The crew

In the following three days, René also completed the basic creation of the script. Of course, some parts of it were still a bit rough and needed refinement, but there was no rush at the moment. The interview work assigned to Lyman was extremely cumbersome. After all, Cannes was the place with the most intense film atmosphere in France, and it attracted numerous people who came to pursue their film dreams. Many of them came for interviews after seeing the recruitment information from the crew. They had no choice but to call him over to help.

In addition to René, the photography assistant who was tricked into coming also did not miss a day and came to help with the preparations for the crew since that day.

"Another morning," the three of them gathered again at Lyman's house, preparing for the interviews. Due to the dissatisfaction of the "Amour" cafe owner, who believed that holding the interviews there would greatly affect their business, the interview location was changed to Lyman's house.

"Let me explain today's work," Lyman said, taking out a file from a folder. "These are the candidates who are interested in joining our crew. Their contact information is listed there. Thomas, you will be in charge of contacting them." Then he looked at René. "We two will handle the interviews. Oh, and Thomas, after you contact the people on this list, go and order a batch of recruitment advertisements and post them in major studios."

"Alright, I got it," Thomas nodded in response.

"Ah, when will we be able to fill all the positions? Dealing with all kinds of people every day, answering various questions, I can't stand it anymore," René complained again, not having the same good attitude as Thomas. Since he took charge of the interviews, such words had been frequent.

"Have some patience, René. We need to find the right talent."

"Come on, last time a makeup artist with such rich experience came for an interview. We were almost set, but you gave up just because she asked for a weekly salary of €900. It's because of the remuneration these days that the crew has been unable to fully staff," René said, staring at Lyman with a stingy look, full of complaints in his words.

"There's no other way. We're tight on shooting budget. We have to save where we can. Besides, this film doesn't require a highly skilled makeup artist. As long as the actors look good on camera without major flaws, it's fine. The price she asked for was just too high, and she wasn't willing to lower it. Naturally, she's not a suitable choice," Lyman explained.

Thomas, on the side, was a bit speechless about this. He finally understood why Lyman said he would consider his performance even though he was a beginner. These days of interviews were basically about whether the interns could do the job. If their qualifications were indeed good and they didn't accept the performance-based salary, a salary would be offered, but it wouldn't be too high. It would be at a relatively low level in the industry. If they still couldn't accept it, then it would be goodbye. Lyman was serious about saving on expenses.

"I can make an additional investment to hire that makeup artist. I'll pay her salary," René proposed.

The behind-the-scenes team of the crew was almost fully recruited by now, with six people already confirmed.

Dax Richet, the lighting technician, was a middle-aged man who had been part-time in the industry for a long time. His salary wasn't high, only €300 per week.

Laura Saunger, the set designer, was a relatively young woman who had graduated from an art academy a few years ago. Her industry experience was not very extensive, and she had been working as an assistant. The reason Lyman hired her was that she agreed to provide costumes for the cast. Also, she was acquainted with the owner of a clothing store and could borrow some men's clothes for the crew for free. Her weekly salary was €280.

Cinematographer Clément Sabot was the most experienced among them all, with a rich portfolio of shooting multiple films and even receiving a nomination for Best Cinematography at the César Awards. He was a highly skilled individual, and Lyman offered him a weekly salary of €1000. Cinematography was a top priority in film production, and Lyman had to convince Clément to agree to this price, as he initially demanded a weekly salary of €1400. It was only after Lyman presented the script and storyboards that he managed to impress Clément and recruit him to the crew.

The remaining two members were the assistant lighting technician, an intern without remuneration, and the general assistant responsible for various tasks such as set dismantling, equipment transportation, ordering takeout, and providing drinking water. He would receive a weekly salary of €300. This young individual also had dreams of pursuing a career in the film industry but couldn't accept a non-paid position. When he proposed a weekly salary of €300 and expressed his willingness to handle miscellaneous and strenuous tasks, Lyman agreed.

In short, the crew had taken shape, with the exception of a crucial makeup artist.

Furthermore, René was not only capable of scriptwriting but also competent as a script supervisor. With Lyman as the director, except for the lack of actors, the film was ready to enter the shooting phase.

