Studio production: Re shoot of Mockumentary and Trailer

Mockumentary re-shoot

What did we do?
On this day we did not have to re shoot everything, just the essential bits that were very obvious in the previous edit such as the wire sticking out by Darren's ear. After seeing the shot list from the Director I was confident that we would get a good shoot because there were more shot variations in her shot list. Shooting began and oversaw the shoot to make sure there wasn't any inconsistencies. I tried my hardest to not get in the way of the Director's vision but made sure to look out for things that may hinder the final edit. I also did Darren's hair and make up for Darren and tried to make him look exactly like her did before by maintaining the costume and props for the day. Everyone went into their roles with confidence and the shoot went smoother than before.

What went well?
From a producer point of view this shoot went a lot better because everyone knew what to expect. This time we had no issues with sound because the kit was thoroughly checked beforehand and so we were confident that we were sorted in that avenue. This goes to show how important it is to check your kit before hand. It did take us a little while to come to an agreement on which sound we should use. I wanted to make it easier for the editors because syncing sound from another camera is a very time consuming so I went with the option that would be good all round. 

There were a few disagreements on this as I understand that it is necessary for the sound operator to always monitor the sound and alter it but if there isn't a lot of variables being changed in the house (i.e natural sounds or weather sounds) Then not a lot needs to be altered in my opinion. Therefore I opted for a clip mic on Norman and rode mic on the EX to be able to pick up atmos sounds as well instead of having sound being filmed on a separate camera.

The confidence in the director had grown in this shoot as se was able to carefully go through her shot list that was prepared. I was confident that all feedback from the last re shoot was taken into consideration and acted upon.

what didn't go well?
There was one instance where I tried to explain that in order to make use of the second camera in context with the style without inconsistencies, the close ups would have to occur during the actions. For example, if we wanted to get a close up of Darren letting go of balloons, the second camera would have to zoom into the action whilst its happening so that during the edit, it will match instead of filming the close up separately. 
However this was not done and no one took my advice on this. I knew this would be an issue for when the edit came because one of our feedbacks was to get close ups of the objects falling and there was no way it would fit if it wasn't happening at the same time as the main camera.

What can we improve?
Communication between each other or maybe I need to articulate myself better when making suggestions. 

Make sure all kit is in the bag including memory cards. I checked all the kit the night before but we totally forgot to check for memory cards as that is usually in the box. I now know to give thorough checks in order to save time. Josh and Troy had to drive back to the uni in the morning to get them.

Trailer Re shoot

In this shoot Ellie was the director and I had to be on camera for a scene. but before this, I helped dress the set as a few things needed to be moved around.

Trivia Re Shoot

This shoot started with Saskia watching tv before being interrupted by Norman and his home made DVDs. The feedback to this was that we need to put more emphasis on the fact that she's watching tv by enhancing the light flicker effect. This was completed with the help of Sammi who placed a bit of card in front of the LED light. We also needed tighter shots of saskia's face as before it was a little bit soft and drawn out. We successfully completed this task. 

The second part of the shot involved me and josh laying in bed before being interrupted by Norman. The feedback for this was to get more variety of shots instead of whipping towards him. This was also successfully completed and we ere then ready to move onto the next scene. Rosie was unable to star in this one so I had to do it, being in front of the camera meant that I was unable to see what the shots looked like but I was reassured by the team that this was the case. That being said, we were able to move onto the next scene outside.

The final scene required Ellie and troy to be having a short discussion about latest movies before Norman comes running to their rescue. The feedback for this was that there was too much head room and you could see the shadow of the camera man. We eliminated this by filming at an angle that you wouldn't be able to see us from. Helen also said that she wanted Norman to be introduced into the scene better so this meant there would be more effort put into his "run up" scene towards them. I had an input on where I thought the camera suited best and there were some disagreements about my suggestions but we got there in the end. There were some issues with sound as the boom mic was only able to pick up atmos sounds as Ellie and Troy were quite far away. We then had to put clip mics on both of them.

What went well

Our teams ability to trouble shoot and problem solve with discussions between each other. 

Norman gave an excellent performance and made the shoot go so much more pleasant and positively 

What to improve

Even though we were able to problem solve, sometimes it wasn't the quickest or most efficient timing. It resulted in the actor standing around for a little bit. It is great that everyone wanted to put forward new ideas and such but I guess for next time I must remember to make sure everything is pretty much set in stone/well prepared for next time.

Trivia Re-Shoot

I was not able to be there for the most part of the Trivia Re shoot due to being lead camera at rehearsals. On this day we were under very strict time constraint because we had to rehearse for the whole day as well as re film. We were given an hour allotted time out of rehearsals to complete the filming and I must admit, I didn't think we would be able to complete it. We had a rocky start because we needed a Sony EX but that had just been set up for rehearsals. This meant that we had to start filming on a canon but the sound equipment for the canon would be different to that of the EX. This caused a lot of running up and down trying to sort out equipment. Getting the levels on the TASCAM with the canon became a difficult task and therefore needed the assistance of Ferg. Again, this ate into our shooting time that was already cut short and so I did not believe we would be able to complete the filming. In the end we switched to a Sony EX as this was easier to manoeuvre as well as setting up sound. 

After a rocky start, the rest of the team managed to get it all done and film it on time. I was extremely happy as I believed that the footage they got was a sure improvement from last time. I learnt the importance of time management in these re shoots. Preparation is key! if we had prepared a little bit more and thought about more contingency plans I think a lot of time wouldn't have been wasted. So I will take this experience and apply it to my other projects because it is an important aspect of any project.

Next steps

- Sit with the editors and turn the rough cuts into fine cuts.

- Prepare for the big show