What Momentum Taught Me About Filmmaking

Hello again - it’s Sandy, director at Nowadays. You might have noticed we’ve dropped our third film for Impetus, and this time it’s really packing a punch as we celebrate the last 21 years of impact they’ve had on millions of young people’s lives.

The theme of this film is ‘momentum’ - the idea that things keep moving forward, whether its young people’s futures, or Impetus’ future endeavours. But what I didn’t realise was how much momentum came into the process of making the film as well. Here’s a few things that working with ‘momentum’ taught me, and how it helped me understand the filmmaking process all over again.

Rolling with the punches

Making this film taught me to be more spontaneous and loose with my directing style. As someone who so dearly wishes to control every aspect of a situation (my mantra is “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”), I have to say, sometimes it’s not possible. For example, we had planned a gym/training montage scene that was meant to be high energy and fast paced. Except when we got to the location, there wasn’t a gym, just a very empty sports hall. 
So what do we do? What we all attempted to do at least once during the pandemic - a very manic HIIT workout. Of course doing a workout alone and in front of the camera isn’t the most comfortable thing to do, so I roped myself and production assistant Jacob into getting a workout ourselves. 
The result? Movement and momentum that still got across the energy we wanted this film to have + a couple of sweaty crew members.

(By the way, if you need proof I was involved in that workout - you can see for yourself in our BTS film we made alongside 21 Years of Impact below)

Good momentum, bad momentum

Ok, so momentum is what keeps things moving, we know that. But I need to point out that this can be good or bad.
Instead of feeling like you’re riding a wave of productivity, there is also another side of momentum; the kind that can frazzle you, uses up all your energy, the kind that makes you forget to eat, and narrows your focus so much that there’s less room to explore and try new things - I call it ‘bad momentum’. 

This is where it’s helpful to have someone on set that can look out for when this is happening. If it weren’t for my producer, Charlie, scolding me on day 1 of the shoot, telling me to drink water and grab a bite to eat, I’m sure I’d have forgotten completely. It was a good reminder that it's okay to chill out a bit. Reset. Take a second to step back, and take a look at the whole picture before jumping back in.

Everyone on board

The momentum train is pulling out of the station, but wait a second, your whole cast and crew are left on the platform - this can be a recipe for disaster. 
Making sure that everyone else is along for the ride with you is incredibly important. For this film, the dialogue moved through six different characters, so it was vital that they understood the wider context and what role they were playing in it.
The same principle can be applied to the crew as well. Even something as small as checking in with each other throughout the shoot is very beneficial. Whether that’s about script, schedule, breaks, or general mood. Not only does this actually instil me with more confidence, but it sets a more harmonious pace for the process in general, that way no one’s left behind or out of the loop.

Full disclosure, Impetus was my first charity campaign film for Nowadays, and the first time I had the chance to work on something that pushed me out of my comfort zone as a director. I wouldn’t be writing this post if I didn’t think I had something to say about the process, and what it really taught me. Our end line for the film was, “I’m just getting started” - written to reflect the fact that both Impetus and our cast of young people have so much more to come in the future. As always, there’s some truth in the art - I’m also ‘just getting started’.