FST-537-800 Producing

  For the "Equipment" portion of this assignment, what considerations were at the front of your mind? What wheels were turning after doing research into rentals vs. purchases? As you begin to think about post-graduation what ways might you approach these needs?   I love researching, comparing, pricing, and finding new equipment. This use to be my full-time job and I loved every second of it. Finding the right equipment for the specific job is my specialty. Storytelling is why I got into film whereas technology is the reason I got into the camera / lighting department. There are endless gadgets and gizmos when it comes to filmmaking equipment and I honestly cannot get enough haha. So, yes, I enjoyed this last assignment. 

  For the "Hiring Crew" assignment, what considerations were at the front of your mind? What wheels were turning after doing the above readings and reviewing the resources? (100-150 word response) Hiring crew is fun, I like being able to give someone a job that they are capable of doing. Doubling down on that, it is nice to be the reason that someone got a paid job in the industry. The worst part of hiring someone is making sure your ducks are in a row with all of the paperwork. I know contracts are important... I have learned this the hard way. But though contracts are difficult to facilitate, they are 100% necessary.   I lost out on a job in 2019 after months of prep with a client. Only for them to cancel on me twice and then the third time, the night before the shoot, I was sending an email letting me know that they moved forward with another filmmaker. I didn’t have a contract signed and missed out on a $5,000 job… oh well. You live and you learn.  The readi...

  As the "locations and insurance" assignment progressed this week, what considerations were at the front of your mind? What wheels were turning? This week was fairly simple. Except finding an insurance broker that would just send me an emailed quote. They all want my personal cell to call and then sell me on insurance. I didn't follow through with giving our my personal cell... I already get enough robo calls as it is. I wasn't about to give out my cell to another company just to call me over and over. Alas, I found two companies that I could request a written quote only, but I don't have much hope for them returning the quote without wanting me on the phone. We shall see how this goes. It will be a learning opportunity for sure haha.  Other than that, this was a straight forward assignment. I basically spent time inputting information already gathered in previous assignments throughout the semester. 

Responses: As the "casting" assignment progressed this week, what considerations were at the front of your mind? What wheels were turning?  The main thing that was at the front of my mind is who should I involve in this story to tell the best story. I could interview at least 10-20 people for this project, but it's deciding which people are going to tell the best stories and not be a waste of time and resources. Documentary filmmaking is very similar to narrative in that you are casting the best subjects for the roles that you know they can fill. Finding someone who can talk on camera and tell a story is very important. If you have a stale interviewee, it will not work well in your edit. 

Producers lead by example. Having read the article, what are three ways you can create more diversity and inclusion for your current project's casting/subject research? How can this leadership mindset make your project stronger? (150+ word response) There are many ways to make my process more inclusive. First, having an open mind has always been important to me with anything creative. Everyone comes with their own unique values – finding ways to utilize anyone strengths is only going to be a positive thing on any project. Second, thinking outside the box of what is written on the page. My summer one film proved this to work to my advantage. I went into the casting process with my main character being cisgender male but on the casting call I opened the call to all genders and identities for the lead role. Ultimately, a female actress was chosen for the lead as well as her daughter for a younger version of the lead. This helped me with a few things, the two actresses (mother/daughter...

Responses: As the scheduling assignment progressed this week, what considerations were at the front of your mind? How did you plan ahead to make sure these considerations don't cause any issues down the line? How have you prepared yourself and your production to avoid speed bumps? The biggest consideration at the front of my mind is – how am I going to do this in the coming year? How can I possibly complete all of production in a reasonable amount of time before starting post-production. I am not sure I can take it all on and accomplish this project for my thesis to the personal  standard I would like to uphold. Planning for this project has been a little daunting; the good news is that this class helped me understand that. I am not closing the door on this project, I am simply putting it on the shelf to be revisited sometime soon in the future. I think planning ahead to make sure there are no issues, involves me not taking this on for my thesis. I am very passionate about thi...