I get a lot of questions about the process
and thought I would include some of my rare journal notes, random
thoughts, rants, comments, etc in this section. If you have a question
or comment, email me,
Daniel Millican. From time to time, I may have a pinch hitter fill
in.
NEWEST --Read the spouse's point of view about
getting actors in Jill's POV.
What I call the 6 Phases of Filmmaking (plus
Dan's wife Jill's special POV):
And also...
If you like this section, drop
me a line. I want to write this only if people want to read
it or find it interesting and I'll only know if you tell me. Also,
any cast or crew that want to send in an anecdote or two, or your
POV on part of the process, send it to me. I already have a couple
for Production coming soon.
Only Idea, Development,
and Pre-Production has been written at this time. Patsy Wesson's
article appears in Development. Steve Krieger
and Emma Nicolas's articles appear in Pre-Production.
THE IDEA PHASE
1995 -- After another horrible incident
involving the death of a little girl and the subsequent capture
of her self-confessed murderer, I had to ask myself what would I
do if it happened to my family? I pray I am never tested. This movie
is my answer to that question.
Around that same time, I was serving
jury duty in downtown Fort Worth and was taking a lunch break outside.
I thought about how silly it is to put bullet-proof vests on these
predators as they are transported to and from the courthouse. I
imagined a scene where the predator was being escorted out and one
well-aimed shot... I wrote this scene in 1996 and it sat there for
6 more years.
2001 -- During the summer, I had
three strong ideas floating in my head. I worked on writing one,
a true life story on a young girl and her family's harrowing escape
from Cuba in 1961 and finished it in the fall. I began work on the
next one, a story I first entitled "Pure Motive.
Excerpts
from "The Double D's of Filmmaking" by Daniel Millican.
copyright 2003, serendipitous
films, inc.
Filmmaking is
like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Millions of people
got the message. Hundreds of thousands did something about
it -- maybe built mountains out of mashed potatoes. Hundreds
actually made it all the way to Devil’s Tower to be rounded
up by the military. Only three escaped that and of them, just
two made it to the top.
I have met myriads of would-be filmmakers. Unfortunately,
most of these very nice people will not make it to the top.
The finish line is for those that are extremely talented and
passionately determined, know someone very important, or win
the lottery. We see Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater and
Wes Anderson and think we can make it, too. Without hope,
you would never get started.
However, the reality is that for most of us, the bluebird
of happiness does not drop our big fat dream on our lap, packaged
with a bright red bow-- sometimes the bird falls from the
sky, dead on arrival. For us, we make it by sheer determination,
passion, knowledge and the hand of providence.
I am writing to the few that have what it takes to go the
distance. You will need serendipity to smile on you, but remember,
most winning teams in football make the breaks happen. This
is for you who want to know how to make the bounces fall your
way.
There are six
distinct phases of making a film: The Idea, Development, Pre-Production,
Production, Post Production, and Distribution. The toughest
of these is Development (fundraising) and Distribution.
The Idea is self explanatory. Development is where the script
is created, structure of the deal set up and fundraising started.
Pre-Production is where the film is made. Every shot thought
through, crew and cast brought together, locations found,
costumes made and all the other myriad of details. Production
is easy—this is where the football team actually runs the
play you designed and practiced. Post Production is where
all the elements are brought together. For Distribution, you
hand off the project to someone else who will (hopefully)
send you checks or you self-distribute.
Most filmmakers have no problem with The Idea and Production.
If you have a good team of department heads (especially Unit
Production Manager or Line Producer), Pre-Production will
be where most of your problems are solved or eliminated. You
will still have problems on the set every day, but the ones
that kill are the ones that would have been avoided in a good
pre-production period. Post Production can be easy or difficult
depending on how you are finishing (film or video) and whether
you have some good, experienced help in post coordination.
