Unit 13: Extended Project in Creative Media Production - Production

DISCLAIMER: I confirm that the attached portfolio is all of my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself. 

 Saturday 22nd May 2021 - Shoot Day 1

Crew:

• Director - Me (Harriet Parvin)
• Cinematographer - Amiliyah Ashraf

Cast:

• Katie - Kate Whittaker
• Gemma - Sadie Paterson

As this is was the first day of filming, and after spending months planning and thinking about the outcome, I was now quite nervous to get started on production. In past projects, I have always had a tough time to keep calm and focus on production, as well as finding it difficult to work around issues that come along and managing the time schedule. This is something I have struggled with and I didn't want to have these same problems and mindsets whilst filming, especially as this is my final, big project before leaving and going to university. So, I tried to keep a clear head and not to stress out about filming over the scheduled time and minor issues, for example lighting, multiple re-takes or batteries running out of charge.

At 09:30 am, Amiliyah came around to my house to grab all the equipment, as well as remembering to bring SD cards, for the camera, and the necessary paperwork, such as the screenplay, script breakdown (helped to figure out what was needed in each scene), and shot lists. After we made sure we had everything, we then made our way around to the location, my auntie's old house (which is just behind my house). As we were walking around, we saw Kate (playing Katie) had just arrived into the road and we all made our way over to the location together. Kate said that Sadie (playing Gemma) was going to be running a little late as she had confused with the bus routes and needed some guidance, from Kate, about which bus to get and where to stop off at. So, luckily, Sadie was safe and now on route and, more importantly, knew where she was going. 

Whilst we waited for Sadie to arrive at the house, I started to dress the set, mainly placing boxes around the room and also putting all the props needed for scene two in one of the boxes (including the vinyl, scrapbook, pack of 'UNO' cars, etc.). I made sure to put the props in an order where it would be easy for Kate to pick them up, out of the box, and then act with them, rather than rummaging around the box for a while trying to find the prop she needs at a specific point in the scene. At 10:30 am, Sadie finally arrived at the location, however, she still needed to get into costume and do her hair and makeup, which took another half an hour. After Sadie finished getting ready, we were then able to start filming at 11:00 am.

Before we started filming the scene, the opening of scene 2 where Katie walks up the stairs and knocks on Gemma's door, we ran into a small problem with the camera. For some odd reason, the camera was really zoomed in and wouldn't zoom out, even when Amiliyah tried to use the button on the top of the camera to zoom out it wouldn't work. However, after thinking for a bit and figuring out how we could either fix the setting on the camera or just work around having really zoomed in shots throughout the film, we then remembered back to our music video project, in Year One, when we had the exact same problem. Amiliyah remembered that there was a D.extender button on the camera, which allows the zoom function to go back to normal, and we would be able to adjust the zoom setting to the way we wanted it again. After that problem was sorted out, we then resumed production and filmed our first shot. For the first shot, as the landing was quite small, I had to be behind the door in the bedroom we were filming in, with Sadie, and be able to shout action and also tell Sadie when she should reply to Kate behind the door. Beforehand, I had blocked the shot through with Kate and I had also told Amiliyah how it should look on camera, the camera just needed to follow Kate up the stairs. After we filmed that part, we then filmed the rest of the scene in the bedroom (which was Gemma's bedroom). We were filming this scene pretty quickly, getting shots of Katie and Gemma from their separate sides of the room, remembering to use the 180-degree rule, and then shots of Katie and Gemma beside each other, looking around the room at the emptiness and difference of the bedroom, as well as Amiliyah being able to quickly change the camera from the steadicam to the tripod and vice versa. After that last shot, we then took a lunch break from 12:30 pm to 01:00 pm.

After our break, we then resumed filming at 01:00 pm. We picked up from where we left off, with the final part of scene 2. This was probably the trickiest to film throughout the whole day as I didn't realise how difficult it would be for the actors. I briefly spoke about this scene above, when Katie goes to one of the boxes and starts rummaging through it and taking items out that, either, Katie finds quite interesting or holds a lot of memories between the pair of them. This was proving to be tough for the actors to remember what props to take out, interacting with them , whilst performing and saying their lines. It took us about an hour to do, as we needed at least one good take all the way through the shot, so it was harder for the actors to focus as all they thought about was messing a line up or forgetting to get a prop out of the box. Eventually, we got a good shot, or as good as it was going to be as there were still a few mistakes and it didn't run as smoothly as other takes and the performance started to fizzle out when the actors knew they were coming to the end of the take. However, it was a pretty good take and the actors did really well to push through it and continue. I did originally want to film the scene using the 180-degree rule, having a central shot of both actors together, and then one of just Kate and another of just Sadie, but after filming it for such a long time, and thinking about continuity errors that may arise during the edit, I decided against it. What made the scene even more difficult was the poor lighting. This part of the scene is taken place in front of the window, which meant the light was overexposed in the shot and the actors were dark and unable to been seen properly. Our only way around this was for me to use the small LED light, can either be placed on top of the camera or held by a crew member, to shine on the actors. Amiliyah directed me where I should stand and position the light, to be able to emit light onto the actors and to also try and not have the light visible in the reflection on the window. Although we could now see Kate and Sadie clearly on camera, the downside was the light was exposed on Sadie's highlighter and also cast shadows behind the actors, showing that the light was unnatural and didn't have a specific light source in the room. 

