Preparation is Key

For a while now I've been writing up different morning routines for shoot days and also how long it should roughly take to do everything.

I came up with a morning routine for when I arrive at the Media Factory :

Sort out travel requirements for crew and cast.

Make sure crew from all departments have working kit.

Go through Breakdown sheets and making sure everything needed for the shoot is with us.

Tick off equipment and send it downstairs to the bus

Make sure everyone is present and on time; call those who are not.

Check over 209 for anything we have missed.

Set off.

I also tried  to determined how much set up time we would need each day by guessing how long it took to do each one. Of course I overestimated these time - better safe than sorry.

Camera Set up (including stand in time)- 30mins

Sound rig - 25mins

Get cast in costumes - 10 min for males, 20min for females

Actor hair and makeup - 10mins for males 20mins for females

Director with cast - 20 mins

Run through - 10mins

Set design/props - 20/30mins

Lighting - 25mins

Of course most of these things will be happening at the same time. I've decided to give 1 1/2 to 2 hours setup time for shoot days. Time allocated for each day will depend on number of cast and what scenes we're shooting.

I've also decided on 30min lunch breaks because I feel like anything longer than that will make people lazy. It should be enough as they'll be plenty of 10/15min breaks during setup changes.

PRODUCTION MEETING

18.02.12

Collected all medical forms and told those who did not have it to make sure they bring a copy on set tomorrow.

Spoke about the overall production schedule and how it's going to work. Made sure everyone was happy with it.

On Set Etiquette

Told the crew how they needed to behave on set a Ferrari's. I explained that they could cancel the contract anytime they wanted and we didn't want to give them an excuse to do so. I'm sure no one on the unit would do any of these but just in case:

No  running

Don't touch what isn't ours unless you have permission

No wandering around in the corridors (It's a hotel with guests)

No shouting (unless it's me)

No general misbehaviour (we represent the university and must be aware of this at all times)

Put all cigarette butts into bins or provided ashtrays

Do not  litter the grounds

How Each Day Will Run

Everyone help get kit in/unload minibus

Start set up as soon as equipment is inside location (relevant departments)

Prod design team get ready for cast to arrive (decide what cast members do first - makeup or costume - but both of you need to be working at the same time and then switching)

As soon as all actors arrive I will announce the schedule for the day.

Then they go straight into hair/makeup, costume

Once set design and props are done - stand-ins will be used to set up shot.

Lights needs to already be set up at this point and should just need adjusting depending on shot.

Once actors are done, they'll be sent to Peter

Quick run through

Start the shoot.

At the end of each shooting day we will all go back to 209 for a debrief and to discuss next shooting day.

To finish off the meeting I made sure everyone was fully pre-pared for the shoot tomorrow. Especially prod design.

I am looking forward to the first shoot day. I think I've done enough preparation and I hope the rest the crew has too. Let's see how it goes.

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.

Dry Runs

22.11.12

This dry run was a good chance for me to try out some scheduling techniques and learn from failure. Although a lot of things went wrong during the shoot, I learnt something from each one.

We had some issues with sound at the start which meant we started behind schedule. I made a note to increase the setup time for the next dry run.

I noticed that I had not scheduled enough time for the tracking shots. I discovered that it took a while to set up the dolly and after that lots of rehearsal time is needed. I made another note to increase all tracking shot times.

After the dry un, I also decided that the minimum time we would have for setup changes is 10mins as 5mins was just not sufficient. This is enough time to get to the next setup and set up the next shot, ready for cast and director.

I also had to cut shots because we ran out of time. Peter looked quite sad about this so I said he could choose one more shot to film as long as it was done in under 5mins.

The shot he chose was the best shot of the entire short during the screening. Although we struggled a little more than unit 1, I feel like our end result was better than theirs. Maybe as a unit, we work better under pressure. It's definitely something to consider

pic

06.12.12

First I'd just like say

"I MUST BE AN EXTREMELY DEDICATED STUDENT"

I didn't go out for my own 21st birthday because I didn't want to be hung over for this dry run !!!! I deserve an award or something for that J

As usual, the dry run did not go smoothly. I think I'm getting used to the fact that we will always have problems. I just have to deal with them to the best of my ability. We had scheduled a jib shot but it proved harder to execute than we originally thought it would. It takes 2 strong people to manoeuvre the jib well. Stef  (grip), was too small to handle the weight so Tony took over. It took a long time to get the Jib shot done. I didn't ask Peter to move on because it was something we needed to practice. I would rather we went over time and mastered the jib rather than finishing early and struggling with the jib next time on an actual shoot day.

Overall I think my performance as AD today was quite poor. I can' explain it but I felt down and I'm sure it showed. I was extremely quiet when I should have been loud and assertive and kept to myself. I think I need to find a solution to get me out of bad moods else we'll all struggle on set. I'm thinking sweets as they usually make me happy and energetic so I'll need to make sure I have a stash of them for every shoot day.

17.01.13

I understand why Chris wanted us to shadow each other today but I think it was done the wrong way.  If he wanted to use this method, both units should have had the dry runs on different days. This would have given us more time to shadow allowing us to actually learn something.

