Rough Cut Viewing #2 | Development

For our second rough cut viewing with Simon, he had a little bit more to say due to us having all scenes edited roughly.

• Scene 1:
• We need to see Marie straight after Dean has said her name at the beginning, after the corkscrew mishap.
• I wasn't aware we didn't do this already, but we might be able to use a different shot size for this improvement.
• The shot of Marie needs to be cut to quicker after hearing "sweets are natural" from Annie.
• Scene 3:
• When Annie says "are you listening to me?" we need to see Dean reading the newspaper.
• We need a tighter shot of Annie & Dean reading the newspaper so it cuts nicer.
• We can look back at the shots we managed to shoot, and if we struggle we can always try and change the size of another shot, but we'll have to see what will work best.
• Instead of Annie saying "famous. Young and famous. I'm a genius." we should cut straight to the title sequence after hearing her say "famous".
• I think her dialogue is quite humorous, but we're going to try this and see if it makes the scene any quicker, cause it is quite slow at the moment.
• Scene 8:
• We need to cut quicker and cleaner in between the characters movements, so we can cut quicker after Annie leaving the living room and appearing at the door with Bob.
• This is the same for when Dean says "grow up" to Annie and going back to the door afterwards.
• He also wants to see more Bob in scene 8, as he's an interesting character and it gives a good dynamic between the different characters in that shot.
• Scene 9:
• If possible, we could see what Annie is doing on her iPad, so it brings the Instagram theme more into the video and informs the audience of it as well.
• We can definitely try this by shooting another shoot when we do our reshoot which will most probably need to happen.
• We need to see a CU of Dean when we see Betty, especially on the strangle.
• This is something that can be done because we do have a single of Dean, but we originally decided not to use it due to Nisserin and I not really liking it that much.
• However, Nisserin can try and make the shot look better in the grade.
• Scene 11:
• We need to make more out of the gross cookies and really get the idea across to the audience that the cookies he is making our disgusting and abnormal.
• We can get this when we reshoot, but we can get some CU of the baking itself and maybe a CU of the recipe so the audience can read the ingredients being put in with the cookies.
• As said before, there is too much back and we need to see more of Annie's face as she is talking. 
• This is why we will need to reshoot this scene.
• We need to see Annie's reverse when she says "he's away on business".
• We also need to see Annie when she is saying "it's now or never".
• Scene 12:
• There needs to be a shot of the view from the binoculars in the door, along with a shoot of the camera on the door.
• We can always go back to the location and get these shots without having the actors with us.
• We should cut back to Marie in the living room after Dean mentions The Last Dish.
• Scene 14:
• This scene doesn't really add anything to the video, so we should delete it, but keep the part of the two characters walking into the door to keep it clear to the audience that they have just arrived home.
• Scene 16:
• Get to Jordan Hamsay in the window quicker and stay on that shot longer.
• Get rid of Annie's dialogue when she says "come to the door quick".
• I'm actually not too keen on this change as I'm not entirely sure it will make much sense with her just saying Dean, because that doesn't necessarily mean Dean should come to the door.
• We might try this, but I don't think we'll make this change.
• Scene 17:
• We might need to reshoot this scene as we need to see Jordan Hamsay's face when he says his name.
• Maybe try and adding bars and tones along with a beep sound or something similar when Jordan Hamsay is sick to keep the humour alive, and make this scene more interesting and fun.
• We also need a reverse of Annie & Dean when they are talking to Marie.

Overall Simon said the video was really good as a whole but we should definitely consider reshooting scene 11 & 17.

We will make most of these changes, and try some of them to see if they work. We also will probably reshoot the two scenes as we want them to be the best they can be, and if we can get the actors back we might as well try.

I'm really happy with the feedback we have got, and I think it's a good amount to work with as this stage in the edit.

Editing the New Scenes & Starting the Sound Design | Development

Before adding in any of the new scenes we had previously shot, Nisserin put all of the scene sequences into one sequence. This meant that we could watch all scenes together as one, but also easily edit the scenes in their own individual sequence. Once this was done she started to edit the new scenes, starting with scene 1, 2 & 3.
We used the same set up as before, where we had the shot list, shoot notes & script on different monitors and then the main monitors had the editing software. Nisserin followed the shot list mostly, but there were a few more shots we got on the shoot day, and they worked better than the original shots we had planned.

