Long Distance Groove Buddies

Project evaluation

Pre-production
My role was assistant producer and script supervisor, A script supervisor is someone throughout the shoot who watches out of all the continuity and makes sure that each take nothing changes and resets also stay the same. During postproduction, the script supervisor works with the editor and they work through the notes to be able to more easily put together the final film.
I mainly started as an assistant producer through the pre- production and I mainly just helped everyone where I could. I made lists so people knew who was doing what and knew what they themselves were doing. I helped the director by reading through his script and I helped source props. I helped raise money for the production with a bake sale and sorted out a budget. I also helped with the equipment risk assessments.
I do wish I could have done more, even if it were more risk assessments or paperwork, but it seemed to always be that someone else said they were going to do it. However, I should have taken charge more and been more confident in saying that I should be the one to complete or help with a task instead of letting myself be brushed aside. I also wish I had done the budget on my personal laptop and not a College computer because now a few pieces of work for this project like the budget are on there and due to the current world situation I cannot access them. luckily, most of my work is on my personal laptop but I have learned that I always need to keep backups of work everywhere because anything can happen.
For my script supervisor roll I printed out lots of templates to make life on set a lot easier and I did research into my role. I did a presentation on it and think that it went well I put humour and fun examples into it to make it relatable and interesting. However, I could have found some student sets and tried to get experience in this role. I was very nervous about it because it was something I had never done before and the experience would have helped me greatly before going into this project.
Production
The first day/night of production is probably the one I found most challenging due to the amount of traveling we had done that day. I drove the director and the director of photography down to Beer, this had made me incredibly tired, after unpacking and settling in for about two hours we started filming. What I found challenging was not being able to say anything when I knew something was not going smoothly or efficiently as this was not my job. I really struggle when I think I can help get things moving especially when everyone is tired, getting increasingly fed up and wanting to finish filming for the night. I think I did well to keep to my role and not over stepping. There were a few times I did not quite do the right thing, like on the first night I asked the wrong person what scene we were doing and then snapped when I was reminded. This was because I was tired and just wanted to finish but I do regret snapping and breaking my professionalism. however, it was something I do know I need to work on and because for most of it I did not overstep I think overall I did a good job.
During the first shoot I found it a little difficult to keep up and find a rhythm for what I was supposed to be doing, but in the end I found my footing and I realised that I was rather enjoying the role. Over the week of shooting I came down with several migraines and headaches which I do come down with quite often and stress does not help them. This took me out of some shooting or limited me to what I could do on shoots. This led me to become a runner as well and I helped drive people to where they needed to be. I also got equipment, props or essentials for the shoot. I could not always do my role either due to space constraints, especially in a scene where we are shooting in the local shop. I could not be in the shop to do my script supervisor role so helped drive everything there and took the essential people down to the shoot like the actors, director and camera people. If I had to do this again, I would defiantly come more prepared for my migraines with stronger medicines and trying to stay as stress less as possible. And although I did have warm clothes next time, I would take even more protective clothing due to the outside shoots being freezing for me and most of the cast and crew. Blankets and hand warmers and even hot water bottles I now think are a must for winter shoots, especially on the coast.  
I learnt a lot from this shoot especially working with actors, I have done some before but not on this scale and seeing it through from start to finish with them from the audition stage was a great learning curve. I have never done auditioning before so learning how to do that and being involved with the reading of the script with them while they audition was something I really enjoyed. Also being a part of the selection process after was fun and I did not know quite how they worked before this. Then getting to see how these actors start shaping the film you have been working on and building a repour with them has been very eye opening. Before I’d only use my friends in films but this project has given me more confidence to do it another way and I will now be able to find people to suit my characters rather than changing the characters to suit the actors I have.
In conclusion the project was a great experience for me, and I have learnt a lot about what I need to work on in the future and what I enjoy doing. This can help me choose future projects and jobs. I wish it was possible to have worked on the final film and gotten it finished but because of the current world situation that hasn’t been possible. I hope then when everything has settled the film will be fully completed and be able to show all the hard work everyone has put in.