My Role:
For the Kansas City Savior, I participated as the Unit Production Manager. Initially, I was to help keep track of budgets, scheduling with the actors and help keep things organized but it turned in to a lot more than that. I helped rewrite the script as well as find and contact different locations. I was part of a team we called the “Core 7” that worked to pull the film together. There were days when it came to filming that felt like everything that could have gone wrong, did. Our production team had moments where everyone was stepping on each other’s toes and arguing over what should happen, but we all wanted the same thing: a quality feature film that we would be proud of.Along the way, I was able to learn how to manage/work with outside sources, such as actors and different locations. I was able to build upon my communication and team building skills which is beneficial for anyone no matter the production team role. I also learned how important it is to be open-minded because when we initially started, I was not involved in this film at all. I had no interest in it, but after the first month, I started putting all of my free time into making sure this would be good.
My overall opinion towards the film was that as a class, we could have done much better. eCommunications teaches us skills that freshman film majors in college would not know and we are only in high school. The Kansas City Savior was a film that I felt did not accurately reflect what our program is about. As UPM on this project I know I could have done better when it came to getting all the call sheets out in advance and place ahead of time that way our actors were more focused, and I could have also put my opinion out there on how I thought the film could be better. There was always a fear of starting an argument or hurting someone’s feelings which would not have been productive at all, so more often than not it was easier to let the director execute his vision as opposed to everyone else’s.
Building the Kansas City Savior:
When making the Kansas City Savior, my time in class was spent in “Core 7” meetings, making call sheets, brainstorming plot, as well as getting in contact with actors and different locations to approve filming dates and times. Most days in class it was hard not to be busy. From Mid-November to the beginning of April, there was always work to do on the film. Most of it was preparing and getting things organized for different shoots. When I finished early, the rest of my time was usually used as a study hall or completing other assignments for eComm. However, during this time, I was not doing any of my films outside of school. There was nothing personal that was done because I did not have the motivation to take my work home. After working on the Kansas City Savior all morning, my time at home was used to catch up on school work, my job, and time with friends and family. It has been quite a while since I’ve gotten the opportunity to work on something I choose to. Over the summer I plan on making at least three different videos so that I have my work on my reel that I’m proud of. I plan to continue and work on my eComm skills outside of school aside from the fact it is not my choice of career.Strengths:
Inside the program, my strengths include Communication, Leadership, and Technical Skills. One thing that I love about eComm is that it’s entirely okay for people to express who they are through projects. There are no limitations to the work that we do, the genre we produce or the editing skills we choose to use. Communication is a big part of my life, aside from my shy side, I am very much a “social butterfly” when it comes to things I’m interested in, as well as when I’m with “my” group of people. The leadership aspect has always been a trait of mine in every project. I like being in charge of situations because that’s where I’m most comfortable. Not being the director on this project did help me learn how to take a step back, and let someone else take control even though now that the project was finished I’m not thrilled with the outcome. Planning is what I’m very good with. Organizing and keeping things in order is what I excel at because it keeps things moving smoothly and everything has a place and knows where to be and what to be doing.Improvements:
Collaboration and Project Management are the two guarantees that I struggle and usually need improvement. While I like being in charge, I also tend to make decisions on my own without consulting the rest of the group of people I’m in. When it came to working on the Kansas City Savior in class, it was easier for me to take a step back because to some extent I was in charge of the movie. I took the lead over actor contact, working on the script, making things organized for everyone- all of this made it easier not to be the only one in charge. It helped in not only in class but also in life outside of class. It was easier to realize that I can not be in control of every situation and that I do not always have to be the one giving my ideas. Project management was also more comfortable to some extent while working on this because the crew relied on me to have my things done on time so having that good pressure in class allowed me to make some improvements in quality and not slack off.Summary:
The evening of the premiere, I loved being able to see everyone dressed up and seeing all the parents watch our work. I very much enjoyed “The Hidden,” as someone from a different class; I was so proud of how well the afternoon class did. A lot of times in class, it feels as if we are in constant competition with that class, and that kind of discourages a lot of us because there were only a select few who were interested in making things look good. With that thought aside and being able to watch their work, I felt proud to be in the eCommunications program even though I was not able to help make that feature film.When it came to the Kansas City Savior, I loved being on set. My favorite day was being in Downtown Kansas City for filming. I love the river market with my whole heart and being down there with Cyle, and George made that the best filming day in my opinion. I also liked the bonds that were created with some of my classmates in the process of filming these last couple months. Some days we were really at each other's throats, but it didn’t change the fact we all do love and care for one another.
Next year, my overall goal is to have an equally as good movie as the other class at the premiere. I also would want everyone to be happy and get to participate as much as our directors' team did because as the UPM, I know the editors and a few other people among the class that was interested in the filming process felt left out. Keeping the crew small and allowing everyone in the class to participate seemed to be the hardest thing because we legitimately had to choose who was not allowed to go based on jobs that were assigned back in November.
After making this, I do feel like I learned a lot, and not just about film. All of our actors were such unique and fun individuals who were open to sharing their lives and experiences they have had. Gordon Lamb, a mentor for all of us, taught us so many great things that I’m sure people who are in film school don’t have the opportunity to learn. There was a day we were filming a fight scene, and he had sat down and talked to me about his life outside of film, and it’s those personal sharing experiences which create the best memories and have the most significant takeaways.
No comments:
Post a Comment