McCracken: Truck Stop - The Making of a Micro-Budget Web Series

After spending the most on budget for McCracken 3 we had to cut costs on McCracken 4. After discussing we decided to go back to Wayne directing and thus regrettably had to leave Laurence out for this Ep, which was a shame after he really had brought something different and lifted the game with Ep's 2 and 3. He was still kind enough for giving me notes on the script for Ep 4 which was fantastic feedback and helped make Ep 4 arguably the best Ep yet. His feedback was that he "didn't really know what the characters want". "What does McCracken actually want from Boss? "

This is so important in creating your web series, or any form of story telling for that matter. What do your characters want? It's easy to just piece together funny or entertaining episodic events/episodes but if there is no through line, ultimate character motivation or underlying themes being explored then it doesn't really mean anything. It will be an empty story. So it reminded Wayne and myself to put the hard yards into the script, because if you make the script tight as can be, then that sets the precedent for the rest of the production.

The most important part of filmmaking is the script!

Wayne's Directors Notes on McCracken Script

And this is one area where it won't cost you any money, just hard work, so do it!

Once Wayne and myself what McCracken really wants it elevated the script enormously and as you can see from watching Ep 4 there is plenty more going on than the previous episodes.

Anyway, on top of having to direct it ourselves we also had to find a cheaper cameraman, as we could not afford Kearon for this one. Wayne had someone in mind that he had worked with who made wedding video's. He was keen to do something creative and Wayne negotiated a small fee suited to our micro-budget. His name is Steve Favaloro and has done some grew work for us. Like Kearon, Steve could take care of good sound also.

Another important note; When hiring a cameraman on no-budget find one that can do sound also. These days there are plenty who can do both and many advantages to finding them. Not only will you get more bang for your buck but you will have one less thing to worry about, not to mention a smaller and less complicated crew on set which I personally am a fan of.

Steve Favaloro, Wayne Bradley and Tim  Roberts on location up back of ANL for the McCracken 4 shoot.

This was another exterior location set at ANL. The episode consists of burying the body so we found a quiet bit of bush up the back of the landscape yard away from the constant noise of the trucks. It was the smoothest, quickest and cheapest episode we've shot… and probably one of the best! Win win all around! Shoots like this are great, especially after you've been through some difficult and expensive ones.

The main reasons for this was:

1. Minimal props - just a shovel and cigarettes
2. Private, almost quiet location.
3. Small crew who just got on and did their jobs.
4. Wayne and myself settling into our roles and subsequent confidence/efficiency

Mike Kotsohilis was on set again to assist Steve and basically help things run smoothly. By the end of it all we'd spent was around $250 bucks on the whole shoot. And that included paying and feeding the our two man crew. And we finished under schedule, with the whole shoot wrapped after three hours!

So the moral of this story is filmmaking doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. Plenty of preparation and keeping it simple can result it a smooth shoot… and you get to have fun while doing it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Ze0AbHiic