“Can I swear?” – Paul Ritchard to a class of first year media students. “Damn” was my initial reaction. I hate it when someone takes the pleasure away from me by asking if it is okay to swear. It seems so sinister and unsuspecting to say ‘fuck’ or ‘shit’ to emphasise a point. It is such an easy way to grab attention. The point that Paul wanted to make certainly got through regardless. Time, more often than not, will slip through the cracks when working on a production. I like the idea of allowing an extra hour of time to set up for a shoot as Daniel Binns suggested. Just to get the head settled before hours of guaranteed roadblocks and, a-hmm, fuckarounds. Most of which are bound to be sorted in an unorthodox and challenging matter.
Film shoots are the reel test of media production. Although I haven’t been a part of many, it’s easy to note the critical thinking directors have to go through to reach a final product they are happy with. I made a short film to test my knowledge and skills of my camera, and encountered plenty of problems along the way. The biggest of this was being able to direct everyone while appearing in the film itself. For some reason I just thought it wouldn’t be too hard. I was wrong. Even with a cast of friends who I could speak to freely and effectively, time slipped away as the deadline approached. And there was lots of swearing, mainly because I was stressing, thankfully no verbal abuse was hurled. It was a bit of fun, but definitely not as good as I would have liked. Bit loopy that it’s called “Unsuccessful” really. Have a geeze below.
It has since become obvious that I need to invest more time in pre-production, and probably more in post-production too. Paul’s reiteration of this will resonate with me. Sometimes I operate on the fly without considering everything, and end up with an egg on my face. Too much egg, not enough fucking Caesar salad.
– Gabriel