After finishing scene 2, we then had another quick break where the actors rehearsed and prepared for the next scene (scene 3), whilst me and Amiliyah were dressing the set. The rest of the scenes we filmed and scheduled (scene 3, 4, and 5), were all filmed on the same side, or wall, of the room, which allowed us to have fewer camera setups and be able to keep the boxes the same (for continuity when we film scene 6 on Monday 24th May). We needed to set the scene as if Katie and Gemma had been sat there for a while, eating sweets, drinking fizzy drinks and just finished a game of 'UNO'. So, to make it look realistic, I laid the sweets around the room, putting some packets on top of a box near where Sadie would be sitting, some in the centre of Kate and Sadie, and some in Katie's backpack nearby. After I'd placed the packets of sweets around, and opening the glass coke bottles, me and Amiliyah played a couple of games of 'UNO' to make the game look realistic on-screen, showing that the characters had been playing for a while and had a really long game, trying to make the most of their time together. After setting the scene up, we then started filming scene 3.

All the scenes, after scene 2, were filmed pretty quickly, with amazing shots by Amiliyah and performed brilliantly and perfectly by Kate and Sadie. It took at least 20-30 minutes to film each scene and another 5 minutes to film the cutaway style shots to place in between two separate scenes. For example, the conversation, between Katie and Gemma, in scene 3, is about the first time they met at school and how they became best friends, as in scene 4, their conversation is about each other's embarrassing moments. As the camera is positioned in the same angles for each conversation, I thought it would look strange if it cut from one conversation straight to the next, so I placed small cutaways of Katie and Gemma doing something else, that usually didn't involve any dialogue. For example, in between scene 3 and 4, Gemma is trying to throw skittles into Katie's mouth and Katie is trying to catch them.

When filming scene 3, this was quick to do as it is the conversation between Katie and Gemma about when they first met, in primary school, and learning the context behind how they became best friends and what they thought about each other. We got a few two shot takes, even if they performed brilliantly in the take, we took a few more just in case there were any continuity errors with the other shots we'd be filming, the individual mid shots of Kate and Sadie. After filming the conversation between the two characters, we then moved onto the final part of the scene (the cutaway style shot) where Gemma throws a skittle into Katie's mouth and she catches it. This turned out to be another nightmarish shot, almost as bad as the ending of the previous scene we filmed (scene 2). It took a long time for Kate to catch a skittle in her mouth as she kept getting worried when Sadie threw it towards her, as Sadie would pelt the skittle towards Kate. Me and Amiliyah tried helping Sadie by telling her different ways she should throw the skittle, just so Kate wouldn't be worried and end up flinching as soon as it's thrown towards her. I tried telling Sadie to throw it underarm, which also didn't help, and Sadie ended up throwing it the way she was before. Eventually, Kate caught a skittle and the excitement and joy they each shared was very much real, after how many takes and tries they were happy we got a good shot. I think was also didn't help when Sadie was throwing the skittles is she wouldn't give a verbal warning to Kate when she was about to throw the skittle, although I said action, I also told Sadie that she should say something before attempting to throw the skittle. Sometimes Sadie would say something, not a of the time, but luckily we eventually got a successful attempt and could move onto the rest of filming.

We then moved onto scene 4, which was, again, very similar to filming scene 3, as they were sat down, in the same positions, against the wall. Although, I really liked a moment that they both improvised together. Kate and Sadie decided they would drink their bottles of coke throughout the scene (making sure to take small sips, for continuity so the levels of coke weren't different in each take), but every time we did another take of the scene, they would start by clinking their glasses together and have nice sound from the glasses when the scene starts. I thought this was a nice little improvised moment they added and would help in the edit, as they didn't start having their conversation as soon as the scene started. We then continued, as before, having a central two shot on the pair of them discussing their embarrassing moments (making sure we had a few more takes for continuity), and then moving onto individual mid shots of Kate and Sadie. After filming their conversation, we then moved onto the next cutaway style shot that would be placed in between this scene and scene 5. This was a very simple shot and we only did a few takes as it was performed really well and didn't require much dialogue. The shot is of Katie and Gemma reading magazines, showing another average activity they would do on another normal day that they would spend together. 

Finally, we then moved onto the final scene of the day, scene 5, which was my favourite scene to film that day. This scene is a homage to one of my favourite films and filmmakers, 'Lady Bird' (2017) written and directed by Greta Gerwig, and is also one of the biggest inspirations for 'Changes'. This was a bit more technical compared to the last two scenes we had just filmed. In the scene, Katie and Gemma are having, yet, another conversation which is about their first kisses and crushes. Although, it sounds like another average conversation that teenagers would have and be quite simple to film, as they are speaking to each other, Katie and Gemma are laying on the ground with their legs and feet up on the wall (like the scene in 'Lady Bird' when Lady Bird/Christine and Julie are speaking about something a bit more mature and taboo). We started by getting a shot of the two them, on the tripod and from an angle (on Sadie's side), seeing the strange position they are in. After filming, both, the entire conversation and only the beginning of the conversation between the two of them, we then moved onto the next shots we needed for the scene. Amiliyah then set the camera up on the steadicam and figured out how to film the next part. The next three shots we needed (a two shot and individual mid shots of Kate and Sadie) were birds eye shots, seeing Kate and Sadie upside down on the camera. The way Amiliyah did this was by balancing the end of the steadicam on her stomach and then holding the other end of the steadicam, where the camera was, with her hands and balancing the steadicam on her stomach and keeping it steady on the actor(s) we were filming. Before production, we thought that the fig-rig might be better to use for this type of shot, but Amiliyah found it easier to use the steadicam which worked out really well. Even when watching the footage back, it looked great using the steadicam with barely any movement and just still and focused on the actor(s). 

