Evaluation
As part of the Small Screen Productions team, I had three job roles on three different films.
The Spider and the Fly - Director
The Incident - Production Coordinator
Luggage in Limbo - Assistant Director
During pre-production for my film, The Spider and the Fly, there was a lot of paperwork that had to be completed by the Director. This was no issue as I surprisingly enjoy completing the paperwork side of filming, I think this is because I am an organised person. I worked closely with the DOP to create the shot lists for each scene. We took into consideration the locations and any problems we may face e.g. the bedroom being too small for wide shots. I also completed Artist release forms, location agreements, call sheets and scene breakdowns. The shoot schedule that the Production Coordinator completed was the most useful of all paperwork on set. I continuously went back to it to make sure no scenes were missed and that the correct props were being used for the right scene. On set I believe I did a good job as Director but I believe with practice and more experience I could definitely excel. There were times I knew 'cutting it tight' for time really stressed me out. There were also issues raised between myself and the DOP halfway through the shoot due to him still learning his role (no white balance or focus) because of this I took the role of DOP on the Saturday. This was a learning experience for all. The last day of shooting had to be rescheduled due to illness on my part; the cast and crew were very understanding and we all agreed on a new date the following week. There were no other pick ups needed. I believe all the crew worked well as team. I happily accepted any contribution and would be more than happy to work with the same team again.
My role in The Incident was a bit of a let down. On set I felt like I was in the way most of the time and my input wasn't needed. The DOP, Sound Recordist and Director worked well together, efficiently and at some pace. I was on hand with the needed paperwork when asked and kept an eye on people's actions/props to make sure continuity was never a problem. For the night I was basically an extra in the party scene, delegating between the AD and Director to try and keep him involved in the process. My job role had more significance during the pre-production stages of the film. I completed risk assessments to a professional standard; going over every little thing that could go wrong with an additional 20 supporting artists around broken (at the time) glass. (Only after submitting the paperwork did we find out the make-up artists had amazingly created a sugar glass bottle for our use). I made sure the paperwork delegated to a specific job role was completed on time.
As Assistant Director on Luggage in Limbo I worked closely with the Director to make sure she had everything she needed during pre-production and also filming. On set I completed the Daily Production Reports, noting down the amount of set ups and if anything was cut out of the script. I also focused on continuity issues for future shots; if an actor moved to a certain place or even placed their prop down differently it would not match the following shot and would prove an issue during post-production. I advised the Director when needed and pointed out any issues with planned shots e.g. a high angle wide shot would show the debris at the back of the room. On more than one occasion a cast member would disagree with me and 'back chat' when I explained the leg they had crossed had changed, forcefully telling me I was wrong. They then carried on as they pleased. During post production the Director has had multiple issues editing scenes together because of this problem, that could have been fixed at the time, had they listened to me. After this incident there were also snarky comments threw my way after the Director asked my opinion on a shot I was told, "it's not up to you because you're not in charge. Jess is the Director.". However, I continued with professionalism and didn't rise to the comments.
The team worked well together and we had an enjoyable learning experience.
