Day one of the shoot was all organised and produced well but I still had nerves and worries about the weather ruining our filming and what to do if none of the actors showed up. Our first location was Carlton-in-Cleveland and our job was to film the shot of the two child actors, one on a bicycle and and the other chasing behind. We arrived on time for the shoot, managing to keep up with the call sheet and schedule, and all the actors arrived to the shoot on time as well. We were able to set up the equipment very quickly and talk and direct the child actors what I need them to do for the shot. During setting up it began to snow, not too heavily and there was no wind accompanying it and due to its lightness it wasn't effecting our equipment at all, it looked lovely through the lens of the camera but stopped snowing as soon as we started filming. I would've loved if we were able to capture that shot while it was snowing just to see if it would've been better or worse, it also would've helped with the brief of going outdoors in all weathers, that way we could've shown a variety of weathers. The first shot went very smoothly and took a lot less time than we expected and planned for, just for good measure we got a variety of the first shot so we had options, as it felt almost too easy at the start and a bit unnerving. The second location was not far from where we were and it was Carlton Bank, we travelled a little further up the road and up towards Carlton Bank. We were ahead of schedule and felt a little more relaxed with taking our time to make sure we get the best shots, It was freezing cold and had signs it was going to snow again, we asked the actors to wait in their cars so they could stay warm while we set up. We set up as quickly as possible in the cold and began filming our shots, the coldness had everyone rushing but Glenn (Camera Op) knew exactly what to do with the camera to get the best looking shots and I'm glad he didn't rush through it and took is time preparing the camera before shots. We managed to capture the shots at Carlton Bank looking out at the view and I was pleased with how uninterrupted so far's shoot was going. Dan (Sound Op) was also trying his best to capture sound, I wasn't sure if any of it would make it into the final edit with music playing over the top but it was good to have as back up. Due to us finishing the morning shoot earlier, it allowed us to grab an earlier dinner and then to buy us more time, setting up the camping equipment and tent before the teenage actors arrived.
The original plan was to have multiple tents dotted around but we had some failure with certain tents missing parts and were unable to include them in the shot. We had one tent that would set up fine and this was our main tent for the characters to be in. We had some seats and a guitar to try and populate the frame, and Drew and the idea of grabbing one of the BBQ's on the location and moving it into our frame as we were on a camping site. Altogether through the lens it seemed very packed and we had built a fairly quality environment/set for the shoot to take place. We also needed to set up the the track and dolly and made sure we were on flat land, we had some complications with the track as certain pieces were unable to join with others. We did the best with what we could and when the actors arrived, made sure we were ready to start filming. We did quite a few practice shots without filming to make sure the pacing of the track was right as well as the framing. We got a multiple shots of the track and dolly shot as well as a variation with a different lens which was more of a wider shot than the original. Once we were done it concluded the first days shoot and we were able to pack up an prepare for tomorrow shoot.
Day two was more unorganised than day one and we were working with an actress we had never met before. We were using less equipment on todays shoot which made it easier for transporting and all the locations were around Hartlepool. We started off at Summerhill Country Park where we were going to film the proposal shot. Weather had improved quite much from the previous day so we were in luck. We had to use Drew as our stand in to play Evan as we ran out of time trying to find an actor, Jacqueline arrived slightly late due to traffic which helped us as we needed more time to set up for the shot. Once she arrived we quickly began filming to jump back on schedule and tried to make up for lost time. There were three different shots to capture and Glenn understood and was able to get all of them smoothly. The next scene was staying in Summerhill but moving to a path, we had the child actors arrive on time and we were able to continue filming. The shot I had planned for was proving to difficult from Glenn to handle as it was a moving shot and he warned me it may not look good on the screen, for safety we agreed to get as second shot that was still as a back up so we had options down the line. We then gave the cast and crew a dinner break while I went to talk to the owners of the horse stables down the road to give them a heads up we'd be coming down soon. The woman at the stables was super helpful and organised a horse for us to use, it was for a simple shot of the mother and daughter stroking a horse and we grabbed a couple of the shots to be safe and then moved on. The final shot of the day and the production was at Seaton Carew for the fishing shots. I had agreed for the man bringing the fishing equipment to meet us at a certain time but we were running ahead of the call sheet and had extra time where the cast and crew could have another break, they all decided to grab teas and coffees inside The Staincliffe Hotel. Once the man arrived he began setting up the fishing rods and stands and we were able to grab the last shot of the production. It was three different shots and angles and we managed to get them all before we lost the light. I was quite impressed with how the production went, and surprised how smoothly it went even with a few errors and flaws in pre-production. I was very proud and happy with my entire crew including the cast, and was satisfied with the filming and production of the commercial. We heard from the parents of the child actors about working with us again if anything else comes up, as well as Jacqueline who said she had tons of fun working with us. I was very impressed with Glenn's skills as camera op and he made me much more comfortable on set by helping me understand how he was getting the shot and raising suggestions and not afraid to tell me if it didn't work and we needed to do it again. Overall I thought the shoot was a success and I would definitely work with this crew and cast again.
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