Why I Chose NOT To Go To Graduation

Why I Chose NOT To Go To My Graduation

It was a nice position to be in - Being the first in two family trees to have gone to University. Furthermore, to have passed with a 2:1…

But what pride can you take in something that has offered no challenge, no fulfilment & no industry contacts? Out of the £24,000 you spend on a degree, your University has ignored any argument or complaint and would rather just keep taking the money out of young adults for as long as it can get away with rather than earning it.

My non-attendence at the graduation ceremony is one I took out of moral protest. I have worked damned hard for many, many years of my life. Like any other taxpayer will tell you: Full time means 9-5 Monday to Friday, no half-terms, no "reading weeks", no summers, Christmas, Easter and sometimes not even bank holidays in the real world. 

However, we're clearly not talking what's right and what's wrong when it comes to higher education anymore. It's become what's illegal and what can we get away with?

Since there's no 'technical' amount of hours a full-time course has to adhere to & there's no transparency on 'exactly' how many hours you'll spend on these, you can bet the greed will continue to grow in higher education.

You want the truth of my "full-time" timetable during my 3rd year scriptwriters BA (Hons) degree? No University wants a student's parents to see this on public domain, that's for sure! (test it - prove me wrong!) But here it is - I'm not joking. Ask any of the alumni you wish, whilst you're at it. Ask a few of the 1st or 2nd years what theirs are like. If you think this is shocking, imagine being in my position and having collectively paid almost £26,000 in tuition fees alone, not to mention you're living costs! 

September 2014
= 8 hours

October 2014
= 12 hours

November 2014
= 12 hours

December 2014
= 5 hours

January 2015
= 1 hour

February 2015
= 4 hours

March 2015
= 2 hours

April 2015
= 0 hours

May 2015
= 2 hours

June 2015
= 1 hour

July 2015
= 0 hours

TOTAL CLASS HOURS IN THE WHOLE 3RD YEAR - 37 HOURS!!!

What you paid for this - £8,000 - £9,000 

Naturally, I've complained about this to the media school dean, which merely resulted in some of its course leaders taking offence and changing a door code that didn't allow me to work on my scripts at the uni anymore because I had already graduated (so to hell with all the money I contributed to your salaries and institution then, I guess). I had little feedback with the changes I had suggested to make the course better... More importantly, something to take some pride in + would even raise its sinking scores even when a few friends in the lower years let me in anyway, I find out they have had their 'Final Draft' (scriptwriting software) taken away. So I'll bet you any money now, next year's prospectus / itinerary will read, students are required to have their own laptops and scriptwriting software and we are not prepared to provide a suitable working station to give you the option to work if you do not possess this!

But lets come back the fact that this course comes just under what a full-time taxpayer works on average. Worried?
You should be – this is what a young adult graduates concept of full-time is being taught as. Whilst most may not have ever had to have fought to pay their own rent before with ‘wages / salary’ – NOT a student loan – that’s what has been made possible and you know the worst thing? There are over 100 courses out there across dozens of Universities that are doing this and no-one seems to give a shit. Not even the students who’re going to be in debt for years to come. Then again for most that are barely motivated to do anything but what they’re supposed to, such as working towards a “grade” then suppose you could say ‘fuck ‘em!’ – right? NO – A thousand times ‘NO,’ – Jesus, Britain’s haemorrhaging enough money as it is from greed but now out of ignorance and / or laziness, wouldn’t it be better for people’s life choices and the economy if after students passed their G.C.S.E’s or maybe even their A-Level's they went and worked full-time for 2 years so it sharpens their work ethic and long-term focus? – WHY NOT?

By the way, should any of you, wish to see the complaint letter I wrote and the diabolical response I received from their 'Quality & Enhancement Officer' then please let me know. Then again by now, you'll hardly be surprised.

What would I have put into all these blank hours of the timetable?
Just to name a few, how about;

• Field trips to broadcasters / literary agents / residency programs 
• Expanding the course into writing for radio & theatre, doubling the size of your portfolio as a student, CV & showreel building sessions, 
• Writing practice sessions for applying for literary agents and analysing these, 
• Copyright laws, merging the course with journalism for example so employability ratings go up for the student who’s invested so heavily into the University they attended
• A collaborative project that measures their filmmaking / writing skills for the screen at the start of the course and again at the end to acknowledge how far they have come and something to put out into the world when they leave.

