Turning a Negative into a Positive
On set there are always plenty of negatives. A sad, but true, fact. I think it’s how you cope with those issues at the time that can define the shoot overall. If you always curse your misfortune this can lead to feelings of victimisation by some higher power and lends itself to a hard luck story at the end. You could take the easy option and throw in the towel, using some unforeseen circumstances as an excuse to jump ship early and side-step the real issues. In both of these scenarios you will surely look back on the shoot not with fondness, but with feelings of bile and hatred. This can only lead to a delay in your next experience on set or taking lots of baggage with you when you do.
Alternatively, you can try and turn every negative into a positive. I did say “try.” It may seem obvious to say it, but it is amazing how many people continually moan about something that has gone against them rather than try and use it in a constructive way. This is certainly something I try and do. It’s not always possible. For example, I can think of no positive for the damage I inflicted on my car bumper when I reversed into a fence post after filming for 12 hours straight (my first ever crash in 14 years of driving by the way). I have tried to turn the changed shot due to Police interference into a positive, but my brain is struggling to accept this at present, mourning the lost shot I had planned so carefully. However, on the whole I think I am pretty adept at looking on the bright side. This outlook has served me well and it allowed me to have a great, even relaxed, time on set.
The most obvious example was when we stopped outside my house to re-group before moving to the next location. There were a few cars, so I parked on the road. We were inside for only around 10 minutes when one of the actors shouted through to me that I was getting a parking ticket. I rushed outside and said that I lived there. However, the Traffic Warden said that because he had already put the ticket on the car, it was too late. I was clearly angry, given I was parked outside of my own house and the road was empty, so he told me to appeal. We then went on to the next location. I was seething. When you are stretching to make a film on a low-budget out of your own pocket every penny counts and I wasn’t happy about spending £35 to park outside of my own house for 10 minutes. As I let out my anger in discussions with Paul about inflicting revenge on traffic wardens, we got thinking, and a new scene presented itself that would otherwise have never been in the film. I wish I could go into more detail, but alas, for now the details must remain anonymous. The new scene however is beautiful, works in the overall structure of the film and offers something that every audience member will emphasise with. Now that is what I call turning a negative into a positive. On top of that, I did appeal and I got the parking ticket cancelled!
As a footnote to the above, this is not the first time I have received a parking ticket for parking outside of my own house. My appeal last time was not so straightforward and I was forced to bring in my MP and local Counsellor to help. The main issue is that Oxford Council have sub-contracted the residents parking scheme to a large Multinational company. Having told us a few years ago that the scheme was being introduced in our area due to potential problems with NHS staff parking on our road (something which was and has never happened on our road) for the protection of the local residents, it became apparent to me that this wasn’t the case and the Multinational company were stalking the residents on our own street trying to make money out of us. I wasn’t going to let this rest on a matter of principle. If you interested, many won’t be, have a read below of the letter that I sent. The end result? I got the ticket cancelled and the traffic warden disciplined, just as I told him I would on the day. I like to be true to my word!
Or not. I can’t find the letter which I thought was archived! Shame, it was a classic. If I find it at some point I will update the post with it.
