The Spider and the Fly: Working Log/Diary

Monday the 7th of March

Today our group (small screen productions) started production on our first film! Titled:The Spider and The Fly, written and Directed by Danniella Cooper. I was happy to finally be done with paperwork and the pre production stages and get onto the exciting part of film making! We were scheduled to start a 11 and finish at 2, heading to Glebe in Norton via mini bus with the cast and crew from base were we collected the equipment. It was a short shoot that day we only needed to complete 4 scenes and we worked efficiently getting back to base just before 2.

On this film my Job Role was D.O.P (Director of Photography) this meant my job was to operate the camera and create shot lists, which I brought to set to help us get an idea of what shots we needed to get. Fortunately the weather was pleasant allowing us to get the required scenes done. Me and Harvey (Sound Operator) had to work very closely, some of the shots that I was required to get where challenging, specifically the over the shoulder shots of the charterers talking in the car, as there was no room in there at all. I felt that our first shoot day went well, the team worked really well together and I a enjoyed the experience.

 Just a few of today's behind the scenes pictures: (Credit to who ever took them)

Tuesday the 8th of March

Today was our second shoot day for our first film: 'The Spider and the Fly.' It was a really long day we had 9 scenes to shoot in just one day, all taking place at the same location of Danniella's House which was easy to get to as it is relatively close to base, despite this one of the actors was still late setting us back a little but it wasn't to much of an issue. The scene's took place in the character Isabel's bedroom staring her self and her parents. Once again as DOP I found my self in lots of tight cramped situations as there was very little room for the 5 of us crew and the 3 cast members to move in the bedroom especially once we had the lights, tripod and boom mic set up. There was a scene in which the protagonist Isabel was receiving text messages from Josh, in this scene Danniella actually sent Taisha (Isabel) the texts her character would be receiving from Josh from her phone so that Taisha could react to the messages better, she also used this method to give Taisha stage directions. I thought this was a really good and creative way to give the actors direction. Well done Cooper. 

It was a very long day we all worked really hard to finish on time, if I learnt anything today it would be stay well fed as my stomach rudely interrupted a few shots with its cries for food. How awkward.

Here's some BTS photo's of the day: (Credit to who ever took them)

Wednesday the 9th of March

Today we had a late start (which I appreciated because sleeping in is nice.) We filmed the scenes which Involved Danniella's boyfriend Joey, who would be playing Josh aka (spoiler alert) Mr Benson! We travelled down to his apartment to begin filming and didn't wrap up until 8 o'clock however I felt we made good time. Once again however I managed to find myself in cramped situations with myself and the camera, especially in the shaving and bedroom scenes. At this point I am 100% confident that awkward situations just attracted themselves to me and there is nothing I can do to avoid this. For the second day in a row I found my self sprawled across someone else's bed with a camera in my hand. But it had to be done to get the required shot. Hopefully it was worth it and the shots looked decent. Today Jess (The production manager) couldn't make it to set so Matthew helped with her role, however Jess did facetime us so she could get involved which I thought showed dedication. So well done Bramfitt. 

Again I enjoyed the experience and the team all worked well. At this point I'd show the BTS photo's for the day but I don't think we took any as we were tight for time.

Thursday the 10th of March

Another day another dollar, this was our 4 straight day of filming and another early start. Today, like yesterday, we would get the remaining scenes which only stared Joey (Josh.) The whole team met at Castlegate shopping centre in the Stockton on the morning, originally we planned to film in a car park using Joey's car however the rain forced us to use the shopping centres multi story car park which was sheltered from the rain. This meant as DOP I now had to ensure that no sings or branding for the shopping centre were in shot and be extra vigilant for branding. I also made Harvey (Sound Operator) aware that the sound was pretty bad due to the traffic outside however we had no alternative location so we agreed that it would be okay and if we needed to we could 'fix it in post' a sentence I'd like to adopt as my new catch phrase. 

As well as filming in the Multi story car park we also needed to get the sots of Josh leaving his apartment so after we got the shots in the car park Danniella Joey Harvey and I headed back to Danniella's apartment in Joey's car, we had to leave Jess and Matthew behind as there was no room for them and time was to tight to walk to the next location. This meant Jess and Matthew had to walk back to college and start setting up the green room for a shot for Jess's film 'luggage in limbo'.   

Fortunately we had a break Friday, I used this opportunity to recharge my batteries as the previous 4 days had taken there toll. Again we don't really have any photos from Thursdays shoot so just imagine them.

Saturday the 12th of March

Today was the final shoot day of the first week but not the final shoot day of 'The Spider and the Fly' as we would be using pick up week to shoot the final scenes that were set in the college. We headed to Glebe in Norton again via mini bus with the cast and crew. We started by getting the shots of Isabel and her friend in Glebe had a quick lunch break and then walked to the next location, Norton green. This is where we would get the shots for the final scene of the film, it was very busy and we had to stop quite a lot for passers by and cars but eventually we got the job done. Also at one point the boom broke but Harvey managed to fix it. Well done Harvey. 

During filming for one of the scenes a group of chavs were in the way, me being the hero that I am I went over to disperse them, clearly intimidated by my presences they politely moved out of the way. Good job Me. 

Thursday the 24th of March

Today we finally wrapped filming for 'The Spider and The fly.' We got the last scenes for the film completed which were shot inside college we used SRC 2 and a class room to film the scenes were Isabel was receiving her  GCSE results. As there was no Harvey today due to a work experience thing Matthew helped with the boom mic. Well done Matthew. As well as this Matthew was an extra this meant at some points I had to operate camera and the boom mic which was an interesting experience but a rewarding one. Kane helped out today too by being an extra. It felt good to finally get Danniella's filmed wrapped up we all worked very hard on it. I enjoyed working with the team. They were sound.

Wrap photo! minus Harvey and Jess.