30/01/14
We're currently in the stages of editing the script. A lot of ideas are up in the air right now we've avoided attempting to mix both scripts together too much and we're stuck with the main idea of Jamies script Anaesthetic. Its still somewhat imperfect and is going under some changes right now. Jamie has taken charge of the responsibility of editing the script because he was the original writer. I'm helping him form any ideas he chooses to share. We've chosen to shoot our film in at Preston Hall if possible. We've made contact with people working there, and plan to go on a recce soon.
06/02/14
The script is in its final draft and completed.
Jamie, Sam and myself created a presentation about the different techniques used in other films that were and could be inspiration for parts of our movie such as atmosphere, editing, music, and shots. I've been doing some research on the kind of music we could use for our film and we've began moving through all of our required pre-production paperwork.
Stephen Was not Present.
08/02/14
Me and Jamie have carried out a recce of Preston Hall. There were both good and bad results. We found that the Chemist Shop we were hoping to use was far to small on the inside to shoot anything in. But the outdoor aesthetics were fantastic and we've decided it could be possible to change some scenes to outdoor scenes. One of the receptionists let us into the music room of the Hall. It was very large but with some clever framing could work quite well for our indoor scenes. The receptionist told us that if we were to shoot there we could only do so times between 9 and 11 in the morning and our wouldn't be allowed to be posted online. This is not at all ideal. I hope that we can speak to the manager directly and come to a much more reasonable agreement.
10/02/14
Jamie, Sam and myself had a meeting to discuss casting arrangements for the our film. We have prepared all of the proper paperwork for the actors applying for roles in Anaesthetic.
We also discussed how we would go about the casting auditions and what questions we should ask the actors during them.
Stephen still not present.
11/02/14
Today was casting day. It all went fairly smoothly. and every actor appeared to audition for their role apart from one exception. We acquired each of the actors contact details, and asked them questions such as what their inspiration for choosing the script was, their availability for shooting and about their access to transport.
Afterwards we discussed which actors we believed to be best for the roles of Miss Stone and Tobias and who we would like to bring back for recalls. A final decision will be made by the end of tomorrow.
Stephen once again not present I fear the team may fall apart without him.
13/02/14
Casting is over our team has had time to discuss and we have made our final decisions for which actors we want to play our characters. I believe we've made brilliant choices. I look forward to seeing them in action!
In other news we've created a Facebook page for Anaesthetic in an attempt to generate some publicity for the film.
Still no sign of Stephen we presume the worst. All is lost.
25/02/14
Today we met with the make up team for the first time. They were very talkative, professional and enthusiastic. We didn't have much to tell them just yet, we simply told them some character profiles and talked about what they thought could do with them.
Also Due to the scheduling difficulties of two films wanting to use the same two actors for their main characters, we have had to give up our previous choice of Madeline for Miss Stone and instead go with our second choice Rosa. Even though Rosa wasn't our original choice for Miss Stone, she is still a fantastic actress and I have complete faith in her ability to portray the character brilliantly.
The search for Stephen goes on...
28/02/14
Today me and Jamie went to a charity warehouse in search of costume that could be used for our characters. We spent well over an hour rummaging through clothing we didn't find Stephen or any appropriate costume for Anaesthetic.
Afterwards we proceeded to get hilariously lost on the way home.
04/03/14
We've had a production meeting to discuss what tasks needed to be focused on. The most prominent and urgent issues being, costume, finishing schedules and emailing the manager of Preston Hall, J.R.
Since costumes isn't something we can work on right now, I'll be focusing on schedules most of today, getting them to every cast and crew member, and making sure everyone knows what is going on.
05/03/14
J.R has replied to our emails. He has given us a full day inside the music room to shoot our interior scenes for Anaesthetic. This is brilliant news. Its much more time than what was originally promised to us and I feel much more confident about the shooting schedule.
