The Unexpected Hurdles of Film Production

[Above: filming in changeable weather for FIFTY/FIFTY. Official BTS photos to come soon]


   Last week, I publicly released FIFTY/FIFTY  (formerly known as Lepidopterist), my team’s entry into the Sci-Fi London 48hr Film Challenge. To shoot and edit a film within two days is obviously no mean feat – particularly when there’s fantastical elements in the script. Luckily my cast and crew were at the top of their game, so the shoot went as smoothly as possible, but there were some other  challenges beyond the schedule that we had to compete with. On the day, it was the unpredictable weather – two batches of non-forecast hail, either side of dappled sunshine – and in pre-production, we struggled to secure the locations we needed until very close to the shoot.

   These were two small obstacles, easily overcome in the end, but it got me thinking about the unpredictable nature of indie film productions. When I was doing the location recce for FIFTY/FIFTY’s forest scene, with 1st AD Liam Banks (of Superfreak Media), I asked him, “what’s the biggest, most unpredictable hurdle you’ve had to overcome when making your films?” It turns out we both had some stories to tell!

   When you commit to making a film, you essentially need to expect the unexpected; prepare for the worst while trying to make your best work. While some events can be planned for (e.g. having a backup location, bringing rain covers for the cameras), there will always be the odd curveball that no one would’ve ever dreamed of. We work in an art form: weird stuff is part of the job!

   So, going back through my previous credits, here’s the biggest, most random hurdles I’ve encountered on film productions – and how my team and I found solutions to the problems:


[Above: The Opening Night's opening scenes featured last-minute replacement posters]

The Opening Night (shot in 2010)

   The challenge: Because this film was set in a theatre, I arranged for a series of fake posters to be made, which involved a photoshoot with the cast and the lovely Holly Booth. The first issue was that we had a casting change, so we didn’t have our lead actor by the time the photoshoot came around. The second issue was that, when the posters finally did arrive... the poster tube had lost its lid in transit, meaning that the majority of the posters had fallen out en route. They were about 90% of our set dressing for the film’s opening scenes!

   The solution: Issue one was relatively easy to overcome. We hired a stand-in model, who wore a wig (we knew that our chosen actor would have to be a red-head, due to some of the film’s visual homages). We had the other cast member on hand, and since there wasn’t going to be a close-up of the posters at any point, we knew we’d get away with one stand-in.

   The other issue was harder to fix. Because the empty poster tube had arrived about two days before the shoot, there wasn’t time to order any more. I also didn’t have quite the same resources that I have now, and I didn’t know anyone specifically who could print large (A1 sized) posters for me. I ended up going to a Boots with my USB stick; the only size they went up to was A3, which meant we would have a lot of empty wall space! Looking back, the opening scenes of the film do look fairly minimal as a result of this, but because there was so much going on with the production design in the other scenes, it’s not the end of the world: it allows the film to draw a bit of a breath.


[Above: Shooting Ashes on a backup camera, after many false starts! Photo by Jenna Cataldo]

Ashes (Shot in 2012)

   The challenge: Where to start with this one? Much as I love the film, it often felt like it didn’t want to get made! It’s the only time one of my crowdfunding campaigns really struggled (the film had a difficult subject nature with no obvious hook), and so we were affected by budgetary concerns throughout production. We went through three locations, one of which pulled out incredibly last minute. As a result, Ashes was the only film I’ve directed where we had to cancel the shoot. Four months later, through a personal loan, the film was finally re-booked. Even a severe back injury a week before the shoot didn't stop me! But the night before the shoot, the RED Scarlet camera we’d hired (and spent a good chunk of the budget on) suddenly stopped working...

  The solution: There wasn’t a solution as much as a compromise. As I said, this was the film that didn’t want to get made! In spite of DOP Neil Oseman’s best efforts, he couldn’t get the darned camera to work. Also, because he’d spent most of the night trying to fix it, this meant that poor Neil had to go into the shoot on very little sleep. I almost wish we'd given up on the camera sooner, for his sake, but you learn the importance of rest as you get older! 

  But the moral of the story is that, to an extent, as long as your DOP is amazing, it doesn’t matter what camera you use – and Neil is one of the best. He had his DSLR on him, which we were going to use for some of the film’s latter scenes anyway; and because we still had some beautiful Zeiss lenses to use (which we’d hired with the RED), we were still able to shoot the film and make it look good enough. It also helps that this film was very much driven by the actors and their performances, slightly more than the cinematography.


[Above: Stop/Eject's weir location - before and after we decided to use it!]

 Stop/Eject (shot in 2012)

   The challenge: Stop/Eject (which I produced, with Neil directing) was another film that suffered through a couple of false starts. But when we finally shot the film, we were faced by our first – but definitely not last – batch of insane and unpredictable weather. You’ve probably all the seen the YouTube video, but just to summarise: Neil had planned a beautiful and epic proposal scene in the film, in which the two lead characters get engaged while stood at the top of a weir (accompanied by lots metaphors about water and time). We had jib shots planned, and although the water was always going to be moving off the weir, there was a shallow ledge for the actors to stand on, so the risk was minimal. But then it snowed in April (which wasn’t QUITE as common back in 2012!) and the weir flooded. The water became rapid, and it would’ve been treacherous to even attempt to send the actors across it.

