But it is done. The first episode is completed and out there for everyone to see, and I'm now in the process of working on the second episode edit.
As outlined at the beginning of this ambitious project, we are literally shooting an episode and releasing it a week after shooting - this is a crazy schedule to follow, and it will get easier next month when I shoot two episodes a weekend rather than one. (Basically we will shoot two weekends a month, which should provide 4 episodes worth of footage.)
It's a testament to the cast's eagerness that they have opted to add another weekend this month to their schedule to shoot a bonus episode - one that I am working on at the moment while also laying the foundations for episodes 8 - 13.
Hopefully by episode 8 we'll still have the same enthusiasm and vigour that has characterised the first two shoots. :)
But today I am going to talk a little more about Episode one.
We shot the entire episode on Saturday 7th May. Due to the nature of the project, we had cast and crew sharing duties all day. Josh, whose eager energy and positive energy certainly has been helping keep everyone else upbeat, showed up about ten minutes early and was all set to start shooting as soon as possible.
The original script had Andrea and Mel arguing on the balcony so that I could take advantage of the fantastic view from there - on a sunny day it is a stunning view of Wellington Harbour. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans.
I had spent the week planning out an alternative version of the scene set within the lounge, and so we were able to still shoot without too much fuss.
Within a very short period of time we had all the cast for the first scene on set, and were missing a cameraman. My plan was to shoot with two cameras to help reduce shooting time - ideally you want to capture as much footage as you can to give the editor plenty of material to play with during post. So Lee, who plays Carey, stepped up to the mark to handle the second camera while I managed first - and Michael (Deus) took over boom duties during the first scene.
We shot several takes, mostly because Jenni, Josh and Kerina were so excited to be shooting they kept breaking out into giggles.
Then it was Mike's turn to shuck off his clothes and pretend to be a naked deity. For the record - and for those who have seen Josh's blooper reel - Mike was not naked. But he certainly was a real trooper who willingly stepped out into the blustery, cold and wet balcony to give himself a genuine sweaty appearance for his "emerging from the vase" shot. I think it is a testament to his professionalism that he not only had fun, but dove in without any complaints. Even when I had him standing, legs spread while I tried to frame one of my favourite shots from episode one of the three flatmates looking at him. It was certainly awkward in the tight confines of the kitchen.
We initially started an hour later than planned, but due to the use of the flip minos, there was no need for elaborate lighting rigs, which meant that moving from shot to shot and scene to scene was a painless and fast process. Normally you would need to break down the lighting and rejig it for the next shot. The down side is that we did get some odd lighting quirks that required colour correction in post. In episode two I decided to try natural lighting and nothing else, and that seemed to produce a better result overall. But still not perfect. Unfortunately, as my favourite saying this project has become, that's the nature of the beast we have taken on here.
Unfortunately when we changed boom operators for the next scene, someone accidentally turned off the boom. This wasn't noticed during the shoot, and as a result it made the boom material we did record useless because the sound inconsistency would have been too jarring. As a result, I was forced to use the Flip mino audio recording. Forunately, the minos do a great job of picking up voices and through some careful work within iMovie 11 and a great little program called Audacity we were able to mitigate most of the background hiss and sound issues. It isn't as good as a boom, but a great way to recover from such a nightmare situation.
Normally when shooting outside in a public location, you need to arrange releases through the city council - mainly because you are potentially making a hindrance and nuisance for other people who may wish to use public resources. Due to our cast and crew literally being 5 people with a camera the size of a mobile phone, I figured we could get away with being more guerilla film crew about it and just shoot as long as we kept out of people's way. I have to strongly state - if you are planning on using white boards, lighting or anything more elaborate than the size of a mobile phone for your shoot - GET APPROVALS.
The same goes for if you plan to do anything that involves guns, fighting or in some way could lead to someone in the public thinking there is a threat. Otherwise you can expect the police to show up. It is often also a good idea to call the police even after getting council approval - because, again, this just keeps the people who need to be in the know... well... in the know.
Fortunately we had nothing like that planned - and with the weather clearing up enough we were able to shoot Melissa (Ziana) and Andrew's (Urge) scene without drama or interruption.
So with the episodes being released essentially on a weekly basis, this is a great opportunity to discuss with me the series and your thoughts. Let me know who your favourite characters are. Tell us about your favourite cast members and what you think of the various storylines. I'm particularly interested in hearing about thoughts people have in regards to what is going on and who really is intending to do what. I know what is going to happen, but I'm also interested in hearing people's opinions.
The same goes for the humour. More? Less? This is your chance to talk directly with the guy who makes the big decisions about the direction Urban Numina heads.
Look forward to hearing back from your all!
Conan
My only issue was a shot that put the pole in the foreground - a touch awkward.
ReplyDeleteI thought the first episode looks pretty good, especially from a story-telling point of view. It started building interest without being too much of a tease.