Reflections on Cranberry Island, Maine

Over the last four days, I’ve been on Cranberry Island, Maine shooting video for a companion DVD to the children’s book, My America. During this trip, we shot interviews with the author/illustrators of the book, Jan Spivey Ghilcrest and Ashley Bryan. I want to say a special thanks to both of those individuals for spending time with the My America Production team. Now a few reflections on the project and the trip.

Cranberry Island is a beautiful place. I’ve not had the chance to see every corner of America but I have seen much of it. Cranberry Island rates up there with some of the most beautiful and interesting that I have visited. The economy of the entire area thrives off the lobster trade and tourism. You can easily see that when you visit the island. Lobster boats are everywhere and the unique odor of the lobster trade hangs over the various piers one uses to go from place to place. The people I met on the island were very friendly. I was given as many hugs and handshakes there as I have in any location.

Not everyone is a great interview. I don’t want to imply that either of these interviews was bad. They were both good, at least. But, some people are just better interviewees than others. Some of that may be natural but I suspect it mostly comes through experience. The difference I saw in these interviews was that one of the participants who was fairly experienced was able to articulate an answer to a question more succinctly than the least experienced of the two. The more experienced of the two spoke more clearly and provided answers that used volume and pitch that always make an interview more interesting to watch. As it stands, we have what we have. The challenge will now be to pull out the relevant material and sound bites that help guide the viewer of the DVD through the story.

Know specifically what you want from your interviewees. I think it’s important to add this section to these thoughts because some of the responsibility for the results of the interview fall to the production team. I don’t assume in these thoughts that we did our jobs perfectly and that any shortcomings in the interviews are solely the responsibility of the subject. In many cases, that responsibility falls to the production team. Did we ask questions that the interviewee understood? Did the questions help the interviewee know where we are attempting to go with the story? If we had doubts about the quality of the answer as it fits our goals for the final product, were we brave enough to go back over the question(s) to ensure we were getting what we needed? Which brings me to …

Know what your goals are for your project and how what you are shooting fits into those goals. Part of the challenge here for the production team was not fully understanding the goals of the project. A bit of the background … We had never met the authors of My America face to face until this trip for the interviews. All communication had happened through email and phone conversations. Through all those conversations, the production team developed a sense that what the customer wanted was a DVD that celebrates the diversity of cultures that makes up America. And there is some truth to that. What we discovered on the island, however, is that what they want to do is develop an interest and a passion for reading in children. In short, “Get the books into childrens’ hands!” So, not necessarily a HUGE change in what we were doing on the island but this nuance can have a significant impact on the questions you ask. We did change the questioning for the interviews but it had to happen very quickly and without the time needed to really think through them.

Be sure your project is adequately funded. No, this is not a videographer whinning about his pay, this is a statement about the project. So much of the funding for this project is still up in the air that many hours on the island were dedicated to talking about money matters. When you are traveling between Texas and Maine by way of Boston, time is critical. Spending hours over the dinner table talking about money is time not spent shooting the content or the b-roll. I never did get a shot of the island post office and school.

The truth is that in all kinds of projects and even video projects, having goals well defined, having a plan to get the team from A to Z, and having all your resources in place are essential to success. For those of you familiar with basic project management principles, you can see the triangle with time, scope and resources on the three legs of the triangle. A change in either one affects the other two. Know what your goals are and know how you are going to manage the triangle. Oh, and don’t forget that nothing ever goes as planned. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan. It just means you have to work the plan.