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).