Just Keep Swimming... (Janice)

We are still knee deep in editing, but as always, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve hit the point of no return in the semester and it is now crunch time to the 99^th power. Things are moving along nicely, but there is just an overwhelming concern time. While I understand these concerns, I expect and would appreciate patience on behalf of my other crewmembers. There was a great deal of patience displayed during our re-writing and shooting processes. What no one seems to realize though outside of his or her realm of specialty and responsibility is that each facet of this process is an artistic institution and deserves the appropriate amount of respect and time. (The composer analogy from my last post seems ever befitting right now). With this being said, it is very true that we have a very real deadline approaching in the next two weeks, but we’re honesty on target for the most part. I’m not worried because our rough cuts, which will be finished very soon, are polished and well conceived/received.

 

The filmmaking process, I imagine, is a lot different when it is not housed in an academic institution for a grade. It becomes more of a democracy than it should be because everyone’s grade is on the line. I’m not saying that the process shouldn’t be democratic in some regards, for it is nothing if not collaborative, but dangerous and unproductive to have too many opinions and requests floating around simultaneously all the time. Also we are granting liberties that don’t actually exist in real life industry situations. And for our purposes and limitations we’ve been very inclusive to everyone at every stage of the game – which in reality rarely happens. I also didn’t want to push my crew over the edge after our Spring Break marathon and we’ve slowly picked back up the pace – although I admit the speed should have been amplified a tad and I accept responsibility for that.

Right now, we are jumping over the final hurdles and I am trying to keep up the morale. But the sentiment for my group, on this day, is to have patience – with a dash of trust because that’s the only way this works. Again, I really appreciate their diligence, passion, and their concerns. We’re almost there and looking good! And yes, it’s all worth it!