What I learned from my Doritos commercials

Wow, this feels good. I just posted all three of my Doritos commercials online (‘The Red’, ‘First Date’, ‘The Breakroom’, and check out behind the scenes pics right here) and now I can call it a wrap. Done. Finito. My first personally funded, professional shoot is now officially in the can. Ahhhh.

But before I can move on to the next project, I need to wrap up my thoughts and so here we are at this blog post. How convenient.

So this shoot was a big deal for me for a few reasons:

1. It was my first professional shoot that wasn’t funded by a client. Meaning me and my creative partner Jesse had to front $2,000 ourselves. Now a lot of you filmmakers are scoffing at that, but for a guy who just graduated into this horrible economy without rich parents, that’s a lot of rent and spaghetti right there.

2. It was my first time really working with dialogue. If you take a look at most of my work, I’m definitely more of a visual filmmaker. Dialogue has always scared me, but I really wanted to learn so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to stretch my wings.

3. It was my first time seriously working with a production team. I’m usually on my own when it comes to my personal projects, but not this time. My creative partner, Jesse Epstein, and producer, Jenny Ahn, were right there with me every step of the way. For a straight month of craziness, these guys were pulling long hours and late nights to make our commercials the best they could be, and no way in hell could I have pulled it off without them.

4. There was the slim possibility that one of our commercials would win the Doritos contest and be shown on the Superbowl. Welllll that didn’t happen, but it’s all good. Just means I’m gonna have to grind away and earn my big break, like everyone else.

So without further ado, here are some things I’ve learned from my whole Doritos experience:

The only way to learn is by throwing yourself straight into the fire

I’ve spent so much time in the past year reading filmmaking books, discussing film tips online, meeting up with other filmmakers, getting advice, talking about film, analyzing films…but in just two days of shooting, I learned way more than that entire year added up.

You can read and talk as much as you want, but always, the best way to learn is to make like Nike and just do it.

A strong team is all you need to make it happen

I can say, hands down, this was one of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve ever had because me and my production team gave it absolutely everything we got.  We had only 1 month to make 3 separate commercials (1 week writing, 1 week planning/auditioning, 1 week pre-production/shooting, 1 week editing), and it was overwhelming.  The only reason I was able to pull it off was because of Jesse and Jenny.  The three of us constantly pushed each other, forced deadlines, shared input, gave encouragement, and made damn sure that we were going to make this happen under any circumstances.  And we did.

Having an experienced DP is key

Finding a DP (Director of Photography) who know his stuff and has been doing this for years is crucial.  An experienced DP has been on hundreds of sets and has been through all kinds of problems and disasters that you’ve only dreamt about. Having that kind of wisdom on set is a no brainer.  A knowledgeable DP can guide you, give advice, steer you away from wrong, and teach you a ton about filmmaking.

I got lucky working with Matt Bass, who has been a DP for over 10 years and done spots for MTV2, ESPN, and bands like Rise Against and The Beastie Boys.  Not only was he talented and experienced, but his Zen-like demeanor was exactly what I needed.  I remember starting to freak out when our second shoot started to fall apart – we couldn’t use our location cause of barking dogs, our car suddenly had a huge crack across the windshield, we were already behind schedule – and Matt was as calm as could be, already figuring out solutions.  That made me remember what he said earlier, “When directors get stressed out, I just get more calm.  It helps noone to freak out.” and I immediately chilled out.  Thanks Matt, once again, you were right.

Prepare, prepare, prepare

You already knew this one right?  But it’s so important, it bears repeating.  Everything I did, from auditions to the shoots themselves, became so much easier because I prepared myself silly in advance.  When you’re a director on set, you’ve got things coming at you left and right, questions from your cast and crew, what to do with this prop, how to change this location, what to do about this problem.  The more you have everything figured out beforehand, the more you can focus on what’s most important: the creative aspects. Prepare, prepare, prepare, and then prepare some more.

Speaking of preparation, I found using prose storyboard and these Hudson storyboard templates really helpful.  Use them!

Make the project everyone’s, not just yours

Here’s what my producer Jenny Ahn had to say about that:

Most importantly, your project should be everyone’s project.  Excite the crew and actors, build relationships, make them as invested in the project as you are, so even if you hit a few speed bumps, like your shoot running 4 hours off schedule (i.e., The Red) everyone is okay with it cause it’s just as much their project as it is yours.

Fake hair is fun for everyone

Need I say more?

Keep a journal of the whole crazy experience

Trust me, you’ll want to look back on it later and there’ll be tons of great moments you’d otherwise forget.  Here’s one straight from the pages of mine:

At the very end of The Red (our last shoot), at 4:30am, Matt Bass told me and Jesse that we did a fantastic job as young filmmakers. He said we’re meticulous and that’s exactly what you need with commercials. When he came home from our first shoot, he told his girlfriend that he thinks we’re really talented and that we’ve got a future in this.  She said he should tell us but Matt said, “Nah, I’ll tell them later.  I don’t want their heads to get too big” haha.  That was the perfect thing to hear at the end of this long ass day.

And now it’s officially officially a wrap.  Alright team, what’s next?

UPDATE! Jesse Epstein himself (my creative partner, for lack of a better term) wanted to throw in some lessons of his own into the mix:

1. Share. Before deciding on which concept to go with, share your ideas with a lot of people. We almost nipped one concept in the bud [The Red!  Can you believe it??] and never shot it because we hadn’t shared it with enough people to convince ourselves it was good enough. Per the advice of our producer, we ended up making it and it turned out to be a pretty damn good spot.

2. Beg. When you have very little budget and very little time, you’re going to have to get on your knees. No doesn’t necessarily mean no, especially if you only ask once. It’s surprising what a little bit of prodding around can do. If we hadn’t begged, we would have had to shoot a romantic candlelight dinner scene in broad daylight.

3. Adapt. Yes, preparation is key. But there’s a ton of stuff that you just can’t prepare for. Like a dog yelping without end when you need complete silence. Or a makeup person bailing without a phone call. I had no idea how much we would need to think on our feet and it became so crucial to adapt to every situation as if it was no biggie. Adapting is the only way to make things go smoothly.

Check out more pics from behind the scenes on my flickr.