I want to thank everyone who sent good energy my way as I was working to meet today's deadline. I made it. Well, I was ten minutes late. But I'd stayed up until 2:30 a.m. last night and then gotten up and back to work by 9:30 a.m. this morning (Friday). I'd guess I put in at least 30 hours on this job that the producer had assured me would take no more than 3-4 hours, but she's going to ask her boss to give me more money. Well, we all know I didn't do it for the money.
So why did I do it? Because it sounded cool to be part of the making of a documentary film. And this particular film promises to be BIG. I mean, this director and producer won an Oscar for Best Documentary with their last film, so they obviously know what they're doing. But did I? Not really. What I didn't know was how stressed I was going to feel about doing it "right" and meeting a tight deadline. Lots of childhood stuff got triggered. My elementary school report cards where they always wrote, "Patsy doesn't finish what she begins." My perfectionistic father who always found some small thing that I hadn't done right, no matter how hard I tried.
The associate producer with whom I worked was always kind but she was under pressure herself. Her boss, the senior producer, was obviously pressing her to get this job done fast, well and for the price they'd originally agreed to pay. Rebecca was caught in the middle between an inexperienced photographer who required a lot of time and attention and an Oscar award-winning producer who needed these location shots as soon as possible in order to decide whether or not to set up a production shoot in Detroit. Time was of the essence.
Would I do it again? I honestly don't know. It was a unique opportunity, one I'm sure I'll look back on with feelings of awe and gratitude, but I'm not sure such high levels of stress are good for my mind/body/spirit. I don't think I'm cut out to travel in the fast lane. Sure it'll be fun to see my name in the credits when this film is released, but to be honest, I'd rather use my camera to make art than to gain prestige. An artist is what I want to be, not someone with an impressive resume.
That being said, I'm glad I did it. I know more now about what goes on behind the scenes in the world of film than I ever did before. So what did I learn? Filmmaking is hard work, full of stress and deadlines. It is not glamorous, at least not for small cogs in the wheel like me. And producers do EVERYTHING! These people work their tails off. But being part of a film--even a tiny part--is something that you'll never forget. Already time is softening my memories, and it hasn't even been twelve hours since I completed the job. Funny how that happens.
As a postscript...
This afternoon (Friday) a storm system settled over Detroit and we're being blanketed in snow. Such conditions would have made it impossible for me to take the location shots they needed. As they say, timing is everything!