Major Project Production Unit - Shoot Day: London

For this shoot, we needed to travel up to London filming at Piccadilly Circus, Savile Row and The Financial District. Having organised permits and permissions I ensured that the crew and cast were all legally fine and had sorted out all the right paper work so no issues would be caused. We ensured the equipment was fully charged the night before and I had a look over the shot list that I had produced so I knew what shots we needed to get when we was up there. On the first day, this was just Piccadilly and Savile row as we would not have time to do the financial district this day so we would film that on the following day.

When we got there, we had some lunch and stopped at a nearby cafe that we had scouted out before to ensure we had a place to go to set up the equipment and make sure everything was ready to go for when we arrived at the location. Once everything was set up, we then headed over to Piccadilly and started shooting. It was incredibly busy here which we knew it would be and crowds of people were watching us and taking photos. This made everyone slightly on edge at first but I reassured everyone to carry on as if it was a normal shoot and a set and once we got going everything was fine. We made sure we was not in the way of everyone and that we were safe in what we was doing.

I wanted to get some shots of Claudia walking around the iconic place ensuring it is all captured and recognisable. I carried out plenty of different shots following her from behind, tracking from the front, low angles, wides, close ups and pans. I wanted to get as much movement as possible to add to the busyness and the motion of the place itself. Claudia took my direction really well and settled into the character well. Overall once we concentrated on what we was doing everything went really well and the shots look great. 

After this we went back to the coffee shop to review our footage and then moved to Savile row. I had gone to different shops explaining that we were doing a shoot and needed carrier bags. All the shops were happy to provide us with them which helped with this scene. I chose Savile Row as this is an expensive place to shop in London and it had a lot of expensive cars and window fronts. It was also a little less busy than Regents Street adding to the exclusivity of the street and less High Street. Overall these shots went really well and I am pleased with what we got.

The following day we headed back up to London and concentrated on the Financial District. The lighting had changed and instead of sunny it was overcast which was annoying but it didn't affect the film too much as the two scenes are separate rather than integrated together. When we got up there, we found another local cafe and began setting up the equipment like last time. Once this was done we went to where the first scene was and began shooting. Although it was busy again, we all felt a lot more relaxed on this day and went straight into it which was great. The first place was St Pauls Cathedral and I made sure when looking at the shot list I got all the coverage I needed to get. Something a little frustrating was that I wanted her to be sitting on the steps of St Pauls Cathedral but we couldn't as the permit would not allow us to film on the actual grounds but I worked around it getting different shots outside. We also tried a different type of shot that I haven't done before using the gimble where we moved all around her. This gave a really nice effect and turned out really different.

Once we had done these shots we then used the underground to head to where all the high rise sky scrapers were. I wanted these shots to show a more modern city look and to see her amongst the buildings. These shots were a little more tricky as it was getting dark but we managed to light the scene well and continue shooting until we got the shots that I wanted to get.

Overall Im really happy with how everything went and I feel we all dealt with everything really well. You can see a behind the scenes video that I made below about London 

Major Project Production Unit - Shoot Day: Bradbourne House

Bradbourne House was the first location that we filmed at. I had ensured that the call sheet for this location had been sent out to all the crew and cast a few days before to make sure everyone knew what time they needed to arrive and give an overall breakdown of the day. Once I had done this everyone confirmed they would be attending the shoot and understood what was happening on the day. I next sent an email to Bradbourne House to ensure the confirmation of the location making sure everything producer wise was all ready for the shoot. I also ensured costume for the scenes we were shooting was laid out and ready as well as other props. The evening before we picked up our hired equipment and took this as well as some of the equipment from the University to a barn of someone I know as we will be using this as our base. The barn is located 5 minutes down the road from Bradbourne House so this I felt would be easier to use being near by. We put everything on charge and made sure everything was ready to go the next day.

On the morning of the shoot myself and Andreya got to the barn early to ensure everything was ready and in order. I picked up the actress and brought her there making sure we all had plenty of time. The Hair and Makeup Artist was due to arrive at the barn early to start her job but after 45 minutes of waiting she failed to show. This set us back some time and I had to quickly think on my feet as she was not responding to any of my texts and calls. Claudia expressed that she would be able to do her own hair and make up and I decided to go with this to ensure that the character would look on some level the way I wanted her to look. Claudia kept coming to me asking if what she was doing was ok and I kept giving her direction of little bits I wanted changing as I took inspiration from previous research about how I wanted her makeup to look. Overall Claudia did a fantastic job on her makeup and I was really pleased she could get it to the level that I wanted it to be.

