Making The Out Time--Or Not

On my control room days, I used to say that whether or not we finished by the scheduled out time was more dependent on the will of the back row producer than on the actual volume or difficulty of the material being shot.  While this wasn't always true--sometimes you just can't get around an effect that doesn't work or an actor who can't remember lines--it was certainly evident often enough to notice. And I would venture to say that the shows for which we finished earlier were often just as good as some of those for which we finished in the wee hours of the morning.
 
These days, I am rarely in a control room--the opportunities just aren't there the way they used to be. What remains with me, however, is the idea that the choices we make--or that others make around us--can alter dramatically the days that we have. We can choose to get bogged down with the difficult or the not so difficult, or we can choose to motor through both for a quick and successful day. We can become mired in the tiny, or we can see it as just part of a continuously moving process. We can decide that pushing through is the way to go, or we can decide that a nap along the way will make for a better day. Each choice, whether ours or someone else's, can change the course, and the outcome, of our days. It keeps things interesting, to be sure. Because a day is about more than just what you plan on paper. It's about how you--and others around you--choose to move through that day. And that is anybody's guess until someone calls a wrap.