Production: Final Evaluation

My final production at the University for the Creative Arts in Television Production has been completed.  The journey through the last three years has taught me so much about the Television and Film Industry that I can confidently reflect on my Final Major Production Young & Famous, knowing that I have become stronger in my skills as a Producer for the TV Industry. This final review will focus mainly on the roles that I completed throughout this final year, of Producer & Writer for Young & Famous.

What Worked? 

All together as a team we collaborated really well together. As part of my role as Producer, it was incredibly important that I collaborated with the Director and DOP to ensure every aspect of the pilot was thought about and planned for.  I collaborated well with the cast and ensured I kept them up to date with every stage of the production to keep them involved and passionate about the project. When on set I collaborated effectively and professionally with the Director, taking a step away from discussing what each shot entails and trusting the Director and DOP to produce the fantastic content they did. I confidently co-ordinated the production aspects such as the schedule, budget and the risk assessments and by doing so, enabled a smooth running filming period. 

The schedule is one thing that worked seamlessly throughout the whole production phase.  I created a large schedule that consisted of what would be filmed when and who it would involve. I then broke this down into separate days, creating what I called a Daily Schedule.  This consisted of every aspect of the day's running in time order, to the minute.  I was very successful in ensuring the shooting schedule did not run over time, and also managed to find gaps in the schedule if an issue had occurred throughout the production that was unavoidable.  Every day we wrapped on time and obtained all of the shots and footage that was needed. 

The budget was originally thought to be too small by Simon however I was confident in my distribution plans for the budget and therefore we kept the budget as it was.  I had meticulously planned for where the budget would be used and how it would be organised.  This payed off as we have £18 still left in the budget! Due to my organisation when casting, I was able to confirm rates of how much expenses would be payed out based on where the actors were travelling from. I had given a capped amount if they were travelling from outside of Kent which meant none of the budget would be wasted on extensive travel expenses. For our food I shopped smartly and managed to spend a total of roughly £70-£80 for the 8 day shoot.  By choosing supermarkets like Aldi and buying their own brand products, I was able to cheaply source the food. The food was definitely one of the best aspects of the production as there was variety and it was filling.  You can see the menu in a previous blog post where it goes into more detail. Overall the budget was a success for our production and I'm very proud to have been in control of it. 

I was very organised throughout the entire production, ensuring all aspects of the paper work and production notes were up to date and to hand when needed. I successfully co-ordinated the shoot days and all the pre-production meetings and I pride myself on the smooth running of each of these phases. 

As the Producer, all eyes fall to me when there is an issue within any stage of the project.  I confidently and effectively resolved all issues quickly and professionally, thinking creatively about how to work around the problem. If I had panicked when we had an issue, the production would have stopped and it was important that I didn't let that happen.  In TV and Film, time is money and is not to be wasted, therefore it was important that I logistically and professionally thought around the problems to move on to the next stage. 

Our cast collaborated brilliantly together and really brought our characters to life making the process an enjoyable one. I really enjoyed the casting process and getting to liaise with each actor throughout the whole process. I really enjoyed this form of networking and being the one to be their point of contact.  It was a big responsibility for me because it was down to me and the project to keep the actors interested.  They have been involved in the project since November when we first cast them and have been dedicated to the project all the way through.  This can only be a good sign that the project is good because if it wasn't then they wouldn't have been so committed or may not have even remained on board. For this reason I am immensely proud of my team and the project. It was lovley to receive comments from our cast stating how this is the most professional and well organised student project that they've worked on as it highlighted to me that I had done an effective job in co-oridinating each phase of production. Overall, I couldn't have wished for a better cast. 

The crew that I had sourced to help us as assistants were amazing to work with. There was nothing that they wouldn't do for us, be it helping to set up the equipment with ease and professionalism to running actors too and fro the train station each day.  They were always on time and always positive to help when on set. I couldn't ask for a better team of people to have on set. 

What Didn’t Work?

One of the main challenges I had as Producer was finding extras that would work for free.  There was a point where I worried that I wouldn't find enough extras to fill the scene and make it believable.  This was particularly pressurising as Simon had pointed out that this would be my biggest scene for me to prove myself as a Producer.  I tried so many different avenues to gain the extras and luckily managed to find 10 that were committed to being a part of the project.  If our budget was bigger then maybe I would have had more luck finding extras if I could offer them travel expenses, however in the end, the 10 that we had filled the set nicely and looked the part.

