Why I make films

Here's my latest vlog that's going live on the UCA website soon and it includes some BTS footage from My Daughter that I thought could up here until the actual BTS video has been edited.

They sense fear!

So assessment went well, no major issues and it's time to reedit the film in order to meet the standard needed for some dance festivals we have lined up. I'll be getting rid of the fire exit, the plug, the piece of tape (I hope you missed first time around) and retiming somethings - nothing too strenuous.

I concluded most of the project during the presentation but this is my own, personal evaluation.

As producer I should have been firmer (I say this every time I produce, I'm beginning to get the message), I set deadlines most of which were met but some pretty important ones weren't which caused a bit of a domino effect. When I realised how big this project was my first instinct was to make sure we could afford to do it - this included saying no to a lot of things which didn't make me the most popular person. Especially when, in the end, we met our target. Something I had just not expected to happen, so I planned for the worst. On set I have this thing were I think everyone knows more than I do, so I just let them get on with whatever it was they were doing without really questioning anything (well out loud a least) which caused a problem later down the line when I did speak up and no-one really listened to me, it was like they sensed fear! In the edit I would have named my files before I put them into Avid - rookie mistake, I won't be doing it again. I wouldn't have taken on so many roles because whilst I do love what I do it didn't end well, my sanity and will to live got left behind in the Avid suite. 

But most importantly - I would take more ownership of my work. 

When I realised we couldn't use the music I had been working on in the film it hit me harder than it really should have. I've been working on this project for 4 months (and I'm still going!) yet I had pinned most of my creative input into the music, so when it was gone it didn't really feel like my film anymore. Working on projects I tend to take the apolitical role and act as mediator when people are fighting, or the voice of reason when people make impossible demands. So getting a creative input is becoming rare, we made our film so in the edit it would be easy to piece together and it was, it was made by the storyboard. There wasn't much I had to fight for to get into the edit, but I can point out I did and I'm proud of it. I'm proud of the soundscape (note: it's pretty different from the music) and I worked hard on it. We communicated well from start to finish between heads of departments and other crew members. I'm proud of the fact this movie exists because so many people were originally against it. I just wish I had voiced and stood up for more of my own ideas, nothing that can't be fixed for third year. 

People rarely bring me onto projects to be anything other than producer, I hope working in post-production on this film has changed their mind. I think next time I'll try something new, doing something crazy and slightly insane worked in our favour this time around, I may as well try my luck again.