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Last Thing I Heard - Critical Evaluation

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Last Thing I Heard - Critical Evaluation

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Week 3 – 2nd Filming Week:

01/04/19:

We started the day at Kelsey’s flat filming Scene 1, where Lindsay wakes up and gets ready for her interview. We encountered no issues with the camera, although we did have to be careful filming in such a small/cramped space with loads of wires and stands on the floor. We also had to be careful with the mirror shots as to not get any of the crew or equipment in the reflections. Fortunately, we had set ourselves enough time on the shoot to factor in any changes of shot, lighting or of set dress. In the afternoon, we set up to film the exterior of The Old Fire Station building which was to be dressed up to be the police station. The Director wanted to film a different doorway instead of the one we had planned to use, so I contacted the site manager to check if he would be okay with the late change. He said it was fine as long as we were careful of staff members entering and exiting the premises. This shoot took a little longer than anticipated as we had to shoot when members of the public were not in the foreground of the camera frame.

02/04/19:

Today’s shoot took place on location at the café. The entirety of this shoot was to film the scene where the audience discovers Lindsay has been kidnapped by Hayley, bound and gagged in a secret flat. This shoot was a bit of a challenge for me as there were some baby toys scattered across the floor and it was my job to take pictures of the set and position the toys in their correct position when we changed the camera positions as we had to avoid any continuity issues. The shoot tended to drag but it was important that we didn’t wrap up until the Director was pleased with the quality of the footage. We did suffer a small scare as when we were reviewing some of the footage back, we noticed that some of the files for one shot in particular, had become corrupt so we needed to reshoot that specific scene again. Aside from that, the rest of the shoot went fine and our hard work and effort was evident, given how exhausted we were after it had finished.

03/04/19:

For this day, we were back at the café, but we were filming the exchange between Hayley and Danni in the main serving area. We encountered slight issues with cars and pedestrians in the background as it would affect continuity and also having people looking into the camera which would ruin the ‘film illusion’. We also had to be wary as the windows were showing some of the crew present in the reflections, which the camera was picking up. Our shoot still went fine however and we expressed our gratitude to the café owner for letting us film there the past couple days.

04/04/19:

On the final day of filming, we were back at James’ house to film one last scene and also do a couple re-shoots due to the Ronin not working when we were last there. From an artistic perspective, the scene at the kitchen table between Liam & Spencer was well dressed with props and miscellaneous items which complimented the scene well. We had to be careful of continuity as Liam’s character was eating food throughout the dialogue exchange and we had to make sure Lewis was timing his eating at the right times when all the different shots were being recorded. Once that scene was complete, we filmed the Ronin shots from the scenes where Spencer got violent with Lindsay and also when Liam runs after Lindsay in the driveway. It was crucial that all the little details regarding set dress were 100% the same as the last time we filmed that scene. The Director expressed his delight regarding the Ronin shots as he felt it was a great alternative to filming on the tripod.

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Week 2 – 1st filming week:

25/03/19:

For our first day of filming, we were doing an evening shoot outside the Student Union as we wanted the location to look like a nightclub for one of the flashback scenes. It was also my first day of being Script Supervisor/Logger and I was prepared to get stuck in. I had been asked to do the clapper board however for the shoot and it was getting in the way of my logging as I needed to fill out the logging form with technical info regarding the take (shot, sound file, time of recording) and also fill in the details for the clapper board which I felt got in the way. There were no issues with the shoot however some of the crew weren’t prepared for how cold it was and knew that we would need to be more prepared next time.

26/03/19:

On Tuesday we were shooting on location at a cast member’s flat for a night shoot. We were a little behind schedule as the traffic was bad which meant we were setting up the scene later than we hoped and we encountered another problem when the Ronin was not functioning properly for a bit so we had to wait for it to become operational again. We wanted to shoot the Ronin shots first as they were the harder shots to film. After the Ronin started to work, we had no other obstacles regarding filming from any of the equipment. For logging that night, I felt a lot more comfortable with it as I had enough time to get all the shot feedback from the Sound Operator and Director written down and I feel I did my job successfully.

27/03/19:

On Wednesday we were on location at the Director’s house all day as we had quite a few scenes to shoot using the different areas of the location. For the scene involving the character Danni, we were slightly delayed because the lighting equipment was picking up too many shadows and some of the files on the camera became corrupted, which needed to be re-shot. We also were trying to set up the jib safely which took a bit of time too. We then moved to a separate bedroom to film two of Spencer’s scenes. The first was a short one where Spencer receives and reacts to the message Danni sent him in the previous scene. The scene was not too difficult to shoot as the lighting was not an issue and the set was dressed well during the set up. The other scene with Spencer was were he attacks Lindsay, a scene that was quite lengthy in terms of filming. For that scene, we had a lot of various camera shots to film along with the blocking of the scene needing to be accurate, due to the positions the camera and lights were set up. Again, there wasn’t many issues and we managed to get the scene done in the time slot we allocated for it. For the final shot, it involved Liam and Lindsay having a dialogue exchange that led into the scene where Liam tries to attack her. The shot was filmed on the driveway of the house, in the early hours of the night. In regards to filming, the only issue we had was that we were filming by a busy road so the sounds of cars were greatly affecting the sound that was being recorded for the shots. However, we managed to get the shot done and the Director was pleased with the footage we captured. Overall, it was a very successful shoot however the one negative from it was that we were missing the camera lens needed for filming with the Ronin – due to a mix up at the equipment store – which meant that the shots we wanted the Ronin for would have to be rescheduled for a different day, a decision the Director was not too satisfied with.

