Production Blog: First Day of Filming!

    Welcome back again! Today I am going to share the adventures of my first day of filming, and I am so, so incredibly excited! To begin the day of filming, the group gathered in the parking lot after school. Jordyn decided to ride with me, and Ashley drove by herself. With a quick pit stop, I made my way to Ashley's dad's house with Jordyn as my passenger. Upon arrival at Ashley's house, the group began some minor setup. Jordyn and I began to move some things around Ashley's bedroom, such as books and clothes. After, the group began to discuss minor technical details of the filming process and took a look at the equipment that a group member had brought. This equipment included a digital clock, voice recorder, and various tripods and phone stands. After this, the group was to begin the actual filming and looked at the script as a guideline. While quickly reviewing it, I realized that there were many missing details/specific props which, although minor, are essential to the plot. This included Ashley's reading glasses and the necessary sheet that she is to look at each morning, which could not be quickly produced as Ashley did not have a printer at her house. The group decided that instead of filming this scene, they would instead film the bathroom scene, which after inspecting the script, I found that Ashley had all the correct props for.

    Although seemingly simple, this scene took many takes as well as many readjustments. To begin, Jordyn and I had to move many things around in Ashley's bathroom. I moved things into drawers and far cabinets off-screen, and Ashley used toothpaste to make the mirror and sink look dirty. After the group was satisfied, the first take began. Originally, it was planned as a montage of Ashley getting ready, but I suggested the group do some cool transitions to tie it all together. The main one I suggested was that she spit her toothpaste into the sink, completely disappearing from the screen, and pops back up in the same position as before with her flask while taking a swig from it. Again, this was much more difficult than it seemed. I was originally the one holding the camera and had to hold completely still while filming the transition aspect. I also had to assure that the camera was in a position where Ashley was not on the screen when she bent down to spit out her toothpaste. With the time constraints from Jordyn having to get picked up, an acceptable result was produced in about 11 takes. This did result in Ashley's hair getting wet and her mascara smudging, but I actually enjoyed this look, as if she seemingly slept with her mascara/makeup on, and had experienced some sort of night sweats induced by her drinking problem. Once the final take was filmed, and all of the group was happy with it, it was time for Jordyn to leave which concluded the filming day. I am so pleased with the filming process so far!