After finishing the last conversation of the day, we then moved onto, what I thought, was the final shot of scene 5. We filmed the last part of the scene, the camera now back on the tripod and from a similar angle at the beginning of the scene, of Kate and Sadie dancing and singing 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper. I thought this was a great song to use in the film as Katie and Gemma are two teenage girls and they just want to have fun with each other on their final day together, as well as representing their adolescence before they need to grow up and mature as adults. It was really fun to film, just watching Kate and Sadie having fun together, dancing about and singing the song felt really natural and is exactly what I wanted in the film to present Katie and Gemma's friendship. After we filmed that last part of scene 5, it was a wrap for the day. However, I then remembered there was another part of scene 5 that completely forgot to film, this was my fault as I felt like we needed to start picking up the pace and rush filming towards the end as we filmed way over schedule, as we finished filming at 04:30 pm and it was predicted to be 03:30 pm. The part we forgot to film was straight after the conversation between Katie and Gemma, where Gemma finds out that Katie kissed her cousin and is repulsed and shouts after an inappropriate comment from Katie. After the repulsed shout, we should have filmed Katie and Gemma, sat in their usual positions, against the wall, in complete silence, until Katie breaks it and they start laughing about the awkward situation, showing nothing can ever get between them. I rescheduled this small part to be filmed on Monday (24th May) as we would be filming, scene 6, in the bedroom, and as it didn't involve much dialogue or movement, it would be pretty quick and simple to film.

After wrapping, me and my mum were then able to provide everyone with transport to be able to get back to their homes. Once I got home, I thought back on the day and thought it went really well. This was probably the first time I never felt stressed or worried during filming, even when we had a few mishaps with Sadie not being on time and having to shoot later than expected, as well as struggling with lighting and filming the nightmare ending of scene 2, I still kept very calm and tried to help everyone peddle through it and do the best they can. I also felt this was the most confident I've ever been as a Director, making sure everyone was on the same page and knew what they were doing through clear communication and direction. I was really proud at what each and every one of us had achieved and I was grateful I had such a great and professional cast and crew working alongside me to help this film come to life and get on its feet. 

Although there were many highs to the day, I also had a few lows and worries when thinking back to certain aspects of the film and the production value. First, I was constantly thinking about the ending of scene 2, how much of a nightmare it was to film and how awful it looked on camera. I was unsure if I was going to be able to fix it at all in post, but that was a path I was going to have to cross once I got to editing the film. There was also another issue that involved costume. Halfway through filming, I had only noticed the t-shirt that Kate was wearing, which was a My Chemical Romance 'The Black Parade' shirt. I was unsure if My Chemical Romance were a group during the early 2000s and had to search about it online. It turns out, My Chemical Romance formed in 2002, however, the album, 'The Black Parade', wasn't released until 2006. This was a historical inaccuracy in the film, as the film is set in 2002, however, you could only see the name of the band rather than the album name (which was at the bottom of the shirt). I was a bit upset to only have realised that when it was too late, and Kate didn't have any other graphic band tees with her, or at her home, so this was something we would have to deal with throughout production. 

Other than the few inaccuracies and errors, filming went really well and I was proud of the work me and my team had achieved, as well as being excited about the next few shoot days and seeing how the film turns out in the edit. I was also really pleased with Eve's work on the film, as after filming finished, she sent me a demo of her cover of 'Changes' by David Bowie, that would be at the end of the film. It was absolutely gorgeous and would fit perfectly with the ending of the film, she performed it beautifully and her voice sounds amazing in it. It was great that she had the demo ready and sent it to me on this night as, the following day, we are filming the end credits scene where the song will be playing, so having that in mind and taking it into the next day of filming was brilliant and helpful. 

Sunday 23rd May 2021 - Shoot Day 2

Crew:

• Director - Me (Harriet Parvin)
• Cinematographer - Amiliyah Ashraf

Cast:

• Young Katie - Evie Reynolds
• Young Gemma - Libby Greer

After the great shoot day we had the day before, I was now ready and prepared for the next. This was going to be a pretty simple shoot, as there is only one setup and the scene has no dialogue or sound and is all in one take. However, the performances need to be fun, joyful and realistic for an audience to believe in it. The scene will play throughout the credits, at the end of the film, seeing the picture Katie has gifted Gemma (that she has drawn herself) come to life and seeing the younger versions of Katie and Gemma appear, then seeing them running around, playing and messing about, having the time of their lives.

The night before, I did have worry a little bit as Amiliyah had messaged me saying she had not transport and may not be able to help with filming. Although, I didn't need to worry for too long as I asked her if me and my mum would be able to give her lift to location and she replied soon after saying that was fine. I am not well-experienced with the camera, and if she was unable to come it wouldn't have worked out, and there was also no available crew to be able to message last minute to help with filming. 

So, before setting off to pick up Amiliyah, at 12:30 pm, Eve sent me the final version of 'Changes'. This is where she cleaned up some of the vocals and acoustics, on the software she uses, to improve the song and make it sound more defined and professional. I thought the exact same as when I listened to the demo of the song, absolutely gorgeous and perfect in every way and I was so excited to edit it together with the scene we were about to film. After picking Amiliyah up from her house, we then went back to my house and waited for Libby and Evie to arrive, with their chaperone, Katie Greer. Once everyone arrived, we then got all the equipment together (only needing a camera, SD card and tripod) drove to the location, at 01:00 pm, where we were going to be filming, which was at the Six Fields in Hartburn. 

Once we arrived at the location, we then walked over the the section of the field that looked most like the picture that my mum's friend, Julie Stayman, drew. Luckily, there was a part of the field where, there wasn't a stream of water, like on the picture, but there was a small pond and trees around that looked similar to what was in the picture. Amiliyah then setup the camera on the tripod and positioned it where the pond would be central in the shot of the camera. After setting the camera up, we then got Libby and Evie in the shot and positioned them the exact way the younger versions of Katie and Gemma look on the picture. 