Instead of these things - Bournemouth University has pretty much ignored me with the mere “we’ll look into it” speeches and hundreds of students who just accept it for either not knowing any better or felt threatened that those they complained to would take their final result down – although that last point I challenge with something any professional writer should have told them during that course (for the last time): “GRADES DON’T MEAN JACK SHIT IN SCRIPTWRITING (let alone in the film industry as a whole)!” Although, its clear Bournemouth would rather have young writer beginners think otherwise where else are they going to get extra money at the end of the day, right?

Speaking of their spendings, if you want an idea of how irresponsible Uni's like mine are when it comes to spending money, sticking up TV's where they're not needed or asked for, erecting buildings, usally for the sake of ego over function, then wait until you read about their £2 million grant to study the relationship of chickens! 

This is what I find most absurd – That course could be fixed in less than a day if they wanted. They won’t and my formal complaint was rejected (obviously) because those earning from this false structure, if properly exposed could potentially lead to the refunding of students and graduates up & down the country millions of pounds – Well, I’m going to give it a try.

I’m certain the students I asked to support me whom were too ignorant or coward to would certainly come charging back if there was money in it for them that someone else had fought to get. And do you know what – I bet I wouldn’t even get a thank you from some of them because they, like the people who have charged them through the nose – refuse to listen, take responsibility and accept they were wrong. It’s a shame as personally, I’m not the kind of bloke who’d say “I told you so,” in fact it would be more like a handshake, a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

Watch 'SEASON 7 - EPISODE 5 of 'The Good Wife' 

I found to be quite entertaining as it saw Alicia taking down a dodgy University for unfair practice. An interesting & inspiring piece for your lawyers & solicitors guys ;)

NOW THE BIGGER PICTURE & WHY I WENT TO THE GRADUATION BALL!

Yes, there were some lazy people during my time at University but that’s not to paint them all in one colour and that I still enjoy the company of likeminded visual storytellers any day of the week and I will go on record & say I had a bloody good weekend being reunited for the last time amongst them.
People asked me why I hadn’t been seen at the graduation ceremony but I obviously hadn't written this blog yet to direct them to. Ha ha haaa

To name a few of the stars of my time here and those I wrote for or worked with and really stood out:

Murad (@Murad_Ali_ )- Embrace, Virtuoso Rose
Slavi (@slavica_rockov) - Virtuoso Rose, Solace Of Faith, Survivor
Anna (@Annaunlimited) - Embrace, Virtuoso Rose, Purgatory
George (@GeorgeLock13) - What's Up With Seth?, Media Wars, Survivor
Tom (@tommsmith1993 ) - Virtuoso Rose, A Killer's Confession
Ryan (don't think he's on Twitter) & James (@JamesMurphin) - with a coffee each' (seriously, that WAS the name of their radio show), That's What I've Heard - both funny as hell!
Ben (@ben_cb) - Pete & Patch Do Pills
Luke - The Device

... I wish them all the very best!

Hope to see them making their way through the beast of industry soon!

IN OTHER NEWS!

Only as few days ago I’d met one of my most respected writers, KT Parker, whom you may recall, I attached a link to her blog with regards to the ‘London Screenwriters Festival 2014.’ You should have heard her reaction to the short amount of hours the University offers an undergraduate writer – Why is this so important to acknowledge? – Because it is an insult to those of us who love the craft so much that struggle our backsides off whom ‘hand on heart’ could honestly go into that bloody course and teach it ourselves and would even do it for far cheaper. After all, we’re usually idealists first, capitalists second. Although, I have to say I was pretty gutted to have to turn down a ticket to see the new James Bond ‘Spectre’ film alongside KT for being stuck in two other projects at the time. Next time KT! – I Promise!

I capitalised on the chance to walk onto the MA in Cinematography following some reliable sources telling me about the access to equipment I would have and proof of the amount of time I'm required spend at the campus (this time; 14 - 20 hours a week) and new assignments each week, which has been a damn sight more rewarding than my best forgotten BA there - "About Time!!! Woo Hoo!!!"
It had already paid for itself within the first couple of weeks and my lecturer, Mark Bond is undoubtedly the best lecturer I have come across since college. When it comes the graduation ceremony for this course - you can bet your bottom dollar, I'll be showing up!

For now I have a new wave of the filmmaking family to work with. Unfortunately, there's a lot of first-timers, so although the conversations can be great, the experience, attention to planning and communication is under what I'd prefer but hopefully that's going to change very soon.