Once Hair and Makeup was done, we were ready to set off to the location. We arrived there a little early at 8:50 and the other crew we hired were there too to help us carry the equipment in. I met with the person from the property who was going to be helping us with anything for the day and I expressed to her what we will be doing and at what times we will need certain rooms. Once this was done we put all of the equipment in the green room and set up the equipment for the exterior shots whilst the actress got changed for the scene after.

I decided to start outside as I knew the weather was going to be nice and I wanted this to add to the shots for the beginning of the film being bright, sunny and beautiful.

All of these shots I wanted to be done on a gimble that we hired to give fluid movement like the test shoot we had carried out earlier. We done several shots to establish the house to give it a grand luxurious look helping to establish the characters supposed wealth and elegance. I wanted to draw towards the house from a low angle making it look big and tall as well as getting bigger as the camera draws closer to it. This took a bit of time trying to get the movement right but we succeeded and I am really happy with house these shots went. 

Once we had done this, we moved onto the shots inside starting with the blue room. I feel this room is big and elegant showing space with tall ceilings and paintings on the wall. All of this really adds to the film and portrays the character exactly how I want her to be. On this scene I wanted the actress to walk from the hallway through the corridor into the blue room and ending in the brown piano room. I decided I would get this all on one shot from several different angles allowing us to cut between them. This took a few goes as it was difficult moving from several different rooms all in one take but we eventually got everything we needed. I wanted to do it all in one take for a couple of reasons. The first was to lock down a master shot making it easier to cut in the edit. The second was through inspiration by the previous films I had looked into like The Shinning and Hereditary that use these long shots which really add a cinematic artistic look to the film. I thought I was going to find this difficult myself but I kept calm, directed Andrea to how I wanted the shot to look, directed the actress in terms of blocking, pace and facial expressions to ensure everything came together how I wanted it to. I was very pleased with how these shots came out and feel this will look great when put in the edit. 

Next we moved onto the brown piano room getting some more coverage in there. I felt the black piano reflected the character really well and I wanted to get some shots of her leaning on it and standing by it amongst the brown wood panelled walls. We got a lot of wides as well as close ups on the tripod and also the gimble as well to produce some shots moving from a mid shot to a close up. I kept referring to my shot list to ensure I was getting everything I needed as well as referring to the script to make sure everything was being done exactly how I wanted it to be. We also had to be conscious of the reflection in her glasses so I made sure she wasn't looking in our direction where the camera would pick this up. 

After this scene we had some lunch and set up for the next scene which was in the drawing room. Claudia changed her costume and we headed in there. We got some cut aways of the chandelier and a shot moving through a corridor and then moved into the actual room. This room had great Symmetry and light reflection that really added to the scene. I wanted to do a slow moving shot towards the actress as she stairs out the window. I feel we did this really well and were able to do this in just a couple of takes which worked out well for time. 

During this scene the other actress Karen arrived and the runners greeted her whilst I was still filming. I then ran through her costume and went through the scene with her. We used a suitcase that I had and I wanted her to look business like and give the sense of a power woman. I relayed to her this to make sure she gives the right performance. We then shot this scene and it went really well getting a lot of different angles, movement and general coverage. 

Once we did this scene we moved onto the stair case. This was fairly straight forward as I wanted two shots, one of Claudia sitting and then walking up the stairs and then Karen walking up the stairs to tie in with a later scene. Both shots were static at the bottom of the stairs and there were no issues with this. Once this was finished the shoot was complete. I am really happy with the shots and the way I directed on this location. I payed attention to time, the props, the way everything looks, the actresses performance and to make sure they were in the right costumes. Overall this has been a really successful day and Im pleased with the way I handled everything. 

Major Project Production Unit - Location Recce: Stonewall Park

After having a conversation with Catherine on the phone a few weeks ago, I scheduled for myself and Andreya to go and have a look at Stonewall Park to make sure it was exactly what I wanted and to make sure it would work in terms of matching Bradbourne House. We drove to the location which was around 40 minutes away and I let her know we was on our way. When we got there I was greeted by her and she gave us a tour of the house. We first went into the dining room which I felt would be perfect for the film. It was elegant and was bright with bold colours with was very similar to Bradbourne. It works perfectly for the scene in the script where she is sitting at the dinning table but also works consistantly overall with the film. The only concern I have about this room is the amount of mirrors that there are but I am sure I can work around this being aware and concious of our positioning.

