Before you can begin production, you must fi rst create all of the assets for your fi lm. This is perhaps the most dangerous stage of a fi lm because decisions made earlier on in terms of the scope of the fi lm will either pay off or come back to bite you. And while it was those choices early on that determined the amount of work you have to do in 3D pre-production, how you react now to the workload will determine whether you fi nish your fi lm or not. It should be noted as well that no matter what you decided before beginning 3D pre-production, you should always try to work with a little bit of fl exibility. If the scope of your fi lm was a little too ambitious, do not work yourself to the point of burning out just to stick with the original plan. The converse is not true, though; if you are fi nding yourself ahead of schedule and with plenty of time to complete everything, do not add work for yourself. Consider yourself really fortunate that you created an idea simple enough to execute with the resources you have, and move on. One thing that sinks fi lms

often is the feeling early on that you have more time than you do. Novices will add all sorts of new elements and scope to the fi lm at the beginning of 3D pre-production, only to realize later on that keeping up this new level of detail is impossible. Also, it is common to get discouraged when you realize just how much work it will be to prepare your fi lm for production even when you have planned well. The tips in this chapter will I hope make your journey through this phase of your fi lm easier and more enjoyable. For the fi lm Booty Call , the pre-production was simple and effi cient, which paid off hugely in the end when it came time to create the fi lm. But this was not chance; decisions made very early on, especially with regard to our “modular middle,” turned out to be lifesavers when we created the short.