Multitasking in Film

In most film projects one has access to a limited set of resources, and this is especially true for those who work in independent film. Currently most productions lack funding, people, skill level, or time.  Sometimes a production lacks more than one of these elements or is so depleted in one of these resources that full shoot collapse is inevitable. Most projects lacked funding, which directly impacted our human resource. To compensate for this my primary adjustment has been to work with crews that are multi-talented. This has made getting through short time frame productions possible. In post production extending the time frame has compensated for the lack of funding and people. This is a double edge sword, as projects can experience unreasonable delays, but the quality has always increased dramatically. In pre-production that means acting as a writer, producer, and director.  As well in production, although my primary role has been director, I’ve often engaged with grip/electric, camera operation or 1rst ac’ing, to moving over to sound recordist. In post production I’ve done everything from editing, sound track creation, to VFX. This wide range of activities that are often necessary in small productions often don’t translate to large productions where value is found in being the absolute best in the field at one specific task. With that in mind there are several areas of overlap. The process of film making itself shares the same theories of shot design, exploration of locations, direction of acting, and overall story construction scene by scene. And these are the heart of film making, which in turn gives the audience a valuable experience.