Today was a very rigorous one. We planned the day around the availability of the crew and cast which was fairly limited over the two week Easter break period. We found that the actress who was playing our lead role of Alice, was only really available a few days during the first week of the holidays. I established the dates that the crew were available, and I was always mindful of double bookings. Our sound operator was often double booked due to being on several projects, and this was something we took into consideration carefully on deciding a shoot date. Anyway, when it came to it we found Wednesday to be the best day for everyone involved, but this meant we had to plan numerous shoots for the same day as we didn’t have the time to shoot on different days. From this we organised to shoot four scenes from the film in one day. Initially this scared me quite a bit because I’m always very aware that there’s only so much you can do in a day whilst keeping a good quality standard of whatever it is you’re doing. I find that this also clashes with my own personal style of directing above all else. I often take my time when it comes to shooting one scene never mind four, as I know how picky I am with takes on top of how long it usually takes to get stuff done during filming in general. I ran over it in my mind for a number of weeks and whilst it was admittedly intimidating I found that I had made a sufficient plan of action that would get us through the day.
We started off with the second dark room scene where we picked up on a few shots we weren’t able to get due to time constraints of the first dark room scene. The stuff we needed to get was very minimal and without lengthy dialogue etc, all we needed was the actress and our prior set up of the dark room. I set the dark room up with the photographs around 2:00pm whilst waiting for the actress. She showed up at half 2 and we were ready to go. It was a very straight forward process of getting what we needed within half an hour then we were ready to move on. Fortunately on top of what I discussed earlier, Wednesday was the ideal date of all dates because it coincided with another crews shoot where they were using the uni to shoot. Coincidently we needed the dark room within the uni so it made sense for both crews to get together and plan to shoot on the same day, so that we weren’t asking too much of the uni to be open on separate days for both crews. Below are a few shots from the second dark room scene.
After the dark room pick up shots, we moved on to our ending scene. We were to shoot the ending scene near penshaw monument down a string of country lanes which we found whilst on a location recce. Ideally, I wanted something very tranquil and situated within nature to juxtapose the entire atmosphere of the film before this scene. From the location recce we found somewhere that was both exactly what I wanted visually, and it was also very near penshaw monument itself where we were to be shooting a scene at sunset. After the planning I discussed beforehand, it made perfect sense for us to chronologically plan the day so that we were moving in a perfect order geographically. So we got to the location to shoot the ending scene between half 3 and 4 o’clock. I travelled up the A19 from Hartlepool to Sunderland with the actress to direct her, whilst the other members of the crew went in another vehicle. We met there and took 20 minutes to set up the equipment, which also gave a bit of time to the actress to get ready with costume and makeup. This scene was heavy on the appearance front because in the context of the film the character has completely changed her identity in this scene. From the pictures below, you can see that she is now blonde and wears sunglasses and a cap to hide her former self. When we were ready to go we took around a full hour to shoot this scene, which again had no dialogue. It was a case of me getting the pacing of the shots exactly to my liking which took longer than expected. This scene was very important as it was to be the ending scene and with any ending scene it has the power to make or break the film. I was very particular with not only how I wanted the ending shot to look, but also the speed of which the backwards track was to slow down as the character does, as she puts her arm out to signal a car. Thankfully we got this perfect in the end and I am extremely proud of how we had conducted ourselves up until this point in the day. Evidently people were getting tired (myself and the sound operator had even been on a shoot for hours prior to the dark room stuff for another crew). Despite obvious fatigue everyone was in good spirits when I assured them we were still on schedule, and that it was now two shoots down and two shoots to go.
After the success that was the ending scene we moved on to the penshaw monument scene. We got to the location around 7pm after a lengthy hike to the top of the hill with the equipment. This took almost whatever energy we had left out of us. When we got to the monument it was absolutely freezing. We were obviously unprepared for how cold and windy it was. We soldiered on and got to shooting the sequence with the glide-cam. Going back to my previous directorial influence posts this scene was heavily inspired by the films and the authorship of Terrence Malick. I intentionally allowed the camera to become fluid, following the character of Alice throughout the dream-like landscape as she takes images of her surroundings with the camera. The main plus point with the location choice is that those unfamiliar with penshaw monument will be unaware that the pillars have an end point. To the uneducated eye the pillars seem to stretch on forever, and this enhances the idea that Alice is stuck in a dreamlike trance with unidentifiable objects of her imagination. My cinematographer roamed the monument freely following the subject and capturing her actions which were to act at ease, in juxtaposition with her tension throughout the rest of the film. After around half an hour of shooting the crew and actress were visibly cold and fatigued, but I had to push on to get what I wanted. To all of our expense I made us wait another ten to fifteen minutes for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. I would have waited even longer because I was determined to have the sunset play a part in the free atmosphere of the scene. This was all part of the original concept and I wasn't willing to compromise so we waited. Fortunately the sun came out from the clouds and really helped us with the lighting but it was also the catalyst I needed for the internal motivation of the character. Throughout the whole scene Alice experiences a freedom she has rarely known, but it is interrupted by the harsh sound of a car alarm which awakes her from her slumber. The sunset acted as something for Alice to react to before the alarm kicks in. From the script and original storyboards this was always the idea I had. We shot it this way and I was extremely happy with the outcome so it was really worth the wait in the end. We wrapped on this scene around half 7 and despite the set backs we were still on schedule. After this scene we were to move on to another location not far from penshaw. We packed up the equipment to the cars and set off around quarter to 8.
