SKILLS Filming Day One - Grindleford

Filming Day One - Grindleford

Today was our first shoot in Grindleford and we were working with two actors and wanted to make sure we filmed all the shots we needed so we didn't have to come back to do more.

We intended to film an array of shots where Lucy was walking and exploring the setting as well as writing and making notes, with Callum in the background following her and watching her. We decided to focus a lot on each person's individual point of view and we brought three cameras with us - one for each actor and one to capture both of them together in wider shots. We mixed it up a bit giving each other opportunities to get the shots we all felt we needed and would work, after all it is better to come back with more footage than we need than not enough. We experimented with different angles and using the tripod and not. A lot of the handheld shots emphasise the fact that someone is watching, as if the camera view is exactly what Callum would be seeing.

I wanted to focus more on Callum's view and worked with him to get some over the shoulder shots from behind trees and tracking him walking with the camera focus shifting between him and the foreground.

As well as this, one scene in particular I wanted to get right was where Callum falls and Lucy turns around to see there is nobody there. We had to find an appropriate place for not only it to look realistic but that was safe as we didn't intend on actually showing him fall, but wanted to imply it and use editing to create the desired effect. We shot him in the surrounding area to show the audience where he was, and then a tracking shot of him running, then a close-up on his feet coming into shot and looking like he has slipped and then getting a shot of Lucy close-up while she turns to see where the noise has come from, and then using the wider angle again to show her in the space looking around but Callum not in the shot to show he has fallen. The idea was that he was running to get a closer look at the same time as he is reaching into his bag, then he looses his footing and slips, and he doesn't cry out because he is unconscious, but Lucy doesn't see him as he has fell down a small verge. I look forward to putting that sequence together in the edit and hope it works as I envisaged it.