From writing to casting; personalities matter to your movie.

As a director, understanding personalities will solidify the way you direct the talent and help your team cast the right actors for the characters. Understanding personalities is the gateway to superb filming. Getting the right DP or production company is much simpler in that you can just view their portfolios. Personalities however are far more varying and impossible to direct if you cast the wrong type. Using the Myers-Briggs technique can help you understand the different types of personalities.

Using Myers-Briggs to enhance your film

There are four main dimensions in the Myers-Briggs concept, and each dimension has two opposite traits. These traits are generally abbreviated by a letter and strung together to give you an easy reference to your specific personality profile; For example (ENFJ).

The combinations and possibilities are endless. But knowing how to differentiate between the combinations helps you understand the depth of your character’s personality; connecting you and your actors with the characters as though you know them personally.

The different dimensions of personality profiles

Energy: Introversion (I)- A deep thinker this person gets energy from ideas, concepts and inner monolog.
Extroversion (E)- Highly interactive this person gets their energy from people and activity.

Attention: Sensing (S)- This person Focuses on facts and proceeds methodically.
Intuition (N)- This person loves to imagine what’s possible and proceeds through life more randomly.

Decision making: Thinking (T)- Proceeds through life with the use of logic and rule of law.
Feeling (F)- Proceeds through life compassionately always striving for harmony.

Life style: Judging (J)- Lives life through planning and stands firm on decisions
Perceiving (P)- Lives spontaneously evaluating decisions based on information presented at that moment.

So the nerd in me can’t help but to give you an example:
Luke Skywalker-
(E) Even at the begginging of A New Hope Luke is trying to get out of fixing the droids to go with his friends for a power converter. But throughout all the movies he is motivating people and his friends to go do things.
(N) Luke loves to imagine himself in the future as a Jedi and doesn’t mind taking risks to get what he wants. (“Like shooting whomp rats back home”)
(F) Luke always shows compassion even the reason he is going with Obi Wan is to avenge his family and help bring balance to the universe.
(P) Not thinking ahead Luke consistently rushes into situations because of his perceptions; this is made super clear when he rushes off to the cloud city against Yoda’s wishes.

Now that you have an understanding of personality profiles go through your screen play and find the character makeup to everyone in your story. Write out the names and put the correlating four letters next to them this will help you get to know them well.

Once you get to casting you will have a clear view of who you’re looking for in an actor. And finally when you get to production you can give the direction that will really pull the character off the paper, out of the actor, and make her come to life on the big screen.

Good luck!

Ready to get into the Halloween spirit?

Then make sure you hold your sweetheart tight as you watch Somebody Help Me 2, produced by our very own Zeus Zamani!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW IT ON NETFLIX

7 THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN FILMING

1) Think Family- The people on your production are investing their hearts and souls into the project so open yourself up to having more fun with them and listening to their input. You’ll find outside ideas will help to give you more perspective; not to mention the work will go by much easier.

2) Stay calm- Things are going to go wrong no matter what. So regroup, learn from your mistakes, and streamline your production process. If you panic and start blaming everyone then time will be wasted and the family structure we talked about earlier will be lost. Think your way out — there is always a solution.

3) Use your heart- If you need to speak up for the sake of the film do it!! There is nothing worse than being right about something but having never told anyone. You’ll beat yourself up about it for the rest of your life.

4) Don’t beat yourself up- No one can think of everything and the sheer nature of film making is somewhat improvisational. Give yourself allowances to go with the flow. You never know, one mistake can bring about an idea that helps your production make its mark.

5) Be willing to compromise- There are a lot of things that look good on paper but not in a real world scenario that’s filled with budgets and technological limitations. Not everything will be as you envisioned and scenes or ideas may be cut. Find a compromise for your ideas that will both enrich your project and allow for any restrictions.

6) Make sure everything is legal- All waivers signed, all permits acquired. If the city closes down your shoot or if an actor sues you or your affiliate company it can harm your reputation and cost your production thousands if not millions of dollars.

7) Have fun- This business is about creativity and quality work; if you’re in the right state of mind it‘ll show.

Have fun, and good luck!

It’s late, you just finished playing a packed house, your fingers are aching from sliding up and down your guitar strings, and your knees throbbing from dancing your ass off.

The rush and exhilaration gives you a high you can’t come down from for at least two days and all you can think about now is “when are we going to play again?” or “how will people react to our new song?”

