Two Ways to do Something

This last week I have had the pleasure of working in 2 very different environments and on 2 very differing projects – one of the major bonuses of having my own company.

The first was filming on behalf of GOD TV the Call in Las Vegas. This was a 12 hour live broadcast from the Thomas and Mack Centre and was a mixture of prayer and worship – it was a very powerful event and I’m sure the people who watched it would have been incredibly blessed. It’s the 2nd one I have done and we will be doing a number more – check out www.thecall.com – BUT I won’t do it the way we did it again. Let me explain.

Understandably these kinds of events cost considerable amounts of money to put on AND to broadcast and GOD TV and the Call split picking up the tab for it. This time the Call had the idea to try and save cash by getting local volunteers to help (I have to say at no point did GOD TV ask me to do this – though budgets are always tight they are getting to the stage they know if you want a job done properly it costs money) – but I foolishly went along with the idea (at least I only have myself to blame for nearly losing my sanity). In itself it seems a sensible idea – and let me say this right up front I though the guys who showed up did a very good job – to the viewer at home it would have looked OK – well done to all of them!!!! Though I personally know how much better it could have been.

However here is the major problem, on the day when we were rigging we had virtually NO ONE turn up – and those who did as eager as they were had little clue so there was a lot of handholding.

If we’d have had a pro crew rigging it would probably have taken us 5 hours to get everything set up checked and ready for the programme the following day. BUT instead we arrived at 10am and left at just after 11pm – and still had to do 2 hours more preparation in the morning – so instead of 5 it took 15 hours. That in itself was a problem as it meant we were all going into a live 12 hour broadcast shot!! BUT the major problem was the stress and strain it put on the professional crew we were working with (all 3 of them – Sound Supervisor, EIC for the Brits that’s the Engineer in Charge and the Driver) – plus me. Remarkably they stayed with it and didn’t walk away – though I know they must have been severely tempted – and we all agreed that the event itself went remarkably well – considering.

The biggest problem here was the strain it put on relationships and also the fact that none of us could focus 100% on what we were doing so we did not function to the best of our capabilities and couldn’t necessarily produce as good a broadcast as we could have done otherwise as we were always trying to work within the limitations of the crew – who as I said above did a great job. Is that a problem – yes, for me it is I want to give 100% and produce the very best broadcast possible and if I can’t do that I don’t feel the satisfaction of doing a good job. The other thing is the taste it leaves in the mouth of those you are working with – some of whom this time were not Christians – it’s just not a good witness. Also while in some ways you save some money (and I’m sure they will) when all the overtime of the pro-crew are costed in they certainly won’t save nearly as much as they thought they would.

Bottom line is – this is not the way to do it, at the end of the day we’re short changing the audience and that’s never a good thing.

NOW – contrast that with what I went onto do on Monday – I had the absolute pleasure of working on our first Feature film. It’s produced by Global Creative Studios in South Africa and is the life story of Hanse Cronjie – called simply “Hansie” – check out www.hansemovie.com – we (Cloak) were basically providing the production services for their UK shoot. This including organising crew, equipment, logistics (food, hotel, transport, phones etc.) and filming permits etc. It was only a one day shoot – they had 2 scenes in London to do – but it was SO unstressful and it went incredibly well – they walked away very happy and we walked away very satisfied.

So what was the difference – simple, it was 2 fold – planning and skilled people. We had been planning this for over a month and even though things were changing up till the last minute the planning that had gone into the shoot meant we could be confident we could cope with pretty well anything – and we did have some challenges to overcome – such as radio mics not turning up, noisy builders on one location etc. BUT all we got round – son much so that our wrap time was set at 5pm and we wrapped 2 hours earlier – I couldn’t believe it.

The other key ingredient was the skill of the crew (both the ones who came from South Africa – about 14 – and those who we hired from the UK). They were all a JOY to work with and the great thing was they all knew what they needed to do and got on and did it – meaning we could do what we needed to do – as they say a well oiled machine.

It was filmmaking at its best. They spent the money needed to get a good job done freeing them from the stress so they could concentrate on the creative element NOT the problems – surely that’s what it’s about at the end of the day – building a platform for creativity. I’m not saying they were not budget conscious they were very much so BUT they spent what was needed to ensure the success of the project – and I really wish more Christian companies approached it in the same way – Global Creative you are welcome back anytime!!!

So what is the lesson – basically what the title is – there are only 2 ways of doing things – the right way and the wrong way, pick which you want – BUT be prepared to put up with the consequences of that choice – and I would recommend for the sake of your sanity AND if you value the ultimate experience you are giving the viewer choose the right way.