So how do we achieve that? Keeping things simple.
Let’s chat through it—
Scheduling wise, I think we tackle this in two shooting blocks. One “A Unit” for a 2 day shoot with a fuller crew: ready for interviews, intentional lighting tweaks, more fleshed out production support, and synced sound for dialog or diagetic sound in situation. Then a “B Unit”— an extremely stripped back crew of likely 3-5 people for an additional 1-2 days of b-roll— this will be to capture additional “day in the life” type footage of talent, static tableaux of landscapes, or small scenes that don’t require full production.
If we go with 3 as our number of Dad talent, that leaves us one day to do interviews / job site footage, and one other day to do b-roll for their “why”, which I see as a myriad of “day in the life” type shots that include their to-and-from from work and time at home spent with family.
This is a tight budget, so simplicity works in our favour— our production strategy needs to reflect that. This is going to require a minimal approach, but I think that makes our production process better. Not having a ton of moving parts on the day will make our subjects feel more comfortable on set while allowing us to stay nimble; only focusing on shooting what serves the thesis of our film. We need everyone on the same page about this, so let’s make sure we cover it in our follow up chat.
I will speak to casting, our key beats, visuals, and our approach to post-production in later sections— But know that both logistical and creative decisions in these categories keep simplicity at its core.
Time to get into the nitty gritty
😎✨🎬