Production

Shoot days

1)  19.03.14

Today's shoot was at Cuerden Valley Park. Scenes 16 and 17.

It was a pretty simple shoot. I already knew the location for 17 as it had been scouted beforehand. I chose the location for 16 on the way to 17s. I originally wanted to shoot 16 on a street but when we arrived at the park I thought a shot on a bridge would work quite well.

Really happy with a weird shot I got which starts with just Sayuri and Takeshi's heads in bottom frame then they stand up. The idea came to me when it turned out I couldn't get the shot of Takeshi standing into frame like I managed to at the test shoot. 

Today I learnt that the 12mm lens is my best friend. I love everything it does. 

Today I decided that I don't want any close ups in my film.

I became quite obsessed with lines and symmetry and I feel this is going to be a major problem throughout the rest of the shoot. I just hope Victoria doesn't kill me before we finish shooting.

SHOT OF THE DAY

By this point I had become obsessed with the 12 and wide shots. It seemed to solve a lot of problems and also produced an image that was closest to what I saw in head.

In this shot Sayuri is struggling to catch up to Takeshi. She has to run every couple of steps in order to keep up. It represents a turning point for her. She is finally going after what she wants. The shot is wide because it represents how vast the world is to Sayuri. She has been feeling small and insignificant but all that is about to change now because she is finally on the right path.

2)  22.03.14

Today's shoot was at Bleasdale Cottages. Scenes 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 20 and 21.

Today was quite stressful. I felt like I was somewhat prepared, but I tried to do too much at once. I had scouted the location previously. Had also test shooted scene 5 so was prepared for it. 

The only thing I hadn't sorted beforehand were the cast members playing mother and father. I hadn't managed to audition either of them as Ronan was a last minute choice for father and Lisa had been used to replace a drop out. 

Felt myself running around quite a bit. It was tightly scheduled day and I struggled to play both Director and AD. Somehow managed to keep it together. 

Wasn't very happy with the acting for scene 5. Felt like they overplayed it and I wasn't sure how to go about voicing my desires. I learnt that as a director you need to be able to tell actors exactly what you want from them or what's the point. As actors it's their job to fit the needs to the director. I shouldn't feel like I'm insulting or patronizing them.  

I figured I could blag the acting, her parents are supposed to represent The Western world anyway. It seduces you with dreams of a better life. Tells you it can protect you, provide for you, all you have to be is hardworking and enthusiastic. It's over the top. Its almost sickening. 

Today I learnt that 'you can't do it all'. I've pretty much had to be my own and only crew for Auteur so far in terms of creative aspects and also Producing. It would have helped to have an assistant director on set. I struggled to be my own AD. I wanted to spend as much time as possible perfecting shots.

I also learnt that not everything goes according to plan. You can't have everything exactly as you want it. You sometimes have to compromise and improvise.

SHOT (S) OF THE DAY

This is one of the first shots I imagined when I initially had the idea for the film. If I try to start and explain what everything means and represents I won't stop. But I think whatever you take from it will be right in it's own way. I like how her head blocks the food her parents have made for her.

I'm glad I was persistent and made this shot happen. It's one of my favorites. Like all the costumes in the film this one was hand picked by myself. I thought it worked really well for the scene. Sayuri has a kind of dark innocence about her and it shows. I have the black and white in the background to represent lightness and darkness, Happiness and sadness, 

3) 24.03.14

Today's shoot was also at Bleasdale cottages. Scenes 4, 7, 10, 13. 

The shoot was pretty straight forward. I had already had a test shoot at the location so knew exactly what to expect. All shots had been thoroughly thought about except 1. The shot where Takeshi comes to the door with the phone. At first I wanted 2 high angle ots shot. but when I realised I could get all the action with 1 side shot I went for that instead.

Because the shots in reality are kind of simple and boring, I wanted to make use of production design and composition. I arranged the cast and props in playful ways to spice things up. I quite liked the idea of symmetry and it seems it's going to be a constant theme in the film.

