Between 7th and 8th August, we worked 25 hours straight without rest as we produced our first pilot screen production. We were a team of 25 individuals, each specializing in an area within the performing arts and film. Work started at 6 am on the morning of 7th August with everyone, that is actors, scene designers, the gaffer who was also our DOP, our production supervisor, myself and our production manager arriving at the venue. This stage followed what I talked about in my previous article with the same subject heading.
What followed was a series of decisions being taken to make sure that each and every area of the product worked as planned. We headed out and brought a carpenter up to speed on what we needed personalized. It looked crazy at the beginning but at the end of the day, each new thing added to our set delivered on our expectations.
Why would the government think scientists are more useful
The gaffer created the look I wanted, which did not require the constant movement of lights from one place to another while our production manager kept on his toes, especially for actors we needed to get their lines and also make sure everyone was very comfortable.
Looking at my team, I still wonder why our government is inclined on promoting sciences seeing as there is no single scientist that can privately hire 25 people at the same time unless they are at the level of an investor. But there we were, a team of 25, working hard to make sure that every aspect of the product works according to plan.
Anyway, our plan was to start shooting at 8 am but we ended up starting at 11 am after seeing that every technical aspect had started working out as we planned. From the time we started, the eating was very irregular as people ate and they couldn’t remember if they had eaten after 2 hours. To put it straight, everyone ate while on the move. We worked throughout the day and throughout the night to the next morning.
By the time we were done, everyone was sleepwalking but glad that we had produced something we look forward to calling good work.
The most important aspect of any product development is the team
Thinking back, nothing could have happened without the effort of each of the 25 individuals. Each of them knew a skill that no other person knew and each of them did something to make life easier for the rest of the team. Some of the members were not doing anything related to their craft for 20 hours but they were very helpfull in doing other things to make work move forward.
Our team included actors, a production supervisor, three directors, a production manager, a gaffer, three camera operators, a make-up artist, a customer, a carpenter, an art director, a continuity person, production assistants, and of course the almighty God who kept us all safe and sound.
As we head out to edit our first pilot, the entire team is very excited as to what might come out of the joint efforts of many people.
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