When to re-shoot?

Makers,

You're making a film and you realize in post that you would like to re-shoot a few things. Is it best to re-shoot after you have shot the film in it's entirety, or go back and chip away at the same scene.

I'm leaning towards shooting the complete script and then going back to "re-shoot" anything that is need. I feel like there will be more momentum and a sense of forward movement, as opposed to getting hung up on one scene.

What do you think?

Trey

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Hi Trey,

I'd say the attitude to have is to make a complete plan, which you KNOW will give you everything you need, and execute that plan as best as possible. Lots of the Rebel ethos is to spend more time and energy in planning, so your production and post-production efforts and costs are minimized.

Re-shoots are only for DIRE EMERGENCY situations, and should never be part of your planning.

I can't even get it in my head how you'd figure out that you needed a re-shoot while on set. Maybe you're going over dailies after the crew goes home, but how could you possibly know that something doesn't work until you've got it edited in place? And if you're organized enough to notice something missing in dailies, then why didn't you notice it missing while on set? In this case, organization is your biggest problem, not re-shoots.

I agree with Clint. Mostly.

I had a location that I only had for ONE day and I had 10 scenes - almost 10 pages to shoot - in only 6 hours of time. I KNEW that I wasnt going to get it all, but I also knew that what I got was what I got. There was no SECOND day at that location. it became apparent 3 hours in that we were FAR behind. I was given an extra 30 minutes at the end of the day to finish, and by the time we got to the last scene of the day - AND the last scene/final shots/ PAYOFF of the film, we had TEN MINUTES to shoot it.

I had an awesome alternate ending I wanted to shoot. An alternate ending that many think was better than the written ending. But I set out with a plan, and that was to shoot the script AS WRITTEN. It was an emotional scene. My ENTIRE direction to my actor was "Marc, you know your character, you know what he's feeling, get into place, and GET THIS RIGHT. We have ONE shot at this, dont fuck it up." We got two takes off and he NAILED both of them. All four actors in the scene were FLAWLESS. If the rest of the day went that perfectly, we would have been completed with time to spare.

Also that day, I had a KEY special makeup effect that took ONE HOUR to apply to my lead girl, and on the very first take of the shot, the effect failed. With no time to fix or change it, and knowing we couldnt come back tomorrow, I made the decision to rip it off, clean her up - "You have TWO MINUTES!" - and shoot it CLEAN, hoping we could do this KEY effect in post. The story HINGES on it. Thanks to an AMAZING VFX team (thanks for your help finding them, Stu), they NAILED the shot.

When we reviewed footage and edites those scenes together, there was a TON that we were missing. A METRIC TON. I blame myself, first, because I'm the director, but I also blame handing off camera duties and cleaning my hands of that worry. I learned that I CANNOT trust anyone. Not yet. My only choice was to EDIT around it. It worked out. There are shots I still feel I need, but the second the time was up at that location, I had to accept that I was only going to have what I had.

So, sometimes you will know that you need pick-ups at the time you are shooting. I DID. I just also knew I wasnt going to get them. The smart thing to do in those circumstances is to plan as efficiently as possible. Save the shots that will take too much time and muck up the rest of your day. If you can put off ONE or TWO shots and KNOW that you can come back for them, and doing so will help you, then do it. Typically, though, you shoot your film and pickups are only for what you need when in editing you dont have what you need. Then get them done NOW. Know WITHIN A WEEK what reshoots/pick-ups you need. The more time that passes, the less likely you are to get your cast and crew back on set. Best bet - if you only have 5 days in you shoot schedule, then schedule SIX days. Before you shoot a SINGLE day, let every go in EXPECTING and COMMITTED to that SIXTH day. If you DONT need it, then they get an early wrap; if you DO need it, you know they are already on board.

ClintTorres wrote:

Hi Trey,

I'd say the attitude to have is to make a complete plan, which you KNOW will give you everything you need, and execute that plan as best as possible. Lots of the Rebel ethos is to spend more time and energy in planning, so your production and post-production efforts and costs are minimized.

Re-shoots are only for DIRE EMERGENCY situations, and should never be part of your planning.

I can't even get it in my head how you'd figure out that you needed a re-shoot while on set. Maybe you're going over dailies after the crew goes home, but how could you possibly know that something doesn't work until you've got it edited in place? And if you're organized enough to notice something missing in dailies, then why didn't you notice it missing while on set? In this case, organization is your biggest problem, not re-shoots.

Thanks, Clint.

I actually stated that I noticed the issue in post (while piecing the sequence).

Moreover, it's not that I didn't plan or storyboard, it's that I'm not satisfied with the way things turned out. Know what I'm saying, bro Smile

Take care,

Trey

_________________
TV

I'm of the school where you plan on a reshoot day - about 1 month after the end of shooting, just the principle actors, for the cut away that you need, or a line of dialog - bring it up right from the start when talking about scheduling - theirs always something you discover in the editing (and lets face it, that's one of the advantages hollywood had over indies - the ability to do pickups)

It has nothing to do with not doing meticulous planning, but it's just the nature of the creative process, IMHO.

Mr. Ichybob wrote:

I'm of the school where you plan on a reshoot day - about 1 month after the end of shooting, just the principle actors, for the cut away that you need, or a line of dialog - bring it up right from the start when talking about scheduling - theirs always something you discover in the editing (and lets face it, that's one of the advantages hollywood had over indies - the ability to do pickups)

It has nothing to do with not doing meticulous planning, but it's just the nature of the creative process, IMHO.

