Studio Production: Shoot day 1 - Mockumentary and Trailer

MOCKUMENTARY and TRAILER shoot 1

What we did
As a VT producer, I made contact with Darren, our actor to confirm he was still able to do the shoot. He confirmed and the next day became shoot day. The Set was dressed, The equipment had been picked up, The directors had their scripts ready, shot lists ready, and everything was set in place. Although, the person on sound was unable to check the sound the night before, at the time we thought it would be fine but it wasn't in the end. 

Darren was on time and I escorted him into his room where he was able to change into his outfit. Due to copyright reasons I had to scribble out the well knowns S logo and turn it into an N. I was responsible for Darren's overall wardrobe and making sure he had everything he needed. I even did his hair where I applied oil and gel to create a really greasy, slicked down look.

After Darren was ready, the director (Saskia) briefed him whilst sound was being set up. This is when we found out that we had issues with sound. One of the main cables where broken and refused to let sound go through so our options became limited as we were now not able to use the boom pole/mic. Our only other source of sound was either the Rode mic at the end of the sony EX or a clip mic that would be connected to another camera. This would mean that in order to get the sound from the clipmic, the sound would need to be synced in post production and that would take a while. Another option we had was to drive to the uni and get another cable which is what I thought might have been best for the long run because of how long the syncing would take. But I was assured from the sound department that it would be an easy process and it would be better quality sound so I went ahead with it hoping that the Rode mic would be good enough at least. However we still had issues with sound since we had a hard time trying to conceal the clip mic. There were a few discrepancies about whether we should just scrap the clip mic but we chose to keep it on. 



What went well
- Darren is an amazing actor, he has the ability to transform and become the character that he is supposed to be and it was a really great thing to watch. He was so co-operative and listened to the Director's decisions that it made that element of shooting day a breeze.
- The team's attempt to resolve issues and troubleshooting. It was a team effort which you cant really fault. 


The Trailer
This is when norman films his spoof like trailer and it starts off as a short montage. This was fun to shoot as it was filled with many hilarious moments, however I did feel as though we were taking a little too long deliberating what to do next.

What didn't go so well
as a producer who is supposed to be overseeing the shoot day, I felt as though I stepped on a few toes a bit. As much as I wanted to sit back and let the Directors do their job, I had to step in at a few points because I noticed a few things that needed to be touched upon. I can understand that it is already a high stress environment but I am also just trying to do my job so that we wont have to re film. Prevention is better than cause. 

Another issue I had is that I felt as though the script I had written was not being followed as such. It is good to have creative freedom. But as Ian Lewis says; 

“There isn’t really much time to make things up as you go along” as well as “being too rigid will destroy the life and the credibility of the programme”

Ian Lewis’s ‘Guerrilla TV- low budget film making’ (2000) 

This is a balance that I was trying to keep through out the day. We didn't have time to make up shots on the spot just for the sake of it but yet I also understand why that was the case. It could be argued that even though I tried to not be too "rigid"and keep a balance, it still could've come across that way to some. Learning to balance getting the shots you need and the shots you want seems to be a difficult thing but it can only get better with greater communication and that is what I aim to achieve next time.

What Can we Improve?
Overall better communication because I feel as though it lacked on this day. The footage that was captured seemed okay but I can already tell that Helen may want to change a few things. I also know for next time that I need to check the sound equipment as well as the cameras next time. I only checked the camera and maybe that was my downfall but I can only learn from this experience. As a producer I can only do so much on shoot days, I have to let the Directors take charge and have their vision but I also need to learn that my job is important too and it is okay to speak up when you notice things. It will be beneficial in the long run.

TRIVIA SHOOT DAY

All the Directors and I chipped in to get all the props needed for the Trivia filming. The props we needed were; 

• A watermelon
• x 2 pairs of glasses
• Starbuck's cup
• A tomato
• Party poppers

What happened?

On this day me and the directors and camera man had a short briefing in the morning to ensure we knew what the shooting day will consist of. We waiting for George Sessay to arrive as he was filming the trailer with the other group. This gave us time to prepare the props and camera set ups. When he arrived we gave him a short briefing on how the shoot will go and we also gave him a script as he had not brought one.

One thing that slowed us down a little bit was the fact that he had not learnt any of the script. He had a rough idea about what it was but we had to keep letting him read it and go over it before filming the scenes. It was excusable though because he brought a positive atmosphere and a can-do attitude that made things go very smoothly.

Saskia was the director for this Trivia segment so I had a look through her shot lists as she came very prepared for the shoot. Everything seemed fine and we were both on the same page when it came to coverage. The next thing left for us to do was to actually film the scenes. Most of it went well in terms of smoothness and co-operativeness but there was one scene that required a lot of repeating and that was the scene where George walked to the camera with the tomato. We had to rehearse this a few times because the party poppers could only go off once. Ellie held the led light whilst both saskia and I prepared to release the poppers. After some practice, we shot the shot and realised that we had to shoot it again. This meant we had to manually throw the confetti towards George in the end. After many tries, we managed to get a shot but it was a shame that we didn't have the sound of a party popper, this isn't so much of a problem though because it can be added in post. 

During the shoot there were many juxtaposing opinions from everyone as there were minor hiccups in shot. As the producer I felt as though it was necessary for me to pick up on inconsistencies within the shoot to minimise the need for us to re shoot. However, there were some things I let slide because I did not want to get in the way of a Director's vision.

At one point I had to assist with the focus pulling of the camera because it needed more than 2 hands when using the DSLR and adjusting the zoom as well. This was used when george was in the gallery walking towards the camera. We struggled to get this shot properly as it was difficult to get the focus right. In the end, Josh reassured me that he did not require my assistance in the end and so I let him do it. I was paying attention to George's speech at this point and I let the Director oversee the shots on the Camera. We were reassured that the shots were complete and so that concluded the shoot.

What I learnt from this experience

• Make sure shooting locations are properly booked and confirmed beforehand as we did not confirm and had a slight hiccup with the location in the afternoon, resulting in over a 30 minute delay when we were already up against time.
• Don't be afraid to speak up when you notice something is inconsistent as it may hinder the project in the future
• Be more organised with planning and ensuring the right kit is used for filming. I feel as though the Sony EX camera would've been better suited for this occasion due to the Director's wishes of movement towards the screen etc.

The Next Steps; 

• Hand over the footage to the editors, remind them of the edit notes on the google drive and allow them to create their first edit.

• Wait for Helen's feedback and hopefully we don't have to re shoot.