A third pain I wish never to relive (Filming: Lipsync, 25th February 2022)

A year ago I was in a group with two other classmates, Maleeha Javaid and Laiba Aamir. I had to do a lot of work last year and, if I'm being honest, said things I'm not happy about to the other two because of the level of frustration I was at. I always considered myself better, more experienced. Hence why I wanted to do it solo this year.

No.

Just.....no.

This decision was just.....arrogance.

The same things that happened last year.....basically the exact same things happened this year but just with different people.

What's the common factor between last year and this year? Me.

The problem was me. The problem was my lack of social skills, inability to work with other people, and my arrogance and overconfidence blocking out my ability to think rationally. And now I've learnt the things I did wrong, the things I was supposed to do instead, and I feel so, so terrible for the other teammates I had last year and the thoughts I had about them.

So here's the story.

Ultimately I wanted to have the song lipsynced from start to finish at a Hiking trail, but that was closed for some reason. Accepting that, I asked around for any locations that are at some form of high rise, because at the end of the song, at its peak, I wanted my singer to overlook the city, metaphorical to being at the top.

I was suggested two places: Daman - E - Koh, and Shakarparian. The latter was near the school and also a tourist attraction, so I decided on that. Particularly, the Pakistan Monument.

The people to arrive there were: Me, as Director. My cousin, Basil Minhaj, as Cameraman. And Fahad Javaid, as actor.

Originally the intention was to film on the 18th of February; my cousin agreed to it and so did Fahad. This was planned quite a while in advance, so when the date was approaching, it was announced by the school that they would be having Portfolio tests to send to Cambridge, in the worst case scenario that the May/June 2022 examinations don't occur and they'll need something to submit for evidence based grading. I wasn't too concerned for this, and my cousin being in Uni wasn't affected. Fahad however wasn't allowed to take part in this activity by his parents, as these tests were more important. So I postponed to the 25th, which was the Friday afterwards. Fahad also said that the week would allow him to memorize the song more effectively, so I was fine with it. I just had to convince my Media Teacher to extend the deadline from the 21st, as that was the last date of submission he had provided.

A week of tests passes by and finally the 25th arrives. I was meant to finish the entire video today, meaning I bought extra bottles of Coca Cola so I could keep myself awake longer during the editing.

The plan was to film from 2pm to 4pm, after the communal Friday Prayer. I made my way over, offered the prayer, picked up my cousin, and went over to the location of filming.

Already there were problems when earlier in the day it started raining, but I thought it would work even better in the video. It did but it was still just not worth it. Then the other problem was Fahad saying that due to rain he won't be able to arrive through his own bike.

I requested him to send a location so I could maybe pick him up, but he went silent for 40 minutes because of prayer. It happens at different times, there's a range of timings depending on locations. He messages me saying he'll make it, but he was only leaving at 2:50pm. This was because at his area there weren't any Taxi's or Uber's readily available, so it took a while. Once he was on his way, the vehicle got lost. Then it took another 15 minutes for him to get there.

It was 4:03pm when he arrived, even though my cousin mentioned that he had a wedding to get ready for and he wasn't feeling well, hence the urgency to be done by 4.

We just started filming, all of us were kind of in a mood, and it was a mess. Fahad didn't know the lyrics, the ground was slippery, the wind was cold, the internet wasn't working so I couldn't even show the lyrics to him, the pacing was off, it just dragged on.

We never stopped to look at the footage, just kept filming and going until the whole song was over, then I had to drop my cousin off and also had to provide funds so Fahad could take a ride back to his home.

Before leaving, he told me I never mentioned to him that we had to be done by 4pm. If he knew there was urgency then he'd have left well in advance, better to arrive earlier than later.

That.....that was the gut punch by life telling me that I didn't do the things I was supposed to. Well...that alongside the 70 minutes I spent talking to my cousin. "You ever seen the credits of a film? Have you ever tried counting how many names there were? You don't have a choice but to work with people if you want to get something done so you better learn, even if you don't like it."

I saw the patterns between this filming session and last year's. I had finally understood the mistakes I was making, and how to avoid it. And I'm hoping, that with this newfound knowledge, that if and when I work on my next project, it's actually....fun. For more than just one session. That I don't have to make a new blog post called 'A fourth pain I wish never to relive'.

So mistake 1:

Not double checking time and location with the people I was meant to work with. In this case, I didn't inform Fahad of the urgency of being done before 4, and that caused him to be late, as it was unpredictable when he would arrive due to the rain and that he had never been to the location in question before. And even then, instead of just saying 'this place', it would be far far better to just send a GPS location so he could easily arrive instead of delay by calling and asking where to go.

Mistake 2:

Not taking into account the things that might (and, to be fair, will go wrong). So for example, we're filming outdoors.

What if it rains?

What if we're not allowed to film in said location?

What if an actor is unable to make it or is too far away?

What if equipment stops working?

What if we run out of gas or need to pay to use the site?

Every single thing that can go wrong, should be accounted for. Everything. This step is what will allow you to tackle any situation without looking back in regret.

Mistake 3:

Not being firm enough to make sure that the people I was working with were prepared. In this case, Fahad didn't know the lyrics or the way to say it in the song, meaning most of the footage we obtained, especially since it was rushed, was effectively useless. I managed to scrape together some things that did fit and slow or speed up so the lipsync didn't feel off. But you could still tell.

My cousin pointed this out to me later and I told him that I don't really like being firm with people. The look he gave me was of 'You dense idiot'. Whether I like it or not there will be times where I have to assume a position of leadership and I should damn well be prepared for it otherwise everything will fall apart, and even now I didn't realize it, this was one of those times.

I'm the type of person that's better as a soldier. Tell me to make something beautiful? Nope, nothing. But tell me what to make exactly and I'll be able to do it very quick and very efficiently. I didn't consider myself a leader. But in some cases I have to give orders.

Mistake 4:

Not knowing the lives of the people I'm working with.

I didn't know where Fahad was coming from, so I didn't account for the fact that he might be late. I didn't know what Basil would be doing before I had to pick him up. I didn't ask what either of them would be doing after the filming.

I needed to understand their situations and the compromises they were making so I could adjust accordingly. Basil said he had to go to a wedding only during the 70 minutes we were free. This was not information I knew beforehand, and the mistake was simply the fact that I didn't ask.

Mistake 2 is really the most important one because, once you write everything that can go wrong, you can start preparing for it, and account for the other mistakes automatically.

I haven't seen Maleeha in A2, maybe she dropped the subject or took admission somewhere else. I'll have to ask Sir about her. Laiba is working on her project with someone else. And I wish both of them success in their careers.

I really just hope that in the future I do better.