Pacing

All work and no play makes a lot of trouble.

A Narragansett Pacer horse. A Pacer is a good horse. It was not a good car.

Pacing is defined as Setting the rate of movement or progress.

It is both a noun (“The film’s pacing was a bit slow”) and a verb  (“He kept pacing back and forth, in indecision.”)

There is a third application, and it’s the most important one, in my opinion.

“Pacing Yourself” means that you work at a rate that is not detrimental to your physical and mental health. In my profession (animation) unrealistic job deadlines and quotas necessitate long work hours that can cause repetitive stress injuries and burnout. Increased pressure and longer hours do not add up to greater efficiency.

 When I produced a five-minute film at Sheridan college in 2017 my student intern crew had to complete a pre-set number of hours to receive course credit for their paid internships. Sheridan does not allow unpaid internships.

 I was given the option of having them work 8-hour days with a 10-week schedule, or 6-hour days with a 14-week schedule.

I chose the longer schedule and shorter workday.  I figured that the learning curve would be steep on the project and wanted as much time as possible, with extra time for corrections if necessary.  We had a six-hour workday, five days a week, with no overtime. The one-hour lunch break at noon was strictly enforced. The only other time I was ‘strict’ was when I insisted that one obviously ill student go to a doctor and make up the time.  The illness was diagnosed, a day or so of work was missed. The student made up the hours and we did not fall behind schedule. I had a daily bonus of quality chocolate for the  mostly female crew that provided great motivation.  You can always tell when animators enjoyed working on a project since it shows in the quality of the artwork. I don’t know if this is true in other fields.

We finished three weeks ahead of schedule, under budget, with a motivated and healthy crew that rotated onto another project to complete their required course hours.

It makes no sense to work until you are exhausted since that’s when and where mistakes are made. You can run a machine without giving it breaks, although it may literally ‘break down’ if it is not properly operated and maintained. 

People are not machines.

I should not have to make that last statement.