Shoot It! The Production Process

This lesson, you will focus on shooting of your storyboard developed in the second activity in Lesson 2. A key way this production workflow differs from a professional production is that every group member will have an opportunity to work in every position. Along the way, the students start mentoring each other on how each position works and the relevant equipment. This lesson is a great way to help teach the you about how crews work together as well as about shot composition, directing, and performance.

Project Steps

You will need to recreate your storyboard as

  1. finalized, they need to schedule the production. It is important to identify the cast members, props and wardrobe, and the locations. This information dictates the order in which students shoot their footage.
  2. Note to Group Member: When creating the schedule, remember that the shooting may go slowly at the beginning because of your lack of experience. It has been found that once you get four or five shots filmed, you will have a better understanding of what to expect and start jumping in where needed. When scheduling, we group shots together based on location, cast availability (if they’re not from our class), equipment availability, and so on.
  3. Once the schedule is complete, set up a crew matrix in which every student signsup for each position. They will switch roles with each scene. (They can use the Crew Assignment Matrix.) The positions are: director, director of photography, gaffer (lightingtechnician), audio engineer, and production assistant. Having aeach of your group members to facilitate the crew assignments is one way students can take on more responsibility for the production. A main goal is to get you working together as soon as possible.
  4. Each student should be in a group and have one of the roles described. For example, the gaffer is responsible for all of the lighting equipment while the.
  5. When the crew list and the schedule are complete, have your group start shooting.
  6. As they rotate their roles through each shot, have each member teach each other what they have learned in the prior shot. This process usually takes a good one weeks to shoot. Students can use the Shot List to keep track of their shots.
  7. Please print page 2 & 3 of this handout. Each group member should have their own copy to keep and eventually be submitted.
  8. Remember to receive credit as a nine week exam, you movie must match your script and storyboard as well as having your movie last at least ONE MINUT, no more or less.