Parles-tu français?
Short Film #7
Dear Reader,
In the quest to make 14 short films in 2024, I came up against a question of quality versus quantity. Should I jam out lower quality short films in the name of making the full 14, or slow down and let the art take the time it needs? To make even one short film requires a tremendous amount of time, energy, money, and buy-in from goodwill collaborators in my network. To make the most of all this effort, I decided to slow down and focus on making the best work I could. Thus, on November 23rd, we shot short film #7, and on December 13th I directed #8, the last one for 2024.
There’s a saying in Hollywood: “Work attracts work.” It’s a principle of momentum; when people know you are currently working on a project, you are far more appealing as a collaborator. Thus, a mutual friend connected me with a fellow filmmaker to give some advice on directing and producing her own short film. By the end of the 1-hour coffee meeting, she said, “You’re hired!”
I hadn’t realized it was a job interview.
Seven being the number of perfection and completion, to me there was something fitting about the seventh project being my very first paid director work. Then she informed me the shoot would be in two weeks…
For those outside the industry, producing a short film in two weeks, at least a decent one, is a challenge, to say the least. For reference, two months is barely enough time. Thankfully the script was written, the actors were cast, and the locations were set. In my experience, those tend to be the biggest time constraints, so at that point, we needed crew and equipment.
I began texting people immediately. Finding a sound person on such short notice was the real hair-puller. I learned on a whole new level that your network is your net worth; in the eleventh hour, our sound guy came from a contact I met by chance at a film festival in Connecticut.
Obtaining all the necessary equipment felt akin to chasing squirrels. Our DP had nearly everything we needed, and I went to Share Grid for the final pieces. We’ve had success with this before, but unfortunately, the people I connected with were out of town or weren’t getting back to me. This is another reason producing a short film in two weeks is… unlikely. At the very last minute, DeHaven Camera Rentals came through for us. I rented from them previously for short #4, “Roommate Generation,” and they were stellar to work with. They were communicative, answered all of our questions, and worked with my DP to make certain we had exactly the gear we needed the evening before the shoot. I cannot speak highly enough of this rental house.
After locking me in for a shoot date in two weeks, the writer/actress/producer mentioned, “By the way, the script is in French.”
Excusez-moi?
I have a few years of high school French and a couple from college, but I am nowhere near conversational. Essentially, my grasp of French is like handrailing in a dark room. I can get to where I’m going, but it will take me a minute. Où est le mur? The wall, in this case, is the script with French/English printed side by side. Thankfully, our script supervisor had a few more years of French than I did, and he kept a hawk-eye on each phrase, taking copious notes for each take. When actresses needed a line, he was always ready.
By a miracle (with a lot of sweating, praying, and texting) we arrived on location, the crew began setting up, and I sat down with the two actresses for a table read… in French. I followed along pretty well until they went off-script. When they resolved a question of performance and line delivery, I said,
“Alright, let’s take it back to ‘Pour vrai, je m’en fou c’est come tu veux…’?”
The writer/actress whipped to look at me. “Did that just come out of your mouth?”
Embarrassed, I admitted, “Yeah. Did I butcher it?”
She blinked at me in shock, “No, that was… the accent was perfect.”
Confidence restored, I practically keeled over in relief. Thank God for high school French! Who knew I’d need it for my chosen profession?
For inquiring minds, I’ll address the elephant in the room: can a director who doesn’t speak fluent French really direct actresses speaking exclusively in French?
First, the writer/lead actress had a very clear vision of what she was looking for and gave notes and adjustments between takes, exhibiting her own strong directorial giftings. Second, with film and TV, a deaf person should be able to understand and enjoy what he or she watches. In the same way, in theater, a blind person should be able to understand and enjoy what he or she hears in a performance. This means that I, as a director who doesn’t speak fluent French, should be able to understand emotionally what I’m watching on the screen and the tone I’m hearing in the delivery of the lines. This means I was able to watch closely and provide directorial notes to achieve the performances we were after.
In all seriousness, with a French last name and now a French short film under my belt, I need to download Duolingo and achieve some basic fluency. Who knows when I’ll need it next?
Perhaps my favorite actor moment came when we were setting up for a shot and I said to the lead actress, “Okay, this is the climax of the story. You’re emotional. If you can get yourself to tears, great. If not, it’s okay, just lean into your distress.” She nodded, and I moved on to talk with the DP about lighting and angles. She turned around, and when she came back to me 30 seconds later, she was in full tears. Now that’s a gift.
Every set has its own fun quirks. On this one, our writer’s neighbor cooked us gourmet food for lunch. Serious. There was broccolini, grilled chicken, steak, arugula salad, sauteed mushrooms, pasta varieties, both with gluten and without… did I mention the broccolini? A show stopper. There was so much food that my planned 30-minute lunch break stretched to a full hour, and finally I had to call time. We worked another six hours, and after wrap, he brought out the food again. We spent the next hour gathered around the table to eat more gourmet food and listen to his war stories about screenwriting in LA, and that time he met Quintin Tarintino….
The indie filmmaker life. Nothing else like it.
That’s a wrap on #7. I’ll see you in January to tell you about short film #8:
“Rebellex Pre-Dominus, Office Manager, Damnation Corporation.”
Adventure Awaits,
S. C. Durbois Newsletter
1st Saturday every month: a new original short story.
3rd Saturday every month: a writerly check-in with updates.
4th Saturday every month: a new chapter from “Bohan the Mage,” a dark academic fantasy novel. Subscriber access only.
😁👍