Sucker was decidedly the best, and so I proceeded with it.

• Wayne's World

• Superbad

• Pineapple Express

• Booksmart

• Kevin and Perry

47 Albion Pl

Crescent

Salford M5 4NL

Did not get permission :'-(

Female early 20s - any race

Male early 20s - any race

"The camera faces objects or performers from one direction along 180 degrees. As long as the camera stays facing that direction and doesn’t switch to the opposite side of that imaginary line, the actors and objects will face the proper screen direction. If you cross the line, then the characters and objects will face the wrong screen direction. By maintaining this rule, you maintain continuity in the edit and maintain consistent screen direction in the geometrical layout of the scene." (Lancaster, 2019)

Crisp, M. (1997). Directing Single Camera Drama. Taylor & Francis Group.

Irving, D. K., & Rea, P.W. (2013). Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video. Taylor & Francis Group.

Rabiger, M., & Hurbis-Cherrier, M. (2013). Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics. Taylor & Francis Group.

Lancaster, K. (2019). Basic Cinematography: A Creative Guide to Visual Storytelling. Taylor & Francis Group.

Putting a lot of effort into pre-production naturally equips a director with everything he/she needs not only to shoot a good project but to ensure the shoot goes as smoothly and efficiently as possible. With this in mind I made sure to give pre-production as much attention as I could, particularly the aspects pertaining to co-ordination of the shoot. I made sure to have a clear and concrete shot list and schedule, drawing mainly on the storyboard to do so, so that we wouldn't spend any precious time on set doing even further planning. The storyboard was a particularly useful starting point, as it helped "clear the mind when deciding exactly what it is the audience needs to see." (Crisp, 1997) Once we were shooting I knew exactly everything we needed to do and when.

I accrued cast and crew about a week in advance, consisting then of myself, three actors, a production assistant and a boom operator. Before the shoot I held a rehearsal on teams so that the actors knew what I wanted out of their characters. A script can be interpreted in so many ways before it has been acted out, so this was extremely valuable. The actors' initial reading of the script naturally didn't completely align with the mood I was intending and the subtext of the scene, and the rehearsal allowed me to redirect them and get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses. An important part of directing actors is a collaborative spirit. Without prescriptively telling them what to do or demonstrating how to deliver their lines, one has to work with them to get the best version of the script. (Cohn, 2021, p. 104)

Due to my boom operator becoming unavailable very close to shooting, I had to assume the roles of lighting, sound and camera all myself. While having to split my attention between three important roles (particularly sound and camera) definitely compromised my abilities I feel that I did the best I could given the circumstances and that the simplicity of the scene meant I could get away with it.

I referred zealously to the storyboard and shot list to keep the shoot operating smoothly. ("To accomplish the day’s work, the set must be run like a military operation." (Irving & Rea, 2013))Shooting in a non-linear fashion was also essential in keeping things moving, as I spend any more time than necessary framing and moving equipment. As well as this I used the continuity log sheet to help me sort through the footage later. I ticked off each shot on the storyboard as we progressed, giving me a good idea of where we were at.

I gave continuous feedback and guidance to actors as we went to ensure the script came to life properly.

I used the BlackMagic 6k pro and three lenses of varying lengths for camera, a single Aputure LED and a reflector kit for lighting, and a Rode ntg-2 microphone with a Zoom H8 recorder for sound.

Overall the shoot was successful. We wrapped before sunset and I came away happy with the footage I had.

I made sure to keep a backup of all the footage and the adobe premiere project file on a hard drive (also essential for working on different devices), and went through each file naming them all after their respective shots and takes so that I would not have to repeatedly sift through all of the footage looking for the right file.

Several shots in the final edit do not flow seamlessly into one another, despite my best efforts. In the future I would keep a much closer eye on these things while on set to save me from having to make awkward cuts/crops to accommodate for continuity errors.

Start much earlier

A lot of what went wrong in pre-production could have been rectified had I more time leading up to the shoot. I made things more difficult for myself by leaving it so long to get the wheels really turning.

Review footage and allow for reshoots

A lot of footage I wrote down in the log sheet as being of high quality did not play as well when I watched them afterwards. Had I been able to schedule time for reshoots I would have been able to improve on the footage I was dissatisfied with.