End Of Year Films, The Epic Final Chapter: Shooting Breathing Room

Since camera is my chosen specialism and has been for the longest time, since a few weeks into the course, I was quite looking forward to shooting our end of year films this year. I will admit that I was apprehensive about shooting our end of year films on RED, mostly because the weeks of training time that were originally mentioned didn't come to fruition. I'm quite happy to now admit that I was wrong.

Before shooting, it was hard to find time to get anything moving for Breathing Room, mostly due to producing Sole Mates and having to work part-time. This is maybe the 14th time I've brought this is but both were the major downfall for DP'ing Breathing Room.

Early in pre-production, I had a certain type of vision for the film. Since Jackie was living in solitude, locked away from the world by her own choice, I planned to shoot everything very wide, almost as if we were simply watching a landscape with a small creature wandering through. This would then change to a very handheld, tight, claustrophobic feeling when the tramp and the dog get into the house. Unlike Sole Mates and Broken Bubbles, it was very difficult for us to have a consistent colour palette. The other two films were creating a charity shop or creating a workshop but for Breathing Room, we really could only work with whatever the house was like, there was no way to overhaul the house on the budget we had. In terms of colour, I also found it very difficult to add tints or set certain colour temperatures on the RED to give a feel since it was too easy to just go for the most beautiful image with the most beautiful colour rather than setting a colour to give a feel. Hopefully this can be corrected in post.

With the loss of the RED for the duration of Sole Mates, it was up in the air for an entire week whether we would actually be shooting on it. While others were very downhearted about it, I was quite happy just to be shooting something and would have happily shot on the 570's if there were no other options.

In pre-production, Graeme started on the shot list and this was a good base but I obviously had to put my own hand into it. Graeme didn't want to do storyboards which was a definite downfall for us, even though I would have rather done photoboards since neither of us can draw, and taking a photo involves a proper frame meaning that you can place a person in a similar background and instantly anyone can get a feel for what is going to be shot. Twice we attempted to make a pass on the shot list but since both of us were working, work for Sole Mates wasn't finished until the day after the shoot and the location was quite a trek from Glasgow, very minimal work could get done. Graeme believed that I could phone in sick for work in order to do a recce but since I had already taken many days off work for the shoot and Edinburgh there was no way I could. Rent payments have to come first.

After finishing work at 1:00am early on the Monday morning, myself and the camera department (Ross, John, Luke and David) drove to Gourock to get ahead of the game. I made the suggestion since I wanted to have as much time as possible at the location and the only way to do it was right after work. The drive was hilarious and I believe it was the early hours of the day before we fell asleep. Luckily, we had a little while longer to sleep than everyone who was coming down on the train.

We all had a quick working breakfast on the first morning ahead of the hectic day that lay ahead. Yes it was hectic but in fact, the entire crew coped extremely well with the dog on-set. The day was filled with hesitation since the dog handler caused more than a little bit of trouble. She wasn't the easiest to get on with and was under the illusion that the dog was merely in the background. She clearly hadn't listened to Michael or read the script.

We fired through slates and while many times we were thinking on our feet, we worked well enough as a crew to cope with any set backs. What probably helped us move quickly and allowed us to sacrifice shots here and there was my back-up shot list. Anyone involved had my ideal shot list but in my head I knew what we needed to get so when we were told we were tight on time (which always happens) I could sacrifice shots without sacrificing the film. It's a technique I'll probably employ in the future as well since it seemed to work well. And only you and I will know about it, dear reader.

By Day 2 we had hit our stride, we had an easier day 1 than we thought and managed to shoot all of our coverage with the dog and minimal complications. We didn't take our metaphorical feet off the pedals though and continued filming our final scenes with Rhys as the tramp and also our ending.

As a nice tidy bookend, we filmed the end of the film at the end of the 2nd day and the beginning of the film at the beginning of the 3rd day. Both scenes weren't quite what they were like on the storyboards but I'm pleased with both of them and I hope all of it cuts together well.

On the 3rd day, we wrapped at around 4:30 because the actor had to leave but we had in fact shot all of our coverage that we reckon we needed. No doubt it'll shine through in the edit if this isn't the case.

Rather than go into great detail about each individual day. I thought I would talk more about each person on-set and beforehand. Since the majority of us (camera crew, Graeme, Lanni, Charlotte, Murdo and even Rhys and Michael for one night) lived on-set for the duration of the shoot, there soon became a great sense of camaraderie and it became very far from just a 9 to 5 job for everyone. It had the same sort of atmosphere as Little Clown did last year all of us who stayed at Benoits on those days remember the experience fondly.

