What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?

[Brian Drysdale]

Generally with shorts, if you're not paying freelance people and they get a paying gig, there's an understanding that the paying gig gets priority.

[Ryan Elder]

Yep for sure, I payed before with those particular contracts. I can pay on future ones too. I was also told maybe I should do more takes to get better acting since before, having to shoot in a shorter amount of time, I was doing 4 takes per shot on average, but maybe that wasn't enough. But I don't want to do too many either to get it right, cause one time an actor took 17 takes before I called it as good, but then we ran into an extra day of shooting therefore too. So I was wondering how many it takes on average, if I haven't been doing enough.

[Brian Drysdale]

The number of takes varies, as does the reasons, however, If you were shooting film on a short it would be unlikely you would do 17 takes.

The quality doesn't depend on the number of takes, first takes can turn out to be the best. You do tend to get higher number of takes on commercials, because you're after something caught in a couple of seconds with precise timing on the camera moves ,

If you've got time and budget pressures, you won't be able to go into another day, because you haven't the money. That's real life film making.

There's no set number of takes for quality, you may get it in a couple of takes. If you've got it you move on, there are no rules obout this Some actors are at their best on the first take, while others are better on the third. The director has to balance all this out.

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

...I was doing 4 takes per shot on average, but maybe that wasn't enough. But I don't want to do too many either to get it right, cause one time an actor took 17 takes before I called it as good, but then we ran into an extra day of shooting...

Table reads and rehearsals beforehand increase not only actor's familiarity with their characters and lines, but also their personal investment in the project. A double win!

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

Oh okay, well the person who dropped out of the contract is now living in Vancouver and is more successful than me and other filmmakers I have worked with

Why don't you call him and see if he can help you get your foot in the door. Seems to me he owes you a favor if he blew off the contract.

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

But I don't want to do too many either to get it right, cause one time an actor took 17 takes before I called it as good

The usual reason for a large number of takes is the actor blowing their lines or corpsing, also delivering a single line in isolation can involve quite a few takes. The latter tends to happen in commercials.

However, you usually can tell when you've got the best you're going to get when the performances start to tail off. Trying top build up emotional intensity can involve a number takes, allowing the actor to risk more each time and dig deeper.