I have made another independent film ‘Echo Screen’, I have at least 2 more shoots on the go, a couple more job offers and even the new ‘Film SouthExpo’ (@filmexposouth) event in February 2016 I’m supporting in every way I can, being ran by the lovely Gillian Tully (@GillTully). Please go if you can. I've already got my ticket! :)

A Storyteller's Phantom Pain

Until recent years any ‘free time’ (what’s that) I’d have would be used to write in my journal but in 2015, being 30 - an out of work writer / filmmaker like myself uses that time to sort out ‘that exact’ problem.

Moments like these also allow me to reflect on what it is that got me here and what feels like the pain I had in a previous life, I’ve taken into this one. Only the other day, the new ‘Metal Gear Solid 5’ came out and the sub-title of this instalment refers to such a connection – Phantom Pain. Pain that makes you remember what its taken to get somewhere, what it cost you and the driving force that you use to get to where you’re aiming for.

After a trip back to see some mates in Surrey (trust me, the place makes me sound posh… But you’re "way off”) seeing their faces help me familiarise myself with great company – people who earn their living and understand struggle. Some of them I even used to work beside. Unlike the MOST part of the uni flock I witnessed as a mature student, who technically had no frigging idea what a 9am start meant, paying rent (no… student loans don’t count, pal). The mates I’m talking about, I didn’t want to spoil a reunion with this but it left me wondering if I could go back to my previous life, earning money like before? – No!

I respect people working pain in the ass jobs to make their own money but chances are I would end up killing myself if I had to go back to sales and customer service jobs for bullshit pay all over again… The friends and drama, I shall take away from that life and empower my stories in ways many wouldn't be able to but to go back to the life itself is something I can never do again after all the sacrifices and effort it took to get me here.

So now the next obvious question is – “Okay Dan – Where are you?” The proud answer is, making my own footprints, having achieved yet ‘another’ film festival selection (Los Angeles Cinefest) not to mention having heavy involvement in another, where the film took ‘Best Actress’ (Rahway International Film Festival), all the screenings and nominations before that, the reputation I have, the connections I’ve made and the interesting jobs I have been interviewed for. 

In fact, that’s what’s going on right now. Recently I was considered for some executive assistant role to a media production company, worth £40,000+… I don’t give a shit for politicians, lawyers or bankers… I’ve never been a greedy man and I hate how everything revolves around money but put it this way… If I got it, I’d consider myself a millionaire.

The role was supposed to be someone with a high aptitude for script related work and an ambitious look towards the TV production arena. Although, you know that feeling you get when something’s too good to be true? Well this experience took the gold!

This was a recruitment agency, not telling me who their client was & didn’t know what script reports were, nor did they want to see any of of my previous work… Hmmm… However, they did show a lot of interest in my previous bullshit admin and sales from my early – mid 20’s… Why? For God sake, if I can do production management and have worked both as part of and leading a team, what the hell do you want to know about that pointless part of my life? Your answer will be as follows;

a) This work isn’t media / script related to the position

b) You’ve done years of this (shitty) work but we wanted more

c) Thanks for wasting more of your time but we decided to go another direction

Or my personal favourite bullshit response of the lot –

d)  You’ve not got enough experience

Whether its working as part of a production company or marketing agency – this is absolute BOLLOCKS!

You find me one person who’s gone through what I have and done what I have for what I apply for.

Coming all the way to London when you’re unemployed, having to use my entire day for a 30 minute conversation, where you’d lost the paper work you’d asked me to fill out, sent me a link to perform MS Office tests on, which were irrelevant to my profession + didn’t even work and clearly you hadn’t even researched me thoroughly before wasting my time, telling me to come down there for something that could have been conducted through Skype like when I have to audition someone because I’m not a jerk. How can I morally tell someone to come all the way over to me for something I cannot reimburse nor too much of their time if they’re not local… All the more so, if they didn't even get the part? 

Bottom line mate, call my references if you don’t believe me and understand something; If I can do scripts, producing, directing, camera, editing, teach and build several projects from scratch then it’s a pretty safe bet I can do a fucking admin job, is it not? – By the way, good luck finding an admin assistant who will understand and respect scripts in the way your client probably intends.

