An Riaghailt Or

Having helped Phil in developing the script all the way back in Summer, I seem to have been involved in this production for a long time. Until today I thought it was all over - how wrong I was!

Meanwhile, what have I learnt?

1) A single Producer is not sufficient to deal with all the issues that are arising in a production of even moderate scale, short length. The help Gavin provided in the final stages was invaluable, and having the assistance and co-operation of a second Producer or Production Manager or some such from much earlier on would have made my job far less of a headache.

2) It’s best to give yourself more than one option for a role. Most of our actors were the only ones we could find to suit their role, and therefore we wnet with them by default, while other ones might have been easier to work with, if we’d found them.

3) Playback the tape while on set to ensure it is recording properly. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first time - in 2007 - I put it down to an error that was so rare it was not worth checking for as standard practice. Now that it has happened twice, I reckon it might be worth it.

4) Try to get on the extras list about twice as many as you think you’ll need, especially at no-fees level film-making.

5) Have a Pre-Production Schedule. I had none on this production and several things were forgotten or left to the last minute.

6) Either have the call sheets prepared in advance of the first day’s shoot, or have someone working on them remotely while the shoot is going ahead.

7) Runners and extra pairs of hands are exceedingly useful

8) When providing catering, provide plastic cups! For next time - note to self - prepare a shopping list based on what we had today.

9) It might be useful for the Designer to double up with, say, Wardrobe. We had no Wardrobe person, and, in retrospect, that would have been useful.

10) The pre-production schedule must contain a day for the final (major) script redraft. We had a major redraft at the last moment which threw us considerably.

Apart from the issue with the tape not recording, this film has provided to be fairly successful so far. While I wouldn’t call it a smooth and well-oiled production, we got there in the end. Some ingenuity from Gavin at the very end of the shoot gave us a few minutes of battery on the camera. Occasionally there would be a moment of friction between crew members (not least between my good pal Phil and myself during the pre-production stage!) But certainly, once on set, everything looked particularly professional, and the comradeship between the crew members (including those from outside the class) was outstanding. Here's hoping all will go well for the reshoot this weekend!