On our first shoot day I encountered the first problem that would test my ability as a Producer for resolving unexpected issues.  We were meant to be picking up some LED and Roto Light Lighting kits early that morning however, another student had not returned them to the store. I did my best with the situation and amended my risk assessments to be able to take out the Tungsten Lighting kits.  This threw a spanner in the works because all of our lighting tests were done with the LED and Roto Lights. Tungsten's give off very different colouring to LED's and therefore it took a while for them to be set up and positioned correctly for the shots.  In hindsight, it might have been worth me as the Producer to think ahead about problems like this and to have the crew test all forms of lighting before a shoot in case a problem like this occurred.  We managed to deal with the situation professionally and managed to get back on schedule and wrap on time.

We had scheduled a reshoot to get a pick up shot for scene 17 however the weather was very much against us.  It was torrential rain and the shot we needed was an outside shot.  Nisserin did the best she could to get a clean shot however once we reached the edit suit it did not look right fitting with the rest of the scene. We had to make the decision to remove it. Although this is frustrating, with the other reshoot shots added to the scene, it is not as noticeable that it's needed. We are able to get away with it because there is a lot happening on the screen that it makes sense with the shots we originally had with Marie. However, if I could do this again, I would try and choose a day with a less harsh weather forecast!

Our actress for Betty was naturally quite a quiet person, in particular compared to Dean. This made getting clean sound of her challenging. As the Producer I asked if we could get a close up of Betty to enable Jemma our sound assistant to get closer to her for clearer sound.  Unfortunately, the sound still struggled however Becca the sound mixer/editor did a great job of turning her sound up and blending it to ensure it wasn't too quiet or crackly when turned up in post. 

We originally had a makeup artist from Canterbury College to be on set all week with us to do the cast's makeup.  Unfortunately, she pulled out last minute due to health reasons.  I did my best to find a replacement in the time scale I had but unfortunately had no luck finding someone.  To resolve this issue I contacted my actors and asked them if they were happy to do their own makeup.  I did this because the makeup needed was only very natural and minimal, therefore we could survive without one. We had a powder and brush on set to give to the actors in case there were any hotspots that needed covering up on their faces, but we didn't have a lot of use for it. 

How could I improve? 

Knowing through my research that the Producer takes a step back from the post-production phase, I understand that my role here was to deal with the finances and agree any changes made to the edit.  I would however have liked to have been more involved in the edit stage and work on ways to remain more included in this process. 

One way I could have done this would have been to be more active on the social media accounts created for Young & Famous.  I could have made myself more involved by perhaps posting updates on what was happening in the edit suit or creating teaser clips to post online. This is something I would like to do for any Producing roles in the future.

I would have liked to have been able to convince the director to get  the reverse shot of Jordan Hamsey just for edit options, which I did suggest on the day however because it didn't line up with her vision for how that scene played out, it wasn't obtained. In the future I would like to improve on my convincing skills to make sure that we have enough coverage of each scene to avoid having to reshoot. 

I would also like to improve my self motivation to keep up with other uni commitments, not just the production aspect. I believe I could have worked harder to motivate myself to document everything that I was doing throughout the process, rather than leaving that to last to focus on my role as Producer for the physical side of production. 

MY TEAM: 

How did I work with them? 

Director: We collaborated lots and bounced ideas off each other through the writing process and the production process. I did my best to listen to what Becca wanted for the production and helped her to achieve her vision. When finding props and costume options Becca was good at listening to compromises both to do with the way the set would look and also to how shots could be changed or improved. All in all we worked well together as a team and brought Young & Famous to life both through the scripting process through to the finished Pilot.

DOP & Editor: Nisserin was ery patient with my non-technical mind and took time to talk me through many of the filming processes until I understood how things were planned to be shot. We worked well together on set and in pre-production to creatively make Becca’s visions happen. We collaborated well when booking equipment and test shoots and liaised often when I was creating Risk Assessments. She was very open to suggestions within the edit and easy to get on with and I have enjoyed working as a team with her very much.

Final Thoughts on the finished product: 

Overall I am incredibly happy with the result.  We captured a light hearted and funny sitcom pilot that I am proud to have Produced.  I often doubted myself throughout the project, wondering if I am doing the right things to benefit both the project and the team, however I can now confirm that the decisions I made throughout the process were the right ones. I doubted my location choices on a number of occasions after tutorials, but looking back the choices I made and made with my team, these only benefited the project.  If I hadn’t chosen or found certain locations, we wouldn’t have a film at all.  I am very proud of the work my team and I have created, and am elated at the standard of our final project at University. It is an experience I will look back on with pride.