity and empathy - so finding the right way to introduce what my characters are trying to do, without any interviews or explanatory text is really important to me. Nailing just the right scene, in just the right tone that sets up their world, their needs and their character when we meet them, is something I’m returning to time after time. There are pages and pages about this in the notebook.
Because if we get this right, then we might have a film.
The world in which this takes place is what I’ll talk about in the next post about this film. How do we set up the boundaries of their story and where/when it’s taking place?
What are the ground rules for these opening scenes? What’s the visual language of the film? What information do we need to know about where they are?
And of course, I have some rules:
More on this next time.
I’m a few months in to writing this Substack and I’m starting to work out what I think it can be. As I start delving more into this current film, it would be great to hear from you what’s working and what isn’t.
I want this to be as good as possible, so if you’d like to share your thoughts in this very brief, anonymous, survey it would be much appreciated. It’s very quick, I promise
What part of the process interests you, what can I share, what would you like to know more about, and in what form?
Thank you!