Project Management
Project
Management
The film project
“The man who killed Don Quixote”
Project Management, University of Bristol, The film project “The man who killed Don Quixote”
__________________________________________________________________________________
“The man who killed Don Quixote” was going to be one of Terry Gilliam’s most successful film’s ever, despite the fact that financial and organisational difficulties came to light long before the actual production. Famous actors starring in this film, Johnny Depp and Jean
Rochefort, as well as the interpretation of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s classic “Don
Quixote” seemed to promise great success. Yet, the attempted production of the film took only six days and the film was never completed, due to interruptions caused by illness, unexpected weather conditions and other external constraints, such as the noise of NATO fighters, making the shoot impossible (Fulton and Pepe, 2002).
In this paper it will firstly be outlined why the production, or the attempt, of the film “The man who killed Don Quixote” was a project. Further it will be discussed whether it was a success or a failure, using Maylor’s (2005) “conformance versus performance” measurement as a traditional success measurement. Following further dimensions to measure success respectively failure will be analysed on the basis of Shenhar’s et al (2002) multidimensional framework. Subsequently other aspects such as the complexity of the project and the team cohesiveness will be taken into consideration as further influential aspects towards the final outcome. Finally recommendations on the basis of Maylor’s framework for risk management
(2005) will be demonstrated as this might have prevented the unfortunate result or might avoid similar problems in a further attempt.
A project can be defined as a unique product or service, which must have a start and finishing date, and due to its uniqueness it can’t be a repetitive activity. If the
Management
The film project
“The man who killed Don Quixote”
Project Management, University of Bristol, The film project “The man who killed Don Quixote”
__________________________________________________________________________________
“The man who killed Don Quixote” was going to be one of Terry Gilliam’s most successful film’s ever, despite the fact that financial and organisational difficulties came to light long before the actual production. Famous actors starring in this film, Johnny Depp and Jean
Rochefort, as well as the interpretation of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s classic “Don
Quixote” seemed to promise great success. Yet, the attempted production of the film took only six days and the film was never completed, due to interruptions caused by illness, unexpected weather conditions and other external constraints, such as the noise of NATO fighters, making the shoot impossible (Fulton and Pepe, 2002).
In this paper it will firstly be outlined why the production, or the attempt, of the film “The man who killed Don Quixote” was a project. Further it will be discussed whether it was a success or a failure, using Maylor’s (2005) “conformance versus performance” measurement as a traditional success measurement. Following further dimensions to measure success respectively failure will be analysed on the basis of Shenhar’s et al (2002) multidimensional framework. Subsequently other aspects such as the complexity of the project and the team cohesiveness will be taken into consideration as further influential aspects towards the final outcome. Finally recommendations on the basis of Maylor’s framework for risk management
(2005) will be demonstrated as this might have prevented the unfortunate result or might avoid similar problems in a further attempt.
A project can be defined as a unique product or service, which must have a start and finishing date, and due to its uniqueness it can’t be a repetitive activity. If the
Bibliography: Baccarini, D., Collins, A. (2004), “Project Success – A survey”, Journal of Construction Research, World Scientific Publishing Company, Vol Chan, A.P.C., Scott, D., Lam, E.W.M. (2002), “Framework of Success Criteria for Design/Build Projects”, Journal of Management in Engineering, July Edition, p Depp, J. interviewed by Matheou, D. “Lost in La Mancha” (2002), Interviews, Quixote Films Gilliam, T Mancha (2002), (Film) Directed by: Fulton, K., Pepe, L., Spain, Quixote Films Ltd Kendrick, T Maylor, H. (2005), “Project Management”, Third Edition, Prentice Hall Meiseberg, B., Ehrmann, T., Dorman, J Gilliam, accessed on March 3rd, 2009: Shenhar, A.J