Today I learnt that there are only so many takes you can do before cast start to behave like robots. I really wanted to get Sayuri's hair in between ornaments on the shelf and it took quite a few takes. I learnt that sometimes you can't get exactly what you want. Asuka started to grow tired of repeating the same thing so I called it off after 8 takes. I would have gone for 15...

SHOT OF THE DAY

This shot was lovingly arranged. Some shots I can explain why and how I did it, others I can't. I already feel like everything I've typed doesn't really represent what I'm trying to say. Also I think a lot of the shots speak for themselves. I liked how her head made a heart shape with the lamp so chose this angle. 

4) 02.04.14

Today's shoot was in Rivington, somewhere in the forest. Scenes 3, 6, 9, 15.

The shoot was ok. I expected it to be to be better. When we arrived the location looked a little different to what it did at the time we went on the location scout. I had to improvise quite a few shots which wasn't too bad. I tried to make use of the location and shot in places I thought looked interesting and unearthly.

I had to cut the shoot short due to the weather. It was really cold and the actors were struggling. Then it started to rain a bit so had equipment to think about as well. This meant we couldn't shoot 15 and I had to make do with what I had gotten. I didn't mind haven't to end the shoot early. It had gotten to a point where the location started to get ugly almost... don't know why.

Today I learnt that you shouldn't force it if it's not happening. The last you want for the auteur module is to have something you feel isn't yours. If your heart isn't in it, it shows. I'm kind of glad the shoot had to end early.

SHOT OF THE DAY

5) 08.04.14

Today's shoot was at Cuerden Valley Park again. Scene 1.

The shoot was a bit mental. I had put aside the idea of capturing a sunrise and decided to get a sunset instead. We arrived at the park in the late afternoon. On the way to the hilly bit where we'd be filming, I saw a bridge in the distance and insisted we film there. I seem to do this a lot. I'll spot an area that looks like it'll look good on camera and we have to see if does !.

The bridge shot took longer than anticipated. We kept being interrupted by dogs and walkers and at some point a hoard of schoolchildren. By the time we were getting to the hills the sun had already began setting and had disappeared behind some clouds. I'm quite determined. I still made everyone trek to the hills. Even if the sun was gone we could shoot something. On the way there I saw a funky looking tree so decided to place Asuka there in a fitting position and see what it looked like. 

When we got to the hills the sun had gone to bed. It was still light so I decided to just go for the shot. It looked quite nice. In fact I think I prefer it without the sun. Makes it seem less pretentious. 

Today I learnt everything I learnt in the first 4 shoot days. I realised that this film has become like a journey. It has been documenting my emotions, my mind set at the very moments I decide to improvise a shot. Quite a bit of this film has been improvised and it feels kind of right. I've been trying to go with the atmosphere/vibes and feelings around me during the shoot. Rather than trying to create something from scratch, I've kind of taken what's already there and arranged it in a new way. Once the location is right and the cast are right and the mise-en-scene is right everything else just seems to fall into place. 

SHOT(S) OF THE DAY

6) 09.04.14

Today's shoot was in the Media Factory soundstage. Scene 18.

The shoot today was quite interesting. Wobs had helped us make a rig for the dance scene. It took a while to get the three spotlights on the dancer like I wanted. I was very happy with the end result. It looked very close to what I had imagined..the rest just had to be done in post. 

The only problem was how long the dance took. It was over 2 and a half minutes so each time the dancer finished a take she needed a break. This set us back quite a bit and it started getting late so I couldn't get all shots I had planned. 

I've learnt not to get annoyed that things aren't going or don't go to plan anymore. I've learnt to take everything as a bit of a blessing in disguise. Things just seem to fall into place for some weird reason. It's like I'm watching things happen rather than intervening. This isn't necessarily a good thing but I felt like it had to happen. I can't really explain it.

SHOT(S) OF THE DAY