Graeme did a good job and shouldn't be as hard on himself. He seemed to make the actors comfortable and in general I had no problems communicating with him. The problems that we did have was essentially in our lack of prep. Graeme hadn't read the shot list and so would be explaining his coverage to the actors and then mentioning shots that weren't on the shot list. This infuriated me greatly and we lost some time due to this. The duration of shots and their exact coverage was often also unclear and small arguments were had at some point. Still, Graeme did a great job at his first time directing, none of us are perfect at it, that's why we're at the academy. His knowledge of the environment (with it being his own house) certainly aided us in both the shooting and the day to day running of the film.

Michael first bash at producing was obviously quite successful. We did eventually get a location, actors and a dog. If I'm being honest, I was often jealous of Michael, since besides constantly phoning around about locations, his film was a little easier to produce than mine. Props weren't an issue, neither were extras, location moves or bikes. It still wasn't easy though and everytime I still go into the production office, I can still picture Michael on the phone to either a location, an actor's agent or a dog handler only to be refused minutes later. The one major downfall came with the catering. If it wasn't for Graeme working in Dominoes, we wouldn't have eaten as well as we did. 10 bags of pasta and sauce aren't going to nourish a crew. Again, an excellent job done for a first attempt and Michael keeps talking about how much he wants to produce next year.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Lanni was a good AD and he just needs to stay focussed to master his craft. On Breathing Room, I sometimes felt it was me and Lanni who would be pushing forward and wanting everything shot and we both think we were responsible for the early wrap and meeting our quota each day. The fact that we were pushing means that, on reflection, Graeme was focussed on the moment with the actors which is a good thing for everyone.

Ross and John worked very well as a team. I wasn't sure if they would work well together but I'm glad to say that I should have had faith. Lanni made the comparison that they are the David and Kerr of our year, hefty boots which I hope they can fill (if they want to) next year. They were always on hand when they were needed and always on the ball. Ross would always either meet or surpass my idea of a shot and would wait about quietly, or with suggestions while I was locking down the movement or lighting. Both gave their all in one particular shot where they had to be inside the boiling hot conservatory to get a shot. Their dedication to getting this shot done in the best possible way will stay with me when I see the final film.

I don't remember a single operating error that Ross didn't notice himself and each time, he would be willing to try again when it would often be sorted. John constantly had his head in the game. His focus points were often spot on and both he and Ross would work together so that they were both at a certain comfort level with the shot. I don't consider myself experienced in the art of cinematography yet so I was more than happy to listen to John, Ross, David and Luke's suggestions at times and as a team, I reckon we worked really well together. My thoughts for the film's lighting was to have it look very natural and use little to no practical lighting. Not the most exciting plan for a gaffer but we pulled it off and Luke was always ready to go. It's a bit of a thankless job but he was very good at it and shouldn't beat himself up about the lost kit. The one time he did need a hand though, I burned myself. The scar still lingers! Then again pain is temporary...

David deserves a special note since his experience was certainly my safety mat. Often I would have a lighting set up that I was happy with, but a few times, I had to ask my lads for suggestions and everyone would be very attentive to David's thoughts which would often just give the setups the edge they needed. At times though, he would make suggestions and be quite happy to have me refuse them, something which I think is difficult to learn but a good mentality to have. His constant insistence of "that's not your job" made me feel much more confident in my role. I'm used to working on small productions were everyone pitches in but with everyone having actual roles, it's hard to forget when to not pitch in. There truly is only one David Van Der Zanden!

Murdo kept himself to himself most of the time and I would always make a point of spending a moment as soon as I could to giving him an edge for his boom. While I'm a camera boy at heart, it annoys me that sound gets entirely overlooked and forgotten about on-set and all they usually need is a few moments of our time. Not much to ask considering everything is generally manipulated for the camera.

Lauren was always available (unlike other members of TPA) and would be close by if anything needed done. The day that John wasn't feeling well she did a great job of slating with minimal guidance which showed she had been paying attention.

Charlotte's job of DIT was done to the best possible standard, doubling as a stills photographer at times, though she ate far too much of our production food which meant that I had far less snacks than I wanted. The job really just consists of sitting pretty, which Charlotte struggles to do at the best of times! ;)! Is that a punch I hear coming my way?

All in, an excellent crew and one of my favourite on-set experiences, not least for being the DP on the first film we have made shot entirely on RED. We had our pitfalls in pre-production but with time and practice, these will be forgotten and improved upon and I look forward to being in a similar position this time next year. Though obviously, like everyone else, I'd love that elusive grad film directing position. The chance to direct anything would be awesome! Next time though, I want someone asking me constantly if I want a coffee, just so I can have a bit of a diva tantrum!

So long 2009/2010!!!