The Challenges and Solutions of Shoot Week

 

The Challenges and Solutions of Shoot Week

I shot on Tuesday 22^nd of February and had to be prepared for the shoot. I also faced many challenged which I had to overcome.

In preparation for the shoot, I created a list of essential things I needed to remember these include:

·         Multi Tool

·         Gaffa Tape

·         Extension Lead

·         Batteries

·         Battey pack

·         Power cabled for the LED lights

·         Additional lamps for ambient lighting

The day before my shoot I went and collected all the equipment I hired from the store and brought them home. I then proceeded to check the batteries and ensure all were charged to full power. I also cleared the SD card for the Tascam recorder and executed the card within the Sony XDcam. This was to guarantee all storage was available for my shoot which would save time on the day.

As I had previously done test shots with my intended lighting set-up and camera settings, I made sure to reset the camera using the settings used previously. This included a shutter angle of 180 degrees, changing the aspect ratio to 2.35: 1, gain of -3dB and an aperture of 1.9. I also put the camera on CINE2 mode as this helped create my intended look. By doing so I managed to save time on set as camera settings we’re almost completed as white balance needed to be done on set to achieve the correct skin tones.

 

One of the main challenged I faced was trying to replace my male lead less than 12 hours before call time. Due to unforeseen circumstances the male lead I had previously cast could not attend the shoot which left me in a predicament. Immediately I had submitted an ‘urgent actor needed’ post in two Facebook groups as well as reached out to friends who may be able to help. While awaiting responses I began drafting secondary ideas in case a new actor could not be found, these included the actress performing the whole script herself to symbolise her internal conflict of beliefs. I knew this would be a challenge as the scene is very dialogue heavy.

Fortunately, I managed to secure a new male actor who was willing to take on the challenge last minute. I then had to reschedule the day to accommodate for his availability as he aimed to be finished before 2pm. This involved moving all of his close ups to be beginning of the shoot and schedule, then shooting the actresses close ups in the afternoon, with a crew member running the dialogue with her. I also had to change the risk assessment and call sheet as well as ask about food requirements which may have altered the lunch menu.

 

I had scheduled the shoot to begin at 9:30 with the master shot and two shots being completed first, this would allow the actors to warm up before moving in to shoot the close ups. This proved to be a challenge as the new actor was not very familiar with his lines. To overcome this, I decided to change the order of the shoot. Instead, we filmed the actress’ close-up first which allowed the actor to read through his lines off camera which would help him become more familiar with them. After we completed the close-up shots we tried to film the two shots, again this was still a challenge as there was a large monologue.

In this instance, I had to do some quick problem solving, I decided to send the actors and crew for lunch and then travel home to collect an iPad. I downloaded a teleprompter app. I also had to email a digital script to the iPad and then import the script into the app. I decided this would be the easiest way for the actor to read his lines while performing the scene. The challenge I faced with this method is getting the correct speed on the teleprompter which took a few trial runs, however, once this as sorted the shoot really began to progress.

One downfall to this method was that I had to hold the teleprompter as I did not have a spare pair of hands-on set. This meant I could not review the shots as well as I had wanted as I had to watch the speed of the teleprompter and slow it down in necessary. Nevertheless, I trusted my DP enough to trust his judgement on whether the shot needed to be re-done. To ensure this method looked as natural and authentic as possible I had to stand behind the actress holding the teleprompter in the right place to guarantee his eyelines were still as natural as possible.

After introducing this method, the shoot progressed well and really began to come together which meant that shoot finished on schedule.