Stories from the Set: Pandemic Special

[Above: me and my mask, at a safe distance from music video client, T.C. Cartwright]

    My last blog post was written on the 1st of January. I was looking ahead to the year, hoping a few upcoming film shoots would go ahead, and I had cinema tickets booked to see Wonder Woman 1984 at a drive-in. Everything changed, again, only four days later. The UK went into Lockdown for the third time, and bar a couple of work journeys and food shops, I've barely left the desk in my home office ever since. 

   Sat here now, I am really missing being on set. Although filming has been allowed to continue through both of the last lockdowns, people have obviously been cautious about booking shoots in, and many locations remain closed. The majority of my work over the past twelve months has revolved around editing user-generated content (interviews shot on a webcam or recorded via Zoom, coupled with archive or stock footage), and while I don't resent this work at all - I am so thankful that my business is staying afloat again - I can't help but miss the role-call of "Sound? Speed. Camera? Turning. Mark it. Settle. Aaaaaaand.... action."

  With the recent announcement of the UK's planned roadmap out of Lockdown, I can't help but feel positive for the coming months. It promises a lot, and I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but I suspect that the physical shoots will come back in earnest soon. The 'full Lockdown' is going to ease from next week onward, and with that, change in some form is inevitable.

  Change is as unsettling as it is exciting, and as the UK prepares for the next step, I find myself thinking back to last summer, when the first Lockdown came to an end. Then, as now, although film shoots were allowed to happen, it wasn't easy to get them off the ground. As a result, many people I know haven't got back into a normal filming routine since March last year. These are unfamiliar times, and for anyone who is planning on getting back out there and filming for the first time in a while - either as a filmmaker or someone who's considering commissioning a video - I thought it might be useful for me to share a few thoughts about the first shoot I did after 'Lockdown 1' ended. I'm also keen to write this post for archive reasons, to look back on this time when everything is hopefully back to normal. Furthermore, I wanted to use this opportunity to give a shout-out to the first post-Lockdown client who took a chance on me by booking a shoot last summer.

  So without further ado, let me take you back to June 2020, and the first film shoot I did in the middle of a pandemic...

[Above: our first meeting finally took place - still socially distanced - thanks to ThInk Nottingham]

   The client was T.C. Cartwright, a young Nottinghamshire musician who needed a music video for his single, 'Falling in Love is Wonderful'. He had first contacted me and received a quote in March 2020 - but as we all know, the first Lockdown happened very shortly after that, and the project was put on hold. Even before Lockdown was initiated, we struggled to find a meeting venue, as the client requested a meeting in person, and many venues were closing their doors to customers even before people were told to stay home. When we finally did arrange a meeting, in June 2020 (four months after the original quote!), we still struggled to find a private meeting space. ThInk Nottingham eventually provided us with a venue; we were their first visitors since before Lockdown, and sadly one of their last, as they closed their doors a few months later - also as a result of the pandemic and its economic effects (although they're still operating online). I am indebted to the company for facilitating us, as well as helping us to source one of the locations for the shoot itself.

   Speaking of locations, that posed the next big challenge. Because the client was proud of his local area, he wanted to feature lots of Nottingham City locations in the video. This would usually be an easy request; when we shot Songbird, for example, we were able to film in a wonderful Nottingham back-alley. I don't even mean we filmed there guerrilla-style - Triskelle Pictures have always got signed permission to use every location in every film. I like to do things by the book, and as my requests have always been approved before, I never saw any reason not to.

  On paper, this shoot was simple: one artist, a minimal crew of two, walking around Nottingham City Centre and filming with social distancing measures in place. Any other time, this set-up would be approved immediately. That was not the case in Summer 2020! Not only were the council (somewhat understandably) cautious about any public activities taking place - even small ones - but they were also using the quiet period as an opportunity to carry out lots of road maintenance, meaning that some of the streets we wanted to film in would be blocked off completely. I had to change my plans, and the client was very understanding of the situation. 