When seeing the three first scenes, before the title sequence, now edited together roughly and in our main sequence, it makes the whole video feel smoother and more put together. It also gave us an idea as to what our first few scenes will be like and whether they are attractive enough for the audience to want to keep watching. I think scene 3 might be a bit too long, but I don't want to make any drastic editing decisions without all of the scenes being edited.

When Nisserin edited together scene 12, I realised I didn't really like that we cut to the WS and I thought it might work better if we cut to the 'Briar Lodge' shot, that we have used in the beginning of scene 2, and then straight to the 2-S. This is just an idea, and we're going to see what both ideas will look like. Also, when editing Scene 13, Nisserin tried the green screen of the security camera and I really like the way it looks. She gave it a desaturated effect and added a green screen overlay, and I think it looks realistic and works really well. At the end of the scene we couldn't decide whether to cut to the security camera or cut straight to scene 14. Upon watching it cut to the security camera first, I'm not so keen on it but we'll try both ways and see what works best.

After Nisserin had edited together all of the scenes roughly (including scenes 14, 15, 16 & 17), we decided that I would start working on some sound design elements such as sound effects. By having some of these elements in the video, it brings it to life and gives us a good idea as to what it will look like in the final edit.
For scene 1, I added some of the chatting atmosphere we recorded, to make the fake talking look realistic. I also added a music track that sounds like background music that would be played in the background of these type of events. I then added a louder recording of the corkscrew landing in the cup to exaggerate it for our rough cut viewing.
I skipped scenes 2 & 3 and went straight to scene 6, 7, 8 where I did quite a lot of the sound design. That was the first scene I found the zoom recording for and added it into the scene, so I just made sure I added some more sound effects like a doorbell sound and so on. I started to do the same with scene 9, but I didn't get round to finishing it completely, but there is still time for me to do that later.
The scenes in between 9 & 17 didn't need any major sound effects that affected the story, so I skipped straight to scene 17. I added the sound effects of the notifications on the iPad, and I duplicated it a few times to show that Annie is getting a lot of likes on her instagram post.
I also added some stings - that we won't use due to us having a composer making us music - just so we could see how that link will work.

Now that we have all scenes edited roughly, and some of the sound design is present, we can show Simon our rough cut and see what improvements he thinks we should make. I think all of the scenes go really well together and the story is told well. There are definitely parts of the video that need to be adjusted and maybe cut down but we don't want to do anything else until Simon has seen it. Overall, I'm happy with our rough cut so far.

Thursday 15th Mar | Shoot Day #6

Laura's schedule:

What happened on the day?

On this day we were shooting scenes 2, 3, 12 & 13, with the characters Annie, Dean & Marie.

