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Ahead of beginning filming, I wanted to develop my understanding of how my role would look on set. To do this, I found the above LinkedIn course that detailed the role of a producer/production manager, specifically in creating a short film. This course highlighted me to my duty of care to my cast and crew, and how my role was essentially ensuring things ran smoothly in pre-production, production and post-production, supervising each department and ensuring we were working within budget.

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Creating a Short Film: 01 Producing Online Class | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

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In this installment of the Creating a Short Film series, learn about the role of the producer: getting financing, dealing with legal issues, and increasing production value.

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Before our first session, I wanted to ensure I was well-informed on what my duties and responsibilities would be throughout the process. I found the above helpful graph in my research that gave me a clear overview of my responsibilities at each stage of production.

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In week one, there was a focus on all of us getting to know each other and understanding the script. I had read the script prior to the session, however hearing it performed helped give me a greater sense of the comedic tone to the script. This also gave me the oppuritunity to give feedback on the script as once hearing it aloud I felt the preacher scene was too long which slightly lost some of the comedy. I suggested this to my group and there was a general agreement with me which led to it being adapted.

My other key contribution in week one was collecting details from the cast and crew. I made a spreadsheet that had an attendance record, availability sheet and everyones details. This ensured I had a cohesive document that gave me an overview of absences which could then be passed onto Khieng to check up on them. The contact details would also be essential on location to ensure we could reach our crew and keep them informed.

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Collaborating with set/props on the prop list

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In week two, a lot of my role was collaborating with the other departments to check their progress and help coordinated their forward steps. One part of this was working with set/props to draw together a list of requirements in the script. We then began splitting these onto the whiteboard into three catergories- buy, borrow and have. This helped me as production manager as it also meant that I could begin to work out the budget as I had a rough idea of what props we needed to buy.

I also worked closely with camera, lighting and sound this session to draw up a list of equiptment requirements prior our meeting with the equiptment store. I drew up a document that split up all the equiptment we would need by department so that it would be easier for them to keep track of items when creating the booking. This would also help me in production as a check-list of who had taken what equiptment home.

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Week three I was unfortunately really unwell so unable to make it into the session. Despite this, I informed everyone that I would be available on teams for any urgent matters and ensured that I kept up to date with each department.

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Week 4 was our last week of pre-production which meant it was essential to have everything sorted. As one of our location managers had been M.I.A I stepped into assist Paige in trying to find a location for the flat/house scenes. We searched multiple filming location websites as well as AirBnB. I assisted her in speaking to owners and enquiring about filming. Ultimately by the end of the session we had multiple options that we were just waiting on confirmation of viewings.

During this session I also checked in with camera/lighting/sound to confirm the booking of equiptment.

I also began working closely with my production coordinators to workout who would sort what paperwork. We decided we would each take a location to coordinate each department completing a risk assessment for and that we would then collate these together once completed.

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As easter break fell in the middle of the project, I continued to work throughout the break.

During this time I completed the budget ready for items to be bought and chased up hair,makeup and costume to check if they needed anything adding to the budget. Ultimately, as no locations had to be paid from the budget, we had a large sum of money left at the end. Following discussions with my director, and influenced by my research, I decided this money should go towards craft services on set. My research had stated "Whether you pay your cast and crew or not, you need to feed them. Food is literally the fuel that makes a production run." (Merzbacher, 2018). With the remaining funds I budgeted for water, snacks and lunch on set for filming in the house- this would keep production running as snacks were available on set as opposed to people having to keep leaving- and also keep spirits high.

I also worked to check we had confirmed all locations as we were still scouting for the flat and interview room so continued to check in on location crew throughout.

I also issued reminders to each department to complete their risk assessments and made sure to set a clear deadline for this so that I could submit the risk assessments for location clearance.

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photo taken by me of rehearsals on day 1

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Our first day after easter was primarily dedicated to catching up with each other and rehearsing with the equiptment. During this time I gave a brief update to the group about risk assessments, safety on set and enquired about any allergies so I could ensure the food on set would be safe for everyone. Upon finding out one crew member had a nut allergy, I made the decision to prohibit any nuts from being brought onto set.

I also utilised this time to chase up on risk assessments as a few had not been completed- I guided the lighting department through filling it in to ensure it was done in order for me to submit for permits. I worked with my production coordinators to combine and check over the risk assessments.

This time was also used to get our actors to complete actor consent forms to ensure we had their permission ahead of our first day of filming.

