November

05.11.12

Hannah and I had a meeting with Matt Stromen. He was one of the ADs for last year's feature film. He gave us a few tips :

Preparation is key !

Help sort out locations asap

Camera maps/ plans

Tell everyone the schedule at start of each day

Add additional items on schedule

Don't be afraid to be stern with crew if needed

It was a good meeting and I definitely be using some the tips he gave us. It was nice speaking to someone who has already been through that process. It sounded like he got a lot of out feature film personally and that is exactly what I want as well. It's about learning and filmmaking but it's also about personal development.

WHAT I DID

In terms of scheduling, I arranged scenes from our part of the script into day/night categories. Because the film is set over one day , most of the scenes are in the morning and afternoon with the wedding reception in the evening.

I also split up scenes depending on what locations they were in within Boldon Hall. I did this so I'm aware of the different set changes that happen within Boldon Hall meaning I can schedule all the same locations together to save time on shoot days. And also to make it easy for the location scouters to find venues which are suitable. Although it's not a catastrophe if we don't find a venue with all the locations in the script.

PRODUCTION MEETINGS

13.11.12

During the meeting we discussed people's thoughts about the script split and their worries and concerns about the shoot as well as what they were looking forward to the most. Overall most people were slightly disappointed we didn't get the 'fun' side of the script but were also looking forward to shooting a wedding. I reassured the crew that our shoot would be just as fun as UNIT 1's and that we were lucky to be spending the majority of our time inside.

I also approached each department made notes about what each had to say. Not all unit members were present. Some good questions arose and I tried my best to answer all of them.

Questions           Answers         

Director

Concerned about trying to make small crowds look large. Looking forward to shoot.

Camera

Thinks our part of the script is as less exciting but we have more room to experiment as we'll be in a large controlled environment.

Production Design

Will set design be left at the location untouched or will it be set up each day ? We will need to dress the set each day as the location we find will probably be a functioning one, meaning they'll have events going on while we're shooting.

How much time will it take to set up ? I'll calculate a suitable amount of time once I work out how long I takes us as a unit to get things done. I'll be evaluating the dry runs to reach this conclusion.

Will there be loads of extras and do I need to find costumes for them ? There should be quite a few extras but they will need to bring their own costumes as we can't afford it. Only main cast get costumes. Also, any costumes which you think main cast members can provide themselves should be noted down. We need to save as much money as possible.

I shall be asking Sam to come on our set to help with Prod design on days when we have lots of cast members to deal with.

Sound

Concerned about acoustics in halls which the wedding might be held in.

Will there be an ADR schedule ? Yes. It depends if Joe wants me schedule ADR or if he'd rather do that himself. you'll be notified.

Will we be logging our own sound?  Yes, luckily there are two of you. One can operate, one can mix and log. You can swap the roles between you however and whenever you like as long as what needs doing gets done.

Catering

How many people will I need to cater for each day ? Once I break down the script I'll know cast numbers for each scene and once the schedule is done I'll give you crew + cast numbers for each day.

Clapper

Wants to be sent a daily shooting schedule.

One general problem that came up was whether shoot days would clash with other lectures. I'll try to work around everyone's schedule but when taking crew, cast, location and transport availability into consideration some things are bound to clash. I need to speak to lecturers to see if other modules can be missed for shoot day. I'll try and avoid this but it seems inevitable when we only have  a 4 weekday window to shoot in.

Crew also asked about shooting on the weekend. I said I would try and avoid this but if there was no other solution then it'll have to be done. However I'll be giving loads of notice so people have a chance to sort things out.

AUDITIONS

First set of auditions were held on the 30th ( a little too late if you ask me). I went to help out. It was my job to escort auditioned to the right room so I didn't get a chance to see any of them perform. However a girl auditioning for the part of Natalie came early so I went to another room with her to research. She was absolutely adorable and I hope she gets chosen.

November was the month for me to start getting things in order. Now that pitch films are over and we all have fixed roles for the feature, it's time to start getting some serious work done. We don't have long at all and I hope everyone else puts in the same effort I'm going to. I want this film to be a success but we all need to work hard else it'll be a failure. There is absolutely no room for slacking.