In any event, there’s another job worth mentioning (via a job recruitment agency who was far more professional) – I have been considered for a video editor position for Team 17. Hopefully they’re able to step up to the salary I’m after especially after having to migrate my life – AGAIN! But considering its Mickey Torode I'd be working for (known for his work Ubisoft, THQ & Capcom) WHOA - Just tell me where to sign!!! It'd also be based in Nottingham - Is it just me or is this another sign that people are more receptive in the midlands? (hint, hint*)

I made 'SURVIVOR' to make me more accessible to the games industry and considering my previous interests from game development companies and its about time I was taken more seriously!

Holistically, I seem to dealing with a lot of companies who are repeatedly saying; “We want you to have previous experience and have worked somewhere first because we can’t be bothered to offer you something ourselves.”

My response: “Does this prove my degree(s) to be wasted and the inabilities of the Uni I attended to get me into any roles? Does the experience I got for myself, having to build almost every production from scratch not count? Finally, do the film festival awards, nominations, recommendations from indies alike myself and so on count for nothing either?”

My little brother came to see me recently. It’s been good to catch up and wind down and thank CHRIST he’s not going into film… I’d have to beat him senseless. Would like to think I can at least protect him from the swarm of bullshit that is doing its best to take away whatever life I’ve got left.

Now to completely (kinda) contradict myself… I’m doing my next film next month, with a little bit of a horror element attached to it. It's ironic how much a film production can take out of you but give it time, you can't wait until the next one. If anything else its something to keep you motivated. Besides, film Festivals love horror and female protagonists right now, so in we go again but fuck me sideways, just saying... A career at this point, would be nice! If not... Well at least I'll die doing what I love :)

The Media Production Industry - We Love It But There Are Times... Grrrr!

Think I'm on the verge of believing 2015 may well just be the best year I've ever had. Whilst I love my filmmaking to bits, I obviously enjoy the writing part the most.

My favourite festival in the entire world - obviously the 'London Screenwriters Festival' ran by the fantastic Chris Jones have opened up a new 'Create50' project called 'The Impact', which involves the unsung voices of the scriptwriting community to converge and script a 2 page story that plays with the concept of 'The World Is About To End' and writers are allowed to write a short story for any stage of the event they desire; here are mine.

Naturally, I hope at least one gets picked but even if they don't, it's bloody terrific seeing the work of the underdogs having their work up there for all the world to see. The last LSF project '50 Kisses' has become one of my favourite films of all time and I know whatever result comes from 'The Impact' will probably be my next.

The really interesting part was when I received a tweet notification from one of my most respected writers KT Parker mentioned me in a comment about being listed alongside her in 'Screencraft's Bahamas International Film Festival Screenwriters Residency Program' (... a mouthful I know but) if you're a writer, you know how HUGE of a deal that is. Currently, we've reached the quarter-finals, so here's to hoping.

The project (you can find a 10 page sample of on my website) is called 'Realm' and takes some of the best movies from my time, such as 'Star Wars', 'Game Of Thrones' & video game franchise 'Final Fantasy' - basically guns, swords & magic together and a hero's journey (non-writer geeks, I refer you to the great Christopher Vogler book... "A Hero's Journey" - how tentative!) of an unlikely anti-hero soldier trying to follow in the footsteps of his mothers legacy until he discovers it to be a complete lie and is forced to confront his inner demons to save the world.

I put my all into making that feature script the best it could possibly be and despite initial feedback, I held my belief in it and seeing it alongside a KT Parker script, in a mighty competition like this is what gives a writer the extra encouragement to keep going... I know the odds are harsh but the winners would be receiving attention from Vince Gerardis (Game Of Thrones), Dan Guando (Weinstein Talent Acquisition), Elizabeth Hunter (Charmed & ER)... and thats only to name a few!

Another big name I had to drop was slightly bizarre how it came to be but 'Shore Scripts' got in touch with regards to an essay I wrote at (*cough) Bournemouth University regarding Pentagon Film Script Approval and have since publicised it online, which has invited some nice compliments from inquisitive readers and certainly makes use out the time I had to put into it some time ago... Lets face it, how useful is an essay ever going to be to you outside the walls of education - especially if its the media industry? Maybe something in copywriting if you're lucky!

Some superb job offers have started to come through. CHS Creative had responded to an application I had completely forgotten about and brought me in to 2 long interviews for a 'Senior Creative' Position. Wouldn't luck have it? - the company had worked out they couldn't support me on the salary I was after at the last minute but thats not to say I didn't enjoy myself and the guys I would have worked for seemed lovely and even followed up with a reassuring phone call to thank me for the extra effort I had taken for my presentation and at least some future commissioned work for shooting their adverts is now on the cards.

