He Saves Lives / Get LA Film Shoot Tool Kit

What you'll need:

A Willing Agency Partner

Transitional shelters might work best because their population remains consistant for several months, but any Agency Partner who has teens consistantly participating would work as well.

A Group of Willing Teens

10 - 15 teens works best but could be more.

A Group of Willing Volunteers With Experience or Interest in Film Making

Volunteers with professional experience are great but not necessary. Our cinemaphotographer was a teenage volunteer interested in film making and her own digital camera! Actors, writers, visual artists, costumers, dancers, interior designers, photographers, editors etc...usually come out of the woodwork to participate in a project like this.

Time

We prepared for and shot our film in four sessions over four months. Three two hour workshop sessions and the fourth was the actual shoot, which lasted four hours (ten hours total) The post production (editing, music, duplicating) took two months.

Access to Equipment

We were lucky to have access to digital cameras and movie making/editing equipment through our volunteers. This is also not necessary. Cameras can be rented and most PC's have simple movie making software via the internet. Our film was edited on Windows Movie Maker.

How We Did It

Step 1 - Find an Agency

L.A. Works contacted LA Family Housing Sydney M Irmas Transitionl Living Center, where we were already doing a monthly Teen Outreach Program, to discuss the possibility of engaging the teens in writing, producing and shooting their own film for submission to the Get LA Film Festival and Contest. We approached this agency because of our long standing successful relationship. This, we felt, would insure the fulfillment of this project. We also chose this agency because of it's well known flexibility. The creative process with teens needs to be an organic process and the agency's willingness to honor that process was important. The agency was willing and enthusiastic! It was decided that the entire film could be shot at the Center!

Step 2 - Find a Project Leader

L.A. Works contacted our Project Leader of the Teen Outreach Program to determine if she felt this idea was appropriate for the teens she was working with. As it turns out, one of the activities her group loved best was movie night. Every other month, the Project Leader would rent a movie, the teens and volunteers would watch the film and then discuss the issues raised in the film. She felt this would be a perfect direction for her group!

Step 3 - Schedule the Sessions

L.A. Works sheduled the first three sessions to coinside with the two hour evening monthly project. We modified the description on the Project Calendar to reflect the change in programming. We then scheduled a Saturday afternoon session for the film shoot (four hour) and posted it on the Project Calendar. See below for an example of the project description for the four hour session.

Come help the teens at L.A. Family Housing shoot the short film they intend to submit to Get LA. Get LA is an online short film festival and competition conceived by L.A. Works Board members. It's all about Los Angeles -- what makes it great and what could make it better. Visit http://myspace.com/getla to learn more.

Over the course of the past few months, the teens have participated in writing, acting, storyboard, cinematography and general film making workshops with professionals in those fields. The teens have come up with the concept, written scenes, drawn storyboards, done character and scene work, scouted locations, and worked on costuming in preparation for this shoot.

Today, we will actually shoot the entire film and we need your help! There will be much to do!

Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.

[Based on this project description, if you feel you need accommodations to participate in this project (e.g. sign language interpretation, alternative formats for written materials, accessible facilities), please email us at info@laworks.com]

Step 4 - Recruit the Volunteers

L.A. Works sent out a targeted e-mail "call to action" first, to all project leaders, then to volunteers who expressed interest in working with at risk youth and then to volunteers who listed professions in the arts. The call was for all volunteers who had experience or interest in acting, writing, visual arts, costumes, dance, interior design, photography, editing etc... Also the "call to action" was for volunteers who had access to equipment they would be willing to show the teens to use. We were able to recruit a professional actor, a writer (a member of the Writers Guild of America), a professional storyboard artist, short film and stage producer, and teenage camera person with her own equipment, as well as other volunteers who were willing to assist in any way needed.