We then started filming the scene at 01:20 pm and finished at 01:50 pm, however, during filming, we all needed to be aware that there were quite a few nettles around and we needed to make sure nobody got stung. Other than the worrying about nettles, we got an, almost, perfect take and filming went really well. I'd say my own worry and concern was with Libby. Before filming, I instructed Libby and Evie to do whatever they like, such as dancing, playing, messing about, and doing what normal kids do (or at least what kids did in the early 2000s by actually going outside of the house and interacting with each other). I also said that at the beginning of the scene, after they smile at each other, they should then run off directly towards where the pond was. However, every time we started filming, Libby would go straight to the right and run out of the shot, as well as not listen to anything I told her like playing with Evie and messing about. She would mainly just run and then tire herself out, or look at the camera or her chaperone (who was stood at the side of the field). Evie seemed to really be enjoying herself and tried to get Libby to be more energetic and interacting with her. Although it was tough to direct Libby, we eventually got a great shot that went on for a while, roughly around two minutes, which would be long enough to decide the length of the credits and when the shot should be cut down and fade out. 

After wrapping for the day, and wrapping with the young actors, we then gave them some sweets to thank them for their great work and for being part of the project and then sending them back to their chaperone, Katie, to take them home. Me and my mum also took Amiliyah home and discussed the next day of filming during our journey, as we would both be helping each other film one another's projects. Amiliyah said she would be sending a call sheet on her Microsoft Teams group chat for her film, 'Solving with Holmes', but she also said to come into college for 09:00 am, along with the equipment (reminding me to charge the batteries up for the following day). 

After dropping Amiliyah at her house, I went home and got a message from Eve with a recording of her playing a snippet of one of the original songs she has written for the film. It didn't have a name yet and was still early in the production process, but the tiny bit she had and played for me was, again, absolutely beautiful and fit the scene it was intended for (even though I didn't know what we were going to film for it yet as it is a montage, at the beginning of scene 8). I loved the song so much because it was very personal to the film, including the characters stories and quotes from the film and highlighting their friendship and the memories they have made. I thought it was so clever and beautifully written and performed. She then said she would have a demo of the song very soon. After listening to the song, I then decided that the montage, at the beginning of scene 8, would almost be like a small music video with a variety of shots at the field (the one we filmed at today). I now felt the film was coming together really well and this was all down to the amazing people I was working with.

Monday 24th May 2021 - Shoot Day 3

Crew:

• Director - Me (Harriet Parvin)
• Cinematographer - Amiliyah Ashraf
• Script Supervisor - Tom Swales

Cast:

• Katie - Kate Whittaker
• Gemma - Sadie Paterson
• Jackie - Katie Greer

In the morning, I went into college and helped Amiliyah with her short film, as well as remembering to bring the camera and tripod for her to use. I was, again, the Script Supervisor and needed to make sure there were no continuity errors, as well as unwanted background noises or disruptions, throughout filming. 

We filmed another intense scene, where the victim's brother is being interrogated, wondering if he murdered his sister or knew when he last saw her. This was also a very emotional scene as Sam started to actually cry during his first, and only, take. For this scene, the only thing I needed to examine closely, for continuity, were the pictures being handled, by Sam, on the desk. He didn't move them very much which helped when we would be filming the next part of the scene, only on the detectives. We did have a slight issue as we needed to do the 180-degree rule, now filming the detectives, but the side of the room (where we should have filmed) lost the effect of an interrogation room, or a detective's office. So, what Tom needed to do was have the actors swap around (where Sam sits where the detectives were and vice versa) and then film it from Sam's right shoulder. This still worked as the rule wasn't exactly broken, and the background showed another angle of the wall behind and didn't look exactly the same as Sam's shot. 

After we finished filming Amiliyah's scene, we then went back to the classroom, where I was finally able to look at the footage from the past couple of shoot days. I was unable to check the footage on my SD card as I have a MacBook laptop, and it wouldn't allow me to see the footage we had filmed for some reason (whether it is because of the Mac's setting, version or update, I was unsure). However, I was able to check it all at college and the shots that Amiliyah took looked amazing. I was really happy with the work we had done and was now hoping it turned out well in the edit, which I would be starting the following day.

It was soon time to meet everyone in the studio, for 12:00 pm, and me and Amiliyah headed over to the studio. Before we could go, we knew we would have to wait for a bit as Kai had been filming his short film before and had taken some of the equipment we would be using, and Tom was also helping him film. Luckily, Kate arrived on time but Sadie was late, again, as her bus had been delayed. I was hoping we would have all the cast, crew and equipment for us to set off at around 12:25 pm or 12:30 pm, but we ended up setting off at 01:00 pm, which was really late and not what I intended, which then caused me to start stressing about how we were going to film everything we needed to do all in this one day. We could only film the scenes scheduled, 1, 5, 6 and 7 as my auntie, Katie, who is playing Jackie, was only available on that day due to her work. Eventually, Tom had come to the studio and Kai had finished filming and gave us some of the equipment, and Sadie arrived and got into costume and did her hair and makeup ready for filming when we got to location. We then set off, from college, at 01:00 pm and got to location at around 01:10 pm or 01:15 pm. 

As soon as we got to location, we went straight into the house and started setting everything up and ready to quickly film the part of scene 5 we forgot to film last Saturday. It took us a while to start filming, as Kate and Sadie were rehearsing lines for the scene after, which was scene 6. It was going to be a tough scene to do as it was quite dialogue heavy, and it was going to be particularly tough for Sadie as she wasn't as prepared with her lines as Kate was, as Sadie had been working on multiple projects and found it hard to fit in time to learn lines for every project she was part of. After going through their lines, repeatedly, they were then ready to get started on filming. Amiliyah had setup the camera similar to the following week, as this was only going to be one shot and one take, we only needed a two shot of Katie and Gemma sitting in awkward silence after Katie's confession that she kissed Gemma's cousin. We did a few takes, to be safe, and to make sure that the actors' laughs, at the end of the scene, were quite long and realistic to be able to cut straight into the next part, when Katie and Gemma are singing and dancing.

