PRODUCTION: CORNWALL SHOOTS (DAYS 2-4)

Over the course of our shoot in Cornwall we had a few issues but it all worked out in the end.

On the first day when we were traveling down to Cornwall we had planned to arrive at the location and then after sorting out the place we were staying at we were going to go around and film GV's. However, due to delays on the train we didn't arrive until late at night so we weren't able to do this.

Victoria worked the schedule out and it changed to the following:

Day 2 - Bodmin GV's
Day 3 - Tanya in Bodmin, Tanya interviews and Dad interviews
Day 4 - Live stream and travel back to Kent

Slight change to the original schedule:

Original:

Updated:

Although now we have slightly less time, I spoke with Victoria and told her I felt I could get all this filmed, I did explain I'd require an hour to set up the kit for interviews and live stream. When talking about filming the GV's around Bodmin we agreed to do these handheld/shoulder rig and this would mean less kit to carry around and also easier set up and de-rig during the GV's as it would be nice and quick and we'll be moving around a lot. Although we'll still be using the tripod for the interviews as we'll need to change the shots and I can't risk the footage being shaky or attempt to film a 15-30 minute interview handheld while also changing shot and recording the audio.

This also comes from my research into being a DOP from Rollo Hollins when I asked about planning out shoots, Rollo explained:

"A lot of work was done between myself and Rob, the producer, too. Aligning budgets and scope, schedules and shoot plans to figure out how it would be doable and where we had to compromise. Film making is compromise - best to relish the problem solving. With a ‘low budget’ project there is usually a lot of that." (Rollo Hollins)

Compromising is something we've had to do through this shoot already, with changing the schedule on Victoria and Jemma's side and me having to change the way I'll be filming the GV's in order to make it easier and help keep us on track with the schedule.



Day 2:
Through the first day in Cornwall we had a simple set up, camera, mic and shoulder rig easily moveable and made set up quick and easy. The reference images from my shot list helped me find the relevant locations but as well the communication between Jemma, Victoria and myself was kept up throughout the shoot as we all travelled through Bodmin and found relevant locations to film which showed both the town but also how rural the location is:

Through the shoot I found little ways to help get different footage and used everything around me to help. For example I found using the public seats around the town helped me get stabilized footage or using my scarf helped me elevate the camera or tilt the lens enough to get the shot right. 

We ended up finding the sign "Welcome to Bodmin", the town hall, town centre, church and also some rural areas including a small park just outside the town. We also got footage of Bodmins prison as it's apparently a large tourist attraction to the area. Jemma also wanted to get footage of a local bakery with Cornish pasties in the window as it's a very classic thing to find in Cornwall and Jemma wanted this to help show the location. 

The shoot went really well considering we hadn't been to the location prior. We got excellent footage that really shows the area which Tanya lives in. Jemma wanted to get footage of a lake that runs just outside of Bodmin town which we got the following day prior to filming with Tanya. 

Day 3:

Starting this day Jemma and I went on to find the river she wanted to get footage of while we waited for Tanya to come and meet us in the town. Once we finally met up with Tanya we filmed her walking around the town and also in a park, originally in the feedback for the script Jemma and Victoria were told we needed to see Tanya outside of her house and in the life around the town but the girls found that Tanya doesn't actually go outside or get involved with many people in her town because all her friends live away. So she's on her own when she's here. The easiest way to show this was with her walking on her own, however, I hadn't through through operating sound and camera and this proved VERY difficult and with me nearly falling a once or twice. 

This is something I really didn't prepare for and I'd even come across this in my research when speaking to DOP Rollo Hollins about handheld footage he explained:

"I love handheld - prob too much. And it can be done very really badly... It takes years to learn to operate hand held well - some people naturally do it better than others. Really worth looking at a lot of movies to ingrain a feel. There is a very good making of film about A place beyond the pines, that goes into the operating of the opening scene very well" (Rollo Hollins)

This experienced DOP told me how hard handheld can be in terms of moving and from that I should have done much more practice having known I would be doing it and this is a failure on my part, the footage is still usable but I could have saved myself a lot of time and even made the footage better by just practicing more and being more prepared for this section of the shoot. 

When it came to shooting Tanya's own interview and the interview with her Pete (her Father), we filmed Tanya's interview in her bedroom as the location was perfect. Tanya's clothes rail with her drag looks was at the end of the bed so me and Jemma dressed this up a bit more. Below is a screenshot from the footage of Tanya's interview:

So with this, we put Tanya at the end of the bed where we would be comfortable, brought the clothes rail into shot more, added her jacket at the end and then behind her, all the photos and notes were on the other side of her room so me and Jemma worked out which ones made more sense and built up the wall behind her. All this was so we see who this character is, once this was done I lit the set. George Burt, Lee Thomas and Rollo Hollins all told me different ways to lit an interview but the main type everyone went back to 3 point lighting set up. However, this location was flooded with natural lighting so I added in only 2 lights, one white key light with a defuser to bring out the detail in Tanya's face and then a fill light with an orange gel to bring a bit of warmth to the scene.

The interviews we got with Tanya worked very well. The advice that Sam Creamer had given me about changing the shot during the interview to get a range of coverage and shots worked really well. Me and Jemma communicated throughout the interview and when Jemma wanted me to go close she'd let me know and it helped get a good range of shots. It was all dependant on the question being asked. By the time we'd finished the interview the lighting from outside was going due to the time so we agreed I'd get relevant cutaways of Tanya's room tomorrow when we come back for the live stream filming.

With Tanya and Pete's interview, this again went really well. Lighting was a slight issue as the batteries kept dying so we'd have to change them a fair enough which did cause us to go over. I've noted I need to find a way to power the light via mains electricity if possible.

Day 4:

This entire day was filmed handheld. Due to running slightly tighter on schedule I gave Jemma my Sony A7S with a 50mm Prime Lens so she could film cutaways while I set up the audio kit and camera as well as filming different shots of Tanya getting into her Drag look. For this I did change between lenses, I used the 50mm Macro lens to get an extreme close up on Tanya's eyes while she applied make up and also close shots of her make up, brushes, etc. We also filmed all the outfits, posters, her time table for College, her art work and anything else which looked relevant or was relevant to Tanya.

I changed between the Sony A7S and the Canon C100 as the 50mm Prime lens was on the Sony and it was quicker than changing the lenses over. When it came to filming the live stream, I was stood up filming this for the entire time so there are parts that as shakey as I had to adjust the camera as it was very weighted. But overall this all worked really well and the final look for the footage turned out really well.

(All photos taken by Victoria Simmonds)