Production

Lair scene

Using the studio lecture room, I had to completely transform and create a film set. I had booked the room out from 7am-7pm so I can get a full day use of the space.

Problems

The day before the shot, I had brought in the bamboo sticks, and I tried to test out the strength and durability of the bamboo in accordance to holding up the weight of the material. 

Solution

Fortunately, doing this I noticed I needed much more bamboo, so I was able to buy some more that day.

Problems

Setting up the frames took the most amount of time. Illy and I were taping the bamboo sticks together, and making sure they were safe enough to put up whilst K was busy helping blow up the inflatable sofa with the hair dryer. 

Solution

Unfortunately, setting up had taken up most of the morning and ran into the shooting time. Next time I have a shoot in which I need to set up a film set with little crew, I would make sure this is done the day before if possible, so when it becomes to shooting day, cast and crew can set up their equipment and being to shoot. This will save so much time in future. It will also be cost effective especially when setting up is running into shooting time.

Ripple effect

As time was taken away from setting up, unfortunately, there was not enough time during the shoot to experiment with shots. I had to get the basic shots needed to create the story. As many other shots were experimental close ups, I could always re-shoot another day. So I decided to shoot the main shots which you could see the background because I know I will not be able to set this whole set up again after it's been taken down the same day.

Some behind the scene images

Setting up the set

Directing the Actress

Film Set

Lighting
Thinking about creating the lights and shadows for the film, I decided to look at cinematographers in the film noir era, as they were the experts of lighting in film when TV and film used to be in black and white. I researched this from a website called Filmmaker IQ which they had written up an article about ‘The basics of lighting for film noir’, which gave me an insight of how I could create particular types of shadows.

Woods scene

Originally planned to shoot the woods early morning before sun had risen. The actress and I had prepared the car and drove to the woods just as the sun was rising. I needed this scene to be bright enough for the camera lens to capture, but still dark enough so I can create a light flickering in the scene. Time was crucial, and it was tough filming in cold conditions. 

Problem

The planned shot was a tracking shot, tracking the character as they walk towards the flickering light. I had to be behind the camera, direct the actress and be the lighting operator. I needed to shoot as soon as possible as we were going against time. 

Solution 

So, I had to compromise and decided to go back to basics and film a static shot. I set up the camera on the tripod and press record. Then walk over and set the lighting before directing the actress to 'action'. Luckily, I was able to look back at the footage to help decide if I was satisfied with the shot.

Putting all equipment and costume in a suitcase makes it easier to travel with heavy equipment if you have no crew to help.

White Cliffs of Dover

Another early shoot, because I want to shoot a scene with no one around and only the actress. This time we had to drive to Dover. Driving is more convenient for us with equipment in the back of the car and easier to move around. 

Problem

Not hearing back from KentFilm office and the owners of The Pines Calyx I didn't want to push back my production for a 30sec shot. 

Solution 

I realised with such small crew, I can quickly set up, shoot and go. There are no risks to anyone in the shot, so I decided to go ahead with shooting that day. 

Upon arriving, I had to drive and find a location perfect for my scene. I was driving up and down the cliffs, and wherever I had driven, there was never a wide enough space of the land suited for the scene which looks out to the cliffs. Our original stop was too close to the harbour, which was bad for the shot, so we jept driving away. I managed to find and park up by a residential area on my right, but a park on my left which was open enough. Leaving the actress in the car, I quickly scouted the park and found a spot which was suitable for the scene which was not too far to walk to. So, I grabbed the camera, the actress put her costume on and we shot our scene. Also, I had a few minutes to take a few photos of the actress by the cliffs.

Re-shoot - Lair

Upon reshooting the lair, I had set up a small section of a room from our home. Most of the shots are close-ups, so I just needed to make the background look believeable so there was no continuity problems. 

Problem 

As we were shooting at home, we didn't have the same lighting set up as the original shoot.

Solution 

Speaking to our colour grade artist, he is capable of altering colours and arranging lighting in the scene.