Production Log

I decided to shoot the film as a three day shoot to get through the work. We shot on the 24th May, The 26th May and the 27th May. I sorted out the shooting script so that I would shoot all of the shots with each of the actors on one day. The first day I dedicated to shooting scenes between Abbie, Kennedi and  Steve for the first day as this was the only time that Kennedi and Abbie were available to film.

Production Log - 24th May 2013 5pm - 10pm

I met Steve Normandale and Abigail Chilton in Bradford at 4pm so that we could start shooting at 5pm. I wanted a bright setting for the footage in the park and then magic hour or dusk for the shots where we see Steve at the grave and to finish filming for the day at my house. For today I used the 24 - 70mm F2.8 lens as I wanted a shallow aperture and a wide aperture.

This did not go to plan, the actors were brilliant once on set but we all missed the train which instantly put us an hour behind schedule, which meant the original end time of 9pm got pushed to 10pm. We started shooting in the park and I set them up in the park field and gave them some props to play with and ideas for them to think about. While they practised I set up the shots and filmed them through practise as I wanted it to feel more personal and to not feel stage. I think this work well as the actors picked up and relaxed a lot more as we didn't go through the clapper board and whole set shout out. It also meant we could film undetected by the public around which was easier to do. I was filming with the Canon 550D and for this shot I didn't need sound so it was a skeletal equipment shot which made it quicker and easier to film.

We then went up Heptonstall and filmed the death shot in which we see the ghost, this went very well and I liked the colouring and mise-en-scene. I also thought the acting worked very well and the scene allows the audience to easily realise she has died.

We then went back to my house and shot the scenes in which we see Steve come into Mary's house. I wanted to show they had been together for an amount of time but this was un-doable. I found it hard to film as my niece was being challenging. After we finished these scenes, I then shot a few littles extras scenes including the proposal, some shots of them waiting under a street lamp, at the train station and on the train I felt that these were good but the film had to be cut down so i didn't use most of these.

Production Log - 25th May 2013 2pm - 6pm

On this shoot I was doing the inserts of Steve Normandale in which we see him walking to what appears to be Mary's house but is actually to her grave throughout the film. Today went well, using the Canon 550D and using the 50mm, F1.8 lens as I wanted these shots to be more personal.

Throughout the day my tripod broke so I had to work out how to do most of the shots handheld and this were when I wanted some weird angles, for example when he is sat at the bench, I did the shot lying on my back as I wanted a worms eye view shot of him as I felt it would give him more power as he had just proposed to Mary.

Production Log - 27th May 2013 2pm - 4pm

Today I shot the scenes for the party where we see George cheat on Mary with Jessica (Portrayed by Sohpia Kelly) I wanted this to be lit nice and really dark as I wanted it to look like a climatic ending when it wasn't the end at all, as a twist for the audience. I asked Danielle to be my lighting engineer for the day and we set up a 11 piece sequence which all went in a loop.

Within this scene I feel that I should of done a few more takes as bits of it were still out of focus and I felt it could have been done a lot better. For this scene I used the 50mm, F1.8 as I wanted it to feel drunk and to get some flare of the lights as if it was in a real nightclub.