I like that, Senor.

_________________
TV

Gage wrote:

I agree with Clint. Mostly.

I had a location that I only had for ONE day and I had 10 scenes - almost 10 pages to shoot - in only 6 hours of time. I KNEW that I wasnt going to get it all, but I also knew that what I got was what I got. There was no SECOND day at that location. it became apparent 3 hours in that we were FAR behind. I was given an extra 30 minutes at the end of the day to finish, and by the time we got to the last scene of the day - AND the last scene/final shots/ PAYOFF of the film, we had TEN MINUTES to shoot it.

I had an awesome alternate ending I wanted to shoot. An alternate ending that many think was better than the written ending. But I set out with a plan, and that was to shoot the script AS WRITTEN. It was an emotional scene. My ENTIRE direction to my actor was "Marc, you know your character, you know what he's feeling, get into place, and GET THIS RIGHT. We have ONE shot at this, dont fuck it up." We got two takes off and he NAILED both of them. All four actors in the scene were FLAWLESS. If the rest of the day went that perfectly, we would have been completed with time to spare.

Also that day, I had a KEY special makeup effect that took ONE HOUR to apply to my lead girl, and on the very first take of the shot, the effect failed. With no time to fix or change it, and knowing we couldnt come back tomorrow, I made the decision to rip it off, clean her up - "You have TWO MINUTES!" - and shoot it CLEAN, hoping we could do this KEY effect in post. The story HINGES on it. Thanks to an AMAZING VFX team (thanks for your help finding them, Stu), they NAILED the shot.

When we reviewed footage and edites those scenes together, there was a TON that we were missing. A METRIC TON. I blame myself, first, because I'm the director, but I also blame handing off camera duties and cleaning my hands of that worry. I learned that I CANNOT trust anyone. Not yet. My only choice was to EDIT around it. It worked out. There are shots I still feel I need, but the second the time was up at that location, I had to accept that I was only going to have what I had.

So, sometimes you will know that you need pick-ups at the time you are shooting. I DID. I just also knew I wasnt going to get them. The smart thing to do in those circumstances is to plan as efficiently as possible. Save the shots that will take too much time and muck up the rest of your day. If you can put off ONE or TWO shots and KNOW that you can come back for them, and doing so will help you, then do it. Typically, though, you shoot your film and pickups are only for what you need when in editing you dont have what you need. Then get them done NOW. Know WITHIN A WEEK what reshoots/pick-ups you need. The more time that passes, the less likely you are to get your cast and crew back on set. Best bet - if you only have 5 days in you shoot schedule, then schedule SIX days. Before you shoot a SINGLE day, let every go in EXPECTING and COMMITTED to that SIXTH day. If you DONT need it, then they get an early wrap; if you DO need it, you know they are already on board.

Thanks Gage,

Your always a big help, man!

Trey

_________________
TV

Itchy's idea is great -- schedule it from the start, you may not have to do it.

On the other hand, I've found it practically impossible to keep everyone together -- and keep the energy together.
My only reshoots were some cutaway and transition shots -- actor-free images.

I would never *depend* on having reshoots. As an idea, it just smells bad.

-- Paul

	Clinco wrote:
	Itchy's idea is great -- schedule it from the start, you may not have to do it. On the other hand, I've found it practically impossible to keep everyone together -- and keep the energy together. My only reshoots were some cutaway and transition shots -- actor-free images. I would never depend on having reshoots. As an idea, it just smells bad. -- Paul

Dedicated/planned re-shoot time that the cast and crew are aware of from the get go.
The more I think about it, the more I like it.

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TV

	Quote:
	On the other hand, I've found it practically impossible to keep everyone together -- and keep the energy together.

That's why I added this:

	Quote:
	Best bet - if you only have 5 days in you shoot schedule, then schedule SIX days. Before you shoot a SINGLE day, let every go in EXPECTING and COMMITTED to that SIXTH day. If you DONT need it, then they get an early wrap; if you DO need it, you know they are already on board.

My 5 shoot days were usually a week apart, not 5 days in a row. This can give you 1-2 weeks in between day 5 and day 6. One of the big problems is that actors and crew rarely seem to enjoy they process. Actors, from the 60+ I've been involved with over the last 4 years, only seem to want two things: A) to BOOK the job. They want to be able to tell the family and friends back in Ohio that their move to LA was "worth it" because they "booked a job". And B) They want the reel piece w/ credit. Strangely, they dont seem to want to do the WORK at all. This is evidenced by the 20+ recastings I had to do along with 10+ I couldnt recast. A handful actually showed up and a few actually showed up and enjoyed the process. The problem is that MOST of your actors, and crew, the second you say "that's a wrap" on the FIFTH day, will mentally write you off and will have all this stuff behind them. If you COME BACK and say you need another day, their first thought and probably first reaction will be "But we were finished! Sorry, I'm on to other stuff." But if they go in expecting that SIXTH day, and it is at a typical interval as the other shoot days, then they will still be mentally available.

And dont list the sixth day as "pickup/reshoot day", otherwise they'll get the idea that the fifth day the film was finished and now they need to work an extra day because you screwed up. Dont expect everyone to understand that pickups and reshoots are TYPICAL.

Good stuff.

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