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Day 2 was our first shoot day filming the interview scene. Whilst shooting, my main duties were checking up on the cast and crew, ensuring I knew where they were so I could get them in their positions so the director could call action. I also ensured the risk assessments were followed on set, calling for the windows to be opened between takes, and turning lights and other electricals off between takes.
I also ensured I could watch the filming to help supervise continuity. This proved really useful on set as whilst the DOP/Director were more focussed on the technical aspects, I could watch each take more objectively as a viewer- allowing me to give feedback on things they may not have noticed.
During this filming session, I discussed our filming plan with Khieng. We were due to film in Peel Park on Wednesday/Thursday - however, the forecast was looking rather cloudy and wet. This led me to suggest that we move the filming dates to the second week when the weather was looking much brighter. This also aided me in getting permission, as there had been a delay in applying to the council due to one department not completing their risk assessments on time, so this ensured we would have permission prior to filming.

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Day three was a shorter day, which was helpful for our cast and crew to have a rest so that nobody burnt out during filming. Throughout this shoot day, I was more actively involved as we had a few small issues arise. Firstly, there was painting going on in the room next to us which meant that there were a lot of paint fumes going round. To help reduce this we kept the windows open as much as possible, and kept our door shut to block out some of the fumes. We also had a second room available for us to use, so I suggested we utilise this as a break room. This ensured that if the fumes got too much, we had a ventilated room with water and snacks to give the crew a break. Our second issue was that the lighting in the room had changed- and the blinds were broken. I suggested we duct taped the reflector to the window- which worked successfully in keeping the lighting the same as the previous day.

Our final issue was working out who could take equiptment home- as our next shoot day was the following monday. To help coordinate this I looked at the call sheet and worked out who was in from each department. I then contacted one of the sound team who wasn't on set that day asking if he could come in to collect some equiptment. This shoot day overall was a successful display of my ability to work and compromise under pressure.

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Filming in the flat was a rather stressful day as we only had one day from 9-5 to shoot, meaning we would not have a chance to do re-shoots/pick-ups. To ensure the day ran smoothly I supervised the shoot closely ensuring everything went well, including monitoring the shot list to check we did not miss any shots. I also edited the shot list throughout to add in any additional shots and cut any we chose not to do. This would help our editors in post-production as they would not be looking for any missing shots and all the mark-ups would be correct.

As we were filming all day I used a significant portion of the budget to buy pizza for lunch. This ensured we saved time to utilise for filming as no one had to go out for lunch. To cater to preferences and allergies I sent out a form to ask about these which ensured there would be an option for everyone. This also helped to keep spirits high during the long shooting day and I found the we really bonded as a team during our break.

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Our first day of filming in Peel Park did not go to plan. Firstly, the weather was extremely cold and cloudy which meant the shots did not look how we expected. This also meant I had to keep checking in with my cast and crew as filming in the cold was not a pleasant experience and my blanket came in handy. To add to this, our lead actor had let me know that she had fallen unwell. Upon hearing this, I informed the rest of the team and luckily we could still shoot some of the scenes between Jeff and Wayne. I made sure to check in with the actor at lunchtime, and as they were still unwell we had to end the shoot early. This meant that we would have a much longer day tomorrow, however, it was out of my control so we simply had to hope for a quick shoot day.

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Going into our final scheduled shoot day, the stakes were high as we had to make up for lost time from the day before. My first job of the day was checking in on our actor who had been ill the day before to ensure she would be available on set. I also ensured that I checked in with the actor throughout the day to make sure she was managing the long day.

I also led everyone in a group warm up this morning, and whilst it may have simply seemed like a bit of fun, it really helped to raise moral and wake everyone up as it was an early morning call time. I think this really ensured we would have a productive day as it got everyone excited to wrap the shoot.

Beginning shooting, I had to step in to complete the shot log as our production coordinator was running late. I adapted really well as was able to complete the shot log, and ensured I handed it over to the production coordinator and gave her a full brief to catch her up on the shoot.

The rest of the day ran relatively smoothly, although we did end up overrunning our predicted shoot time so I let all the extra cast and crew go home early, leaving only essential personel on set. We did manage to wrap by 7pm and the hard drives and SD cards were all passed over to the edit team. Before leaving set, I reminded everyone about equiptment returns on the following monday.

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Merzbacher, C. (2018). The short! guide to producing: The practical essentials of producing short films. Routledge.

Perkins, C. (2016, April 21). Taking care of your team - creating a short film: 01 producing video tutorial: Linkedin learning, formerly Lynda.com. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/creating-a-short-film-01-producing/taking-care-of-your-team?resume=false&u=71337938

Rea, P. W., & Irving, D. K. (2013). Producing and directing the short film and video. Focal Press.