Getting through the storm of absurd underpaid callings out there for someone like myself who can offer so much towards a role, has been draining but I'm starting to receive the better producer offers at long last with some highly protective job recruitment agencies.

You know, whilst I understand where independent filmmakers are coming from, I can't forgive the established companies that wish to enlist professional filmmakers & actors for 'zero' pay or minimum wage. It's absolutely incredible how much they want a standard videographer to know... The job titles come in various forms but it seems they all want;

- a scriptwriter

- a storyboard artist

- a producer

- a production manager

- a cinematographer (with their own kit & simultaneous focus pull abilities)

- a video editor (fluent in, photoshop, adobe premier pro, after effects, final cut and / or avid)

- 1 - 5 years worth of experience (usually with another firm)

- previous broadcast credits

... the list goes on!

ALL in one! - for £6.50 per hour to perhaps £20k per year...?!

We're talking about 7 jobs in this example at £6.50 per hour, so if you put that into a salary, you're looking at £98,000 upwards!!!

Naturally, there are "always" going to be extra duties that go with "any" job you sign up for but in light of this, why is it so unreasonable when all we'd likely to be asking for is probably less than half this amount? It's that look they give you... "Oh, thats way too much..." Well then realise what you're asking.

We filmmakers invest a lot of time, energy, sacrifices and Gawd knows what else over the course of many years to know and perform what we do. I was watching 'Question Time' last night, over some of the country's latest cuts in the NHS and a GP said that most in her profession are resigning and taking off to New Zealand as a result. She stated, it takes "12 YEARS" to train a GP, so... Well, just think about what I'm getting at.

... Just another reason why the raising of student fees amongst other things is so insane because not only will half of them be without a job to pay it back, young adults are free to change their mind about their career choice(s) and even if not, they're without a decent enough job to start making the repayments, correct?

Before this becomes boring and political, what stands is that after all I've been through I'm not prepared to under sell myself anymore than I have in the past and as for my fellow filmmaker family out there;

I "know" sometimes you'll have no choice but its down to you to figure out how much you're worth (being honest with yourself) then go and don't stop until you get it! - You owe it yourself!

My Film-Making Process... an abbreviation believe it or not

Following what has proven to be a pretty good time over the last couple of weeks, clearly thing's are starting to take off again despite some of those low moments. Some recent successes have been a great boost.

'Survivor' won 'Best Shorts Competition'

'Stay With Me' has been shortlisted as a contender at the 

'Rahway International Film Festival'

'Purgatory' has also been granted an official selection for the strangest film festival I've been in yet, called the;

'International Psychoanalytical Association Video Award'

I've also had another couple of job offers come my way. Whilst uni graduates celebrate a grade expressing the opinions of two lecturers, hopefully things of an international scale and my extended experience will help put me at the front not to mention my interests of a career and not a job with a teenager's salary!

This blog happens to stem off something that comes up every time I get a new film-maker asking for advice and despite ALL the books you can read or one of those blogs that start: ‘X reasons why X happens’ I thought it may be less patronising just to open the book on how I do things and people can try and / or say what they like afterwards.

"My method is by NO means 'fool proof' - Things WILL go wrong... What you do to fix them is what makes you a good director"

 Here we go -

1 – The Script

I have trained harder than in any other trade to perfect this the most because if you get this part wrong, you’re already screwed. I believe 'you can film a bad film from a good script, you can't film a good film with a bad script!'

Doesn’t matter what size the story is, if you don’t have a comprehensible one – it will be boring. So many times you hear people ask; "so what’s it about…?" Think of this question like small talk, people (especially English people) will want to say the least amount, so if you’ve not got a response in one simple line and they start carrying on – unless they really loved it, they’ll say “the story was shit,” indicating simplicity as a must have... Ever wonder why British small talk: "You alright?' is always met with 'yeah, not bad!' is 90% commonplace? It's the same as the 'like' button on 'Facebook' - its the laziest option for people to validate their notification and appearance in someone's life / opinion without having to really give a shit. Hence why loglines become so important in film (one line synopsis') not to be confused with taglines (one line sellers) - See some examples (Lucy V Hay).

What do I do?

