My eyeline during the Diary Room sequences was an important point and we understood that the source of the questions (George) would have to slightly change position so that it did not look jarring to the viewer. During my extensive research in pre-production, I understood that speaking directly to the camera would not be something that fitted the style of production we are after. Simon's point is very valid however, as our test shoot footage had me looking very far off the right-hand side, which leaves a large disconnect between my story and the viewer. This was thankfully picked up in our test shoot meaning we can learn from it and change where George is sitting for the actual shoot next week. It was great that we did a practice shoot as it allowed these issues to be apparent before it was shot for real. I have adjusted my shotlist and made a specific note about the new intended eyeline so that when we actually shoot it is comfortable for the viewer.
Another small issue picked up by Simon was the speed of the track and dolly. While Cailan was doing a decent job of operating it, it was apparent that it needed to be faster to be an interesting shot. Knowing this will allow Cailan to operate the track and dolly next Tuesday, before the actual Diary Room test, to ensure he is happy with how it works and how he can move faster without making an unstable shot. George has been proactive in this scenario by booking out the kit for a mini test-shoot of the track and dolly, which will be very useful for Cailan. Apart from these two small issues, the Diary Room sequence George had edited allowed Simon to understand our vision and allowed him to pick up on these small issues. Now, these have been taken in and worked on, we are looking forward to a successful Diary Room sequence next Thursday. These sequences are some of the most important in our documentary, so I am happy that we are on the right track and all my work up to this point has meant that only a couple of issues presented themselves.
Other shoot days next week include the South Downs location scout, as we did not have time in our previously allowed time to get the information we expected. While it is annoying that we have to go back just for a location scout, it is absolutely imperative that we do so, as it will allow our actual shoot to be exactly what I want as a director. George suggested taking a few cameras to frame up shots and understand possible "scenic angles" we could use when filming this sequence for real. While not a test shoot, we ought to attempt some test footage so we have a good reference before the actual shoot. These videos and photos will also allow my shot lists and camera plans to be exactly what I wanted. This will be an invaluable day spent at a location which will provide a hard-hitting message in our documentary. I am happy that as a team we are spending more time dedicating ourselves to scouts and test shoots as it is allowing our actual shoot days to go much smoother. These test days are allowing us to understand any concerns and then adapt our plans accordingly. We will also film generic shots of the South Downs as it will allow us to have as much coverage of the location as possible in the edit. Coverage has been an issue in past projects so we are dedicating ourselves to ensuring that we capture all necessary shots and then many extra ones just in case the original plans do not work out. This approach has allowed us to amass a large amount of footage, giving George a lot more options in the edit.
After yesterdays fitness shoot, it is apparent that this sequence will need to be adapted from what I originally planned. As mentioned in the last blog, without George giving me the necessary information, I was unable to plan exactly what was going to happen in the shoot. This left the camera operators to think on their feet and to their credit, they did a good job at adapting my original plans. My issue is that George should have given me a definitive idea of what was going to happen so that my shot lists were actually useful. The crew picked up the majority of the shots I wanted but, as I didn't go through the plans of "what I need to achieve", this means this sequence will have to be adapted. The original plan was for the instructor to go through a plan with me on the day, but there was no time to do this and they needed a couple of days to write up an exact plan of what I was to do. This means our original plans of an intense workout sequence would be moved, as would this conversation about my goals. While I need to properly adapt the script because of this, my plan will be something similar to this:
- The sequence filmed yesterday will mostly be made up of voice-over with a couple of key phrases with the instructor. Ideally, this would last around one minute.
- We would introduce a new segment where I am at home explaining the goals set out for me by email from the instructors. This would highlight what I need to achieve before I revisit the gym in around a month.
- We would include a fitness montage around this time as well, which would be similar to the original one I had planned. This would be at my home instead of the gym and would require a test shoot.
- Fitness would also be included in the "Here is what else I did" montage as I build up to the final race
- We would revisit the gym to see what my results were and, hopefully, how much I have improved.
It is a small change but it means that we still include all of the important information, while adapting to the situation as we had a very different session to what I expected.
It was also apparent that we would need a few pick up shots when we revisited the gym, just to ensure the actuality would be coherent, like the rest of our documentary. These included a few walking and driving segments that Cailan forgot to record. These will allow us to ensure the sequence makes sense and ensure the viewer is not confused as the sequence progresses. These will most likely be shot when we revisit the gym at the end of March.