After filming scene 5, we then moved onto scene 6. This is an emotional scene where we learn about Katie and Gemma's, not so perfect, home lives and speaking about their futures, as Gemma is moving to Bristol and Katie is unsure what she wants to do. Kate was really prepared with this scene, and every take we did, she was consistent with her acting abilities and it almost felt like it was clockwork to her. It was amazing how she did that and how natural her performance was. As for Sadie, it was a lot tougher for her to keep in character and remember her lines as she hadn't learnt them as well as Kate had and she wasn't as prepared, which meant I had to feed her lines to her a lot. A lot of the time, she tried to save herself, and the dialogue by ad-libbing some of the lines, but when she did, sometimes they wouldn't sound right or make any sense, and when she completely forgot a line, she was constantly start to 'umm' and 'ah' and say 'okay'. Again, I had to feed her the right lines and if she couldn't remember them all, that was fine, as she started to ad lib them similarly to what it was in the script. That was quite tough for Sadie, and it probably didn't help her when we then filmed the individual mid shots of her and Kate. However, she did really well when it came to the mid shots, as she started to remember the lines more and kept playing them through in her head. After filming the mid shots, we then asked my auntie, Katie, who is playing Jackie, to come around to the house, as she had been waiting at my house, beforehand, and going through her lines. 

Once Katie came over, which was at 02:30 pm, we got started filming the rest of scene 6 as, at this point, we didn't really have much time to spare, and we needed to quickly film this last part so we could charge the battery up as it was running out of charge. As this was Katie's first time acting and being in a film, she was quite nervous and put a lot of pressure on herself to have a great performance, but everyone was really nice and welcomed her onto the team which I was really happy about and this put Katie at a bit more ease and to do as well as she possibly could. When we got back to filming, we picked up where we left off, filming the final part of Katie and Gemma's conversation, again, which was also the part that Sadie was struggling with the most. However, she got her lines pretty much exact to her previous takes and was able to stay in character whilst doing so. This then led into the part where Gemma's mum, Jackie, knocks on the door and tells her that her dad is unable to make it to say goodbye before they leave, which upsets Gemma and makes her walk off and start grabbing her boxes to take downstairs. Kate and Sadie's acting in this scene was brilliant, especially seeing the dramatic acting abilities from the pair of them, however, this would soon end as Sadie had to get up from the floor and walk directly past the camera. Similar to Libby the other day, Sadie wouldn't listen and walk straight to the left of the camera, rather than almost towards the camera. We had to film a few different takes as Sadie constantly kept walking straight to the side rather than towards the camera, but we eventually got a good shot where she did what I directed her to do. We also filmed a mid shot of Kate still sitting on the floor as Gemma leaves, gets an idea (to go to the field) and tells Gemma to drop the box she is holding. We did two takes of this as Kate was great, and we made sure to get another take for safety. 

After filming the part where Kate gets up from the ground, we then filmed Katie's part, as Jackie, when she comes into the room and gives Gemma the bad news. Katie did such a great job, which I knew she would, but every single time she thought she messed up or delivered a line wrong, she would immediately stop and cringe at her acting. We all reassured her she was great and tried to help her get out of her head and remember her lines, as she kept getting nervous, she would forget all of her lines and we would have to keep feeding them to her. Even though she kept forgetting her lines, her performance as Jackie was really good and really impressed not only me, but the whole cast and crew. After filming Katie's scene, we then moved onto the rest of the scene, setting up the camera to face the other side of the room, seeing Gemma walk into the shot and grab one of the boxes to take downstairs. We had to get a few takes of this as we were all unsure how Kate should take the box from Sadie and put it down (rather than chucking it as I had written in the script) and then grab Gemma and leave the room together. We got a few different takes, although some of them didn't feel very natural and looked a bit strange, but we all decided on a take where Kate grabs the box and just pushes Sadie out of the room. It felt very natural, as Sadie wasn't expecting Kate to push her out of the room and genuinely looked confused. 

After filming scene 6, we then brought all the equipment and props downstairs to use for the next couple of scenes (scenes 1 and 7). As we were running a bit late, now being 02:50pm, and Kate said she needed to leave at 05:30 pm, I decided we should film the ending of scene 7 on Wednesday 26th Ma. This was our final shoot day and also our biggest shoot day yet, as we were filming all of the outdoor scenes then, and as the ending of scene 7 is set just outside of the house, it was perfect to move it to Wednesday. Once we made the decision to film the ending of the scene on Wednesday, we then started to set the boxes up around the living room, this was mainly to get a shot from Katie's perspective when she first enters the room and sees the emptiness of the house, as we wouldn't be able to see the boxes when conversations would be taking place from the front door and the archway from the living room to the dining room. We were also waiting for the battery to charge up, as there wasn't much charge left on it when we filmed the previous scene. Once Amiliyah checked the camera again, she then put the battery in the camera and set the camera up on a tripod, however, the battery still didn't charge up enough and we had to film with what was left on the camera.

