Stuff That I Have Noticed #47 – Logistics (again)

A motion picture crew working on location bears a surprisingly strong resemblance to an army. I specify “on location” since that is a much less controllable situation than shooting in a studio. The latter is totally controllable while the former is the other end of the scale AKA (almost) utterly uncontrollable, especially on the streets and environs of New York City.

Four years ago when the hurricane devastated Puerto Rico I wrote a blog entitled: Puerto Rico Needs a Movie Crew

Recently it was the US Military withdrawing from Afghanistan.

When I wrote this essay, there were six days left until our self-imposed deadline for clearing out of this graveyard of foreign armies and now that I’m publishing the essay the whole deal is over. Whether you feel that it was solved or not, my premise still applies.

One thing I have never heard a Grip (the all purpose technicians on a crew) say is: “We can’t do that.” There is the famous slogan of the Ordnance Department of the Army: “The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.” This could accurately be applied to film crews, especially to the Grip Department.

Creative problem solving is the province of many, if not all, the multifarious departments in film making from the executive producers through the editors and sound-track mixers. And everyone, with the possible exception of the cast, is working under time and money pressure.

I have extensive experience managing movie crews as a producer, production manager, first assistant director and director. Few events in the world of movies is more challenging (and fun) than shooting scenes on live locations in New York City.

So what has this got to do with the situation we faced in withdrawing from Afghanistan? I’m glad you asked.

Unanticipated problem solving on the fly – by the people in the center of the cyclone.

This tale of making it up on the fly is excerpted from my second book, Circumstances Beyond My Control: We were going to be shooting all day – for a French movie, La guerre des insectes – on an active pier in Brooklyn and having been promised that the area was to be inactive and empty on the scheduled day…

… as we approached from the elevated Brooklyn Queens Expressway, we looked down to the pier in shock. Not one but two large cargo vessels were being unloaded and the place was crawling with forklifts and stevedores. I told Mike to pull over at the next overlook so [Director] Peter and I could get out and have an overhead view while we replanned the shoot. There was no alternative; we had to get it that day.

While the crew unloaded the gear and [Production Manager] Betsy re-negotiated with the pier boss, Peter and I completely redrew the list/map of the shots. I was amazed at his flexibility and creativity in attacking a situation which, on its face, seemed well nigh impossible. By the time Mike returned to pick us up we had a completely new plan, and we and our game and excellent crew made it work.

(By the way because of the turmoil in which we were forced to shoot, the scenes had a greatly improved sense of drama.)

This is but one example of this sort of “seat-of-the-pants” coping with the unexpected and it obviously pales by comparison of getting our people and gear out of a twenty-year disastrous war but the sort of thinking required is very similar.

Maybe there should be a film producer, production manager or first AD appointed to a key role in the military and/or FEMA.

Might help. Couldn’t hurt.