Production Diaries:
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
Recent Entries:
HUNDREDS GATHER TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MAKO IWAMATSU IN CAGES!
Wed, 14 Nov 2007
A SPECIAL TRIBUTE SCREENING OF MAKO!
Tue, 16 Oct 2007
Perles Acquires Cages Distribution!
Wed, 01 Aug 2007
"CAGES" RUNS 4TH WEEK IN THEATRES!
Fri, 13 Apr 2007
IT'S MY TURN TO FLY!
Mon, 09 Apr 2007
"CAGES" SURPRISES MANY AS IT ENTERS THIRD WEEKEND IN THEATRES!
Fri, 06 Apr 2007
"CAGES" ENTERS THIRD WEEK IN THEATRES!
Tue, 03 Apr 2007
LOYAL FOLLOWING TO THANK, AS "CAGES" ENTERS THIRD WEEK IN THEATRES!
Mon, 02 Apr 2007
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Rocket Science
07/04/04
Everyone in a production has a role. No role is less important than the other. The only difference in our days is the energy required. Some days are easy and some days are hard. And no two days are the same. If you are someone who likes the consistency and regularity of a traditional 9-5, this is not the job for you.
When you talk about film work, especially pre-production, this is what really happens: With the exception of a few team members on the photography side, everyone has a lot on their plate right now. The wardrobe department is scrambling to find the right designers and stylists, the locations department is going in circles trying to discover the missing scene locations, props is digging into deep piles of junk in flea markets and coordinators are pressing phones to their ears, breathing in toxic highlighter fumes, and faxing potential clients till nightfall.
But there is one job that is consistently grim regardless of the day of the week. It is the Production Manager. Awarded to the talented and patient Miss Hass, she’s the poor soul who has to take my script and break it down… by location, by day, by night, by rain, by clear weather. Now consider actors who need to be here, or not there. Consider continuity, and set construction. Consider space availability, and so on and so forth. Keep it within budget, and get it built tomorrow. I can truly say it is one of the most important, and one of the most difficult jobs there is at this stage of the game. And if you don’t do it right, it will surely creep up on you and be more than apparent within a few days into production.
Hass is her name. She closets herself into a tiny cubical, regardless of the fact we all work in an open office with no walls. She’s constructed what we endearingly refer to as The Fish Tank. Behind the glass walls she sits for days on end… tugging at her hair and staring into a monitor, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Her biggest curve ball has been my rewrite, topped off with a clear understanding of the actor’s work schedule based on Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG). Just when she thought she had a pretty good game plan, the scheduling process starts all over again – from scratch.
For Hass, long days and overnights in the office has been a routine. To really create a shooting schedule that is realistic, logical, strategic, and economical, each and every scene, every foreseeable angle, and presumable problem has to be factored in. She has to think about how long it takes to get from point A to point B, how long it takes to set up, light the shot, test, rehearse, where to have lunch, where to wait off set, where to put the generators, and how the neighbors will react and what if it rains, what about sound?
Like an installment at a city zoo, behind the glass is Hass. Occasionally you can see her move. Periodically you can hear a frustrating groan. Other times you may be treated to a light-hearted hum. It good to know she’s alive in there. When she surfaces, it’s usually for a cold shower or a meal and cigarette.
What keeps her going? Is it the drive to create an excellent film? Is it the challenge to make a seemingly impossible schedule possible and even enjoyable event? Is it her trusty Chinese oil inhaler, permanently pressed to her nose? Or is she simply insane?
Whatever it is… she keeps pounding away. Multiple scripts, a jumble of charts, hand drawn graphs, scattered notes, and illegible chicken-scratchings feed her the information to sort and analyze; just like central command in NASA. To us here in the office, it’s just the lovely Hass, doing this week’s version of the production schedule. But to the common 9-5er, it probably looks like rocket science. And truth be said, it is!
You Go Girl!
Graham Streeter
Director
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