11/03/14
The majority of today was spent filling out both risk assessments and shot lists for our upcoming shoot. We all worked together on the risk assessments to get them done quickly. Afterwards me and Jamie began working on the shot lists, completing the majority of them by the end of the day.
13/03/14
Today we had a meeting with our cast for rehearsals. Our actors seem to know their lines and the scenes incredibly well and their portrayal of the characters has improved hugely since their auditions. I feel that they really have thought about their characters and fleshed their personalities out for themselves.
The make up team also showed us some of their ideas for our characters. I'm especially impressed with the amount of thought and effort that went into Miss Stone.
17/03/14
Final preparations for the shoot are under way. The shot lists are completed, so are the risk assessments, and all other necessary pieces of paperwork. All of the props we need have been gathered. The only problem we had was the important syringe prop not arriving on time. But by some strange stroke of luck I managed to find one almost exactly the same over the weekend. Jamie has informed me that in his meeting with J.R there was some kind of confusion about what room we were planning to use and now we will be shooting in the much larger, grander room beside the one we expected to be using. But that's not something we can't plan around. He also told me that J.R will allow us to use the costume on site at Preston Hall. Now its just a matter of double and triple checking everything is in order before tomorrow.
18/03/14
First day of shooting.
I can say today went neither completely wrong or right.
To start with the things that went well. The scheduled time for cast and crew to be on location was abided to by everyone. Make up and cast both appeared perfectly on time and we began to set up right away. Throughout the day we managed to get a lot of scenes shot, and the acting was fantastic, all the actors knew their lines off by heart, the supporting actors were patient and waited politely throughout scenes they weren't in. Make up was great too, with extreme attention to detail on all characters Preston Hall staff were friendly and helpful and the shots we did get were all great.
But by the end of the day we didn't get all of the shots we wanted, this was due to a few reasons.
Firstly, as film makers the three of us were only just finding our feet on a set, we were inexperienced and struggling to make quick decisive choices. Secondly make up and costume took much longer than we anticipated on the morning. Not that it wasn't worth the end result, but it was a contributing factor. And finally because of the unexpected slight change in shooting location which forced us to deviate from our shot list and improvise some shots on set. At the end of the day we spoke to J.R about being able to come back for a possible pickup day for the shots we didn't get. He didn't have a certain answer for us but he said he will try to find us a time. There was also a small problem with the mic recording sound. But this isn't something we can't try to fix.
19/03/14
Second day of shooting.
Today went completely without any problems. Our actors and make up team showed up on time just as before and we got to work straight away. We had one narrow miss where we needed a plug socket in order to do make up but that was solved by relocating the make up team to one of the shops on the Victorian street.
Because we were shooting outside in an area open to the public there was a slight worry of members of the public getting in the way of the shoot. Luckily we could use a secluded alleyway in the Victorian street that was not of much interest to the public. It proved perfect for the shoot. By the end of the day we had all the shots we needed and could go home having accomplished what we came to do.
When we got the tape back to college we realised that the boom mic was in a few shots. As the camera operator I should have spotted this. But other than that problem everything went fairly smoothly.
27/03/14
We've received a reply from J.R telling us that we can use the music room again for a pickup day on Wednesday the 2nd of April. But he told us that if a the room is booked, he will have to take that as priority over us. This will be our only chance to do a pickup on the shots we didn't get on the 18th.
02/04/14
Third and final day of shooting.
The music room stayed free for us to use for shooting. Unfortunately today didn't go as we planned. After planning with the make up team to meet at Preston park at 10AM for shooting, there was no sign of them or explanation as to why they hadn't appeared. For an hour we couldn't begin shooting because of our heavy reliance on make up. At 11AM one girl from the make up team appeared. She told us she was told that she had to be on set at 11AM, but the rest of the team didn't show up and she was left alone to handle our make up. This set us back a full hour at the least. When we finally began to shoot, J.R appeared and told us that we would have to leave by 1PM because they needed to set up the room for a booking the next day.
