When your plan goes to sh*t

It’s midnight just outside San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I’m stunt coordinating and running B cam on my wife’s short film. And as shorts go, this one is a monster. Full blown crew, killer location, and far too little time to shoot. Per usual.

It’s our final day of filming, and it’s become very clear that we are not going to get everything we planned to.

I’m also editing this project, so my wife and I start brainstorming. What are the absolute necessities to make this work and keep the vision intact.

We cut some setups and a couple of scenes (ouch), and she reworks some dialogue with the writer.

With the game plan made, we hustle our asses off for the next three hours and wrap at our hard out at 3am.

And we are… exhausted. And the million dollar question is, did we get it?

A couple of weeks later she and I are editing, beating our heads against the wall trying to use what we have and maintain the vision. We’re forced to rethink and rework things, especially around the scenes we never got to shoot.

But it works. And not only does it work, it works beautifully.

The short got finalized yesterday and I’m so proud of what we’ve done, and so proud of her.

This morning while we were reflecting on the process I inadvertently wrote a poem, which I think is my new mantra:

You make a plan, your plan goes to shit. And at the end of the day, you get what you get.

We were cracking up, but only because of how true it is.

Filmmaking is not linear. It’s an organic and ever evolving process. What you plan to do and what you get to do are usually wildly different things.

And that’s where experience really shows up.

It’s why I always say I don’t want to teach my students to copy what I do. I want to teach them how to think. Because I can give you all the cheatsheets and shortcuts in the world, but when you’re standing on your set, with your unique problem, you have to make a customized decision that you can’t get from copying someone else.

That’s the reason I do my VIP program. To see exactly where you are, and give you the tools to become the type of filmmaker who knows how to pivot. Because time and time again, you will have to.

So start asking yourself how you become the type of creative who thinks through obstacles instead of copying someone else’s process.

I hope this helps!

Caleb

If you want to work with me one on one, you can apply here.