Professional Practise - Main goal - Post 5

Well, I'm pretty sure I've respected boundaries and delegated appropriately over the last couple weeks. I haven't made a specific concerted effort, but perhaps as more time passes I get more mature and that is what helps to improve this area. Or maybe I'm being too soft on myself. Hmm... look for the slip ups....

Well I went location scouting without Lisa in the holidays, and even though we planned that we would generally do it together I still think it was good that I did it as she was away in Kerikeri and would have come back to a huge amount of stress if I had not. So I'm going to say that's a tick.

On the other hand, I did leave it entirely up to Lisa to wrangle the potential actors into audition slots. It was a huge relief having someone to field all the preliminary questions and slot them in, but perhaps I ask too much of her by getting her to do this? It's a grey area I think, since we have no casting director. Lisa is Producer/PM and 1st AD and I am director, so it doesn't fall under either of our roles really, but then again it could be either of us. So perhaps I have slipped up with my appropriate delegation goal in this instance. Since Lisa is probably going to read this blog I think I will put the question out there:

Lisa, do you think it was appropriate for you to organise the auditionees, or do you think I should have taken that on? Do you agree that it is a grey area or do you think there is a correct answer?


One of the most important reasons why I need to be a master of delegating tasks appropriately is to ensure that I don't ask too much of people and cause them to burn out. Given that Lisa is fulfilling two roles on my TVC this is an important concern. Lisa's help with organisation and correspondence has been absolutely wonderful so far, but there have been times when I have been worried that I may ask too much of her. That being said, I can't think of a specific time (other than possibly with the auditions) where I have asked something inappropriate. Perhaps the real problem lies in not knowing who our year 2 production co-ordinator was, as Lisa was unable to pass on and delegate the tasks herself. Now we finally know who our co-ordinator is, but most of the work is done! Lisa, any thoughts on feeling over-worked?

My positive collaboration with Ben, the DP, has continued so far. The real test will be on set though; the pressure of time and quality will reveal the shortcomings in our communication.

This weekend I participated in the 48 Hour film competition with a team from Unitec. This was a fantastic experience on the one hand, as there was a lot of fun had and I was extremely proud of our achievement in coming up with the goods in such a short space of time. On the other hand, it was also a very concerning experience. People who I normally get along well with on a day to day basis can suddenly feel like thorns in one's side, and I have no doubt at all that others felt the same about me. Although Milton teased me relentlessly last year about being uptight, I always found it more funny than worrying, but my reaction of mild semi-panic to the realisation that I would not be able to see what the images we were filming looked like truly revealed how strong my control issues actually are. I don't think control is actually a bad thing when making a film, so the question is... can one be in control without having control issues?

I'm going off topic, but it's still a valid question.