WBL: Shoot Day One

WBL: The Day Before the Shoot

WBL Unit: Magwitch Audtitions

Work Experience

Right so I have sorted my work experience. And started it. As we haven't started back at uni I am not entirely sure how I am meant to blog about it but I thought I ought to do something just so it's clocked.

I will be working on a production of a short film called Magwitch which is a prequel to Great Expectations. It's being directed by Sam Supple who is a producer at south east BBC, and produced by Debra whose last name escapes me. Together, for the purposes of this film they have created Viola Films production company.
I met Sam through the Jack the Ripper experience I did last summer.

Over the weekend I worked as a general assistant/runner for the auditions. I greeted actors, made them drinks, logged them in, filmed them, photographed them, and took photographs of the process too for publicity.
On Saturday I worked 9.15am - 7.15pm and Sunday I worked 9.30- 7.30. I loved it. It was great fun. I love attending auditions as you get to meet the actors before they are in film mode and also get to see the could have beens. Also, on Sunday morning we had kids auditioning which was fab, they were very sweet and it's interesting to see kids who have done so much already and so mature! Most of the parents were really nice too.

I have been told to think about the role I would like on the film but he suggested 2nd/3rd AD or 2nd Camera Assistant depending on what kind of role I want. I am leaning towards a more technical role at the minute because I haven't really had any experience at that end of things but I am going to look on skillset and think about it.

On Friday I went to Dartford to help on a BBC production. I think he said it was an inside out half hour special. He said "spin off" of inside out so I don't really know what that means. It's called Vox Pops and it's about Vox Amps. So that was interesting. I got to see how a BBC crew works. There wasn't much for me to do as the crew was minimal, I just did a bit of running. I also got to meet Iain Lee, who is very nice and very funny. And the editor of Guitarist magazine. I got to see what a dolly actually looks like and how it works. It was also interesting how they did a minimal amount of lighting and set dressing to get really nice shots. Oh and I am in the opening scene holding a Fender Telecaster.

Easter is over

So back to work. Over the easter holidays the VT's were shot. I attended the shooting at the Fox just to give support! They did fine on their own though! The Dog and Gun seemed like a good shoot though apparently they were down a sound man?

Will and I came along to the studios on the second thursday of the holidays to work in the Gallery for Frank Skinner's Opinionated. I got to put my new found photoshop skills into practice on the graphics and Will liaised with the gallery staff making sure everything was getting to the other side correctly.

Waking up this week for uni came as a bit of a shock but we are back into action. Steve and I began the edit! I am editing the Dog and Gun and the footage is good. The odd bit of discontinuity but otherwise excellent. ! I have been having fun editing to the MTV Cribs style. Lots of speeding up and fast cutting to funky beats.

Unfortunately the gallery day with Hans which was scheduled for today had to be postponed. However I think it has worked out for the best. This week can be concentrated on the edit and next week we have two of these days where we can really get into the gallery stuff before out shoot week!

We contacted CAFT as soon as we got back and have seen some images they have collected for the Twister game. Just waiting for more images of everything else they have done.

I'm Famous!

My dad just informed me that I was IN Jack the Ripper.
5 minutes into the second episode (which I didn't watch). I was told it would just be my silhouette!

Jack The Ripper: The Definitive Story

Tune in to FIVE on Tuesday 10th at 8pm to see the documentary I worked on during the summer!

piccys

Shoot!

The Jack the Ripper production has started shooting. This week has been green screening. I keep meaning to bring my camera to take photos but keep forgetting. I will try to remember tomorrow and get some snaps.

The costumes are fab. Jenni (UCA Rochester) has really had her work cut out for her and has done such a good job.

I posted ads for actors at the beginning of the week and have been absolutely bombarded with emails from applicants. It's very interesting to look at CV's and photos. One guy, who looked like he would make a great character in the production, only emailed to have a go at BEL production company for not paying actors!

I am attached to my computer emailing constantly, it's crazy.

I have to create call sheets too and have been given a template to do them with but I don't understand it at all. (Blank face).
I was hoping to seek help today but everyone's been soooooo busy. Jeff has been producing AND acting today so it's been a nightmare to get info from him but it's all rolling forward.

Having been contacted by the Publicity Director at FIVE last week, I have been trying to talk to Jeff and get him in touch with her to discuss it but he didn't manage to talk to her until today.

Next week will be very busy. We are shooting on location at Chatham Dockyards 8am - 7pm Monday and 8am - midnight on tuesday and wednesday. OUCH. I will be in charge of making sure everyone is where they have to be (EEK). I am most nervous about using the crazy landline phone in my office as it can put people on hold, forward calls to my mobile. CRAZY. (ha)

Hopefully I will have some photos to put up soooon!

Ciao

Rolling...

Production is steaming ahead.

I went to a cast audition session last week which was interesting. Actors are funny things, aren't they? Looking forward to being on set with them.

I also went to a tech meeting and a couple of production meetings. I have been promoted from Production Assistant to On Set Production Manager. I am finding the work extremely difficult. I have had to breakdown the scripts which is ok. And accumulate contacts for the entire crew. I also have to do this for the actors, of which there are many many and casting isn't finalized but shooting starts on Aug 2nd! Poor Jenni the UCA Costume designer has loads to do.
I also have to create job sheets tonight for the drivers which I am finding incredibly confusing because of job numbers. NUMBERS!?!? Ooo my head!
I am also going to be on set and in charge of all the receipts. And apparently making sure everyone is on set who needs to be. I hope I don't mess up haha.
Mental.

