Our return to filming started a little rocky as we had to swiftly change our schedule. We had asked too much of my grandparents by using their bungalow as a location for four solid days (12 hour blocks). As it would be too much for them to deal with it looked like we were going to have to reschedule roughly a quarter of the remaining shoot dates. So this meant a bit of extra stress (there wasn’t enough before) as we had arranged for Heather May to travel a fair distance and she was only available for a few days.
As we dropped back into the shoot, after a strange (not used to having free time) full week off from filming, she was thrown in at the deep end with a fairly heavy dramatic scene. It all went smoothly and we slipped right back into our stride.
The footage we got throughout the day was great (despite having possible schedule disruptions being held over our heads) including one of the funnier moments in the film. It was a nice reminder that adding a small improvised moment here and there can liven a scene up in an incredibly refreshing way. The majority of our last feature film ‘NARCISSIST’ was improvised (we worked from a detailed outline rather than a script), and it was one of the most fun and rewarding shoots we’ve ever had. Finding the balance between professional and creative can be tough but this week looks set to be a return to form. Despite the occasional stressful moment, we are enjoying the shoot so far. Looking forward to more days like this…once we figure out exactly how we’re going to get everything filmed at all.
Later that night we managed to reach a compromise, which was that Heather May would have to stay an extra day and we would shoot shorter days, on a tighter schedule. And the shoot goes on!
For those who are yet to see it, here’s our mid-shoot interview:
