Production | Shoot Day 5 (Scene 1)

We open the scene in a dimly lit and well-kept house...

Cast / Crew:

• Director - Alex Hargood
• Director of Photography - Katie Joslin
• Producer - Melissa Moore
• Sound Recordist - Alix Mottershead
• Cast
• 'Tim Stewart' - Ed Allenby
• 'Tess Connelly' - Skevy Stylia

The agenda:

• Shoot scene 1:
• This is one of the few scenes that takes place inside and it involves some interesting blocking which we will have to bare in mind as we shoot this scene.

What went well:

• As this is the first scene of the entire film, it is vitally important that we utilise what we have available to introduce the main character, Tim. I believe that we achieved this well today through how we shot the close-up shots and Ed and Skevy's performances.
• Since we had so much time available, we were able to get plenty of coverage and ensure that we captured every shot we needed. This will be immensely beneficial for when Katie and Mel are editing the film.
• There was a lot in this scene could be tricky when it comes to the continuity of the scene but we were able to ensure that we maintained consistency throughout the scene. 

What didn't go well:

• Whilst filming Tim reacting to Tess' entrance, he is supposed to flinch and throw the photo frame he is holding in the air out of surprise. We were using a glass photo frame and when Ed was performing the scene, he accidentally dropped the frame and it smashed. We made sure that we dealt with it safely and that all the glass was cleaned up, however this was a waste of time and could have been avoided. We also did not have any spare glass to go in the frame so we had to improvise and use a clear plastic folder to act as the glass. This worked better than we expected and is not noticeable in the footage. Nevertheless, it would have been preferable not to have happened in the first place to avoid the hassle of clearing up the glass and delaying the shoot.
• Due to the nature of the scene, we did not have a huge amount of space to place artificial lighting or diffusion, therefore it was difficult to balance between lighting the scene in the room without there being a heavy contrast with the window. This is something that could be tweaked in post-production, however it would have been ideal for the lighting on the shoot.
• We found that we finished the shoot early, which was a positive thing as it gave us more time to get extra coverage, however I did feel as though we were repeating ourselves a little too much as I was worrying we may not have enough coverage for the edit.
• Tim and Tess' dad's bag of tools is perhaps the most important prop in the entire film, and in this scene we needed it to be placed somewhere that enshrined their father to an extent, but was also not in plain sight so Tim would not immediately find it. The only place I felt it could really go was on the window seal, which looked a little bit awkward and out of place. If I could go back, I would try to work out somewhere that would be better suited to store the bag.

What did I learn:

• I learned how important it is to have backup props in case of breakage - particularly if I am working with breakable props such as a glass photo frame. It seems so simple looking back at it, however I can see how we overlooked this and how we could have avoided it. Since we cannot see the floor in this shot, we could have placed something soft on the floor to absorb an impact, or even simpler, we could have replaced the glass in the frame with acetate or something similar to give the impression of glass.
• Due to the various props involved in this scene, this showed us a lot about how to maintain continuity in the scene. Myself, Katie and Mel were each checking and double-checking where these props were in each take so that we could ensure we did not make any mistakes which was immensely beneficial for the continuity of the film.