Choosing between two windowless rooms

So the films have been shot and are sitting on various hard disks ready to be imported and edited. I can say with all honesty that producing 'Breathing Room' was an experience, it was fun, it was enjoyable it was painfully exhausting at times. It all comes with the territory.

I do not regret having picked producing for my second specialism for these films, it has given me an insight to an area that I really didn't have that much respect for before. Production classes were the thorn in my side in second year. I really don't know what made me pick it as a second choice, maybe I was tired, maybe it was a glitch in the matrix. I did see alot of black cats that day hanging around.

This might sound like I am stamping all over Production, but this was before I had actually had time to do it. During the time producing I definitely have learned to respect it, its one hell of a gig. I found myself not quite knowing what to do for the first few days, but I soon got into the swing of things.

Going back on what I've said in previous posts, I feel I have grown up alot. I feel more responsible in alot of ways. I feel more organised in the way I approach things and the way I deal with people, I no longer have trouble speaking to people I'm not to sure of. These are tools I will carry with me into the industry and for the rest of my life. I do not regret picking producing one little bit.

But now lies the question, do I choose a production office with no windows or an edit suite with no windows? Well it was a difficult call, I did swing backwards and forwards in my head a lot of times before coming to my decision. My thought process was what would get me further into the industry.

Producing seems to the better choice for this, but then I got thinking. Everyone person we have in to speak to us at the Academy have started of as runners and various amongst various other roles. So I don't think it really matters a huge amount what specialism's we choose, we could end up all being bankers. It all depends on the chances that present themselves and acting on them. This made me think that just because I pick one subject I like over another subject I also like it doesn't thus mean I can't do the other.

So after sometime thinking about it I have chosen to specialise in Editing. This is an area I have enjoyed working with-in since I first started with this film malarky 4 years ago. This is not to turn my back on producing but I do think out of the two I enjoy editing alot more than I do producing. Before editing I was possibly a little lazy, so producing has really given me that drive that I lacked before.

So Adam you can put me down for editing next year.

That is all

Michael Maxwell

Breathing Room

Well with the film now shot, far from my job being over I'd still like to reflect on the experience of producing so far.

The job of producing really comes down to waiting for something to go wrong and reacting to the situation accordingly. It combines a series of highs and lows, one moment you seem to be getting everything done and sorted, signed off, stamped and sealed. Then the next you are running around like a headless chicken trying to fix something that has suddenly ruptured.

Although its this exactly what makes producing so much fun, its the constant having your finger on the pulse that makes each day a constant learning experience. Each day wether I was leaving in panic melt down mode or walking on air, I still felt I had learned something new from that day.

It was jumping into the deep end for me, having only produced the PMB scenes which really just involved ordering taxi's - producing 'Breathing Room' really was on the other end of the spectrum.

I'm not saying it was a difficult job to produce it but it factored in so many equations that the PMB scenes didn't have nor need. You really do feel on the first few days of producing that you have to act like you know what you are doing. After all its your sole responsibly to get the film going, thats enough to scare anyone.

Looking back in hindsight I can really see how far I have come, looking back on the rookie mistakes I was making and the silly little things that could have been done better it makes me cringe somewhat. But this is a good thing, being able to see the learning process from start to finish in a manner in which you can see the difference in your working methods is what learning is all about.

Yes we are far from finished with this film. Having a series of shots in a hard drive is far from having a film, we have climbed the mountain now starts the decent. I'm sure the coming weeks and months will hold another vast array of learning experiences for me, and I can say in total confidence 'I can't wait'.

Having been locked in the production office for nine hours days for two weeks before shooting, its amazing to see what all the hard work was really for. Although I can say I was surprised how little I had to do on set in contrast to pre-production. I found myself giving myself silly little jobs to go and do to make it seem look as if I was still this busy little bee. This is only down to one factor, the crew working as a perfect team and just getting on with the job in hand. They created no problems for me to deal with on set. Its amazing to see the difference from how far we have come as a unit from first year.

Each day I spent on set I can also say in honesty that it's the first time I have enjoyed being on set. Usually I just like to hide myself away in a dark edit suite where nothing can really go wrong and there is no stress. This shoot was calm and relaxed but still with a strong working drive to it all.