It's so educational though. The experience is giving me a better idea of what jobs the roles involve. Before this I didn't truly understand the difference between producer/ director and then Executive producer, production manager etc. It's interesting.

I am going to be knackered when uni starts again but I can't wait!

The Ripper Recci

Today I was picked up by Jeff Leahy and John Bennett (Ripperologist) to go and recci the Chatham Dockyards.

It was really fascinating. I love the dockyards but I got to see a lot more of it than ever before and because we were a "film crew" we got in for free and taken around by a lovely chappy called Bill. He showed us all the nooks and crannys which could serve as potential victorian locations. There are fantastic buildings around there and it really became clear how the production could look.

We got to go to the parts of the buildings that are usually cordoned off with ropes and signs saying "no public access". You can do so much in that place.

It was also super interesting to see how a real Producer visualizes and creates scenes and sets in locations that you might not even notice.

We also discovered that there are offices to rent at the dockyards so we will have a production office on site.

There are some AMAZING houses by the dockyards. I want.

After an ice cream we then Recci'd the Style and Winch pub. It will be gutted and re-styled to our Victorian purposes.

Then it was back to Jeff's home to familiarize myself with the script and I assissted John writing the location part of the shooting script.

Exciting stuff. Next meeting is a script meeting on Thursday!

Cat the Ripper

Met Jeff Leahy today, Producer of Jack the Ripper- The Definitive Story.

It's sounding like a very interesting project, there are still issues with funding but it should be ok.

I hope I didn't give off too bad a first impression, having a cold and being allergic to his cat didn't bode well for my nose and I didn't feel very professional sat there sniffing while he spoke to us. Haha.

I will be the Production Assisstant. It sounds like he is going to give us quite a lot of responsibility. My first job will be location hunting with Jeff in the coming weeks. I will be meeting and watching a professtional editor whose name I can't remember. There is a guy who will do the score and we might be spending time with him in a music studio. I will be learning and helping with green screening. Jeff said I might be given a camera to shoot some bits, maybe for behind the scenes footage. We will be meeting and helping with the prosthetics hopefully and we are free to input ideas too. I might even be delivering actors to set in a CAR! I think I am going have the role of general dogs-body but it sounds fun!

He also said he would arrange for us to have a Jack the Ripper tour in London.

It's sounding brilliant. I will also be credited which is awesome! And making many useful contacts! The production will run through to November and starting very soon!

Exciting!

Last day on the set!

Long day.

Only three of us turned up for the last day on The Door set. This was probably a good thing because there really wasn't that much to do!

Casey and I started our day with a bit of sewing, which was rather enjoyable. We gave our numbers to the wardrobe lady who said she might have more jobs for us in the future!

We made delightful and tasty looking bowls of fruit. (Rotten fruit).

Despite the reasonably uneventful day, it did get a lot more hectic towards the end with the End Game approaching. Also being the last day of shooting everyone was eager to finish on time. Unfortunately I left before the End Game was filmed so I didn't get to see the looney excitement. It involved blood covered offices, pig head buffets, clown filled rooms, and many creepy crawlies, so I am a bit miffed I couldn't stay but so looking forward to seeing it on tv.

It was sad to leave, knowing we would probably never see those people again and I feel like I am going to miss being on the set with everyone there. It was great! Nice to feel part of a unit.

Looking forward to the next opportunities though I don't expect any as... eclectic as that one was!

The Door

It is so fantastic being on a TV set. When I first saw the set, I was stunned! It looked amazing! Having seen the set of Got To Dance in the same studio it was insightful to see it completely transformed. It shows you how much a good set design can get out of a space and the different ways in which you can use the giant, square studios.

I was dreading waking up at 6.30am for a 12 hour day but I was surprised at how quickly it went and how I didn't feel totally dead at the end of it. I was exhausted, sure, but not as I expected. When we arrived everyone was baffled as to why we were there. They hadn't been expecting us so there were many many hours of waiting around and doing nothing. It gave us a chance to observe though. I loved watching the lighting. It was fantastic to see the tranformation when everything was suddenly lit up! And the different lighting tests, to see what worked. It was also interesting to see how the set looked both for real and on screen.

I was intrigued by how everyone knew what they were doing. They rushed about knowing what needed to be done and who needed to do it and they knew where they were meant to be. So it was great observing all this and seeing how it all worked... Then we would get bustled off and thrown in a skip of rotten fruit for an hour. Or sent off to collect leaves. Happy to oblige and all but not much of an experience. Something I would be happy to do for a miniscule amount of money but being on work experience and experiencing that! Not so great. However! How many people can say they spent their morning in a skip of rotting fruit in aid of a celeb game show? I certainly would never have done it otherwise, and now I know never to do it again! A life experience for sure.

Being on the set was amazing but I wanted to know what was happening behind the scenes! Who was controlling the lights and how, who was counting down? This experience has put me in awe of the artists and set designers and it's something I might consider doing myself. I can't wait to learn all the technical stuff though! That's what intrigued me most about the experience so far.

On the first day I learnt that Chris Tarrant swears a lot and the game show hosts don't actually give a damn about what they are doing. They get paid to put a face to the show. Good for them, I say! What an easy job!

Another 2 long days to go!...