Step 5 - First Workshop Session (2 hours, 7 volunteers) Workshop 1 Handout

For our first session, we got the teens together and explained the Get LA Film Festival and Contest to them. We discussed what a short film is, what a "pitch" is and answered general questions. (25 minutes)

We broke the 15 teens into 3 small groups and asked them to work together to come up with their own short film ideas. We asked them to prepare their pitch, name their film idea and elect a "pitch person" to deliver their pitch on camera. The volunteers assisted them in the discussions and writing clear and concise story ideas. (45 minutes)

After the teens were finished writing their pitches, each team's pitch person delivered the story ideas to the group (filmed) and the teens voted on which pitch they liked the best. He Saves Lives was the film they chose to shoot. (45 minutes)

Step 6 - Second Workshop Session (2 hours, 8 volunteers) Workshop 2 Handout

The second session was a general film making workshop. Volunteers led a discussion where the definition of film making terms were explained and the various roles of the team it takes to make a film were gone over. (15 minutes)

The teens were given a chance to talk to the actor, writer, producer, storyboard artist and camera person in small groups. They were then asked choose the role the were most interested in playing as a part of the team making this film. (30 minutes)

Specialized workshops were started to give the teens more experience in their chosen role. (1.15 hour)

Most of the teens chose to be actors. They were given beginning acting exercises led by the volunteer actor and several other volunteers. As a result of the acting excercises, the volunteer actor was able to cast the lead roles that night.

The young man who came up with the story idea chose to be the script writer and paired up with the volunteer writer. They began making a story outline and scene cards.

One young lady chose to be the producer and was coached by the volunteer producer as to what her role would be. She would be in charge of scheduling on the day of the shoot, making sure all the actors were available and ready with their lines, making sure the actors had the correct costumes, decorating the sets, and obtaining the full names of all the teens involved for the film's credit sequence.

There were two teens interested in shooting the film and our volunteer camera person demonstrated the use of her camera and the teens practiced shooting the acting workshop.

The storyboard artist took two young men who were interested in drawing and gave a general workshop on drawing out the scenes or "shots". He brought examples of his work and gave basic drawing technique demonstrations. The young men practiced with the scene cards as they were being finished by the writers.

Step 7 - Third Workshop Session (2 hours, 8 volunteers) Read The Script

The third workshop we got down to the nitty gritty. Each group broke out into their roles and began preparing for the shoot. (2 hours)

Writers (1 volunteer) -

Turned over finished scene cards to storyboard artists, producers and actors.

Began work on the full script including dialogue.

Actors (3 volunteers) -

Began charachter development work with the lead actors and more general acting techniques were given to the supporting cast.

Once the script was completed by the writers, the actors began scene and dialogue work.

Producers (1 volunteer) -

Location scouting to determine where at the Center each scene would be shot.

Determined the materials that would be needed for set decoration.

Determined costumes.

Scheduled the timetable for the day of the shoot. To run an efficient film shoot, it is important to have a good logistical plan to keep it from running into overtime. Scenes are often shot out of sequence for practical reasons. As the writers finished the script, the producers began writing the Shooting Script. Read The Shooting Script

Storyboard Artists (1 volunteer) -

Drew more detailed "shots" of each scene. View Examples of Storyboards (drawn by the volunteer artist)

Camera (1 volunteer)

Practiced shooting in the acting workshops.

Learned more about the cameras.

Step 8 - Prepare for The Shoot (5 volunteers)

Over the next few weeks before the shoot, the volunteers were responsible for getting the materials needed, typing up and copying the scripts and making sure the equipment was ready. It was determined that the volunteer actor would direct the shoot!

The teens were responsible for learning their lines, getting their costumes, and finishing any work from the last workshop.

Step 9 - The Shoot (10 volunteers)

First 45 minutes

Prepare and dress the sets (Producers, Supporting Actors, Writers, Camera Persons and Volunteers)

Rehearse the Actors (Director, Lead Actors and Volunteers)

Begin Shooting (3.15 hours)

The teen Producer made sure the actors were available for the upcoming scenes and were in the right costumes. Volunteers did activities with the supporting actors when they weren't needed for a scene. The scenes were shot in order of the shooting script. The teens did great! It was a long, grueling process but it was loads of fun for everyone.

Step 9 - Post Production (3 volunteers)

The editing together of the scenes, adding music and titles to tell the story is just as important as the shoot itself. The volunteer scriptwriter, producer and camera person worked together to make sure the story's integrity remained in tact. The film was edited on a home computer on Windows Movie Maker. The result was He Saves Lives!