1. Director’s Journal
What role does the director play in the production?
Duringthe production,the directorisincharge of beingthe force behindthe creative productionas
theycarry out roleswhichinclude beingincharge of scripteditingandcasting. The directoralsoacts
as a linkbetweenvariouspeople inthe productionteamandkeepsthemtogether. The detectors’
mainjobis to be able to transformthe scriptintoa movingimage thatcan be playedona screen,so
theyare incharge of the artisticaspect of the filmandthe outcome.
While pre-productionishappening,the directorisincharge of makingimportantdecisions suchas
selectingthe locationsforthe film, andselectingthe rightcastand theyworkcloselywiththe
cinematographer.Duringpost-productionthe directorworkscloselywiththe editor tohelpmake
sure the visionof the final productisfulfilled.
In a nutshell,the directorisresponsibleformotivatingtheircrew toperformtothe bestof their
abilitiessothe final productcanbe somethingtheyare all proudof.
Whydid I decide to take the role?
Due to havingpreviousexperience withdirectinginmyASmediacoursework,Ithoughtitwouldbe
bestto take on a role I was familiarandcomfortable with.Notonlythisbutsince Icame upwiththe
conceptof the shortfilm,itwouldmake more sense forme to directthe restof the crew in termsof
whatI was picturingandwhat I wantedtohappen. Ontop of this,Iam good at multitaskingand
takingcharge of a situation,whichisagood skill fora directortohave to ensure thateverythingruns
smoothly.
What didthe role involve?
Beinga directorinvolvedme beingable totake control of the production,sine Ihadalreadyworked
withthe editor,CaitlanpreviouslyinourASproductionitmeantwe were bothcomfortable withour
rolessoI didn’thave to choose the role forher. One of my mainrolesIhad was to write the script
and getmy ideas downintowords,whenIcompletedthe firstdraftIcheckedwithCaitlantomake
sure the ideamade sense andit wassomethingaccomplishable.Afterdiscussingitwithherand
finalisingthe ideawe finallyhadsomethingconcrete toreferbackto.
Afterthat,to make thingseasierforusI conductedthe storyboardso that we had a visual reference
for the filmbefore Idecidedtosearchforsome actresses.Searchingforthe mainactressandthe
bestfriendswasn’thardas I usedpeople Iwasclose toor people whoalreadyhadexperience with
actingso it wouldbe easiertoexplainthe concepttothemandgetthemto performtheirrole tothe
bestof theirability.
My nextjobwasto findlocationssoIhad to do locationscoutingbecause ourconcept consistedof
more than one location,once thatwas sorted I hadto sort out our propssince thiswas one of the
mostimportantfeature forour story. The nextthingIhad to sort outbefore outfilmingcouldtake
place was organisingthe equipmentwe woulduse,throughresearchandexperimentingwiththe
equipmentandseeinghoweachone performed, Iwasable to decidedwhichoneswouldbe most
effectiveforourproduction,sowheneverwe bookedoutequipmentitwasundermyresponsibility.
2. For us to proceedwiththe filmingIwasincharge of schedulingdayswhenourmainactresscould
filmorwhenthe otheractressescouldfilmalongside withourmainactress.Inorderto do thisI had
to be in contact withthemandfinda way to schedule dayswhenwe wouldall be free whenit
wouldn’tinterfere withtheirpersonal livestoobecause mostof themwere studentssotheyhad
othersubjectstothinkabout.
The last job I had wasto check howthe editingwasgoingsoI frequentlycheckedthe footage with
Caitlanandgave herfeedbackonwhatI likedandwhatI thoughtcouldbe tweakedsothe initial idea
was followedthrough.
Did I encounterany problemswhilstcompletingthe role?
The biggestproblemIfaced,especiallywhennearertothe deadline,wasfindingatime whentwoof
our actressescouldfilmonthe same day.Filmingafterschool wasouronlyoptionasone of our
actressesworkedonthe weekendandthe otherone wasa motherwhodidn’tlive relativelyclose to
us,so pickinga day whentheywere bothfree waschallenging.Withthisproblemahandthe filming
processtooklongerthanexpectedespeciallybecausethesetwoactressesneededtoacttwo scenes
togethersowe had no choice butto filmbothinthe same day.
We facedanotherproblemwhile filming,howeverwe were onlyable tosee itasa problemonce
Caitlangota holdof the footage and startedto editit,the problemwasthe factthat we filmedsome
of the presentdaysceneswithdimlighting,itwastoodimto be clear onthe computerwhichmeant
we had to reschedule extradaystore-filmthe wholefootage,whichtookupmostof our time as
well asthe actressestime.
What has the experience taughtme?
Workingas a directoron thisprojecttaughtme how effective organisation andcommunicationare
especiallywhen there are only twoof usinour team. It’simportantto communicate tomake sure
everyone inthe crewunderstandswhattheyhave todointheirrole and how to be effectiveintheir
role. Organization isalsokeybecause it meanseverythingwillhappeninanorderlywayinsteadof
doingthingslastminute orforgettingkeyelementsforascene to take place.
PreciousOladimeji
