R.E.D. 1
Production
I wanted to try
and keep the production to a single day,
as I wanted as much time as possible to edit the film. I had everyone involved in the film meet me
at my house where I was able to present the script to the crew members although
my principal actor, Martin, had already been sent the script
the easiest thing for me to do was to shoot the scenes in
sequence rather than hop back and forth. I understand the benefits of shooting
that way on a bigger and longer
production schedule, but since that this was just a short few scenes, I felt it
would be best to just go though the scenes step by step. I
found myself paying particular attention to Martin as he had no prior acting experience, I tried
to communicate exactly what I was after in the performance without pressuring
him too much to get it right on the first take. Initially he was very nervous and
uncomfortable, he struggled with the material, I had to get a few re-takes at the start. As we got further into
the shoot, he relaxed and found his feet, to the point where some exchanges
only required one take.
Unfortunately there was a minor equipment problem as the
multi-directional microphone wasn't
working, thankfully the weather was mild with little wind, so as long as the shots were fairly tight I could get
Ciaran, who was in charge of sound , to keep
the zoom sound recorder fairly close to
Martin and myself. Robbie was operating
the camera on the shoot, I had never worked with him before, he made some good
suggestions as far as staging the scenes
and finding where to get the best shots. Towards the end he was wanting more and
more takes to work with but I was insisting that we get exactly what was necessary as we were starting to lose the
light.
Thankfully I got exactly what I wanted on the day and I certainly
enjoyed shooting the film, I really felt
"at home" working this way, It was evident that I really enjoyed being able to make
something that was both simple independent of any academic requirements, meaning that I didn't
have to create a film in a certain
style or using a method that was decided
by my superiors. I understand how this freedom can paradoxically intimidate
other film-makers but I really enjoyed it.
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