Shooting!

The shoot has come and gone! It's really weird to think that you spend all that time preparing for something, and it's gone in a flash! I think everyone is exhausted now though, and rightly so. It's been a really intense and rough few days.

I think the shooting in general went well, we got everything shot that we wanted and more. I loved working with the actors, they were very friendly and down to earth and seemed to understand what I was saying to them and wanted them to do. I still think reading those books on directing helped immensely and I really believe my confidence has grown because of doing this shoot too. The shots we got were fantastic, and I really appreciated having a good camera and lighting team with me, Tom and Shahid, who I worked with last year on Parallel. We understand each other quite well and share the passion for what we do that I really love.

There were some issues on set, mainly surrounding timing and communication. We were behind every day for one reason or another, but particularly Wednesday because we shot the masters on that day and it took alot longer than expected. However, we finished with time to get out and on the last day we finished early and had time for behind the scenes interviews and such. However, I think we could have expressed our frustrations on set a bit more. Not infront of the actors obviously, as we never would have anyway, but I think when tensions became a bit high I think we could have benefited for stepping to one side for a moment to voice concerns quietly. However, following the shoot we all sat down and spoke about any issues we had so that going into post-production we had clear air to work with.

I think this shoot and set build have taught me alot about the production process, how long things take, the needs of actors and crew and just the way things work. This is the first time I've been on the set of a 'traditional' narrative based film, and certainly the first time I've directed actors. I realise now that I really much prefer being in post-production. Some people thrive on film sets and love the stressful situations it brings whereas I don't. I wasn't by any means miserable but I think it would be incredibly difficult for me to do that for a long period of time.

That being said, however, I did have fun and there were alot of great moments on set, with some really nice shots we got to go with it. Now I just can't wait to come back after Easter and get going on the edit and sound design!