• This day started off a little differently to how our normal shoot days started. The only crew members, added onto the three of us, that the producer had arranged for the day was only Jemma to operate the sound. This meant that we weren't able to do a multi-cam set up if we wanted to, and also it meant there weren't as many of us to help set up the equipment and set.
• Due to us not having any runners, it meant that Laura had to go and pick up both Jemma and Christine before coming to the location. This also meant that myself and Nisserin arrived at the location first and talked to the house owner before setting up the equipment, and also welcoming the actors.
• Once all of the actors and crew had arrived, we placed the camera and took the actors to the location that we would be shooting scene 2 in. We are using Nisserin's car as Annie & Dean's car due to it being fairly modern and simple, which is the type of car I think they would own. I then blocked scene 2 with the actors 
• We couldn't use the green micra that we planned to use in pre-production due to it not working, but also I'm not sure our characters would fit comfortably in the car due to it being a small size.
• We started by shooting the shot through the car window, and so you could hear the dialogue clearly we had Jemma sit in the back of the car with the boom. We started with Dean turning off the car ignition and then ending with both of them getting out of the car. This meant that it would be easy for us to cut into during post, and hopefully that will make the scene look smooth along with the wide.
• When I was happy with the coverage from this shot, myself and Nisserin crossed the road and did a camera reframe for a WS. The actors went through the scene from beginning to end, and we had Marie get out of her car as Annie & Dean get out, so we could see Marie in the WS. This shot was slightly harder to get due to the road being really close and having to wait for a pause of cars, so they wouldn't get in the way of our shot.
• Once I was happy with these shots, we moved onto shooting scene 3. We started by shooting a GV type shot of Marie walking out of the car door and down towards Annie & Dean. This shoot was a MS but as Marie moved it'll be turned into a single of Marie talking to Annie & Dean.
• We had a few minor issues when shooting the shot, such as the boom being in shot or the camera not being framed correctly for when Marie walks back into the house, but other than that the takes were good.
• We then reframed the camera and shot a 2-S of Annie & Dean talking to Marie. For this shot, I told the actors that they needed to carry on with their dialogue until they turn around during the scene. They were quick to act on this and when run-throughing this part of the scene they did it perfectly. Then once I was happy with this shot, we did the reverse and moved the camera to the other side of the gate. 
• For this side of gate we planned to shoot two different sizes - one WMS and a 2-S MS of the couple looking at the newspaper.
• It was at this point in the shoot day that the producer started telling us how much time we had left to shoot the scene and that we were over running in time. This actually caused a lot of stress rather than speeding the shooting process up, due to her mentioning how much time we were running over every few minutes. Not only did she keep mentioning this, she also told everyone on set including the cast how much we were over running by. This wasn't a very professional move as I feel like it made the actors think they needed to rush the scenes so we could get them done. This then went against the natural realistic tone of the show that I wanted throughout as the acting would be quick and forced.
• After doing this shot, we realised that we should probably get Annie's reverse shot when she turns around to look at Dean who is reading the newspaper. This shot didn't take very long to get as we knew what we wanted, and it was quite a simple shot. We then started shooting the GV's of the newspaper & the letter box - which we shot from two different angles.
• When shooting these GV's the producer was getting quite vocal and asked whether these shots really needed to be shot, and whether we could get away with not getting these GV's. This was due to how long we were over running by, however both myself and the DOP had the same thought that even if we had over ran we would still be getting the shots, so we carried on with how we were. 
• The newspaper prop was also problematic as it was prepared last minute, which could jeopardise how our prop looks in the shot. Laura created the newspaper article before our first shoot week, and Nisserin created it to make it look more realistic. Myself and the DOP asked the producer if it could be printed and ready for the shoot week so we didn't have to worry about getting it done for this shoot week. She also had a source from one of our actors who could print off our newspaper on the same paper, which would make it look even more realistic. However, the producer didn't prepare this prop, and on the morning of this shoot day, asked in our group chat if anyone had printed it off. I was quite shocked by this as it was her job as the producer to make sure all of the props were ready a few days or even a week before we shoot, and she had a month and a half to do this job, as the file had been on our shared drive the whole time. Nisserin ended up having to print it off and rush in the morning to try and make it look like a real newspaper. She did a good job, but it would've been more effective for the show if the producer had stuck with the first source she found, as it would've made the newspaper look more realistic.
• Once the GV's were shot, we wrapped this scene and started to prep for scene 12. We did a camera reset and the actors took a little break so they weren't stood outside for too long. Nisserin moved her car to be parked next to 'Marie's' car to look as if Annie & Dean have just driven up and parked.
• We started this scene with shooting a WS. This gave the actors a chance to do run-throughs of the scene after I had blocked it with them. Jemma and I stood in front of the car and ducked down whilst we were shooting the scene. This is so I could be heard in the zoom which will help when editing, and I trusted the DOP to do a good and effective shot.
• Once this shot was complete, the camera was moved closer to do the 2-S of Annie & Dean. There were a few takes where the lines were mixed up a little bit, so we had to do a few of them, but eventually we got enough coverage and we could re frame to a single of Dean. This only took one take as Greg knew what his lines were and felt confident about it, and you could tell through the take. 
• We then moved into the doorway and shot the security camera shot which only took a few takes. After the second take one of the home owners had to leave and move their car which was in our shot. This was quite problematic but it meant that Nisserin just had to reframe the shot so we couldn't tell that it had gone.
• Then once I was happy with the coverage we got from both scenes, we stopped for lunch, and due to the shooting of Scene 12 not taking as long as planned we finished on time.
• AFTER LUNCH
• We started to set up in the living room for scene 13. We only needed Marie for this shot so it meant I could focus on directing only her for this scene, which made things a lot more relaxed. We started shooting the WS, and on this shot Nisserin suggested turning the TV off so the light wasn't green. Once I was happy with this shot we moved onto the single of Marie sat on the sofa, and the TV was still off for this shot. 
• Then once I was happy with this shot, we shot the MS of the TV which had the green screen on it. When it comes to post, Nisserin will be putting the previously shot security camera footage on the screen to make it look like Marie is watching one of her cameras. 
• Laura told us, when we had finished with these shots, that we had quite a lot of time to spare and whether there were any GV's we wanted to shoot. There wasn't any that we had planned, but I thought we could get one of the TV remote just so we had enough coverage to work with in post.
• Then once I was happy with all of the coverage we got from the day, we wrapped for the day and for the whole shoot.