Over the next week, George mentioned that he would like more details on how exactly the segment with my Dad would work. Our issue is that my Dad doesn't want to be on camera so we will have to work around this and I need to come up with a clever camera plan to ensure this looks natural. The limitations of how my Dad will appear on screen will mean a lot more planning will need to go into this scene, in comparison to some of the simpler scenes. I am going to dedicate myself to working out this sequence once the Diary Room has been completed, as this will give me some time to dedicate myself to this scene. It will most likely be the trickiest scene to film because of the limitations, but with a coherent plan and a test shoot, I am looking forward to filming this sequence that would bring home the message of the importance of this subject. I will work closely with the D.O.P to allow us both to be on the same wavelength and I will strongly suggest a test shoot of this sequence a few days before the actual shoot.
An issue I brought up was that of our female contributor. George has brought forward a few names, but nothing has come to fruition. I am struggling to do more, as I already suggested a number of names and places to look, but he doesn't seem to be able to attract enough interest for an interview. As I already secured us interviews with Jamie, Dan and Team Brit, I want to allow George to take control and arrange at least one of these interviews. I have spoken with George and said that in my opinion, he should continue his current work and see if he manages to secure anything. Our current best opportunity is with Abbi Pulling, a multiple kart champion. She has suggested a few dates, but they are ones in which we already have shoot dates or pre-arranged events. I think we should try our best to work with Abby, as she seems keen to work with us. We just need to find a day that works for all. Nonetheless, this is the last interview that we need to secure so George can focus on getting this while I plan for the upcoming shoot dates. I am not worried about this not being finalised soon, because I know George is capable of working it out. I am however a little frustrated this was not done sooner, as I managed to secure a number of high-calibre interviewees over a month ago.
Before our next meeting with Simon on Tuesday, I suggested a number of sequences that George ought to edit. We came to a compromise as Simon had been giving a number of great points which allowed us to improve our prior shoots. This incentivised me to want a number of our filmed sequences to be edited. However, as George is running vastly behind schedule on the edit, we came to the compromise of these scenes being edited.
- Karting test sequence
- Dan.R interview (more polished version)
- Jamie.C interview (condensed version)
If these are edited, it will allow us to meet with Simon and pick up further pointers on how we could improve. I am still a little worried at how far behind George currently is with the edit, as going forward we need rough cuts a few days after each shoot happened. Currently, we are 5-6 shoot dates behind which is not allowing feedback to be given in time, meaning we are further behind in terms of our learning evolution. I am going to push George to get edits done of every scene shot thus far, by the end of next week. This is because we have a number of large scenes coming up and we need to be more up to date with these. I want to be able to show Simon a rough cut of every shoot soon after it happens, to ensure we do not need to get any extra cutaways shots or re-do small segments. Being proactive with rough cuts will allow this project to evolve and adapt quickly, instead of finding out about issues months after sequences actually happened.
As the producer, it is George's job to work out media access for events but he was having some issues sorting it out for the sequence with my Dad along with the main race date. In today's meeting, I showed George how to apply for these events and this will allow us to go through it together next week and secure media access for these. I know it is George's responsibility to do these, but as I have had experience in the past I want to be helpful if possible. Unfortunately, the process is long and confusing, so having both of us there will be of use. I want to apply for these events as soon as possible so it is not a worry days before the events. The process of how we applied for these events will be seen in a blog post when they are hopefully completed next week. It was important that George brought up this issue as it meant we could be proactive in ensuring it is completed. It would have been massively detrimental to our film if this was forgotten or not done.
I also shared my list of sequences that we needed to get pick-up shots from. This will allow us to allow time in our ever-evolving production schedule, ensuring that they are filmed in good time. Here is the list of sequences and shots we still need to account for in our schedule.
GYM:
- Getting out of the car & walking off
- Entering Gym
- Drone shot of the area
KART:
- Entering track
- Signing on & suiting up
- Establishing shots
DAN INTERVIEW
- Scenic shots
JAMIE INTERVIEW
- Drone shots
RACE LICENSE
- Intro PTC (Possibility)
- Establishing shots
- Scenic shots around the track
- Going to venue shots / Travelling (out of car window)
WHAT'S TO COME
- Whole sequence
FUNDRAISING
- Whole sequence
While only a small number of scenes needing pick up shots, they are worth getting as it is apparent that our scenes with great actuality give a better understanding to the viewer than the scenes in which we have small gaps. We will capture these pick up shots over the coming weeks to ensure all of our sequences flow smoothly. We have been able to plan a lot of these pick up shots into shoot dates we currently have and this will enable us to spend less time dedicating days to pick up shots. We do have a day allocated for pick up shots in April, however, just in case we get to that point.
Finally, I worked with George on a schedule for next Tuesday as we have a number of different scenes and pick up shots to capture, along with practising for the Diary Room and taking the picture for our poster. This can be seen below and was created by myself and George as we ensured all of the things we both needed were included on this schedule. Overall it was a very productive discussion which ensures that we are in a strong position going forward and we all know exactly what we need from the upcoming shoots. I am really excited with how we are progressing with this project and I see our future shoot dates going even better than the ones we currently have completed.
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