First Issues Creeping Up
As of now, time is short and of the essence and this
production already proves to be a tough task for everyone involved.
Nine days after the client pitch, although the first draft of the script is almost ready, it will still need major revisiting. Since we have not yet heard back from any transmale actor from our client's organisation (which was the client's most important casting wish), and since we already needed to simplify the locations, we have hitherto been unable to finalise the script into a viable one on which I could build a story board in my role as a cinematographer.
These delays further led to me being unable to create a casting call since, unfortunately, none of the really important locations (and thus filming area) or risk assessments, the lead actor, script, and shooting schedule were secured yet. However, the production meeting with all levels this morning was a bit more productive, since we gained more contact to people and thus more connections to people that knew transmale actors who could possibly pose as actors.
But since so much else was missing, I decided to postpone my research on lighting options or scenarios as well as creating a storyboard and decided to occupy myself with the relevant paperwork and additional location scoutings as well as additional location research first so that our producer will finally be able to call locations.
We discussed what kind of locations to use that could pose as a flat and I proposed for calling as many hotels, hostels, and holiday homes in the Hartlepool area as possible (which I also researched online) so that we could increase our production value. We had just received permission to film at a fellow student's flat but I was hesitant to take that option despite of the pressure we were in. For the first, we were told that, unless it was a weekend, we would be able to use the location anytime as long as we informed the owner about it, which secured it for us as a last resort anyway. For the second, the flat, as it was presented to us on images, looked like the student flat it was and did thus not fit the brief of a successful businessperson.
After that, Lynley and I sat down with the script and started revising and simplifying it as Craig came with evermore updates on the locations. I started to cut out scripted
transitions that were difficult to achieve since they either needed more locations or detailed knowledge about locations for us to be able to ascertain how we could film the shots at hand.
However, since our script required the outside of an office building, I set about scouting the exterior doors of CCAD to try and see whether they could look like office buildings on camera.
However, I quickly realised multiple issues with the exteriors, since they either did not look the part of an office building, or they were located too closely to a construction side and thus not only easily heard, but also seen as you can see in the image above (apart from the obvious logo of CCAD).
So far, the last two images posed to be the most convincing option we have at hand so far. However, we must be careful when filming to not a) obstruct the way for students and staff while filming, b) to be careful not to be caught in the reflection of the glass doors and c) to be careful not to cast shadows either. The pictures you can see above are all shot around 15:00 and it required me to be extremely careful on where to stand to fulfil all the requirements I just stated.
However, we were luckier with the interiors in location scouting since we managed to book into an office room at CCAD that was normally used for interviews, but could also double as a conference room. The perfect place to perform for our main character Chris!