Dining Room:

We then moved through a corridor which I had not considered for the film but I feel it could really add to it. It had wooden floors, Stone pillars and pastle blue walls which I feel conveys a real sense of wealth. I feel this could be shown at the start of the coridoor scenes where Sophie walks to kill Lorna. Also the amount of light coming in with contrast to the room just ahead really looked great in contrast with eachother so I can really envision a dramatic fluid shot here either on a gimble or a track.

Hallway Coridoor:

We them moved into the drawing room. This area is bright yellow with sofas, bookcases and huge bay windows. I loved the boldness of the room and could really see great use of cut aways for this room as well as a shot of Sophie drinking wine by the window. This room had great light and really stiched together well with the other rooms.

Drawing Room:

After this we moved upstairs. As we were walking towards the bathroom and bedroom I could tell that this location was going to be great for the coridoor scenes where Sophie walks to kill Lorna. The house went up 3 sets of stairs so I feel I could really make it look like a long tense journey that the character goes on towards that dramatic scene.

Stairs:

Unfortunatly we were not aloud to shoot in the main bathroom that I had seen online as there was trouble with a previous crew but we were offered an alternative bathroom that could work. Its a little bit plain so it will need a bit of set dressing but overall I feel it would work. 

Bathroom: 

We finally was shown the bedroom. This room was not what I had expected at all. It was again quite plain with not much decor. I am not overly keen on how it goes with the asthetic of the film but I am sure I will be able to make it work with more set dressing. 

Bedroom: 

Overall I feel really positive about this location. Where Bradbourne House gives me large state rooms and big chandelias, Stonewall really manages to keep the asethetic with the bold bright colours and large elegant rooms but allows us to shoot scenes that make the house look like its been lived in. Both locations really compliment eachother and I feel they both fit the script, and tone of the film well.

Major Project Production Unit - Voice Over Record Day

Voiceover is very important when it comes to this project. I want the viewer to hear the words of the poem as they are watching the visuals on screen pairing the two together creating an unconventional narrative. Since the voiceover is really important in driving the story forwards, I wanted it to be professional sounding and as clear as possible. I arranged a date with Claudia to come in and record with myself and Andreya before we started filming as I also feel its another way Claudia can really hear how I want the story to be delivered in terms of style and tone with her voice.

I picked Claudia up after lunch and brought her to the maidstone studios. I decided to book out the sound recording room as I feel this will enable us to get the best possible sound making her voice as crisp and clear as possible. In the morning, myself and Andreya had a lesson with Fergus on the mixer and audition software to ensure we both knew what we were doing and that we were getting all the levels right when recording. I also felt it was important to do this before Claudia got there so we could go straight in with the recording and minimise time for her.

When Claudia got there I went through the script with her again. I had also printed the words seperate from the script making it easier for her to read line by line without all the descriptions around it. We made notes on each line so she knew the sort of tone I wanted. From previous research I read that the way the character speaks is really important so I made sure I was paying attention to the style of accent that I felt was right. Once this was done we then moved into the recording booth and carried out some tests to make sure all the levels were right. This took a couple of tries but I wanted to make sure the quality of the sound would not be compromised. We then went through the poem line by line doing several takes in different speeds and slight variations in tones to make sure when it came to overlaying the voice over we had different options. This took a while to do but I felt it was vital that this was the way to do it. After the line by line recordings we then went on to record a whole read through twice just to ensure we had a back up of pace and flow incase some of the lines did not work seperatly.

Once we finished myself and Andreya went through all of the voiceover on the computer to ensure that we were happy with the quality and all the lines were clear. We re recorded a couple more lines just because I felt a couple were a bit fast but when that was done we were all finished. I am very happy with how the voiceover day has gone and Im excited to begin filming next week.

Major Project Production Unit: Researching An Extra Location

We are filming a few of the house scenes at Bradbourne House which is great and really adds to the films look that I am going for, although there are a few issues. The house has great luxurious state rooms but none of them have furniture in them making scenes set in a living room, dinning room, bedroom and living room impossible to convey. I came to the decision to still film at Bradbourne House but find another location that has all of these rooms and blend the two locations together.

