The Magic of Movie Making

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MOVIE SETS

The Magic of a Movie Set

Why are movie sets so exciting?

I recall walking onto my first movie set. It was actually a location shoot in Vancouver for an MOW back in the early 80’s. I was called up to be an extra and when I got there, I was told I was too young for the scene but I hung out for awhile.

The atmosphere! Literally electric due to those megawatts pulsing through the snake pit of cables bursting light inside of an old house.

The equipment I had never been around before. The language I had only heard on movies about movies but here it was the real thing. The magic was palpable and it was oh so sweet.

The next jolt of magic I got from a set was actually my first time on a sound stage. This was just a few years later in California. It wasn’t a particularly big stage and they weren’t shooting anything famous. Just a moderate building where they shot industrials on 16mm film. But the magic!

My brain was tingling with delight. It felt like I was in a place where something eternal was being created. I knew it would transcend the very lives of everyone there and so, in a way, it was eternal.

Personally, I believe that because film mimics life in a way that is eternal, it draws the very best of us and the very worst of us. Since the dichotomy of life must always be in balance, some of the worst people on the planet manage to sneak in. And anyone who creates with film knows that is possible and so most successful people don’t want to work with people they don’t know or who haven’t been recommended by someone they trust the word of.

This is why you have heard the film business called a relationship business. And it is so true.

Your skills at whatever you do in film whether you are an actor, a screenwriter or a producer are vital to your survival in the industry. But what may be even more important is your ability to solve problems and not create them within the sphere of your expertise and outside of it.

Do you generate a tone of “I can solve that!” Or do you complain about problems and disturb others with your badmouthing?

Are you polite to everyone on set by acknowledging their presence and being grateful that they are part of the team?

Film production is such a tight team working literally shoulder to shoulder. When people are that close together, each with their own job to do, manners and politeness play a big part in getting the film shot.

So despite me being mesmerized by all the gear and the words uttered that you can only hear on a movie set, the true magic was generated by the cast and the crew. Every person was there because they wanted to create magic. Without them doing so, there would be no 20K lights or Arri camera or actors in make up on a make believe set.

If you focus on that innate desire to create eternal magic, you will wind up being on great sets most of your living days. And that is one magical life!

Business vs Art

While the magic must be connected down to earth with dollars and cents, I believe the business side of the industry can be just as magical when you find the right people.

Try to avoid the hardcore “It’s all about the bottom line.” people. While there is some truth to that statement, if that’s all they are in the industry for, they should really be in some other kind of business. You know, like manufacturing widgets. Not manufacturing movies.

From my experience, these good folks are far and few between. If you happend to bump into one, do what you must to keep that relationship alive and thriving. For the magic must be fed from all sides, from every person involved. Including the bankers.

Beware the bottom liner. They can destroy your work faster than anyone else on set because they know they can lord it over you. That stifles creativity and leads to disasters.

The money people of the world have managed to convince pretty much everyone on this planet that money is the most important thing there is. I have to hand it to them, they have done a spectacular job.

I mean, just listen to pretty much any conversation at a restaurant or bar or wherever people gather and you will hear the topic of money being tossed around within minutes if not seconds.

If you are an actor or director or writer or even a producer, you must be diligent in finiding a producer who understands the importance of money but knows that the value of creativity is far superior and that money is just a means to an end. This person has woken up out of the hypnotized fear that money is more important than creativity and even people. It is not.

And when you do find them. Nourish that relationship. Get better and better at whatever job you do on set and you will arrive at a very happy place.

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