If You Want A Job Done Well, You Have To Do It Yourself

Posted by Edwin on Jun 10, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments

Today I shot two films. One, a documentary about a guy who can’t speak or even really communicate. He went for a swim and I was there to record it. That was actually okay in the end. Another person would have got in the way, so I didn’t need help.

The second film was a complex scene from a feature film I’m working on. It was a tricky scene where there were lights, sound recording equipment, reflector boards and a fan. But, as I’m doing this for no money at all with friends, it turned out that we needed a few more than just me! It’s the way we’re shooting this film and it held together okay. Because there’s no budget (and we’re proudly keeping it that way) I can’t really lure too many people to the “set”.

I’d like to only have one thing to worry about, but the actor did such an intense and engaging job of it, we should be okay. We went into this one half-expecting to re-shoot anyway, but I doubt that will happen as it was actually a great scene. Part of me felt like The Little Red Hen – like the entire Western world’s sense of community had failed me again – but then I remembered it was our film and the world doesn’t owe us anything.

I guess the moral of this story is this : if it’s a big job and you think you can do it by yourself, call for backup anyway. Perhaps you could think of the job as an opportunity to involve someone you’ve always wanted to work with, or someone you haven’t seen for a while. There’s an opportunity for connection (or reconnection) behind every phone call – and only you know what I mean by that.