Prep Before Shoot Week | Development

There weren't many things that needed to be done before shoot week as we are all prepared with our props, costumes, actors and schedule. However, there were a couple of things that needed to be bought or checked and there were a few changes.

Since our auditions, we haven't been able to find a Jordan Hamsay look a like or actor to play him. We've all done some research and looked at different actors that could be potentials but we didn't get very far with them. However, Laura has found someone who is an actual chef and he has a slight resemblance to Gordan Ramsay. He has happily agreed to play the part of Jordan and we are very happy with him.

We had a brief meeting with him to tell him about his role and what he'll be doing on the day, and we got to get to know him as a person. This meeting was useful for us as it helped me decide how he would be when directing him, and what he would be like with the other actors.

His name is David Jordan and he is an actual chef in London. He has said he will provide his chef blacks and hopefully he will bring his chef personality into his character.

I knew what Greg and Christine would be wearing for their characters as they had bought their clothes to the script read-through, and I knew Liz had the right clothes for Marie. However, I hadn't seen what Betty would be wearing and also Bob had said he would get hold of a postman outfit which we hadn't seen yet. We asked Betty and Bob for some pictures to make sure we were happy and this was the outcome:

I'm very happy with these two outfits; I think Betty's dress fits her bright personality, and Bob looks like a real postman thanks to his postman attire.

During our set dress and take pictures for the storyboard day, I had some concerns with the picnic basket, so I decided instead I think a lunch cool bag would work a lot better. It's more practical and less fiddly meaning Christine won't have as many problems with it, as she would with the big picnic basket. We also recently purchased the funny apron that was in our prop list, and this is what Dean will be wearing in Scene 11. It will add humour to the scene and help carry the comedy throughout the whole show.

One of the things that I had asked the producer to organise was one last meeting with all of the cast, especially since we have now got David on board. I thought it would be nice to see everyone before shoot week, and I remember Andrea Kappos saying they usual have a production meeting the day or week before they shoot. This is so they can go over everything and anything to make sure everyone knows what they are doing and aren't confused on the day.

However, the producer found that either not many people were replying to the email or they weren't available. Due to our busy week before the shoot week, it turned out to be a last minute organisational issue and we unfortunately weren't able to go ahead with this, much to my disappointment.

I do think this would've been really effective for us to have, but because we haven't had the opportunity to, the producer will have send every piece of information and paperwork the actors need to be in the loop as to what is going on during the shoot week. 

All of the props have now been sourced and found, and we have all of the actors we need. We are all very prepared for this shoot week and I think it will run smoothly, so long as everything goes as planned.