Chess Film: The Film Proposal

Creating The Proposal 

As director, I was responsible for the genre statement, script, call sheet, and casting report. At first, I did not understand why there were so many papers required for the proposal, but as we began preparing for filming, I quickly saw the purpose behind each one. I filled out the video aspect of the script, while our sound designer filled out the audio aspect. Additionally, our cinematographer used the script to assist her in making the shot list. This verified that we were all on the same page. Our group communicated through every step of the film proposal to ensure all our ideas were aligned. Although I did not have to complete every element of the film proposal, as the director, I made sure I was there to support my group whenever needed, so that we could create a well-rounded and strong proposal. 

My group communicating about various factors important to our film.

Problems With Our Proposal 

My group got the 'green light' to film, so there were no significant issues with our proposal. Our mistakes were more lessons that will guide us in future films. For example, our storyboard was too short and we learned that a storyboard should capture all, or at least most of the shots that will take place in a film. A storyboard is a tool used to visualize a film and helps plan out each scene in detail. The more of the film you can visualize, the clearer the final product will be. Another mistake I made was that I filled out one call sheet for all three days of filming. I learned it is much more efficient if you fill out a call sheet for each individual day. Once I got home that day, I printed out three call sheets because I wanted our filming days to run as smoothly as possible. One last thing we learned is that scripts do not typically have shots listed on them, that is why there is a shot list. The script is more for the storyline of the film.