Why does making a movie take so darn long?

So I recently graduated from the University of Iowa with my degree in Cinema and Comparative Literature. That means I still know very little about real filmmaking. Of course, in school, we'd make our own projects, but these obviously aren't motion-picture quality.

(if I can take a moment to plug myself [that sounds bad] check out this 48 hour film my friends wrote and directed, which I starred in)

Now, from what I know, it takes around 3 months to shoot a run-of-the-mill film, while action films tend to take about 6 months. The Amazing Spider-Man just wrapped after 7 months, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy took 2 years.

Now, I just can't figure out what takes so darned long? I mean, I know they do a lot of takes, but dang, that's like, two minutes of footage a day.

Add to that, I know in television they shoot a 45-minute episode in a week. I think in film they generally work 12 hour days while in TV they work up to 15 hours. Though actors, according to Kevin Smith, spend most of that time "sitting around waiting to act" so I must assume that a good portion of the day is spent setting up the shots.

Seriously, what the heck were they doing in New Zealand for two years? If anyone with more extensive filmmaking knowledge *cough*Solojones!*cough* can answer this, that'd be great!

Slimy!

 

Films are not on as tight a schedule. Compare any episode of ST TNG to the films. Time is the key.

 

you can film a drama film in less than a month.
Lord of the Rings was the length of 6-7 films

 

Also keep in mind that effects heavy stuff takes a lot longer to make than, say, a character piece set in modern times.

 

I think there is a very basic question being posed. It's like asking why does 1+1 = 2. Why does it take such and such time to make a film? It's just how fast a given group of people want it put together. Sometimes there is pressure to go faster, sometimes there is not.

 

Script
Casting
Concept art/storyboards
Set/costume design
technical stuff I don't know about that probably has to do with cameras and stuff
actual shooting
editing
reshooting
editing
lunch
editing
etc

 

What I'm asking is why it takes so long to film.

Slimy!

 

he was talking about shooting
not casting, costume, editing and all that stuff you mentioned. try to keep up

 

Sup d_b. Xmen sucked.

 

lol did you hear TDK is not a comic book movie

 

Probably because everything has to be perfect. And that's before they can even start shooting. Then, when they get a shot and switch to a different camera, or just go for another take, everything has to look exactly the same way it did in the previous shot. Then it depends on how many takes they actually want to do for each shot, and then probably there is some discussion about what could be done differently about the shot.

It's not like they can just start shooting every day and just keep going until they're done. Certain things have to be taken down and set back up every day. And then there's things like locations to think about--moving from location to location is part of the shooting schedule, as well as building the sets and actually modifying a location when you get to it. There's also makeup to consider, getting into wardrobe, etc. These things take time and are part of the shooting schedule. The list goes on.

 

Work on a big production for a day and you'll see why...

Maybe the sun is too bright in a scene and won't match previous shots, so they need an overhead diffusion suspended above the action. This can take 2-3 hours alone.

Maybe it's a huge battle scene with 100 extras and pyrotechnics and squibs and break away props. That's a lot of resetting if you'll be doing more than one take. Maybe they only want to do one take, so spend 2 hours just doing run throughs and rehearsals instead to make it perfect. Either way it all takes a lot of time.

When everything has to be done to perfection, it takes much longer, but looks awesome.

 

Everyone just hangs out at craft services.

 

I was recently at the Hobbiton set in New Zealand (yes, I have pics, no, I can't post them online as Universal made me sign an NDA) and I can attest to LOTR's lengthy filming probably being a logistics issue. They filmed in multiple spots in NZ and simply getting around there isn't quite as easy as the US. Logistical concerns aside, there are also other things like union rules (actors usually get an allotted amount of time in between their days, so if Joe Schmoe was up until 11pm doing his scenes, he cannot be in a scene that has to be filmed at 5am the next morning - this is a very general overview, there are people who do nothing but deal in the minutae of these rules as their job), studio issues, multiple retakes, set lighting/dressings (those can take a while with films) etc. Also, filming an actual movie is a lot more time consuming than television. TV shows can sometimes do up to 10 pages (or more) of a script in a single day, some films are lucky if they complete 1 or 2 pages in a single day.

Talk to me, there's a certain book I have which you might be interested which may explain some of these things in detail for you.