Notes:

I think by not having a huge amount of crew, it did make things quicker in terms of setting up equipment and making sure everyone was in the right place doing the right thing. However, having the extra hands during the shoot week was really helpful as we were able to use a lot more equipment and set up efficiently. I do think having more crew is better for a higher quality production, but I think we did alright with just the four of us.
The mentioning of how much time we were running over when shooting scene 2 wasn't very helpful and made me feel very stressed in the moment. This then affected my directing skill whilst shooting that scene as I felt very overwhelmed by the constant mentioning of how much time we were running over by. Thankfully, the actors were really good and kept up their act in a natural way, but it could've made them act more forcefully in order to get the shot done quickly. Also, I think it was unnecessary and inappropriate when the producer asked me and the DOP whether we could not shoot the GV's because we were running over, in front of the actors. Both the DOP and I agreed that we would get every shot we had planned even if we were over running in time. It didn't matter to us if we had less time for lunch as we could make it work, so we decided to keep going as planned. The producer just needed to be patient and possibly bring me aside to tell me every so often how far we were behind, so I wouldn't be constantly hearing it and feeling overwhelmed and rushed. I'm glad we carried on as we did as it meant we got all of the shots we needed, and the actors were very good to understand what we wanted.
Overall, this shoot day was good but there were points where it was busy and stressful, but sometimes that stress could've been avoided. I do think there were a few times were crew members were inappropriate in front of the cast, however the rest of the crew stayed professional which helped keep the atmosphere relaxed and professional.
I'm happy with all of the footage we have got throughout all of the shoot days, and I'm glad we are done with the shoot days (excluding the potential reshoot).

Wednesday 14th Mar | Shoot Day #5

Laura's schedule:

What happened on the day:

On this day we were shooting scene 1, with the characters Annie, Dean, Marie & Extras.

