Symphony

For intents and purposes, shooting The Warren finished for me today. There are still a few scenes to do but they're minor really, and I won't be able to be there for them. It was a wee bit sad (it always is for me after finishing something of this sort), but this was tempered by the fact that there's editing and re-dubbing and drama-coaching for re-dubbing and working on special features - still to come. There is a special quality though to shooting that's different to anything in pre or post production. Maybe it's the live, on the ground, largely by-the-seat-of-the-pants type interaction between director, crew and actors.

As much as I am a lone-wolf, an individualist and a non-people-person, there's still something immensely satisfying in working in a good team. There's a functional beauty that comes when each member plays their unique part with a larger goal in mind. Not that teams are all idyllic cooperation and smooth clockwork. When you bring together people who are (naturally) very different, there are bound to be misunderstandings, disagreements and clashes. It's the way these are dealt with that makes the difference between a disorganised failure and successful enterprise. You can do a lot by yourself (much more than many would suppose), but you cannot be more than one person. (Sorry to break that to you, Mathew.) Which means that to a certain extent, though you may be immensely talented and versatile, anything you produce will have a sort of mono-dimensionality to it. Often that's fine - collaboration on things such as poetry or artwork rarely works out - but many projects, like building a memorial or making a film, would be dead flat-line if it all came solely from the mind and effort of one person. The richness found in these works comes from a combination of the ideas, styles and innovations of a range of people.

So often we find ourselves wishing If only they could be more like me. Secretly of course, because deep down we realise that this is foolish thinking. If "they" were more like "us" then that would iron out numerous problems, no doubt; but it would also eliminate vital viewpoints and inspirations that we will never have ourselves.

A violin solo is a wonderful thing when performed by a master. But when an entire orchestra swells its magic through and through an audience - there's nothing that can match it.