March 17, 2016
Compositing is coming on slowly but I only have a few shots left (that we’ve already shot). This weekend we’re planning to film the retakes of the garage. We’re are going to attend to our past mistakes and crew less people. I'm thinking two at maximum. Jack said he may not be able to make it, so I'm thinking I'll recruit Thomas and Ayla. Luckily, Thomas would already be there, and Ayla isn't too far away. Jack scheduled the shooting time from 2:00-6:00. He says it may be a “gross overestimation”. With the ways things have been going, nothing is a gross overestimation. I'm pretty sure we will end up going over that time, but hopefully not far.
This will be the last time we are filming in the Russell’s garage, regardless of what happens. I better make this count. I'm developing a shot list to make sure we get everything.
March 18, 2016
I've gotten the tripod and headphones from my Convergence Media class. I didn't get the boom pole, it's out of commission. I decided instead to use my DIY boom pole I made about a year back. It's a little shoddy, but I may just work.
I stopped by Jack’s house on my way home to grab his end of the set dressing (the lamps and flasks). I told him to leave it outside of his house since he wasn't going to be there for the Saturday shoot and Friday he would be at the Square.
I got a text from Jack that night. He was asking for the footage so he could make the trailer over the weekend. It seems we miscommunicated, I thought he was going to use the footage from our previous exports, but he was just waiting until I finished the VFX. I began to export the footage that night, however, I had to stop it because it was taking too long. (On three occasions, it estimated 20 hours of render time.) I realized it was because of some After Effects composites that refused to render in Premiere. I had to export 5 different parts of the movie to exclude these unrenderable clips.
March 19, 2016
Today was the day of the reshoot and I was already late. I was volunteering for Fernbank that day. I left the shift early (about 1:45) so I could be at the Russell’s house on time, but I ended up getting there at about 2:30.
We had a lot of setup things to do to get the garage looking like it did for the past shooting day. I used stills from the film to put the equipment in their proper places on the ping pong table. It was slow, but I hoped to begin filming by 3:00. We didn’t get started until about 3:15.
I put the time crunch in the back of my mind. I knew this time was going to be different, and I had a plan. We started with the most crucial scenes first, the beginning of scene 8, the one with the jarring wardrobe error. Ayla and Mayah joined in later (Thomas invited Mayah over.) We were able to move quickly. I think that with a smaller crew and greater focus is one of the best ways to get the set moving. I used just the people we needed and sent them out when they weren’t.
One thing I also changed was how I took the filming. Before, I was a little cranky and stressed out about what we had to film. This time, I relaxed a little. Sometimes I goofed off and laughed with the other crew members. I was having and good time, and they were too. It definitely improved the mood of the set.
Overall the filming went smoothly, however we did run over time (it took until 6:30.) However, considering the late start, we were on time or at least, closer than we’ve ever been. It sucked having to come out another day, but at least it was enjoyable.
I took the reshoot opportunity to make some changes in the plot, mainly the climax. One of my least favorite scenes was scene 29. Maddox sees Monty on the ground after a recent short circuit and he calls the hospital. The next scene we figure out Monty is alright. We didn’t show an ambulance, hospital, or anything. It’s kind of a deus ex machina, but I went with it because I couldn’t think of anything else. Looking back at the footage, a very important dramatic point is played off as kind of cheesy. I thought it would take the viewers out of the film.
The change needed to diffuse the dramatic build up from the rising action, and smoothly transition into the already filmed scenes 30 through 32.
I figured the way to solve this problem was to choose a device that was internal to the plot. What I mean by that is using only elements that we have developed inside of the storyline. The emergency services were not mentioned at all until that point. (Okay, there is a part in scene 25 where Maddox says “you need a hospital”, but that dialogue was not intended to foreshadow anything later and could be missed by the audience).
I decided that Maddox was going to use the lamp to absorb the built up electricity in Monty. He learns this in scene 25. After Monty leaves the scene to go take the midterms, Maddox stays behind and watches the Liquid Lightning. The lamp glow brightly and so does the Liquid Lightning, but after a while, the Liquid Lightning dims, and the glow becomes desaturated. Originally, the light bulb on the lamp was supposed to break from the supercharge of the Liquid Lightning, foreshadowing Monty’s fate and raising the stakes. Honestly, I think the revision version moves the plot along better.
I haven’t reviewed the footage yet, but I hope that I’ve gotten what I needed.