• The day started off with all three of us coming together with the props needed, and starting to gather together the equipment. Nisserin got all the equipment out and a group of us, including some of our other crew members, took all of the equipment down onto the studio floor. We had a lot of equipment booked on this day, so it took a few trips to get everything into our location, but eventually we had everything. 
• There were a few props we definitely needed on the studio floor, like the TV and the tables for the wine bottles. We made sure we had these taken down carefully and once they were on the floor myself and Laura set them up, while Nisserin and the other crew members set up the cameras and other equipment. 
• All crew members helped set the cameras up, along with making sure the lights are put in the right position with the right gels. It took a while for the scene to look the desired way as we had to adjust the positioning of the tables with the bottles on it. This is due to how big we wanted the WS to be and where we wanted the cameras to be based on the background that we didn't want to see. 
• When the actors arrived, Laura went out to see them and bought them up to the base room. It was there that they had a drink, their lunch and got ready for the shooting of the scene. While they were upstairs we were still preparing the set, and making sure everything looked the way I wanted.
• As the cameras were being synced to one another in terms of lighting and colouring, I was asked by Laura to go upstairs, once the actors had, had their lunch and say hi to them before bringing them down onto the studio floor.
• I decided not to rush the actors as I knew they had only just eaten and they were still getting ready. This also gave me a chance to talk to the actors and bond with them, whilst also talking to them about this scene. I gave them pointers in terms of how they should be feeling, and I also mentioned that this was the first scene so it needed to be realistic and believable. 
• Once the actors were ready, and bought into the studio, I started to block the scene out with them. We went through where each character would start off and then where they would end, and all of the other parts of action in between. I also answered any questions that they might've had, and I let them know which camera would be getting which actor just so they were aware.
• Whilst they were doing some run-through with just the three of them, which also gave the cameras a perfect opportunity to test their shots, I was called into the green room by Laura to greet the extras and bring them into the studio.
• We decided it would be a lot more effective and less chaotic if I took the extras into the studios in groups, either of two or three or four. This meant I could focus on each group and tell them specifically what the scene is about, what the story is in the scene, and what they need to do as extras. 
• I made sure to tell them to act professional due to them being a part of a high end company, and I mentioned that they need to act confused and slightly concerned every so often during the scene, and aim that at the action with Marie and her parents. This was especially important when Marie shouts "Security", and I made sure all of the extras were aware of this.
• Once all of the extras were on the studio floor, I asked the cameras if they were ready to start shooting, and if the actors had done enough run-throughs, and eventually we were all ready to start shooting the scene. 
• Before shooting I told the actors & extras to fake speak as I didn't want the boom to pic up any unnecessary audio, and we would get an extra recording of them speaking afterwards. This can be added into the scene during post.
• We shot this scene with the multi-cam set up, so we had three shots being shot at the same time - a single of Dean which turned into a single of Marie, a WS of the whole scene, and a 2-S of Annie & Dean when they are talking to Marie. I wanted to make sure this scene was as good as it could be, so we did quite a few takes all the way through. I didn't want us to go into editing and realise we didn't have enough footage, so I made sure to get as much coverage with those three shots as possible. 
• Once I was happy with the coverage from those shots, we started to shoot some GV's. While we were doing camera resets we had the actors take a break in the green room. The camera resets didn't take as long as we thought as we only planned on using one camera at least, however it did give myself, Laura and Nisserin the chance to talk and discuss if there are any other shots we should get. 
• There was one shot Laura thought might be useful to get, which was a reverse shot of Marie looking towards Annie & saying "mum". She suggested either getting Marie to turn towards the camera before looking at Marie, but I wasn't so sure this would look natural and I thought it would look forced. In terms of the shot list, we hadn't planned on showing Marie's face when saying that line so I decided against getting this shot.
• The GV's we got were: a MS of the TV without anyone in front of it, a CU of the corkscrew splashing into the wine glass, along with a 2-S of the same shot just with the boss & Marie in shot.
• Once the GV's were done, I decided to shoot the shots of Annie talking to the boss asking him for a sweet. We did this with two cameras, so one camera started on Annie and changed to a single of the boss before he turns around, and the other camera was on a single of Annie talking to the boss and once he has turned around you can see him clearly as well. 
• After shooting these shots, someone came up with the idea that the boss should throw the corkscrew out of his cup and walk away after standing next to Marie. I liked this idea, so we reframed for this shot and we did it, getting the extra bit of action.
• I think this shot will add a little bit of extra comedy to the show, and it will give us more coverage to work with during the edit.
• Once all of these shots were done, and I was happy with all of the coverage we had for this scene, we wrapped for the day.

Notes:

Looking back, I think I probably should've asked for a reverse shot of Marie saying "mum" as it's extra coverage that could be used within the edit. This was a mistake on my part, and I do think with that shot the scene could work a lot better, but I don't think it makes the scene look bad either. Even though it's not a massive problem, I still think this was a mistake that I made and I would improve this if I were to shoot this scene again.
This scene was very complicated to shoot, and there were a lot of people to coordinate and direct, so it was slightly stressful. However, I think the coverage we have looks really good, and I think the scene works well just as we hoped it would. Hopefully, when this scene is edited together it will look realistic and resemble a party/conference type scene. Overall, I'm really happy with how this shoot day went, and I think we were all very professional but also happy in front of the actors and the extras.

Rough Cut Viewing #1 | Development

Our first rough cut viewing with Simon was quite brief as we didn't have all the edited scenes in the sequence, and there were a few clips missing. Also we didn't have scene 15, 16 or 17 edited in that moment. However, we still showed Simon what we had to make sure we were going in the right direction.

• He thought most of shots we got were good and the story is clear throughout each scene which is important when telling the story. 
• Straight away, one of the first things he mentioned after watching through what we had was we might have to reshoot scene 11.
• Throughout the whole scene you can't see the characters faces a lot, and in order to tell a story you need to see the characters faces. Upon directing this scene I didn't realise that it would affect the story telling throughout the show, but now I see the scene I completely agree with what Simon has said.
• He told us not to worry about it too much yet, and to carry on editing the other scenes before we do anything about a reshoot.
• We are going to tell Laura asap so she knows we might have to prepare and schedule a reshoot, just so she is aware as she will have to let the actors know.
• We need to add some sound effects into the video, to bring the scenes to life, but that isn't an urgent matter. I will probably do this whilst editing the sound design or make a start on it soon just so we can see the show come to life slightly.