As I said before this was down to the crew working as a team. The shoot never hit any ice bergs on its way from start to finish. It was such a learning curve seeing how we all worked as a team to get things done. Yes the dog wrangler turned out to be more difficult to work with than the actual dog, but we can't say we weren't warned.

So now I have a folder full of receipts and a budget that needs drafting - again. So what can I say other than I have really enjoyed myself on this shoot. I could sit here and try to explain what I have learned and such. But this would be like a dad telling his son various tips for riding a bike, you can't explain it, its really one of those things that you learn by doing.

A windowless room

This is where I suppose I'm supposed to lie for the purposes of blogging, just to get it out the way and to make up various good points and bad.

What can I say? Sitting in a windowless room each day from 9-6 crunching numbers and dealing with things as they come. What else can one aspect whilst producing, but not to go against what I have just said, but it's stressful, having the weight of the film resting on your shoulders. So would I choose to do it again? Yes.

I feel I have learned something new each day, I have made alot of mistakes. But I can say honestly that I have learned from them. This being the first thing I've properly produced, to have everything sorted apart from make-up I feel is not that bad. Worst comes to worse we have a film with shinny faces.

So people choose to do this as a living? to be sat in front of a computer looking at contracts and budgets? Why? Well thats not something I can answer really, theres just something about it that gets you. For one its forced me to get myself organised, I can physically feel my brain working in a more streamline way now. As before it was more just a random mash of thoughts and half thought out ideas.

Budgeting for this film has been my main concern, the dog, actress and travel all take a hefty chunk of that £1000. I am not going to over spend but I still want to come in as much under budget as possible. I'm not seeing the £1000 as money that needs to be spent, I am doing everything in my power to get around everything that will take even just £2 of that budget.

Having a good time? Well ask me that next week, or well after Edinburgh Film Festival when I've had time to relax and get myself silly drunk and watch a bucket load of movies.

I might just have to glue the phone to my head

The first lesson I learned when starting my role as producer is that when someone says 'I'll get back to you' or something similar, its all lies. They won't.

I learned this pretty fast, timidly starting my role I took this to be true from companies I was phoning, to be more exact Casting agencies and Letting agencies. So number one rule of producing? Phone people until they give up. Liz Bisset I'm looking in your direction.

So people who know me, I'm not the most organised person on the face of the planet. But really who is? I think the second rule of producing is making enough people think you know what your doing, I think it's just important to tackle each issue as it occurs, don't take a fit when one small or large thing goes wrong, this doesn't sort anything out.

What has occurred to me during these past few days whilst producing is, that although I'm not an organised person, I feel producing is forcing me to be more organised. I think this is definitely having a positive effect on me. I don't panic when I have to phone someone or deal with paper work. I think it was far to easy just to use not being organised in the past as an excuse for...well being lazy at times.

Another aspect of producing I like is that, well I know whats going on. Being the editor before I didn't really know what the hell was going on with the films. I like being in the know, its also good to have an input into the films. Just from location hunting to sourcing actors, its nice to have some form of input.

What terrified me before in production was budgeting, I really don't know why. I'm not going to say its easy, we shall see how the budget works out first. Although from what I've done so far its relatively straight forward. You get this amount you get this amount, don't like it?...well the art department can have your budget.

So producing? it is much more fun than I thought it would be. I really don't think I have phoned so many people in my life, than I have in these past few days. That was another phobia of mines, being a guy I'm used to short to the point phone calls "Meet you in ten? Yeah sounds good, Bye" Not this chit chatty business. I think I've come on leaps and bounds in terms of my skills of dealing with people over the phone. It's not quite as scary as I thought it was, after all if there rude...you can always just hang-up!

So with one week left before we shoot, I have sorted location (Thanks Charlotte :) we have the homeless man and the dog. Karen Hall is doing a fantastic job with props hunting and sourcing. We have atleast one person wanting to play Jackie. We are auditioning another on Monday (TBC) So we will atleast have some sort of film to show in just over two weeks time, I won't have to put a wig on as I thought I might have to.

So a week of solid producing, I can say it takes up all my time. It can be stressful at times, it means being stuck in a room with now windows all day. But well...you got to love it.