a balance of spontaneity and strategy: reflecting on the production process.

In reflecting on the process of my creative video project, one lesson sticks out—expect the unexpected and plan to be flexible. Especially given the nature of my video’s premise and style, and despite plenty of planning ahead, my process would have probably gone smoother if I was more aware and creatively open-minded when I was actually shooting.

I set out to make a mockumentary of sorts on the graffiti in Hunter bathrooms. I envisioned a perfect balance of interviews, intellectual stimulation, comedy and aesthetic appeal in a five minute short. I wanted to get janitors scrubbing, artists writing on walls, students caring and agreeing. While I had planned out what I wanted to capture, in a documentary style, I failed at recruiting enough ‘actors’ for shooting day. While I kept specific ideas and shots in mind, I feel that if I had been more prepared to go with the flow and less dead set on getting specific shots the video would have unraveled more fluidly and less stressfully. I did realize about halfway through shooting that if I trusted my gut I could develop a nice short video, based off the candid responses I received instead of preconceived notions of what would be best for my vision.

During the editing process this idea manifested into a guided ‘edit-as-you-go’ process. Because half of the shots and interviews I wanted never worked out, and were replaced with equally entertaining content, I had to restructure the entire storyboard I developed. For example the shot I wanted to begin with turned out to be a talking point of one my interviewees. Therefore I saw it more fit to include the graffito ‘Why do you exist?’ during that segment as opposed to as an opening. Conversely, my filming partner’s idea in shooting the building outside to establish content, proved to be a good way to begin the video. The interaction with the janitors did not go as smoothly as I had anticipated because of the language barrier and their reluctance to be on camera. Nevertheless, a lot of their shots were easily incorporated into my new edit scheme.

To conclude, I am grateful for my meticulous planning ahead; it certainly guided the process. Yet I think the most valuable lesson to learn is that the media-maker must learn to be flexible and always have his creative eyes and ears open because brilliant concepts or ideas my come when the planning is over and execution is taking place.