Here Comes The Finish Line

The end of shooting is fast approaching, and that's filling me with dread. Aside from the excitement of actually finishing this mammoth task we all took on, there's a nervousness that hangs in the air. It's rather poetic, in fact, because what I'm feeling is sort of what our characters find themselves feeling throughout the course of the movie.

What am I going to do once this is all over. Obviously, although production is almost done, we still have months of post to embark on, editing, color grading, ADR, foley, music, then trying to find distribution. But it does feel like a chapter is ending.

Once we're done shooting we're done with a bulk of the team. The actors, the make-up artist, the camera operator, the runners, the costume, they all go away and work on other things (hopefully they'll all be coming back for the next project - which is being written at this very moment... in fact, it's open on my desktop as I type this), while myself and the producer find ourselves in a darkened room, sifting through the hours upon hours of footage. Hopefully it looks good.

But, within the realms of our story, our characters begin to question the point in their own lives. Once they've completed the tasks they've set themselves, what will they have left? What will they do? This is one of the key themes that runs throughout the movie. When you have nothing, something is everything. And this is where I find myself.

I'm uncertain as to how the other members of the team feel, but I'm sure that the actors at least are feeling sad about leaving their characters behind. These are people who have worked for months on this project, giving up their time, putting in all their effort.

They have been nothing short of exceptional and all of them have put a lot of thought into who their characters are, what they think, why they do the things they do. We've already lost cast members, but this feels like the final farewell. Here we are at the finish line, and once we're done we're done.

I'm sure another post will follow when the final day has been and gone, and I'm sure it'll be a very emotional one. But for now this will serve as a thank you for everyone who has put in their hard work. The words are not enough to explain how grateful we are for your effort and generosity. Here's to a successful final shoot day, and to many more projects in the future.