Filmmaking- Level 6's Shoot

The third years/Level 6's are also competing in the Kodak Awards this year with us, and their chosen advert was to be the Think! brief. They organised a shoot called Ya Think! that was set during WWII and featured prisoners escaping a camp, while the german soldier on guard was distracted by using his phone. The filming took place at Heugh Battery, a historic museum on the coast of Hartlepool and Seaton Carew. The level 6's enquired about me and Drew helping them out on shoot by been runners, as we can both drive and easily help with transportation of crew, actors and equipment. The shoot was scheduled for two days but due to bad weather, it was extended to three days and I was able to help out on all three days of shooting.

The first day was a night shoot at Heugh Battery and me and Drew along with Gavin (Level 6 director) were the drivers and made sure everything and everyone was where they needed to be on time. The shoot took off with a rocky start as more time than expected was spent setting up and dressing the location for the shoot. The whole crew participated in moving this sitting shed that was to be used as a prop but too much time and effort went into moving it and it took up too much of the shooting time, the prop didn't fit where the crew wanted it so the movement of it was abandoned and then started focusing on getting the shots in. Once everything was set up and running smoothly, the shoot rolled without any faults, me and Drew helped set up what was needed like the lights and the track and dolly, and during the shoot me and Drew operated the lights to have this quick fading to brightness effect to give the illusion of bombs dropping in the distance.


The crew did well at lighting the set as it was a night shoot and almost complete darkness with no other lights around than the ones we brought. The weather was also harsh but the crew was able to work through it and complete the first day of shooting, but were disappointed with the few amount of shots they got, meaning they would have to make up for it in the second days shoot.

The second days shoot started during the day and focused on getting the day shots straight away, we filmed on a street that was situated in an abandoned housing estate, which gave us privacy when filming from pedestrians but didn't stop the odd driving instructor on a lesson from passing through every now and then. Once everyone was on location and the equipment was ready, the level 6 crew began filming their actor in the middle of the road on his phone, he was then going to get knocked down in the next shot which would look much more effective after some movie magic was applied. The filmed the car driving down the road separately and then edited both shots together to give the effect the car hits him, since Gavin was directing I was the only other driver on set and took the role of driving the car down the road while the crew filmed it for the shoot. After we got all the day shots, we were able to have a break before continuing on with the night shoot in a few hours. Unfortunately once we got all the actors, crew and equipment to the location for the night shoot, the weather changed drastically and began pouring down with rain. We waited it out to see if it would stop or if there would be any change in the weather but it got to the point where the rain continued and we were wasting time, It was unsafe to set up lighting equipment and to use the film camera in this weather, so the crew decided to pack up and reschedule the shoot for another day.  

After rescheduling the shoot and moving it to a third and later date, the finishing shots were achieved smoothly and the shot was a success. There was no weather obstructions and due to previously filming on this location before, it was quicker to set up and pack away which saved time meaning more filming. The crew were able to call a wrap earlier than expected and had captured all their necessary shots as well as some back ups and some experimental shots. Overall the shoot was a success and a nice insight into a level 6 shoot. It taught me some lessons that I can apply to my own shoot and also showed me what to do and what not to do in certain situations. Even though the crew were faced with certain complications, they had fore seen some things happening and allowed a back up date for filming which made it easier to deal with, when those complications happened.