Echoes of Silence - Shoot 5 - Scene 6

On Monday the 26th and Tuesday the 27th, directly a week after we shot scene 4 we shot scene 6. In between those scenes is a smaller scene involving a flashback, and a small scene where Julian is on a train - evidently commuting to work which we know from a previously established scene. We shot this scene around the same time we shot the scene the week before due to the light coming into the sound stages where our set was via the skylights. The difference between this scene and the scene we shot last week is that in this scene we begin to see the complexity of Julian and Emily's relationship. We begin so see Emily ask very human questions by following an existential train of thought. On a technical level this is a very similar setup to last week as well. We can go for the bulk of it all on the Monday and on Tuesday we can pick up where we left off and improve on what we did wrong the day before. 

Much like the scene we shot the week before, we commenced shooting as of 6:00PM through to 8:30PM. Throughout the day on the Monday I worked with the production designer on replacing some of the walls and repositioning some elements of the set, generally ensuring I was prepared for the shoot come 6 o'clock. This took around 3-4 hours and in that time I went back over my storyboards and script to make sure I was as prepared as possible. Having two hours to shoot a chunk of a scene requires you to meticulously prepared and by means I have to cover all of the macro/micro elements of the scene. This is where the importance of communication comes in even prior to the day of the shoot. I make sure that every member of the crew knows what they are doing, and I discuss the script with the members of the cast involved so that they know what we're trying to achieve and how we're going to do that. 

During shoots I'm attempting to apply my understanding of directing actors, which I researched heavily in the pre-production process of Echoes of Silence. I feel like I am making great progress in doing this on a few levels. I have developed a great working relationship with our main actor. We had a lengthy chat about the film before we started shooting after I invited him for a coffee. Thinking about that retrospectively, it was one of if not the best decisions I have made so far on the film. It allowed him to get excited and passionate about the project and it allowed us to set out goals and expectations before we even began shooting. I am always looking for ways to push the main actor to get the most out of him, and as I previously stated my research is helping me with that. One of the things I did on yesterdays shoot was provide the actor with many ways to perform a line or part of the scene. These were wildly different ways which contrasted with one another, but gave the actor freedom to go outside of generic line readings or attitudes. By pushing the performance from one extreme to the other, you have a lot of options to work with. 

Graham Saxon as Julian on set of Echoes of Silence.

Judging by the footage we got, we have shot around 80% of what is needed for scene 6 and scene 4 the week before. We still have pick up shots that we need, and of course we need to have the ADR and foley sessions to add the sound in post. Aside from the glaring sound issue, everything else has went according to plan over the past few weeks. Around a third of the film is now shot before we go away for the easter break. This puts us in a fantastic position even as we hope to shoot some additional scenes over the easter break. There are a few days during that break that we are scheduled in to edit and do other tasks such as record sound. When we come back from easter we will fully resume where we were at and push on to the half way mark before May comes around. Planning right ahead here, but there are some festival deadlines I'd like to meet in late April/early May. To meet these I will have to sacrifice elements of the film to create a rough cut which can be entered on its own merit. Due to where we're at currently I'd say this is definitely possible. 

Graham Saxon as Julian on set of Echoes of Silence.