Day: October 26, 2003

Something that’s really interesting: we shot this thing yesterday, all day- it felt like it was 3 am when it was only 8 pm. After a while I wasn’t really paying attention to the script… So much so that reviewing the footage now, I realise we completely missed a very crucial line… thank goodness for “covereage!”

Since we had one male character actor and three female, and the male was the central character, all the girls needed better parts. But to do that, we made them all pretty unpleasant- and all based on really cartoony people I’ve actually known. I’m hoping the effect is not too misogynistic.

• having a camera operator makes it easier for the director to line up the shot and monitor the take
• You need a crew member for every major man-sized piece of equipment- 2 lights, a tripod and a sound boom = 4 crew
• Having someone on “continuity” would be nice- a crew whose sole job is to write down the tape counter at the beginning of each take, marking if the director thought it was “good.” After the shoot at a given location, this continuity person would review the footage for that shot (about 3 min?) to make sure every line was covered.
• Actors: read the line. Think of what it means, what you would think if someone said this to you. Now think about why it makes you think this. Remember the facts of the line. NOW say the line, as the character.