Four Days

Obviously on a professional film-set you shoot through weeks, maybe even months, without a break. That hasn't been the case with Follow The Crows. It can't be. We don't have the money for that kind of luxury. It's definitely one of the things I would do differently on my next project (whatever that may be), because while it's been fun it does create a whole load of agro that perhaps wouldn't exist if you shot for consecutive days.

For example, while the film was written to be shot at weekends and as and when it could, continuity is a bitch! Trying to keep track of the timeline is something that boggles the mind, to the point where I have a little book almost dedicated to what's happening, when it's happening, where it's happening and how long it's been since the last thing happened. Stressful isn't a strong enough word.

It also means that you have lots of ups and downs, you're on a high while filming, then on a low when you find yourself back to the daily grind of the "real" world. It's a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, like taking on 15 short films at once and hoping they all come out as good as each other.

Reshoots are a flipping pain in the ass as well, while it's one thing to be able to get everyone together and shoot it, it's another thing to then get everyone together again, replicate the conditions on set, replicate the make-up and then reshoot the thing. I have a dreadful lurking feeling that reshoots may be on the cards fairly soon, and I can feel my stomach turning when I think of the task arranging that will be.

You also have the problem of eating into everyone's social life (assuming they have one, I don't know everyone on sets social habits, they might be contented to just sit down and watch Netflix and wait for us to call them, but I kind of doubt it). It makes you infinitely more grateful to these people for doing this with you, but it also makes it infinitely more difficult to actually arrange a shoot day!

And if it's not a social life you're eating into it's people's jobs and education. I sigh, but only from my end, because you can't fault anyone for their busy lives. I mean, they do eventually come along a shoot the thing. Sometimes they even show up on time, which is always a plus.

So if all that sounds very stressful then consider this, that effort tends to go into planning a two day, weekend shoot. More recently we shot for four days straight, and it was one of the biggest tasks myself and my producer have ever had to face! So many different things going on at some many different times. At one point I'm certain my head was about to explode. We found ourselves with an impossible task and, lo and behold, it actually worked!

It may have been hard but everyone really put the effort in, through the rain and the sun and the cold and the warmth, and we managed to make a four day shoot feel like a day out with friends. I can't thank the cast and crew enough for their achievement there. Everyone has been spectacular. Now, we need to start planning the next one.

Ugh.