Those were the only points made, and the rest of it should come together nicely. He likes what we have so far, but we don't have a lot so it's hard to see if anything else needs improving.

We're going to carry on editing the scenes together, and once we have shot the other scenes we will add those into what we already have. Hopefully, with the newly shot scenes, the video will seem fuller and the story will come together smoothly.

Shoot Packs #2 | Production Notes

Here are the two shoot packs that both me and Nisserin created (Nisserin created Wednesday (and added camera notes for other crew members) and I created Thursday):

Wednesday | Scene 1 - Shoot Day #5

Thursday | Scene 2, 3, 12 & 13 - Shoot Day #6

These shoot packs were really useful during our shoot week, so I'm hoping these will be just as useful and make our production a lot more efficient and smooth.

Preparing for Next Shoot Days | Development

There are a few things that need to be done before our next shoot days happen, some of which are just for the producer and others that involve both me and the DOP.

Two of the most important things myself and Nisserin needed to do was update the shot list and update the blocking images. We worked together when doing this but we both had our own individual jobs to do, so I updated the blocking images and then Nisserin updated the shot list based on the blocking images.
We started with Scene 1:

Scene 1

 Original Scene 1 Blocking (Left) - New Scene 1 Blocking (Right & Below)

All of the characters have changed in positions, some more than others, but I think the new positions work a lot better than the original. Instead of Dean being placed in the back corner of the room, he is now in the front corner. One of the problems we thought about with Dean being in the back corner was the lighting. The lights wouldn't have lit the three characters in that back corner, and we would've had to do a big camera reset, when we wanted this scene to be multi-cam and smooth. Based on these issues and desires, we moved Dean to the front so we could see him better in the cameras, and the lights will be able to reach him. Annie was also moved to the back during her first line of dialogue, and Marie & the Boss and in the same space, just a little bit closer to the cameras. 

In the original blocking, the main action of the scene happened in the back corner where Dean was originally placed. However, it made a lot more sense to have the action in the middle of the area, since the lights will reach the characters and the cameras won't have to reframe too much.

Nisserin mentioned using the track & dolly for the wide shot. At first I wasn't sure, but open further discussion I realised it would look quite professional and smooth, and also it would add a bit of difference to our show. 

Once we changed the blocking of Scene 1, we moved onto all of the scenes in Marie's house:

Scene 2:

Instead of filming from three different angles like we originally planned, we decided it would be a lot easier, and more practicable in both production and post, to film in one end of the car. This scene is only a few seconds long so there doesn't need to be multiple different shots as it would just lengthen the scene, which is something I don't want. We also plan to do a WS on the other side of the road so you can see the back of the car and the house in one shot. This will be a shot we cut to after scene 1 and beginning of scene 3.

Scene 3:

Due to us not having seen the location before we started blocking all of the scenes, we had to leave this scene along with the others in the same location, and we had to start from scratch with the blocking of this location. I moved the characters and the cameras in the positions based on what we experimented and decided on during the location recce. We made sure to not cross the line whilst also not creating too many camera resets.

At this point, we aren't sure how many crew members we will have for this filming day, so the blocking shows a two camera scene, but it might have to be a single camera shoot.

Scene 12 & 13

 

Similarly to Scene 2's blocking, I positioned all the characters and cameras in the places that we experimented and discussed on the location recce day. Blocking the scenes were a lot easier, and a lot of details can be placed on the blocking image due to us visiting the location before shooting. Scene 13's blocking has three cameras in one scene, but this won't be how we shoot this scene. Partially because we probably won't have enough crew members, but also because you will definitely see the other cameras in at least one shot.

Now that all of the blocking is updated and the shot list follows the blocking, it will make the shoot day a lot easier by having the shoot packs with us. Also it will make post more efficient as we won't get confused by the shots mentioned on the shot list. I don't feel as prepared for these two shoot days compared to how I felt for the shoot week, but that's probably because we don't have a definite amount of crew or cast yet. I've done everything I need to do, so at this point I'm hoping that everything will fall into place.

I need to make sure that the shoot packs are ready and I have a list of everything needed so I can use it on the shoot days.

Location Recce for Scenes 1, 2, 3, 12 &13 | Development

We still have 4 scenes left to shoot, and in order to do this we needed to do a location recce in the two locations we are planning on shooting in.