We then started filming scene 1, when Katie walks into the house and has a conversation with Jackie. Amiliyah setup the camera to focus on Kate when she walks into the room, having her central in the shot, a mid shot, as she looks around the room and then has a conversation with Jackie. Kate, again, was already very prepared, bouncing off of Katie as she read her lines from her copy of the script. After Kate finished her part, we had some trouble figuring out how Kate and Katie would crossover, with Katie walking to the front door and Kate walking towards the stairs. Amiliyah and Tom helped me figure out how to film that, and said to keep the camera in the position it was in, facing the front door, and then have Katie walk into the shot and for Kate to leave the shot, swapping places easily. We had to do a few takes of this as Katie, again, kept forgetting her lines due to her nerves, and she also either kept looking at the camera or looking straight towards me. Eventually, she was able to walk into the shot and deliver her lines, however, she got nervous, again, when we filmed the next part where (in the edit) we hear an almighty smash and thud and Jackie becomes worried and runs out of the shoot back towards the kitchen. Katie was mainly scared she was going to look silly but actually her performance was hilarious, which it is meant to be as she is showing a stereotypical mum worrying and then doing a certain fast walk/run. 

After this, we then filmed the scene, again, with the camera now facing the archway from the living room to the dining room, filming all of Katie's parts first as Jackie, which she was again nervous for, and then her leaving the shot and being replaced by Kate making her way up the stairs. This took a bit longer as Katie kept forgetting her lines and felt as if she wasn't performing as well as she should. Although she didn't think it, she was brilliant, and everyone helped her through it again, giving her suggestions and advice on how to approach the scene. Katie was also having a tough time taking direction from me, which made me feel as if I wasn't communicating with her properly and wasn't being concise or clear enough, but Tom and Amiliyah helped me direct her and she was eventually able to get through the scene. We then filmed the rest, when Kate stands in the position Katie was once in and goes up the stairs, until the smash is heard and she pokes her head around the wall, also seeing Katie running through the archway and into the kitchen. This was one of the best and funniest scenes we filmed all day, as it was performed so well and I felt the comedy was effective. 

After filming scene 1, we then took another break to be able to charge the batteries up, ready to film the final scene of the day (scene 7). However, this did take about an hour to get enough charge on the battery to help us through the final scene. When the time hit 04:30 pm, we then resumed filming. Amiliyah first set the camera up on the steadicam as the beginning of the scene is a tracking shot of Katie and Gemma running down the stairs and towards the front door of the house. We first blocked it through to figure out the pacing of the actors running down the stairs, as well as Amiliyah being able to figure out how quickly she should go down the stairs and stop at a certain point to then show Jackie walking into frame, which was another aspect of the scene we needed to think about, when Jackie spots them and walks into the scene. We blocked it through a couple of times and finally got the right pace of the scene, from the actors running down the stairs, Amiliyah stopping, and then focusing on Jackie walking into the centre of the shot. We got a few takes of this particular shot and the last one we got was absolutely perfect, the pacing and movement was spot on and Katie almost got through the end of it, until she forgot one of her lines, which was an improvement. We then quickly filmed Katie saying her last few lines, telling Katie and Gemma off for trying to leave in the middle of packing and then deciding to let them spend a bit longer together. 

After that, we then moved onto our final shot, of Katie and Gemma going to the front door and getting caught by Jackie. We were able to get two perfect takes of this shot, with great performances for each take, one take with an aggressive door slam at the end and the other with a slightly gentler door slam. Both were great takes and after we finished the final take, that was a wrap on our third shoot day. After finishing, Tom was able to drive himself home, as well as Katie, and me and my mum were able to take everyone else to their homes. 

I thought it was another great shoot day, however, I wished we were on time and filmed much earlier as we ended up wrapping at 05:15 pm and got everyone to their homes quite late as well. I also felt that this was the first time I started to become stressed on the film set, as I have in the past, and started to overthink or not be able to work around an issue that appeared during production. I felt it was the first time where I had lost the confidence that I had built up these past few weeks, feeling as if I was incapable of being a Director and having the skills and abilities of communication and problem-solving. I felt everyone in the cast and crew did an amazing job and I felt like a deer in headlights. I was so unsure of myself and I was now nervous I was going to be the exact same for our final shoot day, which I made sure I wasn't going to get too much into my head about as it was going to be a big shoot day, and I was already worried about the weather forecast. I was also worrying about the final outcome of the film, unsure of what it would look like once everything was filmed and started piecing together as well as I could.

Wednesday 26th May 2021 - Shoot Day 4 (Final Shoot)

Crew:

• Director - Me (Harriet Parvin)
• Cinematographer - Amiliyah Ashraf
• Script Supervisor - Tom Swales

Cast:

• Katie - Kate Whittaker
• Gemma - Sadie Paterson

As this was the final shoot day on my film, I was now extremely nervous how the day was going to go, as I was mainly concerned about the weather. It had been raining all night and all morning and I was worried we wouldn't be able to get it all filmed, due to the weather. I tried to not think about that for now and got ready for the big day ahead. 

Amiliyah and Tom then arrived at my house for 09:00 am, were we filmed my personalised version of the Ufilms logo for the beginning of the film. Sam had an idea that for each film, we should have our own personalised spin on the Ufilms logo, for example, Amiliyah is doing a crime investigation film and to personalise the logo to her style and genre, she is going to place police tape over the 'U'. So, for my film, I decided to have a vinyl spinning around the centre of the 'U'. Luckily, I have a white vinyl of the 'Lady Bird' soundtrack, which, again, paid homage to the inspiration of 'Lady Bird' on my film, as well as my love for Gerwig's film. Amiliyah was able to get a lovely shot of the vinyl spinning around, and making sure it was central in the shot. at first, it appeared to be quite dark on camera, so we decided to use the LED camera light, where I held it up and to the side of the vinyl, and made sure to catch the reflection of the light in the vinyl. 

After getting the shot of the vinyl, we then got the equipment we needed, only the camera and steadicam, and headed over to the top of my road to get some shots for the opening montage in the film. I was still unsure of the type of shots we should take or include in the film, but, eventually, we all decided to get shots of the field towards the house. We also got a shot of the road with some cars driving by, making sure to only get the bottom of the cars and really get their number plates in. After we got a few shots, which I hoped were enough for the opening scene, we then went back to my house to wait for Kate to arrive. 

