Monday, 15 October 2012

'Something New' - 08.10.2012



Production Meeting


08.10.12


We had a meeting today to discuss final cast members and also prepare for the shoot later on in the week. Everyone was nervous as well as excited for the shoot. I was worried that we weren't prepared enough which such little time between casting and the shoot but everyone reassured me it would be ok.
An issue that concerns me is that we have not yet cast an older Elliot for the final scene. Hannah and Liam are working on this so it should be sorted out soon. But it means I can't schedule that scene in anywhere yet until I know the actors availability.

What I did this week


After cast availability was given to me, I started on the Shooting schedule right away. Turns out it wasn't that different from the rough version. Just had to make a few minor adjustments.
We altered the script one last time to make it perfect.

I finally had all the information I needed to fill out call sheets. I created call sheets for all days scheduled and posted them in the group stating that they were rough copies but the times would not change so everyone could pencil them in their diaries. The child actors both went to school and were only available from 5 on weekends. This seemed like an issue at first, but I was able to schedule around that by planning to shoot their night scenes on Thursday and Friday evening. This meant we would still be able to shoot on weekdays which should save us a lot of time and energy during the weekend.


SHOOT


DAY 1 - 11.10.12



Today started off very well. We came on set very prepared and ready to start the shoot. Once the entire crew had arrived, I read the shooting schedule to them. We then started on set design and gave Domenica a hand with putting up posters and dressing the bed. After prod design was done, I got Webster to set up the camera for the first shot. Once this was done Liam was able to set up his lights.
 Curtis aka Elliot arrived on time and I sent him straight to Domenica to get into costume. When he was done I sent him to Ben while I made sure we were ready to start on set.

We started on time and worked through scene 2 very quickly. Curtis was amazing, he had read the script and knew all of his lines. Everyone was on the ball which made my job a lot easier. We also managed to shoot scenes 9 and 11 fairly quickly as well and ended up finishing quite a bit ahead of schedule which seemed to please everyone.

Throughout the shoot I made sure I let everyone know how long we had left till a break or how many shots of the scene we had left to shoot. I think everyone appreciated this because I was like a personal. They could fully concentrate on what they were doing without being distracted by time. I also tried to keep an eye out for any health and safety hazzards and had to pack extension wires and such to the side at times.

Nothing happened today which particularly worried me or stood out. When I called for silence on set everyone listened. The shoot flew by so quickly and effortlessly. I had no problems what so ever and actually enjoyed the shoot. It was nice to watch everything coming together finally. We couldn't have been better prepared. Although it was our first shoot day, to me, it felt like we had been working together for months. There's something about our group that works really well.












DAY 2 - 12.10.12


Today was the same as yesterday, everything felt effortless and right. I kept to my routine as it worked very well yesterday. So prod design first, camera set up and then lights. Like yesterday  Alex Labelle set up his sound kit as soon as he arrived and then helped everyone else.
We were working with only Joshua aka Alex and he really delivered. We only shot 1 scene which took no time at all and then went on to ADR. Once again we finished early.
I don't know if I'm giving us too much time or if we're just working extremely well. Regardless, it's all working out for the best.

One thing I will say is that it didn't really feel like a shoot because we just shot the one scene. But Joshua was the only cast member available so I thought it would be good to get his scenes over and done with. So although it was an exciting or hard shoot, it was still an efficient one.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we get to work with more cast members. It will also be interesting to see what the adults who have been on quite a few shoots and sets, think about us. I highly doubt they'll be disappointed.





DAY 3 - 13.10.12


We were supposed to shoot all the exterior scenes in the day but it's Alex's birthday and he's having a party, so I had to move those scenes to tomorrow.  It meant it was another late start for us but both the crew and cast are not complaining.
I went through the usual routine. Everyone helped with production design today as we had to dress an entire living room (wall paper and everything). By the time we were finished it looked amazing. You actually felt like you were in a genuine 70's living room.
Once the cast arrived, I sent them straight into hair, makeup and costume and then Ben.
We worked at a quick pace again today. Not as quickly as the previous days but we had more cast members to deal with and a lot more to look out for. I'm starting to think we are machines.
One problem that presented itself was continuity during the dinner scene. Keeping drink levels and amount of food on plates consistent was a task we all took part in.
Another problem was Ben's directing. He spent a lot of time talking to cast members today and I had to rush him a little. I think we started a few minutes late because of this.
I think I'll mention it to him in private before we start shooting tomorrow. It's not a major problem and I realise everyone has their own way of directing but sometimes he'll say the same thing about 4 times by phrasing it differently which is just unneeded with adult and experienced actors.






DAY 4- 14.10.12


Today was our hardest yet most fun day. We spent the majority of the afternoon outside by the park shooting all the exterior scenes in the film and then went back inside to shoot some interior night scenes. It was just like the other days despite having so much more to get through. 
We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.





















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