Most Behind the Scenes features are about production — the actual shooting of a film or video. This is a little different in that it’s about preproduction — how a film or video project gets to the point where it’s actually being made. Preproduction is a lot of work. Forgetting for a moment the act of coming up with an actual idea, before a single camera rolls on any project there is an extensive and daunting list of things to organize: scriptwriting; casting; set design; prop sourcing; wardrobe; crew contracting; equipment planning; on and on.

No plan, as the saying goes, survives contact with the enemy, and that’s certainly true in filmmaking.

Because I have to function as my own producer, I’m fairly methodical and organized in preproduction, and I thought it might be interesting to share my process and the materials I use to get a video like Lady Grinning Soul off the ground. What follows is the original casting notice for the project, which I posted both on Craigslist and around the online transgendered community here in Toronto, and the original script, shotlist and storyboards.

The storyboards in particular are extremely useful for helping both me and other people visualize the finished product, and I assemble them quickly using simple Google image searches. It’s also interesting to compare preproduction materials like this to the finished film. No plan, as the saying goes, survives contact with the enemy, and that’s certainly true in filmmaking. It’s also interesting to note the script was written in December of 2010, and while the shoot was planned for January of 2011 filming didn’t actually occur until the end of March. The editing was finished in mid-July, 2011.

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Originally published December 6th, 2010

We’re looking for a pre-GRS transgendered woman for a 1-day music video creative shoot in the Toronto area in January 2011.

Project title: “Lady Grinning Soul” music video creative
Client: Portfolio
Spot: 720p 3:52 mins
Producer: Chris Frampton
Job #: i010
Audition dates: n/a
Callback dates: n/a
Shoot dates: 1 day, TBD

Project
A creative music video project set to David Bowie’s “Lady Grinning Soul”, for non-resale use as a portfolio and promotional piece for Flyweight Films, on flyweightfilms.com, YouTube, and Vimeo.

Synopsis
Burdened with a life and identity they don’t want, a person transforms themselves in a careful ritual of cleansing, makeup and grooming. Using rich lighting, controlled camera angles and evocative camera movement, this person is revealed to be a transgendered woman.

Rates & contract info
This is a non-commercial creative, and is non-union and non-paying. Releases required. Performer granted right to non-commercial use and embedded credit, if desired.

Roles
The following role is being cast with a non-union performer.

Transgendered woman 20s/30s
No acting involved and acting experienced not required or expected, but please read the script for a description of the completed video. I’m ideally looking for a pre-GRS transgendered woman, 19 to 35, with either natural or augmented breasts of any size, who is comfortable appearing “masculinized” and without makeup at the beginning of the video. Some tasteful nudity is required.

Audio reference
David Bowie – Lady Grinning Soul

Downloads
Script
Shotlist
Storyboards

Contact
info [at] flyweightfilms [dot] com

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