Echoes of Silence - Shoot 2 and 3 - Scene 2

Over the course of a week on two separate days we shot two sides of the same scene, which is a scene in which Julian leaves work (the first scene). Yesterday we shot the stuff we needed on the metro transport system, and the week before that on the Tuesday we shot the part where Julian walks along the quayside after work. Both of these scenes are scripted and I felt it important to shoot them both as soon as possible so that we could continue shooting the film chronologically. The aim of the scenes narratively were not just to take Julian from place to place, but so that we could begin to see the world around them. As Julian is our vehicle through the world, it was equally important to establish that we were seeing the world through his eyes, with the use of POV shots. 

For the scene we shot on the quayside I had previously decided whilst storyboarding that this should be one shot. The shot would track Julian backwards as he leaves from work and absorbs the world around him - people passing, having conversations with their A.I. companions through their earpieces. In a sense I wanted to isolate Julian, but not in the traditional sense where everyone around him would be grouped up socialites, intact the complete opposite. I wanted to subtly establish a world where everyone is isolated within themselves, and they've retreated to a form of responsive technology. Julian is part of that world, though at this point we aren't aware. We see a man observing it all. 

The decision process behind how we were going to physically shoot the scene was quite an unorthodox one. We usually would go with steadicam or tracking dolly for this type of shot, however the current Black Magic camera we're using won't hold on the steadicam, and the tracking dolly isn't the most time effective piece of equipment. What we did have was a wheelchair that we acquired from the Production Design department. We tested it out around the corridors of the Uni and found it to be quite smooth. We took it along with the intention of shooting this one shot scene with it. Below is an image of the crew working that day, with our director of photography in the wheelchair with a monopod. 

The shoot went well as we weren't too concerned with time - we had as much as we needed that day, the only thing we had to be mindful of was the setting sun changing the texture of our shots. These kinds of things have the ability to ruin your entire shoot. We were very lucky that it was a cloudless blue sky. I found half way through the shoot that I wasn't getting what I wanted with the wheelchair. I could see that it was quite bumpy, and I could also see that the framing was way off. There was no compression which I had imagined. There was a ship in the background of shot that was perfectly in focus and dominating the right hand side of frame. I felt the need to get extra shots although I knew I only wanted one. This is a default position a director goes to when he is not confident. Coverage is a safety net that I rarely indulge in but in this instance I found it beneficial to shoot the scene from a few angles so that we had something to work with in the edit. I came away pleased with how the shoot went objectively, but something wasn't right with it for me. Even more so when I saw the shots in the edit. I decided that we might have to go back and reshoot. 

Yesterday on Monday the 19th we shot on the Tyne and Wear metro. We were shooting a sequence which directly follows the aforementioned sequence at the quayside. So far we have shot Julians lecture scene, followed by him walking out from work and down the quayside, then he gets onto a public transportation system. To abide by the policy of Tyne and Wear Nexus we were only able to use handheld cameras on board the train. We kept a minimalist crew with us to ensure that we were discreet and that we weren't bothering the public during the shoot. The shoot consisted of around 10 shots which were divided into three sections, as we were filming for three scenes throughout the film. The first being the first time we see Julian on the train. He scans the train with his eyes, in which we got POV shots to match. He sees individuals dotted around the train all talking into their earpieces. The next scene we shot required a quick costume change. It's a shot of Julian watching a young couple and smiling to himself which cuts to another POV shot of the couple laughing and smiling together. Lastly we needed one shot of Julian following his violent outbreak which required some makeup to be applied across his knuckles in the form of fake blood and eye shadow - to create bruised knuckles. 

With the time we had we managed to get everything we needed with excess. We shot everything from a few angles and it was interesting to shoot something which was entirely handheld and required no set-up. This shoot ultimately helped me decide what I was going to do with the footage from the quayside - the sequence I was left unsure about. With this shoot having gone ahead successfully, I've decided I'm going to cut the quayside sequence from the film completely. I came to the conclusion that both of these scenes are doing exactly the same thing. One of them moves the story on effectively by doing what I spoke about earlier, introducing the isolated world around Julian, but then the other simply mirrors that. With the same thing happening twice it makes complete sense to me to have to cut one to avoid this student-y style filmmaking which often results in a complete protection of every shot, or the willingness to make a 'long film' opposed to a quality film. I'm adopting the philosophy of; if it doesn't move the story forward, it serves no purpose. It's a waste of time.

Below is a series of BTS shots of our shoot on the Tyne and Wear metro;