Thorn Productions presents – Elindil’s Secret

On Sunday evening we held our 5th production planning meeting.
These meetings are held for the specific purpose of reviewing and planning the shooting schedule.

Footage review
We recently upgrade to Final Cut Studio 2, this is a significant upgrade and introduces colour. So to get things going we looked at the rendered footage from yesterdays shoot.

The reviewing of footage for cast and crew is only available in person, we will not be cutting any further DVD’s for people to view.

Advanced planning – future shoot days
We discussed the next two shoot days in detail, these are the final location shoots before we get into blue screen. Shoot day 16 is expected to be a long day with several hours of traveling. From start to finish its estimated to be a 15 hour day. Shoot day 17 on the other hand is much lighter, we may even get in a few pickups.

Pickups
Yes, some advanced warning for cast and crew, there are a number of pickups required. Over the coming weeks we will begin to identify what shots require pickups. There are several components that we look for when identifying if a pickup is required, these are;

1. Dropped/deferred shoots.
2. Continuity.
3. Overall look, colour, exposure etc.

On Sunday evening we held our 4th production planning meeting.
These meetings are held for the specific purpose of reviewing and planning the shooting schedule.

Budget Review
We 1st looked at how the budget was holding up, taking note of the up and coming costs associated with the blue screen shoots as well as the soundtrack and ongoing catering. The opportunity to invest in the film is still available for any who are interested.

Advanced planning – future shoot days
We also briefly discussed shoot days 14 and 15 which have been replaced by the Macclesfield pickup. Could all cast and crew required for shoot days 14, 15, 22, 23 & 24 please review and let us know if you foresee any issues.

Shoot Days 14-15 moved to the 10th-11th of November.
Shoot Days 22-23 moved to the 17th-18th of November.
Shoot day 24 moved to the 24th of November.

Shoot day 8 to be moved to a future date – TBA.

Blue Screen
The main agenda item of this weeks meeting was to discuss the blue screen shoot. During the meeting we checked out the location and started the planning phase, over the coming days and weeks we anticipate everything coming into place for what we believe will be the most challenging component of the production process.

A synopsis of blue screen requirements are;
Blue screens – purchased and delivered.
HDMI capture card – purchased and delivered.
HDMI 10M cable – purchased, waiting on delivery.
Backup Methodology – Outstanding.
Structure building – Requirements identified.
Lighting and misc equipement – To be identified.

On Sunday evening we held our 3rd production planning meeting.
These meetings are held for the specific purpose of reviewing and planning the shooting schedule.

Preliminary footage – DVD
We 1st looked at the DVD, this is available to all cast and crew who would like to watch it. We do stress that anyone who sees this DVD must have signed the NDA. There should also be no copies made without the approval of Thorn Productions and it should only be passed around through the co-ordination of the Producer.

Protocol
There have been several issues raised in the production meeting in relation to protocol during filming. Although we are amateur in nature and we are all learning. An email on protocol will be sent out to all cast and crew in the next few days, we do intend to monitor this more in the future.

Call Sheet Errors
Last weekend there was several errors in the call sheet that we did not pickup, if anyone notices an error, please bring it to our attention by sending the producers an email. The call sheet should provide all information required for a given shoot day. The updated call sheet for the coming weekend will be uploaded on the Tuesday prior by 9pm.

Advanced planning – future shoot days
There has been some discussion about the schedule and the impact it is having on individuals and families, we have dropped shoot day 13, we also intend to alter the weekend of shoot days 14 and 15. We will negotiate with cast and crew as to the changes to the shooting schedule.

Yesterday evening we held our 2nd production planning meeting.
These meetings are held for the specific purpose of reviewing and planning the shooting schedule.

Process and lines of communication
Even though this is an amateur film, we felt that there are several issues that needed to be discussed and addressed that would see the shoot days run smoother and be less frustrating for individuals.

Continuity
This is by far the most time consuming component of the production phase of this project both in the background and on the day. In the meeting we outlined a few strategies to deal with continuity and also appointed a single focal point.

Review shoot days 5, 6 & 7
Updated call sheets for these shoot days have been uploaded to the shooting Schedule page. All cast and crew should read these carefully as there have been significant changes made.

Advanced planning – shoot days 8 & 9
The phrase “Logistical Nightmare” can be adopted here. As with the Grampians trip, there is a lot of travel, infact there is more travel than filming. Cast and crew required for this weekend will be seeded details over the next few weeks.

It’s been a huge learning curve but everyone did an amazing job, especially since it was the first time for a lot of people. The performances by the actors were really strong. Make up and wardrobe are looking great. Both cast and crew worked together as a coherent team. We are really happy with footage. It was a fantastic start to the production phase of this project.

Synopsis of the days events
07:00 – Makeup and Wardrobe setup, 1st makeup call for cast.
07:30 – Rest of Crew arrived at location 1, 2nd makeup call for cast.
08:00 – Shooting at location 1, Lilydale Museum for 3.5 hour shoot.
11:30 – 3rd makeup call for cast and lunch.
12:00 – Shooting at location 2, Back of Lilydale Lake for 1.5 hours.
13:30 – 4th makeup call for cast.
14:00 – Shooting at location 2, Coldstream Airport for 3 hours.
17:00 – Wrap.

Production Planning #1
In the evening we held a production meeting with Makeup, Wardrobe, Props and the DOP to plan the next 3 shoot days. Cast and crew will be notified of the decisions made in relation to shoot days 2 and 3 shortly, specifically dealing with the travel arrangements.
These meetings are held for the specific purpose of reviewing and planning the shooting schedule.

Stay tuned, more BTS videos and a production photo library will be coming soon.