How many pages am I trying to do this in? Get the inciting incident as close to the beginning as I can, every word, every action, every line of spacing, every object, scene, age, pause, transition, description MUST matter. Get the character to drive the story, what their goal is and why, what stops them and make the achievement believable and go out in style before the FADE OUT.

What I Hate!

People who just pick up scriptwriting software, writing sludge, not having read anything before and expecting me to appease it and / or those who can’t handle feedback and those people who dish out something that hasn’t even been scanned well enough for spelling & grammar (yeah alright, even I can miss this on occasion not on every fucking page!) but... Even worse – those that try explaining everything with dialogue! It’s lazy, un-cinematic, unprofessional & shite!

2 – Producing

I am ‘very’ critical of my own work but usually get a 2^nd opinion I can respect whilst rewriting anything that is difficult to procure, which usually includes certain locations, props, costumes etc then think, “how much can I shoot without spending anything?” – why? Because I’m not rich and without a production company to fund it, not my team nor I are going to make a penny from this so writing to budget is paramount.

What I do?

I give myself at least a month before I intend to film to get the equipment, crew & cast, locations, props, call sheets, risk assessments, transportation details, audition space etc. Put the cast call out on www.castingcallpro.co.uk  or meticulously hunt down who I can on www.Spotlight.com, filter the auditions, give them a choice of two dates, get 3 good choices per lead role as they will have other work come up & remembering to have a backup & for fuck sake guys - use ‘proper actors’ – people who know what they’re doing & can prove it!

Crew are just as important and I don’t have the time to back up everyone's availability so if you are starting without a decent cinematographer, sound recordist with some experience under their belt etc then DO NOT produce this yourself. Get someone else to do it or be prepared to work your ass off and seek them out, booking them and reminding them and reminding them and reminding them – you cannot lose these guys, they are now your team & its your job to retain them and deliver something good – do THAT and they’ll come back again! Someone pulls out – TOUGH - do your swearing and cursing elsewhere, come up with a solution and get yourself back on schedule.

Then I ensure I’ve got a 1^st AD for the shoot to crack the whip – Someone assertive but not a dick who think’s their in charge. From here on on in, I keep hold of all reins until the shoot dates. Finally, I do a couple more read throughs, a couple of team meetings if I can manage it for people to ask any of their questions, get that shot list finalised and make sure I’m satisfied and I’m ready to shoot.

What I Hate!

Amateurs that have tried to organise it all last minute, people that drop out without good reason, people who have arrived on set and didn’t ask their questions beforehand when they should have done. People who have a problem obeying authority and those who don’t communicate and constantly need chasing, wasting my time, the teams time and making us all worry. This is no excuse in the digital age. Please don’t use the words “I was busy” – without context and an initial warning or something, this is meaningless & do it more than once, I will look at replacing you at my earliest opportunity, rather than it become a problem further on.

3 – Directing

This is it! I’ve got my team, everyone’s there (some late, which my 1^st AD should've bollocked them on at the earliest opportunity) now its ON!

What I do?

My performers become my core concern, I take them through the scene THEN the shot we’re about to shoot, marking their positions then watching them through the monitor / view finder at every rehearsal and take. I have all my “as ifs” directions at the surface of my head to alter the performance and I don’t expect so much as a mouse fart to disturb any take.

Someone fucks up a line – no problem. Reset & do it again. Watch the action carefully until I shout “CUT” – my 1^st AD asks me; “how’s that Dan?” I ask my DoP, my sound recordist (if I suspect) “any problems?” – they respond thumbs up or down, we mark a new take and go again OR I say; “Awesome guys, lets go again!” the only thing that could’ve gone wrong here would be the performers, needing new direction – provided ALL this is cool, I get ‘3 TAKES MINIMUM’ for each thing on my shot list and my 1^st AD keeps cracking the whip with their time keeping, I ask: “How we doing for time?” they reply, “we’re running behind” or “you’re alright for now” – NEVER, “you’ve got plenty of time” – you take the pressure off and leave no room for errors later – I must be kept under pressure!

ONE HIGHLY IMPORTANT thing, I “always” remain open to ideas and regulate them. I may just get passed something I may have completely forgotten or under-thought/cooked – I may be in charge but everyone there has the same interest as me – to make this thing the best it can be. Remember – you’re in charge but don’t be a dick! 

Each hour is important. I work my ass off to give people that half hour break and feed my team with the best I can afford. Yeah, my legs are made out of steel but theirs may not be and at ‘every’ opportunity I’m shouting the words of encouragement out and telling whatever jokes I can – Keep everyone motivated! 

