pre-production - Last June
STORYBOARDING
I put a lot of work into my storyboard to try and understand all the factors making up each shot, including location, lighting, blocking, and camera placement. This deliberation helped me realise that the initial location we had planned to shoot in would not be ideal for the film. As a compact top-level apartment facing into the sun, there was minimal space and minimal control of light. Hence, after discussing with the director, we decided to change locations a few weeks before our shooting date.
While the storyboard was drawn with the initial location in mind, it still served as a strong visual foundation for the film.
Visual Inspo Deck
As soon as I got onto the project I began searching the internet for visual inspiration to build mood boards and communicate my visual understanding with the director. I used ShotDeck as a primary site for finding stills.
Shot List/Shooting schedule
After creating a shot list, describing each shot and providing estimated set-up and shoot times, I worked with the Producer and 1st A.D. to rearrange these into shooting schedules. These were essential to the fluidity and success of the production and would act as my first point of call on set to see what we were filming next, in order to prepare each set-up.
LighTing Plans
After researching the best free ways to create lighting plans I decided to make mine using draw.io, which made making floor plans very easy. Before each shooting day, I would print out the lighting plans and talk over them with my gaffer and camera assistant/grip. This meant that I didn’t have to spend as much time delegating work between set-ups and we could transition between scenes quickly.
Location Recce
With only two locations in the film, I was able to scout both of these before shooting to plan out final blocking decisions, consider available lighting and make sure all technical aspects of power and safety were considered.
PRe-Vis / Rehearsals
We were fortunate to be able to rehearse with the actors and shoot pre-visualisations in the house we would be filming in. This allowed me to workshop and plan intricate camera movements while the actors could simultaneously practice and block out their actions in the space.
