Production - Working Around A Limited Filming Schedule [RESEARCH]

With us still in the early phases of the project, and struggling to work around a limited schedule due to Cailan's availability, I wanted to research how we best maximise our time and create our project within the time we have. This blog will look at the important things we should be focusing on when planning for shoot dates as well as thinking about what issues may present themselves when we are on a film shoot.

The main thing that I had spent little time thinking about in pre-production is the need for test shoots and at the early stage of production, I wanted to think about what scenes we would need to spend some time test shooting, as well as thinking about what we should be looking out for when completing these tests. I started off by looking through the planned sequences and realised that there were not as many scenes we could test as I originally thought. As a lot of the documentary is actuality sequences, it would be hard to test this, other than filming a typical day, testing angles and shot sizes. An online video creator called Anne Murphey wrote: "Do a few test shots to make sure the video angles are where you want them to be, the audio is coming through loud and clear, there isn’t any distracting eye-tracking, the makeup looks good, and that there aren’t any awkward or distracting shadows in the background. Get these things taken care of up front, otherwise, you might be stuck with a whole bunch of unusable footage after a long day’s work." (marketeer.kapost.com, 2013) 

While not all points are relevant to our shoots, we can take onboard this advice for some of our scenes, especially the ones where we have a lot of controlled variables. Examples of this are the "Diary Room" where I recall my past with motorsport and what has led to me becoming a fan. This scene will be set in a dark room or garage so we will be able to control much more than in the actuality sequences that will make up much of our documentary. Therefore, I have decided to schedule a number of test shoots and location recces for the next couple of weeks to ensure we know exactly what we're getting ourselves into in these scenes. Other examples of controlled shoots are the South Downs sequence which will reflect on my thoughts just before the race. The fitness sequence will also give room for creativity so we will be doing a test shoot for this to decide the best way for it to be filmed. A sequence like this needs to be intense, so we need to ensure the shots from it capture the mood I have planned for. I also thought it was best to do a location recce of every new location that we have not visited as even if we are filming actuality, it will allow us to know exactly where we will be filming allow me to direct the scene through plans even when I am in front of the camera. This advice came from a photographer, Karthika Gupta, who said that "Before getting to any photo shoot, I highly recommend scouting the location ahead of time. I have been in situations where I have gone to a location only to find out it was closed to the public or under renovation." (digital-photography-school.com, 2019) We need to ensure that the locations are exactly how we expect as it will allow my camera plans to be relevant to the shoot day and as a contributor and director it will allow me to relax into my role as I know the camera operators will be doing a great job.

Doing so many pre-shoots does mean we have fewer options when getting to film the actual sequences, but we generally don't have a choice when we film actuality as the event date is not chosen by us. We have planned our tests around the shoots that we have planned and a lot of these are on days when Cailan is working, so we are hoping that he will be able to get these days off. If not, we are in trouble missing our D.O.P. for these tests. I am going to be completing a shot list for each sequence with what I think will be the best, but thanks to doing the tests we will be able to change these if they do not work. "It’s much easier to determine which shots you’ll need for your finished piece when you’re not trying to manage the myriad of tasks on the day of filming, so write down each shot you want to get ahead of time to make sure you capture it on the day." (trint, 2019). A problem that I have had on my projects in the past is that I did not plan enough before the shoot, but in a documentary which has much more variables than a drama, I have been planning much more than I ever. I feel that this really worked in the two shoot dates so far and I am sure that this will continue for the rest of the project. It is certainly time-consuming to do this much planning but it actually saves a lot of time when on a shoot. So with our limited schedule, this pre-planning is going to allow us to maximise each day and possibly double up on some occasions and film two sequences in one day. This is where time planning with George, crafting schedules and call sheets which ensure that we are productive each shoot day means that we can capture all the content we need to.

I understand what I should be doing before I actually get to the shoot but it is also important to understand how we maximise our time on a shoot day together. "Investing thought ahead of time will save time in the long run. Have a solid idea of what is needed before ever stepping foot on set. When that day comes, make sure to keep the crew updated so that all hands are on the same page. Things like walkthroughs with the crew... a simple team gathering for a schedule summary are all crucial to the flow. If everyone is on the same page, then the entire team can move towards the same goal." (PremiumBeat, 2016) As shown, it is clear that we need to start each film day with a group meeting to allow us all to understand the objectives for the day ahead. This will be something conducted by George at the start of each day going forward, as it will be a good way to confirm how we approach the day. I have been working with George to ensure that we have these chats as I think it will enable the documentary to be the most productive with the time available to us on the day ahead. Doing this along with our other decisions will now mean all of our shoots make the most of our abilities and leave us satisfied at the end of each day. Saying this, we have allocated a pick-up day in our schedule to get any shots that we may have missed due to our hectic schedule. It is inevitable that something will be missed by accident so it is good we have already had the forethought to plan a day for these shots. This will ensure that we will have every single shot we want when we come to the edit!

Something that we need to be conscious of is capturing a vast amount of relevant footage on each shoot day that we attended. This will ensure that we do not have to re-film a lot of B-roll throughout the editing phase of our project, this is something that is very important as we already have a very busy production schedule. "you’ll need plenty of b-roll when you begin editing your video. From wide shots and establishing shots to close-ups, the more b-roll you have the better. While it’s definitely best to capture your b-roll shots on the same day as the rest of your filming, you can sometimes get away with returning to the filming location later to shoot additional b-roll" (trint, 2019) Knowing this, I have been making sure this is included in the shot lists and plans that I am creating before each filming day. Doing so will enable us to not have to spend a lot of time later on filming cutaways we should have recorded sooner. This will allow us to fit all of our filming into the days we have left over, which will help keep harmony within the team as we work around Cailan's working commitments as best as possible.

So, looking at the amount of filming we actually have ahead of us, I have worked with the team to ensure that, as far as possible, we will film on either a Tuesday or Thursday as they are Cailan's two free days from work. It is not ideal but I have been able to fit the sequences into these spaces, barring the test days and some interviews which cannot be changed and Cailan has said he will get these off work. From the research above, I am able to understand what work I can be doing before each shoot to ensure we maximise our time on the day and capture all of the content possible and do our best to avoid any re-shooting of B-roll over the next few months. However, even though the research has been done, it is clear that we still all need to play our part on the day and ensure we are productive and complete all of the necessary work. It is evident that the productiveness of a shoot day is mostly decided weeks before it happens, thanks to lots of planning and spending time thinking about what will work. I thought I did a good job to complete the plans for the first two shoots, but they both highlighted that we could be doing more by scouting locations and doing test shoots. I am already working on the plans for the next shoots, going into even finer detail about what I want from the shoot as well as a shot list of everything we will definitely need. The camera crew are free to test themselves and try extra shots as long as the planned shots are taken. This way I know I will be getting what I have in my vision, but the camera crew will be able to complete shots they may find and think will work. I am very excited to put this research into use and seeing if our next shoots go better thanks to this planning.

References: 

marketeer.kapost.com, 2013 https://marketeer.kapost.com/how-to-prepare-an-awesome-video-shoot/
trint, 2019 https://blog.trint.com/production-tips-for-amateur-videographers
digital-photography-school.com, 2019 https://digital-photography-school.com/6-tips-more-productive-photo-shoot/
premiumbeat, 2016 https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/filmmaking-tips-how-to-stop-wasting-time-on-set/