Over the last couple of days I have been shooting the first episode of Work Mates. It was a very stressful, but very rewarding process.
Tuesday 5th May
Originally I had the green screen room booked from 12 until 5, but after considering the amount of setting up that was necessary, I approached the member of staff that was responsible for bookings and requested that I have access earlier than this. I managed to get access from about about 11, so an extra hour was plenty of time for setting up.
There were a lot of different props that needed to be brought both from my house and from the multimedia studio, so I recruited some friends to give me a hand. There was everything from my graduation robes, to salt and pepper pots, to a flip chart, a table, and many other bits and pieces.
My actors on this day were Lucas, Peter, Shabaz, Suhail, and Adal. They arrived between 12:30 and 1, only to find me still setting up and requesting that they put make-up on! Thankfully they were quite willing to do it themselves and it actually turned out really well!
The day went really well, I shot scenes 3, 4, and 7… but also did a couple of lines from scenes 5 and 6. At times it was very frustrating. People forgot lines, laughed, joked, looked at the camera, walked in at the wrong time, and not a single shot was captured in one take. I was very forgiving though as I imagine that this is what it is like on a professional set, and it was all a bit of fun at the same time! There were times when we could have done hundreds of takes to get the shot exactly as I would have liked, however, due to time restrictions sometime I had to settle for second best.
At the end of the day I was exhausted, but happy with my achievements, and confident that the following afternoon would be even better.
Wednesday 6th May
Before I left on the Tuesday I found out that no one was due to use the screen on Wednesday morning. This enabled me to leave all the equipment in the room over night (there is a pin-code lock on the door), and I therefore had less to do in terms of setting up for the second, and final afternoon of shooting.
After transporting a few extra props into the room I was ready to go. The actors on this day were Lucas, Peter, Oliver, and Ryan. They arrived at about 1pm and I made sure that I shot scene 1 first. This was because I didn’t want Oliver and Ryan sitting around while I shoot things that they were not involved in. All the remaining scenes were shot on this day (scenes 1, 2, 5, and 6).
Overall this day was less stressful that the previous one. I was more comfortable and I had less people to manage. I was worried initially because these were the most important scenes. This is due to the fact that they introduce and build the character profiles which give the viewer an understanding of how their minds work, and ultimately make the show funnier.
I am very happy with my achievements over the last couple of days. I do not think that the shoot could have gone any better considering the circumstances (although it is far from perfect). Now it’s time to start editing!