28/03/19:

Thursday was quite a tiring day for filming as shortly after an afternoon shoot on campus, we had a night shoot taking place on location by Salford Quays. The afternoon shoot involved Hayley being filmed for her plea towards the finding of Lindsay. The shot was quite lengthy in terms of needing to change the set dress and also the actors needing to position themselves correctly on their marker for the camera. Another factor towards the shoot being a lengthy one was the change on filming with the camera on the dolly tracks to the tripod and the different changes to tech. For the evening shoot at the Quays, the security at the car park were very cooperative with us in terms of the agreed availability of the car park and the space needed for the shots. In terms of obstacles that could affect the shooting schedule, one of the cast members had to leave early which meant we needed to get their shots done first and also that the footage captured was deemed suitable enough to be in contention for the final edit. The recording of sound was a slight issue as some atmospheric noises made the audio unusable, such as; the passing Metrolink trams, cars and also the noise from a nearby pub. However, we got the shot done and everyone was happy with the work we had done, not just that day but in reflection of the whole first filming week. For me, I felt very comfortable with logging and did not feel too under pressure anymore.

29/03/19:

Today we all had the day off to rest as we had been doing many late shoots and the Director thought it best for us to take it easy and let us get our energy back after a long, stressful week.

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Week 1: Pre-Production

18/03/19:

At the start of the week, we all met each other and got acquainted with who was doing what roles. We then did a full script read through so that we would know the events of the script and what would be asked of us. As my role is Script Supervisor/Logger, I consulted the Director about what roles/small jobs I could do during pre-production as my main role wouldn’t be taking place until the filming weeks. I was assigned to assist the Locations Manager as there were many locations that had to be sorted ahead of filming.  I contacted the building manager of University House regarding filming outside the Student Union for an evening shoot. After we were dismissed in the afternoon, the Director and Locations Manager were both very pleased regarding the work I helped towards today. Myself, the Director and Locations Manager all went to a flat that belonged to one of the cast members and we did a recce of the kitchen and hallway to see if it would be suitable for one of the interior shoots.

19/03/19:

Started off today by accompanying the Locations Manager for recces with various benches around Salford Quays and MediaCity. As part of the recce, I took pictures of the various benches on my phone to show the Director so we could have alternative options if we were unable to get permission for the bench by the car park that we intended to film in. For the afternoon, I started emailing Salford council about obtaining a filming licence for the walkway by Pendleton police station. However, I found out that the price was quite excessive to what we were intending and the Director made the decision to turn down the offer as we wanted to be sensible with the budget we were given. Following this decision, the Director decided to explore other options towards finding a location suitable for the police station scene. There was some good news after though as I had received an email from the building manager and he had given the group permission to film at the SU for an evening shoot.

20/03/19:

Today I contacted many business and land owners regarding the location of the bench at Salford Quays. After many emails and phone calls later, I discovered that the bench area is owned by Salford council so I started emailing them regarding the location and what price we may have to pay regarding a filming licence. There was some good news though as the land owners of the car park near the bench gave our film group permission to shoot. This gave a positive boost to the group as we were getting closer to having all our filming locations sorted.

21/03/19:

On Thursday, I accompanied the tech crew to a café for a recce of the location ahead of filming there in the filming week. Whilst the Director and tech crew were blocking the cast members for the scenes, I continued emailing members of Salford council regarding the land of the bench of Salford Quays. I sent them a risk assessment for the scenes that would take place there and also a copy of a Public Liability Insurance document which stated that the university would cover any potential damages to the communal area. During the wait for the replies to my emails, I continued researching online what a Script Supervisor/Logger does so that I would be prepared for my tasks during filming.

22/03/19:

To end the week, I had received permission from Salford council to use the bench area and was also informed that the council would give us a filming licence for free when they heard that we are university students. This news had made the group more positive and reassured as we didn’t have to worry about losing a big percentage of our budget. I also had to arrange a meeting with the site manager of The Old Fire Station opposite university campus the following week as I needed to specify where we would be filming on that location. My week of being an assistant to the Location Manager had ended and I was ready to get stuck in with being a Script Supervisor/Logger for the remainder of the film project.