 

Why are we having to explain the basics of film making to someone who just graduated with a degree in it?

Haven't you like, ya know thought about internships while in school?

 

The hobbits were only allowed to work for 4 hours a day.

 

Paging solojones, paging solojones.....

 

Well, most of the time on set is spent lighting. Most people don't realize that you have to adjust the lighting every time you move the camera. Lighting for cinema looks effortless but it's usually pretty complex. If you have to do an entirely new lighting setup (like if you flip around and shoot a completely new direction) it's not uncommon for it to take the G&E team a couple hours to get that set. Especially if it's a moving shot. And if you're on location where you have to contend with non-moveable ceilings and walls.

Feature films look better visually than TV largely because they have the luxury of lighting time.

Television shoots a lot faster. You very rarely have more than 2 or 3 takes of something. You almost always have 2 or 3 cameras going at once. You shoot on standing sets most of the time that are much more controlled and pre-lit because they're on sound stages. Still, you get 8 days of principle photography for a drama and then a lot of shows shoot another couple days of second unit.

 

This. Set up is ridiculous and takes a long time. So much of your career in production will be waiting for your time to step up and do your job, and when you do it, everyone will be waiting on you. And the more complex the shot, the more elements that are taken into consideration, the longer it will take to set up.

This is part of the reason I went to post-production. I hated just standing around until it was my turn to clap the slate or push the dolly.

No film school I have ever heard of/seen ever gives you the full picture of the film-making world, just enough that you can survive your first few years and learn the rest as you need to while you advance through your career. A lot of smaller ones don't even really give you much of a taste of bigger productions, as you usually are working with a relatively small crew of about a dozen to two dozen people. And not all schools have the means to offer or help set up intern-ships, nor do all areas of the country/continent have enough local production for such opportunities.

I like that slimy is asking questions and not stepping out of school with a chip on his shoulder and an inflated ego about what he knows. Too many film school graduates (and attendees), in my experience, suffer from this delusion because they don't understand how little they actually know. They are quickly humbled. It bodes well I think that he is already humble and accepted that he is relatively inexperienced about the matter and isn't afraid to ask questions.

 

Echoing the lighting stuff. In my cinematography class earlier this year we had three hours per class session. Out of those three hours we'd shoot maybe three minutes of film tops, the rest of the time was spent setting up, lighting, framing, and resetting. We'd maybe get three shots a day.

Later in the semester I worked as a grip on a film our TA was shooting, the day I worked produced less than 45 seconds of the film, but all told from setting up to lighting to shooting to striking we were on location for 12 hours.

The thing I don't get, and I say this without an ounce of condescension, is that I'm not even a film production minor, and I understand why it takes so long to shoot a film, how is it you do not?

 

Dogme 95 for life, yo.

 

Yes, it's definitely a "hurry up and wait" attitude. In many jobs you do nothing for an hour and then suddenly it's like "OMG why aren't you ready you need to go now now NOW!" This is true of sound people for sure. Directors and actors should ideally be off rehearsing and working on scenes in these times, but it's not always the case.

Yeah. Also it's important to note that film studies =/= film production. It's like comparing and English lit degree with a creative writing degree. One is theory and one is application. They're very different.

Most film production programs will not have the equipment, location, or faculty to be able to provide much beyond the basics. And the top tier ones will give you a big jump on how to use pro equipment and systems, but as Spidey said, it's still just the start. You can run a student film set pretty professionally. It's a big emphasis in my school anyway. But there's still no comparing a $30,000 10 day student shoot with even a million dollar indie feature shoot. Well, if it's a good one

I might know more than other people here about film production, but I would never kid myself that I knew more than anyone who'd been working in the business even just a couple years. Good film schools can really give you a chance to make mistakes in a safer environment. It can give you a chance to figure out collaboration, permitting, working with the unions, the city, etc. But it can't make you a feature filmmaker. Only you can do that. Especially true if you're a directing student because no one is going to give you any kind of directing job

 

It also doesn't help that sometimes to edit just 1 minute of film takes anywhere from 1-3 hours.

 

or longer. much longer.

 

Also important to note (because I don't think anyone's touched one it yet in here) about LOTR: they were making three films at once.