Kate then arrived at my house, at 10:15 am. After she arrived, we then got all the equipment, again, and went straight back out to the field and filmed the rest of the opening montage, where the audience is introduced to Katie. We got a variety of shots of Kate walking along, some that I had listed in both my screenplay and shot list, such as Katie's combat boots, her bag, the back of her denim jacket and a few mid shots of her walking along. We made sure once we got one take of a particular shot that when I said cut, Kate should stay in the same spot as she stopped for continuity, as it would look a bit strange if she started in another spot, either further forward or behind where she last walked. We got quite a few takes of each shot, to make sure the pacing of Kate walking and Amiliyah tracking her with the camera on the steadicam was smooth and consistent. It was quite hard for Amiliyah to follow Kate, at first, as Kate is quite a fast walker, but Kate was able to slow down her walking to be able to get fluent and smooth tracking shots. After getting shots of Kate walking across the field, we then got some shots of Kate walking around the block and walking towards the house/location. We were able to get a few shots, with minimal takes, as Kate and Amiliyah now knew how to pace each scene, as well as how quickly they should each be moving to get the right shot. 

My favourite shot we were able to get was the shot of Kate walking along the pavement and then down the drive and into the house. This was a simple shot that we got in one take, as Amiliyah had to stand on the other side of the road, and make sure the house was central in the shot. I thought it was perfect and we ended filming the opening scene at 11:15 pm. Now we were just waiting at the house for Sadie to arrive and to be able to film the ending of scene 7. Not only would we have to film the part where Katie and Gemma are leaving the house, walking up the drive and walking into the camera, we also had to film the part where Katie and Gemma leave the house, again, as when I looked back at the footage, some of my belongings were seen on the windowsill in the background. At first, I was annoyed that no one of us spotted this problem, however, I did think this was an advantage as on our last shoot day, on Monday, Sadie forgot the her jacket that she was meant to have, which was a dark blue jacket with a rainbow strip down each sleeve and instead used her plain red jacket. So, we were then able to place the original jacket, she was meant bring, on the radiator at the front door. So, it all worked out in the end.

Sadie then arrived at the house for 11:30 am, and started getting costume and doing her hair and makeup before we could start filming. This gave Amiliyah some time to charge the camera up, as we had already lost a lot of charge whilst filming the opening montage. At 12:00 pm, Tom had to leave as he was going to be helping out on another film, as well as getting ready for his shoot later on, which Amiliyah would be going to help out on at 03:30 pm or 04:00 pm. 

Once Sadie was ready, and everyone made sure to grab some lunch, we then started filming again at 12:30 pm. We started with the part of scene 7 where Katie and Gemma are speaking to Jackie and then bolt out of the door once she gives them permission to leave. Amiliyah setup the camera the exact same way it was on Monday, making sure that Kate and Sadie were, somewhat, central in the shot. To help Kate and Sadie get the right eye line, similar to when Katie was stood in the archway before, I stood in the same position to feed them the lines and help with their performance. We were able to get the shot in one take and the performances were just as good as the last shots we got; however, I would've preferred to use one of the previous takes as the lighting was consistent, going from Jackie to Katie and Gemma and vice versa. After filming that part of scene 7, we then filmed the final part of the scene when Katie and Gemma are walking up the drive and Gemma asks Katie about where they're going. This was another scene we had to block through, as it was a tracking shot that followed Katie and Gemma up the drive. We needed to figure out the pacing of the shot, figuring out how quickly the camera should move as it follows and keeps Kate and Sadie in the centre of the shot, as well as being able to lower the camera down to see Katie hold Gemma's hand and have the grasped hands go into the lens of the camera. I was able to guide Amiliyah where to walk around the corner of the drive and the pavement, as well as where she should stop, as she was walking backwards and I didn't want her to fall or not know where she was walking. We were able to get a few takes, and we got a perfect one that I would definitely be using in the edit. The pacing was precise and the shot of Kate and Sadie looked amazing. 

After finishing the scene, we then had another break which allowed us time to charge up the batteries before leaving to our next location to film the final scene of the film (scene 8), at the Six Fields. This also gave Kate and Sadie some time to go over their lines, as Sadie wasn't as prepared as Kate and was worried about messing up the lines and didn't want to as-lib too much. Once the battery was charged up enough, which we hoped would last us the rest of the day, my mum then came around to the house and took us to our location at 01:30 pm. 

As we arrived at the location, we started filming straight away. Starting the montage, at the beginning of scene 8, immediately. Amiliyah setup the camera on the steadicam and was able to get a shot of Kate and Sadie, running along the pathway at the bottom of the field, first starting in the position that they were last in for the previous shot we filmed, yet, on the backs of the actors. After we got a few takes of them running, we were then able to start thinking of other shots to film, as I hadn't planned the types of shots we would get for the montage. We were able to get all of the shots done on the steadicam, following Kate and Sadie around doing different activities, such as:

