Production: Booking and Preparing for Filming in Studio 2
For scene 1 we needed a big space to hold a 'conference/party' scene for Marie's big magazine launch. We liaised with Simon about where would be best to shoot this scene and we decided to shoot in Studio 2.
Originally the plan was to use Rochester UCA's Project Space however we found lots of faults with the location for practicality that could be avoided. As the room is echoey it would make the sound difficult to record cleanly and it would also be difficult to transport the equipment safely to the location as parking is on a public road on a steep hill. We need lots of lighting for this scene and carrying all the tungstens, 3 cameras and all the other equipment wasn't the safest option. It would be do-able however it is an avoidable issue as we have the option to film in the Studios. Although the location itself looks right for what we wanted in terms of it being a clean white walled space, it was too much to try and complete within our schedule as the project space is used by other lecturers and students at UCA.
After discussing with Simon and Jo about what needed to be done to book Studio 2, I worked out, as the Producer, what day would be best to shoot the scene which would be later in March. It was challenging to obtain the same crew members as they had their own work to do for their studio production, so it was up to me to find new crew to fill in. I spoke with Nisserin our D.O.P about who she would like as her Camera Assistants and between us we sourced Josh Jones and Troy Smith from the third year who were happy to help us. For the sound, I was able to work out a day that Jemma was free and also managed to get her an assistant, Victoria who is also from second year, to do the shoot.
As part of the clause to using the studio, we had to have a member of staff supervise us whilst in the studio. This meant I also had to liaise with Ferg to ensure a date where he was willing to be in the studio with us while we were setting up and filming.
I then had to make sure my actors were free on this date to come into the studios and also advertise for volunteer extras. It was also my job to source the appropriate props and set dressing for this scene which required a lot of help from friends and family. Part of the scene required us to obtain many wine bottles and champagne bottles to convince the audience that this was in fact a professional business party/conference. By advertising to friends and family through social media I was able to obtain over 20 empty bottles which worked perfectly for the scene.
Advertising for extras was a particularly hard challenge because we needed them to be completely voluntary. I created an advert and posted it to social media, asking friends and family to share it around. I also posted it onto Extras pages and contacted colleges of performers as well. It was particularly hard to find people of the right age bracket (18-50) as the majority work during the day which is when our shoot took place. Originally, we would have liked around 20 extras but looking at our space and what we actually wanted filmed, we didn't necessarily need 20. The final number of extras was 10, which was a nice amount to have along with our cast members.
We conducted a test shoot in Studio 2 for lighting using 2nd years as our subjects. We tested different coloured gels and lighting positions to see what looked best on screen for a glamorous up-market event. Here are the results that we tried below:
By texturing the curtain Nisserin obtained a nice depth of field that worked well with the lights on the black backdrop. It looked professional and gave the shot a high-budget look. We decided that these would make the backdrop for the scene. We decided that we would need even more lighting at the front to light the subjects better as it was quite a harsh key light to begin with. For this test shoot we were mainly focusing on how we would light the background. Nisserin and Becca devised a plan for where the lighting and cameras would be positioned and I liaised with Becca for where the set and actors would be positioned in accordance to how it would be filmed.
Once all of this was sorted and everything was confirmed between the crew and main cast, I booked the studio with Jo for the 14th March from 9am - 3pm. I completed a risk assessment for this shoot which was signed off by Simon, giving us the all clear to film this scene. Although this is one of our shortest scenes, it has taken the most effort in terms of preparation and organisation to make it a believable scene.
Originally the plan was to use Rochester UCA's Project Space however we found lots of faults with the location for practicality that could be avoided. As the room is echoey it would make the sound difficult to record cleanly and it would also be difficult to transport the equipment safely to the location as parking is on a public road on a steep hill. We need lots of lighting for this scene and carrying all the tungstens, 3 cameras and all the other equipment wasn't the safest option. It would be do-able however it is an avoidable issue as we have the option to film in the Studios. Although the location itself looks right for what we wanted in terms of it being a clean white walled space, it was too much to try and complete within our schedule as the project space is used by other lecturers and students at UCA.
After discussing with Simon and Jo about what needed to be done to book Studio 2, I worked out, as the Producer, what day would be best to shoot the scene which would be later in March. It was challenging to obtain the same crew members as they had their own work to do for their studio production, so it was up to me to find new crew to fill in. I spoke with Nisserin our D.O.P about who she would like as her Camera Assistants and between us we sourced Josh Jones and Troy Smith from the third year who were happy to help us. For the sound, I was able to work out a day that Jemma was free and also managed to get her an assistant, Victoria who is also from second year, to do the shoot.
As part of the clause to using the studio, we had to have a member of staff supervise us whilst in the studio. This meant I also had to liaise with Ferg to ensure a date where he was willing to be in the studio with us while we were setting up and filming.
I then had to make sure my actors were free on this date to come into the studios and also advertise for volunteer extras. It was also my job to source the appropriate props and set dressing for this scene which required a lot of help from friends and family. Part of the scene required us to obtain many wine bottles and champagne bottles to convince the audience that this was in fact a professional business party/conference. By advertising to friends and family through social media I was able to obtain over 20 empty bottles which worked perfectly for the scene.
Advertising for extras was a particularly hard challenge because we needed them to be completely voluntary. I created an advert and posted it to social media, asking friends and family to share it around. I also posted it onto Extras pages and contacted colleges of performers as well. It was particularly hard to find people of the right age bracket (18-50) as the majority work during the day which is when our shoot took place. Originally, we would have liked around 20 extras but looking at our space and what we actually wanted filmed, we didn't necessarily need 20. The final number of extras was 10, which was a nice amount to have along with our cast members.
We conducted a test shoot in Studio 2 for lighting using 2nd years as our subjects. We tested different coloured gels and lighting positions to see what looked best on screen for a glamorous up-market event. Here are the results that we tried below:
By texturing the curtain Nisserin obtained a nice depth of field that worked well with the lights on the black backdrop. It looked professional and gave the shot a high-budget look. We decided that these would make the backdrop for the scene. We decided that we would need even more lighting at the front to light the subjects better as it was quite a harsh key light to begin with. For this test shoot we were mainly focusing on how we would light the background. Nisserin and Becca devised a plan for where the lighting and cameras would be positioned and I liaised with Becca for where the set and actors would be positioned in accordance to how it would be filmed.
Once all of this was sorted and everything was confirmed between the crew and main cast, I booked the studio with Jo for the 14th March from 9am - 3pm. I completed a risk assessment for this shoot which was signed off by Simon, giving us the all clear to film this scene. Although this is one of our shortest scenes, it has taken the most effort in terms of preparation and organisation to make it a believable scene.
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