Production | ADR, Reshooting and Pickups

Once production was complete and we had a rough cut on the timeline, there were some aspects that we felt we could go back to record some extra footage, both as a backup and to fix the mistakes we made during the production period.

ADR

As the rough cut came together, it became clear that some of the audio we had recorded required a lot of attention to fix and get to a good standard. Simon suggested and we agreed that we should get Ed and Dan into the studios to capture some ADR sound so that we could have clear audio for the scenes where the audio quality required improvement. The intention was to record ADR sound for scenes 7 and 9 which had a lot of background noise, as discussed in various posts, and scene 11 as we were missing some of the recorded audio from that day. Unfortunately this did not go to plan.

Mel and I had booked out the audio recording suite and arranged to pick them up from the station at around 11 AM, which we were under the impression would be ample time to set up the recording equipment and we could delve straight into recording some ADR. It was not until Ed and Dan arrived at the studios that we were made aware of what needs to be considered when recording ADR sound. For example, setting up a version of the timeline with separate tracks to record different actors' lines, setting up a talk-back system, and other technical aspects that we were not aware of. This put us in an awkward position as we had already called in the actors and we were left unable to record the sound, or afford another day of ADR as we had already planned to reshoot the Margate scenes.

The day was not a complete waste, however, as I wanted to have a go at some improvisation, which would allow for some very natural humour to shine through. It was also a fun challenge for the cast, who enjoyed the opportunity to improvise scenes in-character, and for me as the director, as they would be relying on me to provide general direction for where they needed to end up so that they could fill in the blanks. This turned out to be a lot of fun and we came up with some good scenarios that we could use for the credits.

I gave them the scenario that they had just left the pub and were planning where they should go next. We also tried recording dialogue that could go in between scenes 6 and 7 on the journey from Sheila's house to the owl academy. Katie and Mel will be able to piece this audio together to potentially use to fill any blanks in the edit.

Reshooting

We decided that the scene that needed reshooting the most was scene 4, which happened to be the most expensive shoot day as well. The main issue we had with the first attempt at this scene was that we had to rush through due to other commitments from our cast. The natural lighting was also not ideal and the practical blood effects did not look as good as they could have. We concluded that we could improve on this scene by essentially repeating this shoot day, but we spend the entire day on reshooting scene 4 and if we have time, scene 6 to maintain consistency. We could have reshot scene 5 as it was near this location, but I was confident that we had already filmed the best takes on the original shoot day.

Everything ran so much better on the reshoot. The weather was overcast, so the lighting was a lot more muted than it was previously, the blood splatter effect came through a lot better and we captured all the coverage we needed to. We ran into a few minor issues but nothing that impacted on the quality of our actors' performances or the footage that we shot.

I think what I am most proud of from reshooting is the blood splatter effect. We used a different technique to what we had planned, and we used a thicker and more vibrantly coloured type of fake blood. In the first shoot, you can barely see the blood on his face, but on the reshoot, it is vastly clearer.

The screenshot above perfectly sums up the improvements we made in the reshoot. The most obvious is the weather, which is obviously something we could not control, but as it was overcast, the lighting was not as harsh as it was on the initial shoot and we did not have to contend with shadows. We were also not rushing and so Katie and I could spend more time ensuring the shot is perfect - the first is framed awkwardly and slightly soft, where the second is framed a lot better and is a lot sharper as well. I also realised it made a lot more sense that Tim grab Sheila's other shoulder so it is a lot clearer to the audience that he is wiping blood on her cardigan. This was a simple oversight that I made on the first shoot, but the difference it makes is palpable.

Katie and I also decided to try to get more coverage for the surgery scene, which was previously just one continuous shot that pans from left to right, back and forth between Tim and Luke. This allowed for a better view of Tim's reaction to Luke's line "Phillips or flathead", where we could not see that previously.

The main issue was that there was a meeting at the church we were filming next to, and so at about 11:30, a swarm of cars appeared on the road which would have been a disaster for the continuity. I had to decide whether to reshoot the footage we had already shot, or wait for the vehicles to clear away. I asked one of the church-goers how long the meeting would last, and she said about half an hour, therefore I made the call to wait, so we could break for lunch and continue after the cars had left. This was the right call as we could continue with the shoot after lunch with no impact on the continuity of the scene.

Pickups

One of the criticisms we found emerging with the rough cut was that the scenes do not connect very well together. For example, scenes 6 and 7 are in two completely different locations and we do not get much connectivity between the two scenes. Therefore we opted to capture some additional shots of the van driving around in various places. To save money transporting the cast, I drove the van, so we had to be sure that we could not see who was sitting in the cockpit. We also had to make sure, as I made clear in my blocking, that we only shot the left side of the van as there were only stickers on that side. We ended up shooting a lot of takes of the van driving around various parts and from different angles to give the impression that we were in various different places. This will help a great deal with the flow of the film to bridge between the scenes. It also helps us to show off the effort that went into getting the van, adding more to the authentic feel of the piece.