Director's Journal

Director's Journal
Date: 15/11/11


Mariam Nawab
03/11/11 - Filming Day.

On the 3rd of Novesmber, we started fimling, what happened was all the production team and I have gathered during period 1 at 8.50 to discuss a checklist of the props, costumes, actors and other items we need, necessary for today. As we went through the checklist, I, the Director, made sure that nothing was missing and indeed nothing was missing. I stressed to the team that it is very important that we meet for a second time afterschool, at 3.10, in A29, our media room, for 5 minutes before the production shooting for a quick discussion with the team. Then everyone had dispersed to do what they needed, e.g. lessons, work or other.

As the day went by, I kept a look out for the actors, that they had remained in school and were 100% available for the evening of shooting. Then came period 5, 2.10, I, as one of the actors, had to wear the black and green, costume, paint on my arms as I was the antagonist for our film. Raman, actor, Chloe, Camera person and Sarah, audience, helped me apply this. The reason why we used this paint was to make my arms look scary and deformed for the movie as I was a monster, relating to the theme. The fact that Raman and Chloe were there to help me, reassured me that they were 100% going to make it as I had seen them and would have to take them to the production scene. As we finished up with the paint, the bell had rang and it was time for another quick meeting in room A29 where the props, costumes and the Editor, Ruheet, were.

At 3.17, I had a brief word with all the members about gathering the props, checking that no one was hesitant in performing and that we would have an enjoyable time as well as working hard to get everything perfect. As we got the equipment, actors, props and costumes ready, I checked that everyone was present and in their costumes/make up and we were ready to start filming.

At 3.25, we gathered everything and had started to film in the Dinner Hall corridor. To set up, we had to bring a tripod, a camera and a camera bag so that we could shoot. It was a long day as each scene required a different shot, which the Camera Person though, too, was tiring and long. At the start of the movie, as Director, i required a long shot of Percy (Carl, Actor) walking through the Dinner Hall corridor to the lockers as I wanted the audience to know what he looked like, his uniform and his body posture. All throughout the shooting, we used a variety of shots; Long Shot, POV shot, Close Up shot and many more.   The filming had ended and everything planned out well, we congratulated each other for the success of the production stage. We stayed behind for about 15 minutes as our Media Teacher wanted to show us parts of the footage and explained what the Editor, Ruheet, would have to use to Edit it. After a long days work, everyone had gathered their belongings and headed home.

Overall, as a Director, I found that controlling what happens during filming quite challenging because of the dicisions I had to make on shots and location and lighting. I made sure that everyone was acting appropriately and when the actors were hesitant, I calmed them down. It took about 3 and a half hours to complete the filming, there were a few interruptions but they only lasted seconds as they were only teachers or students walking by. Though they were small delays, it still meant that it would take us longer to film, time consuming, as the interruptions would occur on crutial moments. At the very end, we all packed up and patted each other in the back for a good day's work, we were happy and glad that it was an overall success.