We have completed:

• 61 out of 113 Scenes Storyboard sketches
• 43 out of 53 designs for sets/locations
• 10 out of 52 designs for props/gadgets
• 6 out of 15 designs for vehicles

My father drilled into me at an early age that if I assume in my personal interactions I’m bound to make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.”

That’s probably cliche for most reading this, but I remember learning it again when I first starting working in the professional world fresh out of college.  I was so sure of my Business knowledge having completed a graduate degree and done some teaching.  If I saw something that I didn’t understand, or hadn’t seen before my gut assumption was that it was wrong. 

I think every young professional starts out skeptical of what they haven’t seen before wasting valuabe time and energy trying to prove themselves right in the face of something different.  Its like a right of passage when we mature enough to realize that its more efficient to accept what we see is probably right and to learn why it works.  Of course that’s contingent on operating in an environment where your peers and mentors have integrity and intelligence.  But really… why would ever put yourself in any other situation?

I observe the same behaivor in aspiring producers and directors who I’ve meet in the course of this project.  I’ve seen many spin their wheels trying to out think, guess, or redo efforts because they assumed something wasn’t done or that there wasn’t an answer for some issue they peronally identified. 

My advice… in case it isn’t obvious, don’t assume anything.  If there is something you don’t know, ask.  Sometimes its hard to get the answers you feel are needed to take the next step, especially if the question isn’t clearly relevant to everyone involved.  Consider how you are thinking about something and if you can adjust your scope to acheive certain goals within that scope without making assumptions beyond the task at hand.  If that’s impossible… then demand your answer!

Take everything and everyone on your team at face value.  If someone says something, believe them until you have reason to know they aren’t treating you honestly.  If someone hasn’t treated you honestly, then limit or eliminate your interactions with that person.  There’s obviously no time to wrangle people who choose to be manipulative and have only a casual relationship with the truth.  Your not Dr. Freud, so don’t even try to analyze people as a basis for your decisions… thats when the assumptions really start piling up and you may even forget what’s fact and what’s derivative.

Dominic and Giana

Storyboard panel by Tyler Benjamin.

We have completed:

• 48 out of 111 scenes for storyboards,
• 42 out of 53 designs for sets/locations
• 6 out of 15 designs for vehicles
• 10 out of 52 designs for props & gadgets

Our needs as a production team are changing as we progress.  The goal for the remainder of 2006 is completion of the storyboard sketches for every scene.  We’ve discontinued the weekly meetings for “all hands,” and have gone to more focused sessions either one on one with myself or a small meetings with a few people depending on the task at hand.

Every participant in this project so far, is of themselves an artist of some kind.  When does our sense of artistic standards cross the line to unproductive self righteousness?  When somebody makes a point of letting the rest of the group know that they have standards to be met, I immediately see someone that has little experience collaborating in teams to acheive their objectives.

Expecting a lot out of yourself and the ones around you is purview of the lone artists.  Expecting too much is antithetical to team work.  Team work breaks down when people stand on soapboxes reciting their expectations of everyone around them. 

Having a sense of your own standards artistic or otherwise is important.  Its how we choose the projects to associate ourselves with.  Its how we choose the people that effect our lives.

Where we become self righteous is when this assessment becomes a daily evaluation of our peers against this self affirmed standard.  Choosing the best opportunity available to spend our time and resources is not self righteous… its conscious investing.  Choosing to artistically sit on the bench, parking our talents under rock because our standards assess every opportunity as being unworthy… that’s self righteous.

My advice?  Do your homework, be diligent in determining the worthiness of your activities.  The standard of a film project is usually set in the broadest sense, by the Director.  If you join a team, your standards aren’t relevant anymore, you made an informed decision to join a group, and implicit in that decision is the tacit agreement to collaborate within the group standard.  Teamwork is about helping everyone succeed, its not about judging everyone against your standards.

Dance on Pluto New CEP.mp3

Save link above to listen to music clip from film temp tracks.