And so it begins...
'The Mirror'-The First Day
We spent Monday on simple stuff, almost like a warm-up. We went to Dimi's in the morning to shoot the famous (or is it infamous?) cup scene. Louise, Mishaal and I got there early and went over the series of shots, while Dimi made us tea. It was all very informal, as you may gather. (Wait til they see the other side of me!) We then proceeded to shatter several teacups on Dimi's kitchen floor, as he calmly sat and edited the shot list and final schedule. I am surprised he was unnerved by the mess we made (and swept up after each take), as well as the racket, even though he eventually did work upstairs in his room. :) The scene went well; we shot the shatter from several angles and used a tripod for all of them, since the camera position had to be very precise and the shot had to stand out as different from all the others in the film. Initially, we were getting too much light in the kitchen, from the window, and hence seeing zebra all over the scene. Lou cut the light simply by drawing the curtains a bit and changing the F-Stop.
We then went to uni, as we had a meeting for Dimi's film with our project tutor and had to swap the monitor cable, since it didn't seem to be working. We also had to swap our DAT recorder for a hard disc recorder and spent some time in stores sorting out equipment. We attempted to negotiate with the other crew working the same week as us, for a few items, but it didn't seem to be practical, so we used the other monitor instead. Not a good idea, but more on that later. After the meeting, where some changes were made to the crew, we headed back to homebase and began setting up lights, while Shafia (producer) bought food for the crew and Lou (DOP) did a few test shots on a tram, for the next day.
When Lou arrived, we drew up a lighting plan for the next few days and tested all the lighting set-ups we would use, on camera. When we were happy with the results, we left the gels in place and went back to discussing the shots we would do the following day, after hearing Lou's report on shooting conditions on the tram. The actress arrived and I selected her costumes for the film, in consultation with Lou. We also marked the spot on the wall where the mirror was to be hung, according to her height. The camera crew then left (with the camera, to charge it) and me, my AD and producer waited for Hsiang (Sound) to arrive, to check the new sound equipment. I sorted out some last-minute requirements with Shafia, about food and transport, and then she went home too. Hsiang arrived and tested the new sound gear with me and Dimi. We messed around with the boom pole and mike, testing it in distant locations in the house, with Dimi's housemates. Hsiang approved of the sound quality and then left as well. AD and I then sat about for a while, going over the shots one final time. I approved of the final shot list and revised schedule. I then left for home, hoping that all would be well. However, upon arriving, I found out that all of our extras for the next day had suddenly cancelled on us!
The next few hours were panicky for me and AD, until we realized that there was no point and we would have to make do with members of crew on location. We asked a classmate to step in as the conductor on the tram and I agreed to make a cameo appearance as well. What a lovely nod to Hitchcock, who is one of the main reasons I wanted to be a director in the first place and is one of my biggest inspirations. I think I want to include this in my personal style. :) I finally got to bed relatively late, but ready for a 7 a.m. start.
'The Mirror'-Day Two
Today was the first true day of shooting. I arrived at homebase first and went over the equipment list, to check it before loading it into the car. As the crew arrived, we briefly went over the shots in general, while giving each of them the freedom to improvise on location. We arrived at the tram stop on time, meeting our classmate/conductor there. A person from the tram company arrived and gave us a conductor's uniform and said he would be joining us for all of our interior shots, so as to keep the public out of our shooting area.
We secured a good space to shoot in and proceeded to set up while the tram was in motion. It was much tougher than we thought it would be! We couldn't stop moving and were very unstable on our feet. Everybody helped set up and we attempted, in vain, to connect the monitor to the camera. The wire was so loose that the slightest movement would cut the connection. We agreed to abandon it after several attempts. It was a scary thought-to shoot all day without seeing the image?-but I calmly said it was fine and we would move on. We shot the required scenes in the tram interior within a couple of hours, after some stalling during set-up. Also, we were trying to avoid the tram announcements while recording sound. It was a huge challenge, but I am proud to say the crew stepped up to it and we got several great shots. Many members of crew sat in as extras during their scenes and then helped with cable bashing and filling log sheets or using the clapperboard when not in shot. It was teamwork at its best! I managed to squeeze in behind Lou for most of the shots and saw some of the shot we were filming, as a means of 'monitoring'. In some cases, I simply saw the initial frame and a rehearsal and was unable to view it while actually recording. The second biggest challenge in the location was the fact that the sun kept popping in and out, making our image perfect and then suddenly bleached and over-exposed. We felt frustrated, as we had limited time on the tram, but tried to work around the light problem and shoot anyway. Also, the movement of the tram made it nearly impossible to get an extreme close up on anyone, since the image would blur and a minor shake would look like an earthquake on screen!
Now, we were taking our time with the shots until we were suddenly informed that we had only an hour left, as the person from the tram company had to leave then! We rushed through the shots, ignoring log sheets and clapperboard in an effort to get every shot needed in time. Shafia worked on getting our rightful hours to shoot (we had permission for 5 hours officially) when she was not in the scene. She thankfully succeeded and we slowed down the pace, while dreading the earful we would get from our editor about the uneven log sheets! We finally got the shots we wanted and then got off the tram for lunch. While cast and crew ate, Shafia (producer) and I went to buy more batteries for the sound gear and then sat down for our own lunch. We all had a nice informal chat over lunch and the actress got along well with the crew, which subsequently made shooting more enjoyable for everyone. She said really enjoyed working with us, even though I knew the shots were tedious on that day.
We then got on the tram again, and went up to the house, where we were to shoot the exterior shot of Alice leaving the house. We set up quickly, as we were in the middle of a sidewalk, and began rolling almost immediately. We did the shot from a few different angles. We had a few problems with sound, as the boom would not extend as far as the shot, but we decided to sort out location sound for the scene in post-production, by recording sound seperately.
By now, daylight was fading fast and we had several key shots to do at the tram stop, so we moved quickly and set up very swiftly at the next location. It was only a minute away from the house. We sorted out the shots and I asked my AD to call 'Action' and even 'Cut' for some of the scenes, since I was acting in them. I approved of most of the frames, but it was impossible for me to see some of them, for which I relied on him completely. I found it rather challenging to act and direct at the same time, especially because the scene demanded subtlety, plus I was exhausted by then. However, AD did a great job of directing both me and the actress, and we managed to get several great shots just as the sun went down. I went back to directing for the close-ups on the actress, and then we wrapped up and headed back to town. The actress left for home and we went back to homebase.
I made snacks and Dimi made tea for us, as we sat and had a crew meeting. I thanked the crew for a very productive day in a challenging location and went over the shots we needed the next day, with the sound and camera department. I also pointed out a few places where we needed to improve over the next few days. We then decided how we would hang the mirror in the staircase. Finally, everyone went home to get dinner and a good rest before a very early start tomorrow. I stayed on for a bit with AD and went over the day's work, as well as what we needed to do the next day. We figured out what steps we could take to improve efficiency on set, but didn't worry too much about the situation, as the tram scenes were actually the most difficult in the script. I then went home and viewed the day's footage, and discussed it online with AD. We decided not to re-shoot any of the scenes and instead focus on the rest of the script. I am now sitting and continuing that discussion with him, while eating a very late dinner. I must get to sleep soon, for a 7 a.m. start tomorrow, which implies a 6 a.m. alarm for me! All in all, it was a great experience today. The tram shoot was by far the most exciting place I have ever worked in and the thrill of overcoming challenges has always motivated me. It was serious work, but fun for everyone and I was glad to know the crew had a good time shooting at, as did the actress. Now we need to hope this continues! :)
Gute Nacht!
gk*
Listening to-Tilly and the Wall & Bright Eyes
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