Major Project: Fitness Sequence Shoot
Having gotten a clear idea last time about how long the shoot will last I put together what I considered to be an effective schedule. We arrived at the location promptly and I entered first to greet the owner who we had a pre-established relationship with now. He then introduced us to Craig who was to be the instructor guiding and assessing Alex today. I introduced him to the team and spoke to him about the same things I had with Martin, explaining our aims for this shoot. He seemed quite comfortable with this and then explained to me what he considered the best structure for the sequence to be.
After this initial briefing I then helped the team get set up. I had arranged for Connor to be with us again this time, to operate a camera, and spoke to him briefly about the shots we required. I had also made sure that Alex made some changes to our camera plans. I noted from last time that the G7 struggled in the gym's lighting conditions, where as the FZ was more suited, I also ensured we had more lighting with us this time.
Once again I came prepared to the shoot with shotlists and camera plans for all our operators. But after last time, I felt I should try and take a step back and not direct Cailan and the camera operators as much, however this lead to some issues which I shall explain later.
The first part if the shoot and the first part of my schedule had Alex coming in through the entrance to greet Craig. This allowed us to get the establishing shots out the way. We then proceeded with Craig to the meeting room that we had scouted last time. Before setting up in here I took the task of mic'ing both Alex and Craig up and making sure their levels matched.
We did however encounter an issue here, in that we were filming later in the day than when we had scouted, so the lighting levels were different and we were relying more on artificial light in that room. This was quiet orange and we also had very small space in which to film. Alex had to remind Cailan and Connor to white balance their camera's appropriately, leading us to pressure him in to giving directorial input which he struggled to give as he was trying to focus on being a contributor.
None the less we dealt with the situation and got what we needed to get in two takes. Then moving on to the main bulk of the sequence.
However this played out quite differently to what we all anticipated, since I had only spoken with Martin and not Craig before, he was not as clear on what our aims and plans were for this shoot. So although he took Alex through some tests, they were much much slower paced and less diverse than what we were hoping for.
With the change in situation Connor asked me some camera related questions which I did not feel I should be answering after last time, and attempted to direct him to Cailan, who was currently trying to frame up his own shot.
During these following scenes I attempted to refer us to the shotlist but it became less relevant. I instead focussed my attention on other details such as the lack of lighting in shots which seemed to get forgotten about even though we planned it. As such I used my initiative and set up lights but possibly got in Cailan's way in the process.
The tests then took longer than we planned putting us behind schedule which I informed people off, but caused us to rush the end of the sequence.
We did however get a closing PTC which I knew was essential after speaking with Helen and referring to them script.
Overall I think today had mixed results. I felt I took my responsibilities more carefully on set, briefing our contributors and keeping us on schedule as best as possible. Whilst also trying to step back and rely on Cailan. But this did not go as smoothly as I'd hoped. There were a number of communication issues on set. I attempted to be less involved with Cailan but he did not jump to his responsibilities to the level I was expecting. To be fair to him, he was not prepared for the situation change, but still didn't communicate or focus on things like briefing Connor, or paying attention to the miseducating en scene as much as I was expecting, leading to my input which caused confusion for people like Connor, who wasn't sure who to "report" to.
but I think we can learn from this and come up with a better balance of responsibilities and communication as a team going forward. We will be back to film a closing sequence here in just over a months time when I hope we will be working more efficiently.
UPDATE: We had planned to revisit this location to film a second part to this sequence that closed off this part of the challenge and created a sequence that was closer to our original plan.
However the location we had used previously closed down very suddenly/unexpectedly without warning. The rather threw a spanner in the works but I was determined as producer to find a solution.
I spent the following day ringing around various gyms local to Alex and eventually spoke to one that was up for letting us film there. After exchanging a few emails and various documentation they agreed to let us film in their facilities. In accordance with this, I put together a brand new plan and tightly written schedule (as we had some other bits and pieces to film that day too, such as some cycling shots and missing actuality for our other sequences).