I make sure I pick up whatever shots I may’ve missed and make sure the sound recordist to get some atmos / wildtrack to layer on to other takes in the edit later. But no matter what, making sure I review the rushes at the end of each day with my 1st AD, transfer them safely, double-check all shots, audio, video are all captured. 

Tip: Do NOT format your SD card(s), unless absolutely necessary. Pick up another and it’s on to the next day. Trust me, if you keep things as organised as possible, you’re editor’s life will be kept far easier for later – & for God sake… Keep them safe!

 

What I Hate!

Disorganised people who haven’t checked their kit before they get to set - Doesn’t matter what it is. People who have acted the professional all up until this point now because they know squat they’re costing us all greatly. People who don’t know when to shut up and when to suggest ideas. Those who don’t respect each others roles, people who don’t know when to back off, directors of photography who think they know best – “No, pal, you’re here to suggest some ideas, do your best with what’s been given and be friendly & p.s, I told you, you wouldn’t touch that storyboard nor the shot list once you got here, trust me, its not my 1^st rodeo” 

(–GOD, I’ve got so many of these examples. Usually, the older they are, the worse!

4 – Editing

I believe this is the most undervalued part in the process next to the scriptwriting. It takes forever. When anyone tells me; “Oh, it shouldn’t take that long, its easy really” – Bullshit! That is the sign of a bad editor and / or someone really cocky you don’t want to risk working with. Believe me, I’ve been there!

What I Do?

Write out a planned order of transcoding, syncing ALL video with audio (if recorded separately) and stick to it. Ensure you watch ALL rushes and list each one with an easy thumbnail e.g; Sc1, WIDE, 3, Tanya approaches John = Scene, type of shot, take number, shot description. Every single last shot marked the same way so my editing software places it into an order I can find easily later. Once everything is there ONLY THEN can you start building your film and putting it together. I usually start with the last take for each shot and work backwards – why not? – that’ll be 80% likely to be your best performance for obvious reasons so I encourage everyone to start there.

Concentrate on one thing at a time;

Story - get all the video and audio into position as best you can

Video – switch up the takes a little, cut what can be cut, replace others, see what works best

Audio – Compensate one take’s for another if its better if you think you can, cut things out, add your transitions in & get those

Music – Go get your music! Loads of them out there, send them a rough cut and give them an audible idea of what you’re looking for

Grading – Time to exaggerate those scene colours and give the project the cinematic ‘feel’ that you’re going for and most film festivals you submit to will know if you haven’t bothered so do it! Darken, lighten, set up those that feel you need to look more orange (positive moments) or blue (need I state the obvious) and be careful!

Result – You need to fine tune all this for aaaaaaaaages before you’re happy. Get other opinions, your own eyes will fail to spot hiccups after spending so long with it.

What I Hate!

Editors who ask for a script and / or shot list but don’t bother reading it and in fact leave you feeling you’re babysitting them rather than letting them get on with it. What’s the point in being in a creative field if you can’t bring your own common sense and own innovation into it? Editors who don’t ask questions or keep in contact or carry the same annoying traits of a stereotypical DoP who railroads in and loses track of where the shots are, complaining shots are missing, trying to blame the entire crew when all the time it was sitting right in front of their nose. “Seriously dude – stick to the script, have some ideas, stay in contact addressing any questions, concerns etc & lets just get through it and try to enjoy it, shall we?”

5 – You’re done – Now make sure you show some gratitude

Number 1! – You wouldn’t have this project without your crew and cast so making damn sure they’ve all got their IMBD listings, LinkedIn recommendations, showreel footage etc is the least you can do. If you’re a production company or an investor who’s promised payment and coverage of expenses, do this within a week tops. Don’t be a twat – I’ve seen people do and get away with this so many times and it pisses me off. Then of course if desired send it off to a few festivals via www.withoutabox.com or www.filmfreeway.com and keep in touch with who you can from the production – if they’ve proved themselves and were good to work with, why wouldn’t you?

Won’t say what I hate, think, I’ve already made it quite clear…

Anyway, there you have it. Can probably say more but that’s my preferred method as simple and honest as I can illustrate and whatever you decide out there. ALL I want to know if I’m working with you one day is, you use your manners, are professional, ambitious and honest. Not much to ask, right? Yeah, well you’d be surprised if you heard some of my stories but that’s for another day.