Unit 2 were shadowing in the morning and we basically just stood around and watched. It was extremely cold and a lot of us found it hard to concentrate. Hannah was not there so I had no one to shadow. Chris advised that I shadow Anthony so I tried. Didn't really learn much but noted down that I need to be loud and clear when delivering instructions.

In the afternoon most of the class went home. Unit 1 were supposed to shadow us but only 3/4 people showed up at our location. The room we were shooting in was too small to allow everyone to enter so I let essential crew members only inside. I then told the unit 1 members who had bothered showing up that there was no point them hanging around if they couldn't see what was going on so they could leave.

I was extremely angry that unit 2 members had made an effort to wake up in the morning and stand in the freezing cold to shadow unit 1 but the majority of them didn't show up to shadow us.

One thing I learnt from this dry run is that at times we'll be in locations that can't accommodate for the whole crew, therefore I'll need to pick people who are needed on set. These are the people who will stay on the set for the whole period while others go back and forth.

They are:

Webster

Peter

Kiran

Me

Jack + Joel

Louis

Overall I think the dry runs were quite useful and I learnt a few things which helped me develop my AD skills. I'm disappointed we won't be having a cast dry run as I was looking forward to testing my entire routine with everyone present to see if it was suitable for the main shoot. I guess I'll have to prepare as much as I can and hope for the best.

Peer Feedback

Although I didn't manage to meet up with everyone due to my work load, I still met up with the majority of the unit. I mainly spoke to them about myself and how I have a permanent frown. Also discussed how easily irritated I am and assured them it was nothing personal (The sound of people breathing annoys me as well). I discussed what they should do if any problems come up on set (find me). And lastly I explained that I'm there to support everyone on set. So no one should feel hesitant when approaching me with a film-related or even personal problem.  I them asked them a few questions and even noted down what a few of them said.

The writing is colour coded to mean the following :

How they feel about their role

What they would like from me on set

Worries or concerns

Kiran - Clapper

Satisfied with role but would have preferred a different one.

Confirm shooting schedule day before

Be louder on set

Speak to director and dop about shots himself.

Everyone waiting on him to start the next take

Joe - Props

Extremely Happy with role

Send people to help him dress the set.

Worried about getting the Quadbike/Side car

Lewis - Caterer

Happy with role, likes working independently.

Remind people not to eat food until he says it's ok

People's attitude - moral boosts

Respect on set

Louis - Script Super

Ok with role, would like to give it a go

.

Add him to check call after each take

Allow him to be next to the monitor

Announce shots as we go along

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.

I Am Now a First Assistant Director

I really looked forward to the pitch film screenings. I wanted to see the other films and compare them to ours to see if we actually did a good job or if I imagined all of it. But what I really wanted to know was whether I had gotten the role or not.

The film which stood out the most for me was 'Something Blue' mainly because Joe's little brother is adorable but also because it well edited and looked nicer than the others (I'm a fan of blue). Next would be Peter's film as it had a very interesting storyline although it did feel dull at times. I think our film was the best, I'm not even being big headed it's just a fact. I feel like we worked harder than any other group and therefore deserve that victory.

So after the break we came back to find out if we had gotten our roles or not. I remember feeling quite scared. My heart was pumping very hard and I didn't even want to look at  the screen. I was sat next to McDonald and I had to hold his hand because he was shaking so much. I think I was more devastated than him when he didn't get director. I even cried for him so he wouldn't have to. At that point, I thought it was an insult to make him a clapper but thinking about it now, he might actually have one of the best roles. He gets to be on set everyday an enjoy the shoot without any creative or organizational worries. He might be lucky.

I was extremely happy for my peers who had gotten the  roles they wanted. I was so proud so Santa, I knew how hard she had worked on the film even though the end product didn't fully show it because of editing issues. I was also happy for Webster, I really wanted them both to get the roles.

I almost screamed out when Hannah's name came before mine. I was going a bit a crazy…I didn't why her name was there when she had been a producer for the pitch film. I honestly thought I hadn't got it until my name came up. I was in shock for a few seconds and then I became extremely happy. Euphoric almost. I couldn't stop grinning. Then we saw what units we were in and I was over the moon. I had most of my closest friends in my unit but not my best friend which was a great thing. I don't think me and Santa would be able to work together on a project like feature with our roles. We would constantly clash and fight.

I can't believe it. Hard work actually does pay off. I'm sooo proud of myself and the other members of CineCitta for getting the roles  we wanted. I have never been this excited about work before. Now that I've been given the chance, I'll have a lot to prove and I'm ready. If I could stay as happy as I was when I found out I had gotten AD forever, I would never ask for anything else again.

SCRIPT

My first impression of the feature script is not a good one. I haven't read it throughout yet but what I've read so far is enough. I don't think it's good, mainly because it's supposed to be a rom/com but I didn't even crack a smile while reading the first few pages. They all just seemed like cheap jokes. Penis drawing on his face…Really ?  But regardless of my opinion, I'm still willing to make (we don't really have a choice do we). I just hope the directors can bring out 'the funny' in it.

IMDB

Our pitch film is on IMDB I didn't think I'd get my name on there this soon. 

'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.