Day Four @ The Bunker (28/05/12)

Today we were a man short due to Joe having to be away from set; so once we got to the bunker me and Bob went through the shot list to see which were the remaining shots that we had to film today (our last shoot day); we both agreed that we needed to concentrate on the scenes that involved our actor first before moving onto the cutaways; so we wasted no time in getting on with the shooting whilst Patrick was left to set up the crane for the shots that we would shoot at the end of the day.

Me and Bob worked really well together and got the shots we wanted with the desired lighting at a very good rate of productivity, the final scenes that we needed to shoot with our actor required that Patrick helped out with lighting which for a few scenes needed me and Patrick to flicker the hallway lights in tandem so that the shot got the correct visual style; this took a couple of attempts but I feel in the end we got a great looking shot that will add to the essence of travelling through time for our character within the film.

Towards the end of the day we had to shoot some scenes with the crane; this needed all hands to achieve the shot from the shot list; I was in control of the camera head whilst directing Bob who was free-handling the LED light following the movement of the camera trying to keep consistent and even lighting; Patrick was left to operate the crane arm whilst pushing it along track in constant communication with myself over the pacing for the shot; to try and make this shot smoother even our actor helped to support the crane arm; what we ended up with was a shot that had constant fluid motion of the dolly moving forward, the crane arm being lowered as I tilted the camera on the head downwards; this shot I feel has come out very well and is down to our great teamwork and communication skills on set.

We were running a little behind schedule after these scenes and still needed a crane shot and some cutaways for our montage sequence; so we decided as a group to divide up with Bob and the actor going off to get the last few cutaway shots, whilst me and Patrick moved the crane downstairs to get the last of the crane shots; we needed a shot of dripping water which Patrick set up with a pierced bottle of water just above some piping; we then took turns operating the camera and lighting, eventually we found that with the LED lighting shining directly up moving in tandem with the camera we got the best lighting effect.

Though today should have been an easier day with less to shot, the fact we were a man down and I personally had to take on more responsibility on set, the day was actually really challenging, but because I've worked with Bob on numerous occasions before, we've grown to have a good working understanding and I feel that we do get the best out of each other on set; Patrick was crucial to the day going as well as it did as his previous experience with setting up the crane proved invaluable; despite this shoot day feeling very rushed I still feel that we kept the same approach that we had on the previous shoots; where we weren't willing to accept a second rate shot before moving on and I feeling that the desire of the whole crew really showed today despite the long hours and lack of sleep had taken a lot out of us I feel.

Me and Patrick operating the crane getting the correct framing for our 'Dripping Water' shot.

Me and Patrick shooting the final shot for the 'Dripping Water' shot.

Still from the first frame of Crane Shot going into the hatch in the floor.

Still from the same crane shot above as the shot falls into the hatch and into darkness.

Still of close up shot of actor; Bob on Camera with me lighting the actors face with a flickering Zippo lighter just out of frame below.

Still from Hallway scene after actor has just time traveled; having set up a LED light next to the camera, me and Patrick then flickered the hallway lights in tandem to add to the scenes atmosphere.