• Walking up the field - Later Kate was able to place her bag down on the field so she wouldn't need to be lugging it about everywhere, as they were both going to be quite physical and we didn't want Kate to be worrying about, or struggling, with the bag throughout each shot and take. It was also whilst we were filming this part, I only realised Kate had lost one of the badges on her denim jacket, which was a Blondie/Debbie Harry badge. Luckily, it is quite small so it shouldn't be too much of a continuity problem, but I was going to have to look at this closely and carefully throughout editing.
• Running down the hill
• Kate carrying Sadie on her back
• Walking over a bridge - Me and Amiliyah didn't realise the last time we came to the field that there was a concrete bridge from the field to the other side where the pond was. As we were all coming up with ideas for different shots and Kate and Sadie came up with quite a few to do on the bridge, such as walking over it, sitting on it and standing on the bridge and joking about pushing the other one in. Of course, we made sure we were very careful filming on the bridge, even though it was wide, there wasn't a railing to keep anyone from falling off the edge. So, we had to make sure we were looking where we were standing and walking, and I made sure to guide Amiliyah or hold onto her whilst she was on camera.
• Dancing
• Staring at their reflections in the pond - The pond was quite murky and I didn't think it was going to look good on camera, but it actually didn't look too bad. 
• Walking around the pond, as well as Sadie trying to dip her foot in the pond
• Walking back up the field to the spot where Kate left the backpack

We got a lot of shots but I wasn't sure if we had enough to create a full montage. As it was now 02:30 pm, and we had to make sure we finished on time as Amiliyah had to go and help Tom on his film soon, we then went through the final part of the scene as quick as we could. Luckily, we were able to do it all on time, including a few different setups, multiple shots and takes. This was a really emotional scene, as Katie and Gemma finally acknowledge Gemma's move and speak about the future of their friendship, it was tough for us to keep stopping and starting, whether that be because of a slip up during a line or having to set the camera up again. Yet, Kate and Sadie did an incredible job of keeping that emotion in every take and shot, getting straight back into character as soon as we started rolling again. There were a few setups at the beginning of the scene, to be able to get individual reactions and close-ups or mid shots of each actor, but for the rest of the scene, when Katie tells Gemma she doesn't want her to leave, we only had a central shot on the both of them, to make it more personal between the two of them as they tell each other their fears about the future. We then did another setup, and made sure Kate and Sadie stayed in the same position, when they hug each other. I asked Amiliyah if she could get a closeup on the pair from the start of their hug, showing their reactions and connection up close when Katie gives Gemma the drawing of the two of them when they were younger. This is probably the most emotional and pivotal part of the whole film, as this then leads into the end credits scene where the picture of their younger selves, comes to life. We were able to get this shot in one take, as the timing was perfect and the emotion Kate and Sadie bring to their performances is amazing. We also made sure Sadie had put the drawing on the ground to be able to get another set up, where we see them hugging again and then a close up of the drawing. Amiliyah was able to do this free handed. It took a few takes to get the right shot but she was able to get one that was perfect, with the photo in the centre of the shot. 

Before we could say that it was a wrap on filming, we had finished at 03:10 pm, and Amiliyah wasn't needed until around 04:00 pm, so we were able to get a few more shots for the montage. We got a variety of shots, such as:

• Kate and Sadie running across the field, whether they were passing each other or pretending to be planes. We even got a shot that payed homage to the film 'Dirty Dancing' (1987), where Sadie ran up to Kate and Kate tried to pick her up in the air, but, of course, this didn't go to plan which made the shot even better and a comedic moment that shows the silliness of the two. 
• Blowing dandelions - We were able to get a shot, in one take, of Kate holding a dandelion to Sadie for her to blow put, then vice versa where Sadie shoved the dandelion in Kate's mouth.
• Cartwheels - Sadie was able to do cartwheels, however Kate wasn't, which made for another comedic moment

We were then wrapped for the whole of filming, at 03:30 pm, but I had forgot that I had brought my camera along to try and get a picture for the poster, I was unsure of what to get a picture of though. I wasn't sure if it should be a picture of the backs of Kate and Sadie sitting on the field and looking at the pond, or the pair of them laying on the floor and looking up at the sky, but I didn't feel any of these would look good. Then, Sadie got an idea that was inspired by 'The Fault in Our Stars' (2014) poster, where the two main characters are laying down on the ground, but they are the opposite way around from each other. So, Kate and Sadie were able to lie on the ground and pose in a similar way to that poster, however not in a romantic relationship as this film is about a friendship, not a romantic love story. I was able to get a few shots and they all looked great, but there was one in particular that I loved that I chose straight away to be the main image for the poster. Once I had gotten a picture, we were then able to officially wrap the whole of production. I also do some colour corrections on the poster and then sent it to Sadie, as she said she had been making posters for the Performing Arts course and showed me a few examples, which where really good.

My mum arrived at the Six Fields for 03:30 pm, and was able to take everyone home, as well as take Amiliyah to location she would be filming at for Tom's film. When we dropped Amiliyah off, she was able to take some of the equipment with her to use for Tom's film, which helped lighten the load for when I had to take in the rest of the equipment into college the following day. 

After dropping everyone off at their homes, when I got home, Eve sent me the final version of her original song 'Scrapbook Memories' and I absolutely loved it. We both were unsure whether to use the final version or the demo version of the song, which we'd both decided on using the draft version as it didn't sound to different to the new, final, cleaned up version of the song. Either way, each version of the song would be great in the film, no doubt.

Now that the film was wrapped, I was so proud of everyone's hard work and, for the first time, I felt proud in myself and the work I was able to achieve. I tried to not get stressed throughout filming and I think I did very well to do that, making sure we managed our time wisely and that we had filmed everything that was listed on the schedule and shot lists. It was a really great final shoot day, and I was relieved yet upset to be finishing the production of my film. I felt really lucky with the weather that day, as it rained all morning and then rained not long after we finished filming, and I felt really lucky throughout the entire stage of production. Although it wasn't sunny, making the natural lighting lose its quality and become overexposed in shots, The weather was still great and didn't affect the production and could easily be altered in editing with some colour grading. I was now ready to start editing the film together and hoping I have justified the story from the page to the screen. This is my most personal and proudest project yet, and I don't want to ruin it all in the edit.