Story-boarding and Shot list

Story-boarding and Shot List 

So as it was approaching the days of my shoot, in preparation for it, I knew I needed to come together with a strategy to shoot my scenes so it would be as efficient as possible on set. I did this by thinking through each take and creating a storyboard to give me a structural concept of how, shot by shot, the sequence would go. 

I'm actually very thankful I did this storyboard as I kept to it and it really did make the shoot much smoother than I first expected it to be. There were obviously moments of improvisation and where i thought i'd go off script to experiment with the camera and the dynamics of trying to shift the story to a different view point. However 90% of the time I'd be closely sticking to the line of the storyboards I had made. 

                                         

(I know what you're probably thinking, 'Wow, why didn't Jason just do a fine arts degree', and my answer to that of course is that it would of been too easy).

Before shoot though I did have some complications with casting, and with changes made to my first draft of the script (there were meant to be 4 girls, but having spoke to Steve Coumbes, 3 girls was deemed plenty) I now only needed 3 girls. This was hard to negotiate and plan/prep around as one of the girls I had in mind was on a different course with different schedules. So it was trying to find the right balance and a day where we could all come together and nip this in the bud. Fortunately for me it landed on the exact day I was given permission to film by Kent Film Office (16th Nov). 

The location was the Pier, which is just before you get to Catham bus station, and I had been prior to the shooting day to have a look at the surroundings and double checking safety for my cast and crew. Obviously it was extremely safe and surprisingly on the day of the shoot no one was actually on it apart from me and the crew! So that definitely increased the time efficiency and general expectancy of the shoot. 

(Taking pride in wearing that hi-vis)

Overall my planning and preparation before my shooting schedule definitely had a positive correlation with the speed and quality of the general shoot. I'm happy with the way it went and looking back on it there are no regrets, however possibly missing out on a shot or two, it still didn't effect how my coverage of the narrative came out looking.