My first challenge was researching places that had the same sense of style which was really important. Although I still want these rooms to be luxurious and elegant, they had to match with Bradbourne House otherwise when it comes to the edit, it will be obvious that she is somewhere else and wouldn't make any sense as its meant to be set all in one house. I began searching for houses that were available to film at online and sent emails to the agents representing them explaining our situation. Most of them got back to me within a day expression it would cost at least £1500 a day to film there. This was way out of our price range and we could not afford this. I continued to email stately homes, Eltham Palace from English Heritage and other filming houses hoping someone would be able to give me the break I needed. You can see a couple of the locations below:

Eltham Palace:

Hempstead House:

I did unfortunately get rejections from most places which you can see a couple below: 

After some more rejections I finally got a phone call from a woman who owned a property called Stonewall Park. This location is primarily used for films at the usual rate of £2500 a day to film. I spoke to her about what we were trying to achieve and why we would need something like her house to create the film. After speaking for a while and expressing the nice email she received, she said she would give us the opportunity to film at her property at no charge on the basis we met and she could speak to us face to face. I agreed and scheduled in a date to have a look around the property. I am really excited to go and view the location and I am pleased that all the hard work I put into finding a property seems to be paying off. You can view the email she sent me after the phone call below:

You can also see images of the property below:

Major Project Production Unit - Table Reading With Claudia

I decided that to ensure everything goes smoothly, it would be really useful to sit down with Claudia and read through the script so that she really knows the narrative inside out and is clear with what I am expecting from her performance wise. I set up a meeting with Claudia and we sat down and went over the script. I asked her to read the script out loud all the way though as I read the description parts.

After we read the whole thing through once, I then went through each bit and explained the purpose of each scene with its meaning and the importance of how it all connects. It also gave Claudia a chance to ask questions that she had and to really understand what was happening. From here I then went over the script and gave pointers in terms of the performance I was expecting. Explaining scenes on how the character was feeling, what types of expressions she would have as well as the overall emotion she was feeling at each point helped Claudia to understand the sort of head space she should be in on particular scenes. There are a lot of different emotions that the character goes through in the film so I felt this was really important. An example would be one scene at the window where the character is quite sad and gloomy to express feeling lonely and empty. In contrast to this, there is a scene later on where Sophie has reached breaking point and needs to make a dramatic change in her life. Where she is walking to kill Lorna, we see an expression is anger, frustration and determination. Its really important that Claudia can envision all the points that I have been talking about as I believe it really will elevate the film and make it more believable with her acting.

After this, I went through the updated schedule with her giving another copy of the call sheet in hard copy and broke down the schedule of the days booked for filming. I then went through all the times, locations and what scenes we needed to do so that she was fully aware of what was going to be happening in the next coming weeks. I also showed her all of the costume that she will be wearing and she did a last minute fitting to check they all fitted well and looked ok. 

Overall I felt this was a really important and useful afternoon. Claudia was able to really get in depth about her character and understand what she goes through as well as ask questions about the narrative and its different interpretations. 

Major Project Production Unit - Bradbourne House/ London Call Sheets and Schedules

Since I know I am definitely going to be shooting at Bradbourne House and London, I felt it would be important to do the call sheets and send them out to the cast and crew so they knew what they were doing. I had already created a rough version of the call sheets in the pre production unit so I worked off of this as a base. Starting with Bradbourne House, I corrected all of the right dates to when we was actually filming and made sure all of the crews names were on there. I left myself and Andreya's numbers on there to make sure people could contact us if they had any problems.

After the location recce at Bradbourne House I knew there were no bathrooms and bedrooms so these scenes would have to be shot somewhere else. When referring to the location breakdown that I had done on the script, it was easy for me to see what scenes would need to be shot. I put this into a schedule at the end of the call sheet so everyone could see how the day would run. I like to do this as it has helped me in past units to ensure I run on time and I do not get to the end of the day having no time to film scenes.

Once this call sheet was done, I applied all the same to Londo. When all of this was complete I sent them over to the cast and crew to ensure everyone was on the same page with everything. You can see the call sheets/ Schedules below:

Bradbourne House:

London Piccadilly: