Construction Post 3: Reflections on our Main Shoot Session

The main shoot was split over 2 different days due to the change in scenery. The first shoot was at Ela's house (in order to film the morning routine) and the second was in The Latymer School (in order to shoot the school corridor and classroom scenes.

Continuity shot of costume 1

Shoot 1: Ela's house

This shoot ran quite smoothly and efficiently and we we able to capture all our shots. We spent quite a lot of time in the bedroom trying to manipulate the misc-en-scene so that the shots portrayed the right connotations and representations, and in the end i think we managed to do a good job. Secondly, we were only using one actor, which meant there was no crowd organization and handling needed (unlike the corridor scene). This meant that we were able to direct our attention to Michael, his acting and the quality of the shots we were taking. In addition, through the use of costume photos and between shot checks, we tried to maintain close to perfect continuity of Michael's costume, hair and props.

Picture of Michael's hair and

costume 2 (for continuity 

comparison on the second 

shoot)

A more in detailed shot of the onesie
(for continuity comparison)

However, despite this initially positive work ethic, we became engrossed in the misc-en-scene and perfection of the set. This mean we ended up shooting the footage too late in the day; as the sun had started to dim. This hindered the quality of our shots and left a lot of room for improvement, therefore we will have a reshoot in this setting.

Shoot 2: The School

We encountered a lot more problems on this shoot and it required more organization and efficiency. This was primarily due to the much larger number of actors (15 actors). We had to calculate the different times people would be needed, make sure they were on time, make sure they knew what to do and also stay in control of the situation.  This proved to be harder than expected, due to added pressure of the working conditions that were set by the staff who were working in near by areas of the school. The conditions were that; when the camera wasn't rolling it was necessary that the noise was kept to a minimum and actors must not be misbehaving.

Another challenge was the 2 hour time limit for the shoot; because we had to finish shooting everything before the sun went down (at around 6pm) and also have everyone out of the building by 7pm (when the school closes).

Despite a few problematic aspects of the shoot, we managed to get 4 or 5 good takes of the corridor one-shot and filmed both the entry and exit sequences (all within the time). We also managed to keep the continuity of the costumes, props, hair and make-up of the characters (using pictures like those seen below). This meant the shoot went  very well in the end and therefore we think there will not be a need for a reshoot in this setting.

This is a selection of costume continuity shots for the different characters

This is a video compilation I created of the feedback that was given by our actors on our filming process on the main shoot