Wednesday 21st Feb | Shoot Day #3

Laura's schedule:

What happened on the day?

On this day we were shooting scene 6, 7 & 8, with the characters Annie, Dean & Bob the Delivery Guy.

• Today was the first day in which we didn't have any disruptions within the morning due to already having all the lights we need, so when setting up lights and cameras it ran smoothly. The morning was quite relaxing as the actors knew when and what they needed to change into, and we knew the positioning of each camera due to the shoot pack. 
• We did have to change how we were shooting scene 8 however, due to the space of the doorway and previous experience from the first shoot day with scene 10.
• When it came to blocking the scenes with the actors, they found the way in which I wanted to shoot quite complicated. This could of been because I wanted all three scenes acted out like in the script (one after the other), even though we were only shooting two of the scenes to begin with. Once I talked to the actors thoroughly, they started to understand what I wanted, and we started getting ready for a take after some run-throughs.
• We started by having a camera outdoors (filming Dean in the doorway), and a camera in the living room (filming Annie front on). Myself and Jemma stuck together, meaning we both started off outside, and then moved inside together as well. 
• I decided to film these scenes in this structure as it would help us with the timing of each characters dialogue and action, which in turn would help us when editing the three scenes together, and hopefully that would make the performance a lot smoother. 
• We shot Dean's close up in the doorway first, with both me and Jemma outside to get the sound of his dialogue. Drey was on this camera, whilst Nisserin was in the living room shooting scene 7. Once we were happy with how this shot looked, and the sound (as there were a few unwanted background noises) myself and Jemma moved into the living room to get the sound for scene 7. 
• When we moved inside, I had Drey still shoot some footage for scene 8, just so we had more coverage to work with. 
• Once we were in the living room, Nisserin pointed out a slight problem with the lighting of the shot. There was a hot spot in the corner of the fireplace that was very noticeable, and it was due to the natural lighting coming from the window. This meant it was slightly harder for us to hide this hot spot or decrease the light. At this point I had Drey stop filming outside as we both agreed there was more than enough footage for that shot (also we didn't want Bob to be stood outside for too long due to the cold weather).
• All of the crew came together and discussed how we could defuse the hotspot without taking all of the lighting away from the shot. We experimented with the curtains, external LED lights, filters and a few other objects to help defuse the light in an effective way. 
• Nisserin mentioned that it might be worth us waiting until the afternoon to shoot this scene as the sun wouldn't be as bright as it was in that moment. However, not long after myself and Nisserin were discussing this idea, the glare decreased slightly, so we decided to film it in that moment before the hotspot became too much again.
• We had a good balance of the materials we experimented with, so the hotspot wasn't too noticeable in the shot.
• Once we had enough footage in that shot, we did a camera reset where the camera was placed on the other side of the room. This was directed towards the back of Annie so we could clearly see the TV with the green screen, which will have 'The Last Dish' logo edited onto it in post. Due to having done the actions quite a few times before, Christine knew what she needed to do, so getting the coverage in this shot didn't take too long. 
• Once scene 7 was completely shot we moved back into the entryway to get Bob outside the front door for scene 8. We had a slight problem with using the door for this shot as there wasn't any space between the open door and the camera. This meant we weren't able to get the action of the door opening and closing from inside, but I knew it would look better if we saw those shots from outside anyway, meaning it wasn't much of an inconvenience. 
• For this part of the scene there wasn't any point in going through all three scenes, so instead we did the first half of Bob at the door, and then we did the second half where Dean signs for the parcel. This could be easily adjusted when it came to editing, so the timing wasn't a problem for this shot.
• This shot didn't take too long either, as Bob and the other actors knew exactly what he needed to do.
• Once I was happy with the coverage we got for scene 7 & 8, we stopped for lunch.
• During lunch, Nisserin imported the footage and we looked through it, to make sure we had everything and it all looked the way we wanted it to.
• AFTER LUNCH
• We started to focus on scene 6, which is where Dean is pacing in the hallway. For this scene we had two cameras, one in the dining room doorway and the other in front of the front door.  Nisserin was on the camera in the doorway which was framed at a MS, and Drey was on the other which was framed at a WS. We set up the LED lights to make the shot look more realistic in terms of light. 
• There were a few key points I mentioned to Greg in terms of dialogue and character blocking. In the script, there are 2 lines of dialogue that needed to be said on the camera in the dining room doorway. ("It should be here by now.." & "Umm, yeah, it's a bit rattly") I told Greg about this and mentioned that it didn't matter how he paced in the entryway, but he needed to be in front of, or facing, that specific camera when he spoke those lines.
• During the takes, he was successful with this action and it meant that we will be able to see these lines on that shot, which was what I desired. This was successful through the communication myself and Greg had, and the trust I had in him as an actor.
• These takes didn't take too long as Greg knew exactly what he needed to do due to the previous run-throughs he had before lunch. Due to one of the cameras being in the way of the door, it meant that Greg had to pretend to be at the door. He did a really good job at this and he acted really natural so the transition between the two scenes would be smooth during the edit.
• Once I was happy with the coverage of this scene, we finished shooting these three scenes. However, I had mentioned at the start of the day that, if we had the time, I would like to reshoot scene 16. We were fortunate enough to finish shooting earlier than expected, so we had the time to reshoot. We set up one of the cameras and it was put in the same position it was in the previous day to get a MS of Annie. We did this shot along with a CU of Arnold so we could involve him more. 
• The reason why we didn't reshoot from both angles is because Nisserin mentioned you couldn't see the table in the other shot, so it made sense just to shoot the one shot. We made sure the lighting was similar to the shots we filmed the previous day, and I was happy with the outcome of the new shots.
• This reshoot gave us the opportunity to change the set design of that location, as it was quite boring before. We moved the sideboard into the corner of the room you could see on the camera, and we added a few bits of decor. We added photos, ornaments and candles to make it look more like Annie & Dean's house, and to make it feel like it has been lived in by the characters.
• Once the reshoot of scene 16 was done, and I was happy with the new shots, we wrapped for the day. 

Notes:

This shoot day went well and I felt like I had a good communication with all of the actors. Everyone was on top of their own jobs, and I felt like we all worked well as a team. There weren't as many hiccups on this shoot day, but there were a few moments where we had to work together in order to improve a shot or lighting. There were a few comments that were made by crew members that weren't important in terms of the shoot day, and I felt as if that could've affected how the crew worked together and how the actors felt around us. However, I made sure, as the director, to stay calm and happy, and not get involved with anything that could jeopardise my performance. I did a good job at staying calm and focused during this shoot day, and I think it shows through the actors performance.