We arrived at the next location where we were to shoot the bathroom scene which is pre penshaw monument scene in the film at 8 o'clock. We were bang on time as we had previously informed the owner of the location that we would be there at 8. Despite the fact we were on time arriving, it was going to take us around half an hour to 45 minutes to set up the scene as it involved a full bubble bath and all of the sound equipment set up with the slider and separate lenses. We had already been on a location recce to the location so we knew what we were going to shoot and where from, so thankfully all of those questions were answered for me on the day of the shoot. I find that having these questions answered beforehand alleviates the pressure ten-fold, and as a director it is the best thing I have learnt so far. Location scouts are now an essential part of my process in communicating my desires with the cast and crew, so that we aren't wasting our time on the day of the shoot or anyone who owns or is associated with a location. Anyway, we got to shooting the scene after we were fully set up around half past eight. We started from the wide establishing shot which slides in from the right to left to give us a frame in a frame view at Alice sitting upright in a bathtub. I wanted to create a soothing and calming ambience within the scene, that always feels out of place within the context of the film. I find that creating these false senses of security create tension on their own, without the need of tense build up and dramatic music. The sense of isolation alone leads us to believe that Alices safety may be in jeopardy very soon, despite her current situation of being sat in a bubble bath. We then moved into more intimate shots closer to the character, giving us more insight into her mindset as we get in on her facial expressions and posture. Whilst she appears to be calm and lying down at points, there is a clear unsettlement in the way she is drinking wine and appearing to be sad. This unsettlement is confirmed when Alice ducks beneath the water after she puts down her wine. We shot this as best we could because the actress was having some issues holding herself down in the bath. For some reason as it was a stand alone bathtub it was extremely hard for her to hold herself under the water for around 10 seconds which is what I needed. After some time we got this right and it was all we needed for the scene. It was five or so shots, without dialogue which were a breeze in retrospect. We were done with this scene within about half an hour, and whilst there were a few shots left to get I let my cinematographer leave to pick up other cast members to shoot their scene after we had shot the one involving Alice. I finished up on a few more close-ups of the character of Alice and a few shots of the wine glass I felt like I had missed, just to piece it all together, then we were wrapped on that scene and the actress was free to leave. The actress left around half 9 ready for the other cast members to arrive to shoot the next scene, which we were obviously shooting at the same location but for another scene in the film.
The two cast members who were to play Mark and Nathan got to the location around half 9 and we were then able to set up for the next scene. The context of this scene is that Alice has left the safe house after she learns she's in danger, then the men turn up after to learn that she isn't there when they need her to be. It is evident by the way the men carry themselves in the earlier scenes that they aren't well meaning individuals, and that they are a threat to Alices well-being. We were ready to begin shooting this scene around half 9 or quarter to ten after the actress had left. We were to shoot it in the same bathroom where we had previously captured Alice in the bathtub. Only this time the bathroom had been deserted by her, and her photographs had been left floating on the surface of the water. The men enter the bathroom in the hopes of finding Alice there, only to realise the extent of her cunning. Mark, the older character, kneels by the bath to inspect the photographs. This is where as director, I encountered the first real problem of the day. The issue was with the way one of the cast members decided to conduct themselves. I deemed the behaviour of that individual extremely unprofessional for someone who supposedly had a wealth of experience. The location we were using was very kindly offered to us free of charge by a family friend who had agreed to let us film there one night to get what we needed. The location was ideal for us and we were very grateful for being able to use it free of charge. It was getting late at this point, later than I had hoped to still be shooting. It was getting to around ten o'clock and I started to hurry things so that we could wrap earlier than 11. That was already a lot later than I wanted to wrap but we were still yet to get everything we needed. Going back to my point of facing an issue, it was at this point we realised that one of our actors was intoxicated. After a lengthy discussion of why they should keep their voice down, and that they should stop using foul language, we got momentarily back on track. We were well on our way to getting the coverage we needed, as I tried my hardest to keep everyone focused on the task at hand. With five of us in one small room, it was getting difficult for everyone to remain composed and patient with one another. I ran into another major directorial issue when for the first time helming this project, someone began to refuse direction. As director of this project and numerous others, I am always extremely open to ideas from other people, and I firmly believe allowing the creativity of others to flow is essential. Despite this, there is a fine line between wanting to help and just being a total restriction to the filmmaking process. One of the actors responded in a hostile way to a very simple direction which involved them kneeling to inspect a photograph inside the bathtub. This was a conscious decision for the framing of the shot. The rejection of this direction from myself came from the 'actors experience' and that his character 'wouldn't kneel down' at all. I was opposed to this and at this point in the day I'd been working for almost 14 hours, I wanted to get done, and I wasn't prepared to let someone hijack my project over something so insignificant. After a slight disagreement the actor agreed that this was in mine and his best interest, and begrudgingly he knelt down for the shot. I believe this came from a place not of creativity, but one of someone trying to make a point and trying to cause a scene. Myself and the crew were very wary of the fact he was intoxicated, and that we were in someone else's house. We obviously didn't want them to know this as it would make us appear very unprofessional and might raise further problems. Despite the numerous set backs we remained calm and composed, we focused on the remaining shots and then once we were done I sent my cinematographer who was also the driver, to take the actors back home. Myself and the rest of the crew stayed for an extra 15 minutes or so to pack all of the equipment up. At this point it was way past 11 o'clock. I apologised to the residents of the house and showed my gratitude once again, thankfully they were understanding.
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