Photos from the second day of shooting.
Photography by Ellie Rogers
The Shoot: Day 2
On our second and final day of shooting we had a lot to get done. Thankfully we had been able to get a lot of the larger crowd shots out of the way on day one which meant on the second day we were able to give the cast staggered call times. Having fewer people at the start of the day meant we were able to knock off shots quite quickly and the team picked up a good rhythm.
We were able to get most of the shots of the boys race done as well as the close ups of Archer as he spies on the teachers gambling den. By lunchtime the entire cast were on set to film the end of the boys race. I was pleased with how the boys race turned out, having the crash mat on set meant the boys could really commit to their dives in a safe and fun way and in the end the shots cut together really well. I was also pleased with the reaction shot of the teachers, the expressions were classic and helped set the tone of the film.
As the afternoon rolled on we were able to wrap certain members of the cast. Many stayed behind though which meant I was able to include them in the background of the medal giving sequence, again to really help create an atmosphere of a sports day.
Everyone kept their energy up as we pushed on to the end and everyone was very generous with their time as we finally wrapped a little later than planned. I was extremely grateful for everyone’s support and commitment to seeing the film through.
Having a film that was so meticulously storyboarded and constructed meant it was almost impossible to drop a single shot. The evening before 1st AD James had convinced me to drop one or two shots and combine one or two more but in the end even he was surprised that I had managed to sneak those shots back in and get everything I wanted and done in time. On that day we completed something close to twenty-five set-ups, something of a personal best, especially when shooting on film.
1st AD James Davies, on the left, walking me through the schedule. James worked non-stop during the shoot, and in the build up, despite coming down with a horrifically bad cold on the second day. Without him there to push me, we wouldn’t have got all the shots done in time.
The Shoot: Day 1
The day was finally here. After having the idea for the film over a year ago I was finally making the film I had imagined and re-imagined in my head ever since we shot that first test in the pouring rain. Luckily the weather was much kinder to us, it was the one thing that couldn’t be controlled and I was worried about in the final weeks of pre-production. Weather forecasts, long-range or otherwise, gave conflicting opinions.
In my mind rain would have totally killed the look of the film and the atmosphere on set. There was talk about changing the dates, postponing the shoot but in the end we crossed our fingers and committed to the dates.
1st Assistant Director James Davies set the schedule out so that on the first day we would concentrate on getting all the complex tracking shots out of the way. The shots were complex not only because of the added equipment required but because of the number of people on screen, close to fifty actors, parents and children. We were also lacking a dedicated Grip to push and pull the dolly but James was a champion and stepped in.
Shout outs should also go to our 2nd Assistant Director Ellie Rogers, who would disappear off at the start of each day to help all of our large cast secure car parking and for her on set work wrangling children and coordinating the background action, and Focus Puller Tom Rowe for his absolute dedication to his role ensuring perfect focus on the most complex of tracking shots. Tom’s work on the project goes right the way back to the start, shooting the first two of the test shoots, he was vital to the development of the film.
Back to that first day’s shoot I would say my favourite shot was the tracking shot where Mr. Hobson offers his ‘advice’ to Archer. With this shot I wanted to convey the atmosphere of the sports day so staged a hula-hoop race in the background behind Hobson and Archer. Adding in the teachers on their way to place bets and the girls from the previous race and we had a really dynamic shot that used movement and depth in a really interesting way. It was such a change from the test shoots where we used minimal cast to having enough actors to fill in the spaces in the frame and add more layers to the story. I was really satisfied when the rushes came back and the shot had turned out exactly as I’d imagined.
Tom Shawcroft was our Clapper Loader for the first day. He was invaluable when it came to loading and unloading the film and filling out the Neg report sheets. Tom is also a cinematographer and for more info, examples of his previous work and contact details please go to his website http://www.thomasshawcroft.co.uk/
Photograph by Freya Easton-Durling
Clapper Loader Tom Shawcroft loads the film the day before the shoot. Photo by Tom Shawcroft
The decision to shoot on film as opposed to digitally came about after a commercial I produced won the top award at the Kodak Commercial Awards 2011 for best overall commercial. The prize was film stock and having never directed anything on film before knew I would like to use my portion of the stock on this project.
Here is a link to that commercial which was directed by Duncan Christie and Ben Perry.
Our DoP, Jamie Muir. Jamie is also a film production graduate from the Arts University College Bournemouth. He now runs his own production company shooting music videos and corporate films. He was a great collaborator to work with on this film.
For more examples of Jamie’s work, visit his website at: http://www.jamiemuirfilms.com/index.html
Photograph by Freya Easton-Durling