   The solution: We did two things. First of all, we re-jigged the schedule so that the main bulk of the proposal scene would be shot last, to give the flooded areas time to settle. Secondly, because we still had enough time left on day one, we decided to shoot the proposal scene in a different location; even if we just used some of the close-ups from that block, it was a good use of the time. We were already filming in Belper River Gardens that day, the sun was shining, and there was enough water for the metaphors in the dialogue to still make sense. The actors did a great job, and the footage looked beautiful.

   We did go back to the original location on the final day of filming (as a bit of an add-on to the schedule), but the river was still overflowing, and there was no way we could’ve used it as intended. We re-shot the scene nearby, with the gushing water behind the actors – and we were also able to use the jib here – but the weather was very drizzly and grey. In the end, Neil chose to just use the footage from the first day – the stuff we had shot pretty much ‘just in case’ – and it all worked out well, because it’s a lovely looking little scene with some great performances. It didn’t need to be epic.

   (By the way, Neil has been in the industry a little longer than me, and he has many great stories to tell about his time as a director! If you want to hear more epic stories about the hurdles he’s faced – and how he overcame them – I definitely recommend you check out his blog, particularly the articles about shooting Soul Searcher!)


[Above: me on set with Night Owls' final cast, both of whom came on board within the final two weeks of pre-production]

 Night Owls (shot in 2014)

   The challenge: As was the case with Ashes and FIFTY/FIFTY, we struggled to find the perfect location for this film, as it was so specific in the script (partly because Night Owls was made to be a pilot for a feature film). But the main challenge came when both of our actors – through completely separate circumstances, neither of which could be helped – had to leave the production. They had been involved in the film's crowdfunding campaign, and I’d spent the rehearsal time developing the characters with them, so it was particularly crushing news for me. But to make matters even more complicated, we only had two weeks to go until the shoot, everything and everyone else was booked, and we couldn’t afford to postpone it.

   The solution: Although I loved my original cast, we did end up with some brilliant actors, both of whom headed the call last minute, purely out of love for the script. Holly Rushbrooke, who played Mari, had the biggest challenge – it was her first ever film, and we only managed to secure her TWO DAYS before the shoot! In spite of it all, and in spite of the actors’ lack of preparation time, everything worked out well for the film: 8 of the film’s 17 award wins were because of the fantastic performances!


[Above: Shooting the dreaded 'scene 17' during a thunderstorm. Photo by Robert Brown]

Songbird (shot in 2016)

   The challenge: Despite the scale of the film, pre-production on Songbird ran smoothly compared to our previous shorts. Our crowdfunding campaigns were a dream come true (in no small part down to the involvement of the beguiling Janet Devlin), and although we did have one last minute cast member change, due to very sad circumstances, Therese Collins stepped in last minute and did a great job. 

   Songbird was a logistically difficult film to plan, with multiple location changes across five days, but we did the sensible thing and planned the woodland scenes for the end of the week, when the weather forecast looked best. It was mid August, and for a time we thought that our biggest concern would be sunburn. Then the weather forecast suddenly changed, and the crew was caught out in the biggest thunder storm I've ever seen...

   I think the Songbird crew members are still traumatised by that day, when we filmed Scene 17 of the script in the torrential rain. A lot of our filming techniques had to be abandoned, partly for safety reasons, and partly because they wouldn't show up on screen (like our smoke effects, which quickly blew away!). As the day went on, tensions ran high.

   The solution: Difficult as it was, I did take away three key learning points from that day. Firstly, have a gazebo and a ground sheet. We bought one in advance for Songbird, in case we needed it, and although the ground sheet kept flooding, it meant that we were able to (mostly) cover the camera and finish the shoot. We kept the gazebo, and luckily we had it on set for FIFTY/FIFTY when the non-forecast hail started falling!

   Secondly, my experience of shooting Scene 17 made me really take stock of what is and isn’t important in a script. During pre-production, when there is time for debate, you can argue amongst yourselves and say, “we need all of this scene – we couldn't possibly cut it down". It’s a different matter altogether when your cast and crew are soaked and tired, and you need to wrap up the shoot ASAP! 

   I had to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to cut pages-worth of script out of the scene, right there in the middle of the shoot, and still end the scene cohesively (which is difficult, as we were filming Songbird's climatic battle scene at the time!). When we got to the edit, the condensed scene worked fine – it actually helped us to shorten the film as a whole – and you can't tell that anything is missing. It taught me to trust my ability to make snap decisions.

   Finally – and this applies to all shoots, not just Songbird – it taught me that sometimes, when things go wrong, it creates a bonding experience for the team. None of the Songbird team will forget their thunderstorm filming adventure, but we all still reminisce about it; we have the collective experience of “we survived Scene 17!” – and we survived it together. 

   So the lesson here is that, things go wrong on set. You can prepare yourself as much as possible, by buying gazebos, having backup locations and crew etc – but sometimes things happen that you just can't fix. When that happens, you need to learn as much as you can from the issue, but more importantly, make sure you and your crew work as a tight unit throughout the experience - and one day you will all look back at the memories and laugh together. That's the most important thing to take away from all of this.


Sophie


 p.s. I've just realised that this is my first blog post since the new year! I really must do better. I've just come to the end of a very busy spell of freelance work, but with the release of FIFTY/FIFTY, and with The Poison Ivy Fan Film super close to completion, I'm sure I'll have much more to write about in the coming months.




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