Short Film: Update #29 'the list'

‘The list’, you say? Yes, ‘the list’. Sounds ominous doesn’t it? Well, if you’ve been following along with my progress on here, you will know that I’m on the completion stretch of my project (at least for the visuals, everything audio related is still outstanding). Despite being the farthest along in how the project is progressing, it feels like the remaining things to do are the most difficult, even though there’s not actually a whole lot left in terms of quantity. And being faced with my Premiere timeline and project tracking spreadsheet, it all felt pretty overwhelming. I was just sort of scrolling along both of them trying to pick out what to do next, then getting frustrated/ stressed. So, this is where I created ‘the list’ dun dun duuun!

Ok, it’s not even that weird, I basically just wrote a Pages doc of all the remaining tasks for my film- breaking them down into the most bitesize chunks, such as ‘take reference photo for 024’,‘redo background for 029’ and so on… I then pick at least one thing to do each day from the list, crossing them off as I go. Since creating this, I’ve been much more productive and less stressed regarding the remaining tasks on my film, as it makes it easier to work with it broken down into small tasks, displayed in such a clear manner.

Crossing things off it is also very motivating and definitely builds momentum- I’ve often completed several tasks off the list daily, rather than my minimum of one. And even if I do just one small task from it, then that’s still a step forward, even if it doesn’t feel like much. For example, one thing on the list was to ‘fix the title’, as I had previously had placement text there and needed to do it ‘properly’. So seeing it written down as a small step, I just got on and did it and it didn’t even feel that hard or annoying to do.

I actually did the same thing when I was at a similar stage of completion on my previous short- here’s the relevant post about that. I think a lot of this project and the last one have mirrored each other actually, in terms of the ups and downs/ struggles and achievements etc.

An example of one of the tasks that I initially couldn’t be bothered with was to ‘re-do the toilet cubicle background in the aquarium scene’. I wasn’t very keen on attacking this task, because I had already done it and didn’t fancy going through the process of it again, probably incase it didn’t turn out well the second time round either, plus it also felt like a bit of a drag as I had already been through it. But I wasn’t happy with the previous one and knew I could do better, hence it being on the list. And you know what, I just got on and did it, and I am so happy I did, because the new version is like 1000 times better than the previous one! I’ll stick the before/ after images down below- don’t laugh at the first one- in fact, it’s fine, you’re allowed: it’s absolutely terrible!!

I can't believe I even thought this one was acceptable to be in the project!

Ok, animation news out the way, just let me indulge a small bit on skateboarding! Probably this paragraph won’t make much sense if you don’t skate, but I guess if you’re super interested, you could just Google the terminology! This week I learnt how to boardslide on a rail, rather than just a kerb/ parking block type thing. For some reason the fact that it was a rail really weirded me out- just the fact that there was nothing underneath it, rather than being filled in like a kerb is. Anyway, I’ve been wanting this trick on a rail for the longest time, as I’ve always thought they look super cool. And this week I managed it! Thanks to my boyfriend for filming it <3 (screen grab from the video below). I’m excited to keep practising these and progressing with them.

I deffo need to sort out my skate outfits though, I don't really look very stylish do I?!

Right, see you next time, and maybe wearing some better clothes! xo