January

I've managed to get a lot of work done this month and rightly so. We start shooting in less than 3 weeks, it's now time to get things together. I've noticed that a lot of the departments are leaving things quite late. We haven't even got the majority of props yet. This is quite worrying and I've asked Joe to get on it.

TEMPLATES

I created all the templates needed for the shoot myself.

I started with the call sheet. Used the same layout as the one I made for pitch films but changed the logo and added other things.

Shooting schedule template

I also created scene breakdown templates and below is an example of one which has already been 

completed. 

I asked the relevant departments several times to send the information I needed to fill in the breakdown sheets. It took a while for some of them to send the work and when I received it, the content was so basic that it couldn't be used. I then had to ask for more detailed versions and once again did not receive anything (my guess is that they hadn't broken up the script yet) , so I got Joni involved to back me up

SCHEDULING

After sending you that e-mail last month about scheduling and responsibilities I thought it was clear that Charlotte would be making the general production schedule. However it's taking her a very long time to create one. I've a few times and it's getting tiring. I really can't do much until I have that schedule so I've decided to just do it myself. It's annoying having to wait for people to do their jobs just so I can do mine.

I had already started scheduling by putting grouping Boldon Hall scenes I thought could be shot on the same day. I scheduled this based on location in Boldon hall, cast in each scene and number of shots per scene. 

Once I get sent the cast availability sheet, I'll be able to make a proper production schedule.

LOCATION SCOUTING

Location scouting for the wedding location was taking an unnecessarily long time. The options that Anthony presented were not suitable. No way can we afford to pay for a proper venue. So as usual, I've decided to take the matter into my own hands and get things moving. I got in touch with Joni and we decided to ring and e-mail a few places on the 14th. Most venues turned us down straight away or said we needed to pay and one even thought we were pulling a prank. We didn't let this stop us though and in the end Joni managed to get arrange a visit that very day to a place called Ferrari's Country House.

We took Peter and Webster and Joni drove us down there. First impressions were that the grounds were beautiful. It looked absolutely perfect and everyone agreed that we would hard to try and get it. Once inside we were met by the brash owner Susan Ferrari, who's first words were "What do you want?"

We thought it would better for Joni to do the speaking as he had arranged the visit. She asked about the film and what we needed etc. Joni really struggled in trying explain who we were, what we were doing and even the film idea. Poor lad is just too shy. We left Ferrari's with the promise that we'd be back again after what seemed like a failed attempt at getting the location.

Now, I dislike talking to adults who I don't know, especially when I have to ask them for something so I can relate to Joni. However, working on feature film has given me some crazy confidence boost so when Joni asked if I would take over the negotiations, I stupidly said yes.

I sent Ferrari's an e-mail about another visit and was surprised to receive a positive response. I saw the person replying was called Luisa not Susan.

On the 2nd visit was on the 23rd. Susan was not around and I was glad. That woman is very scary but I also have an odd respect for her. It seems like she built the business up from scratch by herself. I took along Sam - to see if the place worked in terms of prod design, Ben - because he wanted to see it, Web - who actually brought his camera this time and was able to take pictures for camera maps and Tony; who wanted to layouts so he could do lighting plans.

Very happy to say that after speaking Luisa (Susan's daughter) I managed to secure the location for the shoot and for FREE. However I was told I had to create a detailed production schedule for the 4 weeks stating when and where within the building we'd be filming each day. We also had to work around their schedule and if any weddings or funerals were booked on our shoot day, we would have to compromise. This was perfectly understandable, they are a running and they need to keep functioning. We can't disrupt their business when we are not paying guests.

Overall January was a really productive month for me. I managed to get quite a bit done and I feel like I managed to get things moving a little. I feel like everything started happening way too late and that's very disappointing. It's quite annoying that we don't have the time (or cast) to have actor dry runs. This is going to make my job more difficult than it needs to be as it means the first shoot day will now be the first time the cast meet each other and the first time they're in front of the camera. This might make the shoot take longer than necessary.

 Filmmaking can really get to independent people like me as you will always need help from someone else. And when working on a feature film with this many crew members, that annoyance gets x by 100.

"Is it bigheaded to think that I would be able to do everyone else's job much better ?"

I'm just eager for this to start and now I'm starting to feel like we might not actually get to shoot.