Production Phase

29-30/04/18 – Today was production day in the filming of ‘The Peaks’ directed by Robbie Brown. My role on set was to play the role of the character ‘Travis “Twix”‘. This role was quite easy to play as it didn’t consist of many lines. However, it did play a big responsibility in the film as I was the last character alive. The role consisted mainly of improvised conversation and a lot of running. The movie had a script but was left mainly to improvisation as it provided for a more natural feel than the scripted parts, with the actors not being educated in acting. I also helped around with the crew such as assisting where the sound would go to decrease wind, and helping out for some shots behind the camera or holding the clapperboard and reading scenes.

The first day of filming proved to be more difficult than we thought, with sheets of scripts, shot lists and risk assessments missing. However, to solve this and improve the situation, we decided to gather what we can remember from the script as a group and added in small parts of improv. The camera also proved to be difficult as we had to film shots with multiple takes as the shot would appear great on the camera, but showed bad footage. To solve small problems like these, we all chipped in and gave our knowledge on the equipment to help other crew members. With this being the first project out in the field, we knew that problems would occur, which left us prepared and ready for the challenge.

We managed to film all the shots we needed to stay inside the time scale in the first day. This therefore made the second day much easier and relaxed. Being relaxed also influenced the quality of the shots as there was no rush in time to complete the project. Socializing with the other groups during our spare time encouraged us to see how they were doing and what they could do to help our problems. Some of the shots were shaky over the two days, however that was fixed in post production via after effects. We also made a smart decision to film extra scenes in order to fill the gaps in post production. If we repeated these two filming days, I would prefer to be more organised in our approach and not moan about bad shots but get them done on the next take instead. I believe a lot of time was wasted whilst filming due to arguments between crew. This therefore could be fixed next time by improving out relationships and trust with each other in order to work fluently and easily together. I also believe that the director has to be firmer and more clear with his speech to show the crew what he desires to be created. This would improve the general work flow between the team.