Years ago, the agency MD was chatting to me about a shoot happening the next day.
‘With how busy and pressured shoots are, I’m always amazed how they go so smoothly’.
‘Really’, I replied, ‘It might look like that but the whole day is usual one problem after another’.
Their face dropped, ‘Don’t tell me that! I thought everything was in control’.
I suppose I could have put it more tactfully. But I did go on to explain what I meant, just like I’m about to now.
Of course, on a shoot there’s going to be things that don’t work out as expected.
Shots or angles need to change. The action or dialogue feels clunky (see the first paragraph of this post). The weather or some piece of tech does it’s best to destroy you.
That’s just scratching the surface, I’ve plenty of shoot horror stories I’ll save for another time.
The worst thing that can happen is when something clearly isn’t working and everything stops, the whole set turning to face the creatives for a solution. That’s pressure you don’t need, trying to rewrite work in the moment to get the cameras rolling again.
So have back-up shots, layouts, dialogue, action and anything else you can think of. Even if you don’t use 99% of it, the 1% you need will be invaluable.
Then stay flexible and open. Don’t stay rooted to what’s on the page.
Be ready to spot the better. Have a plan but change it to adapt and include the bits of magic that always happen.
A shoot’s not a treat or day out. It’s the most important moment of the job. Once it’s done it’s done.
Plan, prepare and stay focussed so everyone will be convince it all went completely smoothly.
