Do I tend to overthink things in filmmaking?

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay thanks. Well I will try to do the best I can judgment wise, I just thought that getting more acting options would severly help since that is what most of my critiques were from others.

However, at the end of the day, don't you still do your best and hope for the best when making a movie and that is all you can do, or no?

[Brian Drysdale]

In the end, you do and no one is stopping you.

[Ryan Elder]

Well if the problem is me, then perhaps I do not need a different DP and actors, and I just need to direct the actors I have and the DP I have better, in order to get top notch performances, and better cinematography out of them, if that's the problem?

[Brian Drysdale]

No one's stopping you from doing so, but that doesn't mean that people think that you're going about things in the best way.

Part of the job is selecting the right people for the roles and knowing if the people have currently cast have the talent to manage "top notch performances". Although, I suspect they're capable of doing better than they've been doing in your current films.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay. Well what I could do is set my standards higher if that helps. Even before when I made other shorts, I thought to myself in the auditions, "well this actor doesn't seem right but I will just cast anyway and hope for the best in order to get footage in the cast",

But maybe I should have higher standards and should not cast, unless my instincts are higher than that?

[Brian Drysdale]

How good the acting will be is decided at the casting stage. If you feel that an actor isn't right for a part don't cast them, it's not personal.

[Paul R Johnson]

The trouble is that you are unable to spot potential, and nurture it because acting is not one of your skills. You have a poor pool of locals and then cast them bizarrely. If your instinct says don't cast this person, then that's the decision made. If you determine they are not good enough, then including them dilutes the product as a whole. What is the point of auditioning if you have to cast them anyway? Just give them the role and stop pretending to do real auditions.

[Brian Drysdale]

Indeed, you need to have a choice if you're doing effective auditions.

With one film I was extremely lucky with my casting, even though there wasn't really any choice other than who was going to play which part. On the other films we spent days going through the auditions. I probably met most of the local professional actors along the way.

[Paul R Johnson]

I daren't post this on social media where my friends might read it but the current series of Britains Got Talent rather highlights the problem. The majority of acts were mediocre, I thought, and some of the judges were clearly voting with an agenda. Then at the very end, after the winners were announced they had Cameron Macintosh's professionals - most of whom had not rehearsed together before a few days before the show, brought together for an amazing finale - and these professionals, many of whom the general public would not even recognise wiped out the contestants with their sheer ability and professionalism - a huge chasm in the talent spectrum. The weakest of the professionals making the best of the newcomers look very, very lacking. It just showed how poor some people are, and how they 'think' they're good.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I imagine only a handful of people want to be in his movies. So when he says auditions, I doubt they resemble anything we would expect. I don’t think he has the luxury to be too picky. It’s painful reading him struggle through every conceivable phase of making a movie. One intractable problem after another.

[Ryan Elder]

Well before I would pick whoever I could just to get footage in the can. So I went against my instincts before to get a short film made.

But I can not cast if they do not feel right now, and keep looking then, for people who fit the parts more so.

[Brian Drysdale]

Pre-production is just as important as shooting a film, be it a short or a feature film. It usually involves a lot more time than the shooting days.

[Ryan Elder]

Yep that makes sense. I usually have to rush pre-production because someone is only available for a certain amount of time, or a location is... Unless I should cast before looking for locations? I feel if I do that, then everyone has to wait for who knows how long of amount of time before I can find locations then.

[Brian Drysdale]

Spend time doing both, no wonder you end up with problems. Are the actors going to live in a different country?

[Ryan Elder]

No they won't live in a different country. Why?