If you’re a musician you have achieved this feeling numerous times, but getting that feeling consistently is usually an issue. There are also the nights that no one shows up, or no one heard of you in that town, etc.

If you want that feeling every night, or at least two times a week, you are going to have to play with all of your heart and soul regardless of who is in the audience, write some great music, put in some hard time and last but definitely not least get organized.

So let’s imagine you have the first three elements covered it’s time to get organized.

One step you can take, which all bands must take eventually, is to hire a manager.

Things to look for when hiring a band manager

Managers can range from big name professionals to your buddy who’s willing to help you get your band together. Here are a few things that you want to see from your prospective manager in order of importance.

• Impeccably organized
• Good communication skills
• Understanding of the music business
• Knowledge of promoters or ways to get in contact with promoters
• A belief in your project
• An independent attitude so as not to get in the way of your creative time

Organizing your band on your own

If you choose a DIY approach know that your creative will definitely suffer for a while as you tend to teh busienss side of things. And here are the things you’ll need to do

• Keep track of everything (sounds silly, but I’m deadly serious)
• Network online and off
• Get a promoter list together
• Create special events for PR
• Create a website or myspace, or reverbnation profile.
• Book shows
• Book practice sessions
• Book studio time
• Band branding
• If possible start promoting for shows 2 to 3 months in advance
• Be relentless with your marketing
• Make multiple videos to put online

Work these elements ceaselessly and you are guaranteed to see results.

Good luck, and break a leg!

If you’ve ever done a project at AZ studios you know that Zeus is one of the most calculated and driven producers in LA right now.

With a seriousness that rivals that of a general in war, Zeus prides himself on getting productions done with the least amount of problems and as close to under budget as possible.

But what is it that makes him tick? How does he keep going in such a competitive field? Well, why don’t we ask him!

How long have you been working in film production?

I’ve been producing since 2006, so it’s been almost 6 years. My first project took me and my brother, Ali Zamani, to Sweden to shoot parts of a feature film he had written and was planning to direct.

What are your three favorite things about working in the film industry?

1) I’ve always loved working on projects; the satisfaction of seeing an idea develop into a living/breathing entity has always been great for me!
2) There are no two projects that are exactly the same; as a producer you can never “see it all”! The new challenges and obstacles you face are never ending, making each project I work on an enlightening adventure.
3) The human contact, interaction and networking aspects of the film industry are all things I definitely love and have always excelled at.
A big part of being a producer is the ability to understand and appreciate the importance of relationships with other individuals. In this industry you must embrace the fact that every single individual and position is just as important as the next.

What are your three least favorite things about working in the film industry?

I don’t really have three things but, if anything, I would have to say it’s that as a producer you never ‘clock off’. It’s a lifestyle commitment rather than a job, which is fine 90% of the time, but I wish I could just clock off now and again!

Out of the 300+ productions you’ve worked on which one is your favorite or most memorable?

Every single project has had its own great memories and experiences; however there is definitely a couple that spring to mind. Producing the video for Tyler the Creator was great in that we had to order large hissing cockroaches, stage a vomit and even a suicide by hanging. That stuff is just fun to me.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the industry?

The biggest challenge to date I would say was producing the feature film project “Battlefield America”. This is a dance movie which we spent 2 months in pre-production for, and shot in 27 days.

I worked for an average of 14 hours per day without a single day off in that period. Every day presented itself with logistical challenges and obstacles so it was a huge learning curve for my career.

Overseeing a large budget production, 15 million to be exact, and managing my personal crew of about 50 members was definitely not easy! Working with children was also definitely no piece of cake as anyone in the industry can tell you. So many restrictions, rules, laws, etc.

But – we were able to come through and complete it. It’s now being screened at various studios (I am not allowed to say which ones) and will hopefully be released theatrically January or February of 2012!

What are your plans for the Future?

The plans of the future definitely include producing more feature films, including a project written by and directed by my brother, Ali Zamani. We’re planning to put together projects which involve shooting in different parts of the world and would need collaboration with production companies/producers in other countries.

As you can see Zeus is a busy guy and his eye is always pointed toward the future.

If you would like to get more information on upcoming projects feel free to leave a comment below.

If you’re interested in reading some of Zeus Zamani’s producer journals we’ve featured on the blog click below to read them!

Producer’s Journal – February 2011

Producer’s Journal – The private screening

Producer’s Journal – Summer 2011