The Resurgence - And that's a Wrap... Almost.
Wow, what a massive nine days. Principal Photography has wrapped up and we go into the final four days of pickups, which with some luck will complete every little thing we missed throughout the initial shooting days. I can't be more thankful to the team I have had supporting not only myself but each other on this overly ambitious film. So many of us ran on little to no sleep over those initial nine days, and they did it because they all had the same belief in this project. This is something I have never seen in a team before, we all know shooting a film means long days and late nights but this was something entirely different. Yet even the hours we all put in we still ran out of time. Weather got the best of us along with the complexity of this film and hours of light we had to work with, meant some things just couldn't be shot. So now we play catch up, with our budget blown and 90% of a film all set to go we need these final days to complete it all. And the team is ready and raring to go for round two but we know time is of the essence.
What does this all mean, well it means a couple of different things really. Some sacrifices have to be made as I know now that to get the coverage we would all like in a film with the time and money we have available, we need to simplify a few scenes to keep blocking minimal. These are lessons learnt not only on this film but for all future productions. Not to make things easier on us right from the start by writing things that involve a lot less complexity when we are looking at the shots and the coverage. But rather understanding the time required to shoot something like this and make sure those hours are allocated correctly instead of trying to cram everything in. I am not one to write for budget and believe in the impossible, although to have my time again I would have given us more another six days from the very start. The stresses that will take the toll on the team can be avoided when you understand that is takes around six plus hours to cover one page of dialogue sufficiently with out cutting corners.
That being said as Post Production has already begun and most of the core has watched the rushes, what we have on our hands is still one amazing looking film. One we are all excited and proud to have been a part of and I know from my side I cannot wait to share this film with everyone. The trick is now to make every minute count in these four days of pickups. Get everything we missed while also trying to make sure we don't forget a few little extras that will help us out throughout the edit giving us more options and shots to work with. It's those little cut-away shots that are always left until the last moments but they can really save your ass sometimes as you watch back through the edit wishing you had those little extra shots to help the film breath.
Once again this team that has trusted me on this stupidly crazy journey I can't be more thankful. The sacrifices that everyone has made to get the film this far is so humbling. If anyone out there is ever looking to get a film off the ground and wanted any form of advice from me, it's that the team you build is the most important decisions you will make. They become your family, everyone is under a lot of stress and that can occasionally blow things out of proportion but if your family trusts each other and understands that everyone is stressed, everyone is busting their balls and working harder than they did the day before those moments of tension pass. Just like a family there are moments where you will butt heads but the love is always there to make sure that they are only moments and nothing that can destroy relationships.
Stay tuned for anything related to 'The Resurgence' in the not to distant future. Follow me on Instagram and our Facebook page, there is a stack of behind the scenes photos to have a look over and keep you all excited for the film's release later this year.