Due to the last minuet pull together of the shoot the plans mostly just utilised Cailan, with me filling in the gaps here and there with a drone for some sequences, or the occasional second camera during the fitness montage. Thanks to my quick planning we got what we needed to finish the fitness sequence (although in a slightly different way to what we thought) as well as extra material.
After this initial briefing I then helped the team get set up. I had arranged for Connor to be with us again this time, to operate a camera, and spoke to him briefly about the shots we required. I had also made sure that Alex made some changes to our camera plans. I noted from last time that the G7 struggled in the gym's lighting conditions, where as the FZ was more suited, I also ensured we had more lighting with us this time.
Once again I came prepared to the shoot with shotlists and camera plans for all our operators. But after last time, I felt I should try and take a step back and not direct Cailan and the camera operators as much, however this lead to some issues which I shall explain later.
The first part if the shoot and the first part of my schedule had Alex coming in through the entrance to greet Craig. This allowed us to get the establishing shots out the way. We then proceeded with Craig to the meeting room that we had scouted last time. Before setting up in here I took the task of mic'ing both Alex and Craig up and making sure their levels matched.
We did however encounter an issue here, in that we were filming later in the day than when we had scouted, so the lighting levels were different and we were relying more on artificial light in that room. This was quiet orange and we also had very small space in which to film. Alex had to remind Cailan and Connor to white balance their camera's appropriately, leading us to pressure him in to giving directorial input which he struggled to give as he was trying to focus on being a contributor.
None the less we dealt with the situation and got what we needed to get in two takes. Then moving on to the main bulk of the sequence.
However this played out quite differently to what we all anticipated, since I had only spoken with Martin and not Craig before, he was not as clear on what our aims and plans were for this shoot. So although he took Alex through some tests, they were much much slower paced and less diverse than what we were hoping for.
With the change in situation Connor asked me some camera related questions which I did not feel I should be answering after last time, and attempted to direct him to Cailan, who was currently trying to frame up his own shot.
During these following scenes I attempted to refer us to the shotlist but it became less relevant. I instead focussed my attention on other details such as the lack of lighting in shots which seemed to get forgotten about even though we planned it. As such I used my initiative and set up lights but possibly got in Cailan's way in the process.
The tests then took longer than we planned putting us behind schedule which I informed people off, but caused us to rush the end of the sequence.
We did however get a closing PTC which I knew was essential after speaking with Helen and referring to them script.
Overall I think today had mixed results. I felt I took my responsibilities more carefully on set, briefing our contributors and keeping us on schedule as best as possible. Whilst also trying to step back and rely on Cailan. But this did not go as smoothly as I'd hoped. There were a number of communication issues on set. I attempted to be less involved with Cailan but he did not jump to his responsibilities to the level I was expecting. To be fair to him, he was not prepared for the situation change, but still didn't communicate or focus on things like briefing Connor, or paying attention to the miseducating en scene as much as I was expecting, leading to my input which caused confusion for people like Connor, who wasn't sure who to "report" to.
but I think we can learn from this and come up with a better balance of responsibilities and communication as a team going forward. We will be back to film a closing sequence here in just over a months time when I hope we will be working more efficiently.
UPDATE: We had planned to revisit this location to film a second part to this sequence that closed off this part of the challenge and created a sequence that was closer to our original plan.
I spent the following day ringing around various gyms local to Alex and eventually spoke to one that was up for letting us film there. After exchanging a few emails and various documentation they agreed to let us film in their facilities. In accordance with this, I put together a brand new plan and tightly written schedule (as we had some other bits and pieces to film that day too, such as some cycling shots and missing actuality for our other sequences).
Due to the last minuet pull together of the shoot the plans mostly just utilised Cailan, with me filling in the gaps here and there with a drone for some sequences, or the occasional second camera during the fitness montage. Thanks to my quick planning we got what we needed to finish the fitness sequence (although in a slightly different way to what we thought) as well as extra material.
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