   Eventually, after many weeks of calling round various council bodies, I was able to secure three locations which would offer us a variety of shots; we had the private location which ThInk Nottingham helped us to source, one riverside area the council let us use (providing we did so very early in the morning!), and a rural underpass that the highway patrol didn't mind us filming in.

[Above: DOP Will Price capturing some shots in the early morning light. Believe it or not, he was actually filming close-up shots at this point!]

   The shoot was finally booked for August 3rd 2020 - a date which brought its own challenges. Firstly, I was scheduled to do a Zoom Q&A for Geekfest Film Festival, who were screening Growing Shadows, the night before the shoot; I ended up dialing in from my cheap hotel room, which didn't make for the best backdrop (watch the full Q&A here)! Secondly, the weather was hot. Not too hot if you're just walking along, but if you're carrying lots of kit, a suitcase and a COVID safety kit (yep, I got one of those for this shoot), then it was a bit uncomfortable!

   Here's the thing I really hadn't prepared for. You see, what I was carrying was an 'average load' for me, as someone who has carried many bags full of costumes to film shoots over the years. I also wasn't walking more than I'm used to. But I'd been in Lockdown for nearly four months, I'd barely left the house, and I wasn't aware of how much muscle strength I'd lost - not that I had much in the first place! The day before the shoot, I walked around all the locations, just to double check the parking spaces and to secure the shooting plan in my head... and I damn near thought I wasn't going to make it back to the hotel. That's no exaggeration; under that heat, and having barely moved for months, I felt very unwell, and for a brief moment, I worried the shoot wouldn't have a director!

   My minor drama-queen moment over, the shoot itself went really well, and we all enjoyed getting back to doing what we love best. T.C. Cartwright's music has an urban contemporary feel, but he also has influences from different eras (you can hear a lovely vinyl crackle at the start of the track), so we filmed in areas that mixed city sights with timeless buildings and rivers, colourful graffiti, and romantic touches to reflect the lyrics of the song - such as a bridge in Nottingham centre which is covered in lovers' padlocks. I was joined by the brilliant DOP Will Price, who has shot all my most recent music videos and short films, and he brought some wonderful ideas for handheld movement and slow-motion scenes to the shoot.

[Above: T.C. Cartwright and DOP Will Price, social distancing with style!]

   The new filming guidelines did take a bit of getting used to; social distancing didn't impede the filming, as Will was able to use some beautiful long lenses with ease. It was only an issue when we had to speak to each other, such as when I had to re-start the guide track on my portable player, and we were next to busy roads that drowned out what we were saying!

   It was also the first time we'd done a film shoot with masks on, which wasn't overly enjoyable in the heat - but I was happy to do it to keep client and crew safe. In the months since then, myself and others have moved to only wearing masks for indoor shoots, as outdoor shoots are more COVID-safe by default. But back in August 2020, it was all very, very new to us, and we weren't taking any chances!

  The good thing about the filming conditions was that there was barely any traffic on the roads - meaning we were able to get from location to location in much less time than predicted, and even brought the shoot to a close a little early. Good job, because shortly after we wrapped (and while I was backing up the footage in the back of Will's car), the hot weather suddenly disappeared, and it started raining heavily. After what happened on the Songbird shoot in 2016, I was certainly glad to miss out on filming in the rain this time round!

  I edited T.C. Cartwright's video the following week, and further enhanced some of the retro themes by adding a subtle film grain and burns to the footage. I'm delighted to say that the client was happy with his video, and it was released a few days later. You can still check it out on YouTube:

   Since August 2020, I have done a handful of shoots - and although I'm not on set as much as I'd like, and even though I still have to wear PPE, it is starting to feel normal again. It helps me feel more like myself, and I hadn't realised I wasn't myself before I got back to filming. So I'm so grateful to T. C. Cartwright for boldly moving forward with his production during those uncertain times. It got us all out the house, we were pleased with the video we made, and it gave us some vital skills to move forward with socially-distanced film shoots. 

   So for anyone who's considering booking in a shoot, I would say do it. The time may not feel perfect right now, but these are the only days we have. If things are done safely, and if you have a location you can access, there's no reason not to get out there and create something new. You may even find it to be a cathartic experience.

Sophie