25/02/25

I started the film course today. I didn’t really know what to expect. We’ve been doing masterclasses via Teams for the last while, and now we’re doing the in-person study part. There are eleven of us. Nine blokes and two ladies, all different ages. Quite a few have been on film courses, and know a good bit. Me, all I want to do is learn as much as I can. It’s very exciting.

27/02/25

Today we delved deeper into the course’s requirements. It turns out that we have to make a short film. The first week is for pre-production, the second for production and the third for post. We were given a prompt: basically write and produce a supernatural short (no longer than 5 minutes) involving a televised production. There was quite the heated debate over what the final film might look like. Paul, Joseph and Thomas erred on the quiet side, not really communicating much. Leaders also emerged. This guy Daniel has strong opinions, Rory too. Eimear, who also studied cinematic arts is more the bide her time type. When she does speak, her words matter. I did my best to mediate. They’re a good group, if a bit noisy.

After a few hours, our two script writers, Daniel and Ellie put something together and we did a read through. It needs work but I enjoyed it nonetheless. That kind of creativity always amazes me. I know how to use a camera but to make something out of nothing; that’s something else.

28/02/25

Daniel has quietly become Director. Not content with Ellie’s script, he wrote his own last night and showed it to us today. Ultimately we read through both scripts and the lecturer recommended that the scriptwriters merge aspects of both. I’ve been made Director of Photography. Soon we’ll be filming. I can’t wait!

04/03/25

The first trouble happened over the weekend. Daniel reached out to me about the script writing, claiming that Ellie has disregarded what the lecturer said and wrote her own thing. Both scripts appeared in the WhatsApp group. Personally I can’t see that much of a difference between them, but Daniel is clearly unhappy. I counselled that we should vote on the scripts come Monday, even that we should announce our intention to do so, and encourage people to read them before then. Daniel wasn’t keen on this idea but I mentioned it to Cormac in the group, and now things have blown up. He called Ellie out for doing as she pleased. Who knows what Monday will bring.

05/03/25

Surprisingly, Daniel has fallen on his own sword. Faced with voting, the group demurred. When talk turned to merging the scripts, Daniel offered to withdraw his, given their similarities. Later in the day, Paul told him that it would be better if Ellie directed, given her familiarity with her own script. Showing no signs of agitation or annoyance, Daniel agreed. I don’t know what to make of it. I just hope we don’t have any more problems in the near future.

07/03/25

Daniel didn’t turn up on the Thursday; something to do with work seemingly. I wondered if he was licking his wounds. He appeared today however, and quickly got into the midst of things. Eimear suggested he act as script supervisor. Near the end of the day I finally realised why he withdrew his script and supported Ellie as director. In an unguarded moment, he talked about how there needs to be a tyrant in every filmmaking project, someone who has a vision which everyone adheres to. I thought that was quite an extreme statement and told him so. This is a collaborative learning environment, I said. He just smiled and shook his head.