the weekend from hell
It was always going to be ambitious. The amount of organisation required to run a film set is phenomenal under normal cirmcumstances, and our circumstances were anything but normal. I wish that we could have had longer at the venue than what we did. I wish that the actresses could have had more time to train. I wish that we could have had more extras. And I really wish that I could have had more experience with what I was doing. But wishing doesn't make it so... so we made the best of what we did have.
I'm not even sure I want to write about what has transpired over the last four days but it was all part of the adventure. I knew there would be good days and bad days; and as much as there have been moments where I have wanted to scream and cry, there have been some moments that I want to remember because they were precious and I want to hold onto them.
The greater part of the weekends filming was about the Roller Derby and so Penny took primary directing while I stayed very much behind the scenes with the film crew. It gave me a chance to get to know who I was working with and an opportunity to learn a bit about the technical side of things. I often found myself talking with Rob (Director of Photography) about camera angles and shooting styles or even thrashing out ideas for future scenes and how we might like to film them. Between takes I would chat with Craig and Amber (Sound Engineers and Boom Operators) or Michael (Lighting Technician), it wasn't always about audio levels or ambiant lighting but it certainly kept us sane.
The moment that stands out as the highlight of the weekend was Sunday evening. The end of another long and tiring day and we need to film one of the most intense moments of the entire film. There's no dialogue involved, everything is delivered in the emotion and the expression. Working with Imogen and Logan was both exciting and interesting. Last weekend they were playful and relaxed, this weekend they were serious and stressed. The set up of the shot involved Logan having to skate into frame, transition on her wheels and hit her mark without hitting Imogen in the process and that was the easy part! The hard part was what followed.
The final shot of the whole film, the culmination of the journey that has brought these two characters to this moment. Both Logan and Imogen were practically vibrating with pent up energy and tension; during the first couple of takes all of it had to simply be released and sometimes it was frightening in its intensity. When they needed to take breaks I would watch them, fascinated in how they would chose to step out of the role for a few moments. Imogen would walk away and sit down but would always welcome company; I sat and spoke with her about how she had created the backstory of her character that informed her of how she should react in any given situation, including the one we were playing out. Logan was almost the polar opposite; we would yell cut and she would put in her earphones and skate around the track by herself. She radiated an attitude that told you to keep your distance; I made an agreement with her: I would ask 'are you okay?', 'are you ready?', 'do you need anything?' and all I required was a one word answer to whatever question I would ask and then I would leave her be. I got a brief, but thankful, nod in return. It's been a crash course in Psychology 101 this weekend!
We got through the scene. On the last take Penny didn't call cut immediately, we wanted to see where the two of them would take things off script. It involved a lunge, a tumble, a brief wrestle on the floor, and two actresses running off the set. We got them back and had them do a piece for behind the scenes, which included hugs, laughter, photographs and Imogen's exclamation of 'Oh. My. God. You're actually human!' when I finally let the tears fall.
...
I'm not even sure I want to write about what has transpired over the last four days but it was all part of the adventure. I knew there would be good days and bad days; and as much as there have been moments where I have wanted to scream and cry, there have been some moments that I want to remember because they were precious and I want to hold onto them.
The greater part of the weekends filming was about the Roller Derby and so Penny took primary directing while I stayed very much behind the scenes with the film crew. It gave me a chance to get to know who I was working with and an opportunity to learn a bit about the technical side of things. I often found myself talking with Rob (Director of Photography) about camera angles and shooting styles or even thrashing out ideas for future scenes and how we might like to film them. Between takes I would chat with Craig and Amber (Sound Engineers and Boom Operators) or Michael (Lighting Technician), it wasn't always about audio levels or ambiant lighting but it certainly kept us sane.
The moment that stands out as the highlight of the weekend was Sunday evening. The end of another long and tiring day and we need to film one of the most intense moments of the entire film. There's no dialogue involved, everything is delivered in the emotion and the expression. Working with Imogen and Logan was both exciting and interesting. Last weekend they were playful and relaxed, this weekend they were serious and stressed. The set up of the shot involved Logan having to skate into frame, transition on her wheels and hit her mark without hitting Imogen in the process and that was the easy part! The hard part was what followed.
The final shot of the whole film, the culmination of the journey that has brought these two characters to this moment. Both Logan and Imogen were practically vibrating with pent up energy and tension; during the first couple of takes all of it had to simply be released and sometimes it was frightening in its intensity. When they needed to take breaks I would watch them, fascinated in how they would chose to step out of the role for a few moments. Imogen would walk away and sit down but would always welcome company; I sat and spoke with her about how she had created the backstory of her character that informed her of how she should react in any given situation, including the one we were playing out. Logan was almost the polar opposite; we would yell cut and she would put in her earphones and skate around the track by herself. She radiated an attitude that told you to keep your distance; I made an agreement with her: I would ask 'are you okay?', 'are you ready?', 'do you need anything?' and all I required was a one word answer to whatever question I would ask and then I would leave her be. I got a brief, but thankful, nod in return. It's been a crash course in Psychology 101 this weekend!
We got through the scene. On the last take Penny didn't call cut immediately, we wanted to see where the two of them would take things off script. It involved a lunge, a tumble, a brief wrestle on the floor, and two actresses running off the set. We got them back and had them do a piece for behind the scenes, which included hugs, laughter, photographs and Imogen's exclamation of 'Oh. My. God. You're actually human!' when I finally let the tears fall.
...