My main goal when I first came to screenology was to be involved in more advanced productions with better production value. At the time, in June 2018, I had just completed my most ambitious film, a 30-minute crime/drama, that I wrote, directed, filmed and edited. I took on a huge responsibility, my college tutor was concerned that I may have been too ambitious, but still encouraged me. In the end, it was a huge pay-off, people loved my film and it even won a few awards. 

 

Working on past projects, I've learned that my production skills are great. I am confident, organised and determined to get the best results. I have great camera & sound skills, good editing abilities, and a viable creative vision. These are invaluable skills as a student filmmaker, but not unparalleled. Starting at screenology I wanted to be a director or cinematographer. I'm a creative person with an eye for detail; but through screenology, I have met some very talented filmmakers, and I have continued close relationships with my peers from Weston College.

 

Something not so common in my student network is the level of production management. Most people in my network and outside have said to me that I am a great leader and manager. So I found myself thinking why don't I take a step towards producing, a role I am very familiar with, but I never thought to pursue as much as directing or camera. I feel my strengths lie with my technical understanding, working well under pressure and leadership; my weakness is that I like too much creative control.

 

My strengths are difficult for me to understand, as I have many strengths, but I have decided to look at other peoples strengths and weaknesses to really measure what I am good at. I found that most people are not as confident as me or not as willing to take risks. I also have a great ability to make the impossible, feasible.  I believe I should take a step towards something most people overlook, producing.

 

Producing to me is all about creating an environment for creativeness to flourish. A producer takes the biggest risks, pushing the project forward. If I can do this and bring many talented and creative individuals together, surely I can achieve my goal of being involved in much larger productions.

 

So to work to my strengths I will organise the film and run the set, which I know I'm more than capable of doing. I will produce and be the first assistant director.  I have never made a film with a crew of more than 8 people. I feel I can achieve my goal of greater production value when working in a bigger team. More people on set is not always better but if people are specialising and working to their strengths we spread the responsibility in the best way.

 

I hope I learn a lot about managing a big crew and juggling resources. I want to work on future big projects with crews of ten to twenty people, I think this project is a great step, as I have experience with short productions up to 30 minutes but never worked with a large crew. My long term goal for screenology is to produce a feature film in my third year, and for that, I'll need lots of experience managing big crews, expenses and scheduling. I also hope that this film brings exposure to the talented people involved, I will be submitting the film to festivals.