"Alright, let's do it this way. Thomas, you don't need to make phone calls anymore. You can go and order a batch of recruitment advertisements to post in major studios. We need to finalize the recruitment of actors as soon as possible," Lyman said.

"Okay," Thomas immediately went out to carry out the instructions.

"Uh, you finally agreed to my suggestion," René also appeared pleased. He would no longer have to deal with those bizarre questions.

"In that case, I'll finish the remaining storyboards. René, you can work on refining the script," Lyman proposed.

René had a relaxed expression and casually responded, "Don't worry, I'm good at this. I'll be able to finalize the script quickly."

Without saying another word, Lyman returned to his study and began another round of sketching storyboards for "Buried". His sketching skills were not particularly good, and he used simple lines to represent the scenes. For example, using two ellipses of different sizes and four straight lines, he created a pattern of the male protagonist. He then shaded the surrounding area with a pencil to symbolize despair, and the storyboard for that scene was completed.

He worked quickly using this drawing method, and it didn't take much time to create the composition for each scene, resulting in sketches on paper. Concise and direct, this was a composition style that Lyman favored. Occasionally, he would use a pencil to sketch, and he would also pause to recall the specific visual images from past films he had seen, helping him better conceive the composition of the scenes.

Deep down, Lyman had a clear vision of the entire film production. However, he still meticulously drew storyboards for each scene, aiming for as much detail as possible. Storyboarding was not something the director needed the most, but it was an extremely useful tool for communication with various departments.

You couldn't expect everyone, including the lighting and cinematography team, to understand how to achieve the desired look without first explaining it to them step by step during the shooting. Instead of making others understand your shooting perspective, it was better to draw detailed storyboards and provide them to the behind-the-scenes crew. This way, they would have a rough idea of the desired style for the upcoming shots, making the shooting process smoother.

That is the advantage of storyboarding.

The crew of "Buried" consisted mainly of newcomers with relatively limited industry experience. For them, having a clear understanding of the film's shooting style was even more important. The efficiency on the filming set is crucial for the progress of the shooting. Any film is a product of teamwork, and even talented directors like James Cameron and Steven Spielberg rely on the support of their teams.

Lyman understood very well that in order to successfully complete this project, as the director, he needed to ensure that everyone on the team understood his shooting intentions and could make real-time adjustments on set.

Another day passed, and the storyboards were completely finalized. After Lyman reviewed the script revisions done by René, they were also confirmed. Once Thomas completed his errands, the three of them started to busy themselves with renting the filming equipment.

Like any newcomer working on a film project, Lyman planned to rent all the equipment needed for the movie. Of course, this would also be a considerable expense, as renting professional 35mm cameras was not cheap.

While discussing which store to rent the equipment from, the intern Thomas surprised Lyman. "You said you know a store owner who sells filming equipment," René said, equally incredulous. When Lyman heard that Thomas had the ability to rent video equipment at a low price, he had a similar reaction.

"Yes, my dad is familiar with that store owner. I bought my first DV camera from him when I was in college. But his store is not in Cannes; it's in Marseille, in the Provence region," Thomas continued. "If we take a car from here, it will take about three hours."

Marseille, like Cannes, is located on the Provence coastline, and the distance between them is not too far. The savings from transportation and rental fees were incomparable. Lyman didn't hesitate and made a decision right away. "Let's rent the equipment from your acquaintance. We'll go there tomorrow."

After finishing the discussion about the filming equipment, Lyman and the others started talking about the filming locations. In the movie, the coffin is buried in the desert, so they needed to find a suitable location for shooting.

"I asked a real estate agent, and he has a large warehouse that meets our requirements. It's near the Martinez Beach in Martigues. We can shoot the sand scenes there anytime," Thomas, who had the most say in this matter, spoke up. He had been exploring the real estate market around Cannes in his free time.

Although there is a difference between the yellow sand and the sand on the beach, with some clever filming techniques, they could still achieve the desired realistic effect. Lyman didn't see anything wrong with Thomas's approach; instead, he expressed his approval. "Hmm, let's go take a look later."