Marie's House - Scenes 2, 3, 12 & 13

All three of us went to the location that Laura had found previously, and this location will be where we shoot all of the scenes outside & in Marie's house. Due to Marie's high paid job and wealthy lifestyle she needed to live in a fairly big, expensive looking house. 

I knew this house looked pretty expensive and wealthy looking just by looking at a picture of it, but upon our arrival the house definitely had a sense of wealth to it. I knew straight away that this house would be perfect for Marie's house and theres a definite difference from Annie & Dean's house, which is what we wanted.

We went inside to take a look at the living room, which is where scene 13 will be shot. The living room is large and has a very modern colour scheme, making the house look more upper class. We decided we want three different shots in this location - a WS, a MCU of Marie sitting down and a MS of the TV. We're going to take advantage of the space in the living room, and make sure we get a good balance of different shot sizes, and make sure all the equipment is out of shot. For the TV shot, we will put a green screen on the screen, and in post we will add the security camera footage onto the screen.

After deciding on how we were going to film scene 13, we made our way back outside to decide how scene 12, and the security camera shot would be filmed, and where our cameras would be placed. Originally, we had decided to do this scene behind the gates, but we realised that the house is quite a distance from the gates and it wouldn't work as well as I imagined. Instead, we have decided to film in front of the front door, which has got a security camera in the centre of it. We're going to shoot a 2-S of Annie & Dean, and then a CU of Dean so we get as much coverage as possible. For the security camera, we're going to shoot on the doorway and make sure the camera is on the same level as the security camera on the door.

I think this set up will work better than our original plan as it'll be easier for us to film in terms of space, but also it'll make more sense in terms of story.

We then went down to the gate and started discussing how we were going to shoot scenes 2 & 3. There has been a lot of deliberation as to where the car will be parked, as that is where that scene is set. I originally thought the car would be parked on the driveway area in front of the gate. However, Laura & Nisserin thought it would be parked on the side of the road. We weren't sure as to whether the car would fit on the driveway area in front of the gate so we planned for the car to parked on the side of the road. 

When we arrived at the location, we all agreed it would be quite dangerous if we were to park the car on the side of the road as the road isn't very wide. So we moved Nisserin's car to the driveway in front of the gate to see if it would fit, and it did. We then made the final decision that the car would be parked there, and we would shoot in one side of the car with the window down. 

Then for scene 3, we would stay on the same side as that shot so we don't cross the line, and we'll get a shot reverse shot of Annie & Dean and Marie, and then a shot of Annie from in front of the gate when they turn around.

Overall, I'm really glad we went to this location and looked around as it gave us a chance to see the space we were working with. It also gave me and Nisserin some time to discuss how we were going to shoot these scenes to the best of our ability, and test it out in terms of standing in positions and taking images.

Conference Room - Scene 1

Another scene we needed to do a location recce of was scene 1, which is set in a conference room. During pre-production, there were multiple discussions as to where we would shoot this scene, and originally we had planned to shoot in a room at the Rochester UCA campus. However, this didn't really work out for some unknown reason, but we all agreed it would be easier if we were to shoot in the studio. The producer spoke to Simon about this, and it was something that we could do, so that was our final decision. We planned a day to go down into the studios, during one of the 2nd years workshops for their studio production unit, and look around the space to decide how we would want to shoot. We also had the opportunity to test how we would light the scene by lighting the 2nd years set up.

Fergus previously spoke to Nisserin about experimenting with colour gels and making the background look colourful. I really liked this idea as it gave a sense of wealth, so we tried it with the tungsten lights and the colour gels. We experimented with many different colours, but the two colours we liked the most were orange and red. We angled the lights towards the black curtains and made the ruffles quite large and consistent to make the orange light stand out against the black background. We all really liked this effect, so we are going to recreate this for our own set, as I think it makes the company look like they spent a lot of money on this event because they could.

By doing this test shoot and location recce it helped us visualise the scene, which in turns helps us when deciding what shots we want to use and where the cameras & lights will be placed. This scene is probably one of, if not the most, complicated scene we have to shoot and it needs to turn out really good as it's the first scene we see in the episode. A lot of preparation will go into this scene to make sure it turns out successful, we just need to find a good amount of crew and extras to appear in the scene.

Overall, both of these location recce's were really successful and effective when visualising what the shots and scenes will look like. We know have a good idea as to what each location looks like, which in turn makes blocking and shot list planning a lot easier and less complicated.