Upcoming Meeting, Tips & Tricks

Howdy SCU,

As October draws to a close, we are approaching the six-month mark until the 2011 48HFP. Once Sean gets home from his out-of-town work assignment this weekend, we'll start to compare calendars so we can set a date for our Executive Planning Meeting. I'll send an email and post a message here once we've secured a date. And I'll let everyone know who is a mandatory attendee versus optional.

One of the things we'll discuss and determine is the organizational chart for the 48HFP weekend. We're hoping to have two full camera crews this year, so we need to figure out who answers to who, and who owns what tasks. In 2009, our 48HFP team we had a cast & crew of only 8 people. Last year we had 14. With two camera crews this year, we could easy double in size to 30 people or more.  So an org chart is going to be a necessity so we don't have 30 people all asking Sean or Mark what they need to do in any given situation.

We also need to plan out a rough outline of the events that have to occur next Spring, leading up to the 48HFP weekend (i.e. brainstorming session, workflow test, etc.). The rough outline will also include a timeline for the actual 48HFP weekend activities.

The 48HFP committee sent out a newsletter today and they had a good tip in there that we have NOT done the past two years, but I think we all agree is very important for a smoother run in 2011...testing the workflow! This will involve Sean Healey, Mark Wilson, and Chris Cochran at a minimum, and should take place sometime early in the month of April, to allow enough time to fix anything that isn't working. If we do secure a second camera, then we'll want that camera and sound crew involved too. And if we secure a second editing suite, we'll also need that Editor and equipment involved...

Test Your WorkflowThe 48HFP weekend brings many unexpected things, so make sure your workflow isn't one of them. In the week ahead of the 48HFP, have your DP shoot something on the camera you will use with the sound person recording sound they way you will record it; have your editor ingest the footage into the computer you will edit on; check the footage and make a few cuts; then output five minutes of footage in the way you plan to output it and time it (so you know exactly how long it will take to export). Make sure EVERYTHING in the path is exactly what you expect so you can be free to deal with the 12 other unexpected things that will hit you over the weekend.


We'll be talking with you soon, SCU...