Filmmakers Global Network ::
Community Spotlight with Jim Harlin
Writer, Director, Actor
Current Projects:
I’ve made a couple short films, sketches, and voiceover work in the past. I mainly deal in comedy but will occasionally dip my toe in more serious projects. Unfortunately, the past few years took me out of the game due to family obligations so that gap has mainly been filled with more writing and less shooting but since August 2019, I have been able to get back to work. I was able to find a few film collectives based in New Jersey where the group goal is to help everyone make their projects. I was in production of my latest short film that was two weeks away from shooting until the pandemic caused it to be delayed, which has been very frustrating. I’ve also been writing a feature film that I’m very excited about and revisiting a pilot that I’ve written in the past that got put on the shelf for a bit of time. My short film is about a married couple who are on the brink of divorce when The Devil barges into their lives and offers to buy their souls for three wishes. It’s kind of a meta dark comedy that focuses more on the couple trying to figure out how they could wish for something that won’t just get ruined immediately by The Devil. I always felt like characters in “Monkey’s Paw” type stories are rarely aware of the Monkey’s Paw story so I wanted to see it play out where people put real thought into their wishes and also how well a toxic couple can work together when they have the opportunity to change their lives.
Production Process:
I love typing up lists and making all the documents needed for a well-oiled production. Once the script is finalized, I’ll see about locking down locations and from there I’ll start the shot lists. My current production all takes place in one location so not only did I take photos of the location, but this time I also drew up a blueprint of the layout of the apartment we’ll be shooting in. It helps me figure out the blocking and making sure the scenes aren’t getting too boring with the actors staying in place for too long. Even before the script is finalized, I see about gathering crew and what kind of equipment I can get my hands on. All of my productions are pretty low budget so I try to gather all the favors and less expensive options that I can cobble together. One thing I learned recently is about auditions. I usually audition actors in person in a studio space but for my current project, I auditioned people over Skype, and was very surprised how great the experience was. All of the actors appreciated getting to stay inside during this COVID situation and I appreciated saving money on studio space. I was afraid that having people audition over the internet would hurt the performances in some way, but I didn’t have any issues with any of the auditions. It was a great experience that I would absolutely consider doing more often.
Challenge & Solution:
Early on, when I was taking film classes at my local community college, I had a graphics and effects class. One of the assignments we were given was a green screen project. He gave examples of types of things we could do and one of the examples was that “angel and devil on a person’s shoulders” concept and noted that anyone in past classes who has ever attempted this was not able to pull it off and advised to not do it. I wanted to give it a shot, so I chose to do that. We were only allowed one camera. If I could have used three cameras, it would have been incredibly easy because I would have just shot the person, devil, and angel at the same time but with one camera, it became all about timing and having each actor say their lines at the exact same pace for each take. I also wanted to do it in one still shot with no cuts. I did go in for close ups of the angel and devil so I could cut to them for safety if my plan didn’t work, but I really didn’t want to have to do that. So, I shot the actors and went into editing. The pacing did not sync up enough, so it was not looking good. It wasn’t a mess, but clearly things would have been weird with the timing being off. What I ended up doing was while the devil was talking on one shoulder, I used a different take from the angel and had that take fade in over the previous angel take and nobody noticed. The angel’s body position lined up with the previous take well enough that you couldn’t really tell that it was two separate takes. So, thanks to editing trickery, I made the project seem smooth enough where I “successfully” pulled off the project.
3 Production Tips:
The first tip is obvious but is worth saying. Prep, prep, and prep. I don’t think you can be over prepared as long as you are also prepared to change your plans at a moment’s notice. Expect problems and obstacles and try to manage them as best you can. Nothing goes as planned, but you should still plan heavily.
Secondly, rely on others. Don’t take too much stuff on yourself. Help is very important, and if you put too much on your plate, your project will likely suffer, and since you’ve given all the jobs to yourself, you’ll take it even harder on yourself when things go wrong. Also, only ask for favors of people you are 100% willing to pay back. If you ask someone to crew, expect to do whatever they need on their crew for any future project of theirs.
Third tip involves writing. Don’t overthink that first draft. A first draft shouldn’t take too long and more importantly, don’t focus on making the first draft great. If your first draft is good, you probably took too long to write it. Once that first draft is done, you are now able to look at all of it and see what you don’t like and change it from there. If I may make a disgusting analogy… when it comes to a first draft, you just need to take a big steamy dump on the page. The second draft is where you can get in there and start finger painting so you can turn your sh*t into something more presentable. Sorry for the visual.
https://networking.studentfilmmakers.com/profile/JimHarlin
