'So It Goes' pre-production and filming

We finished the filming!!!

Over the Easter holiday we spent the first week coordinating schedules, emailing to get permission from the Bath Film Office to film, preparing the props and tweaking the plot and storyline - that we finally decided on after changing it completely about 5 times - until we had something we knew we could work with. We then did all the filming in Bath and Bristol in three 8-10 hour days, filming outside through rain, mud and even freak hail storms (twice!) until we were finally able to say the three words that every film crew cannot wait to say: it's a wrap.

Pre-Production

We had to a do a lot of paperwork before we could actually start filming: permission forms, release forms, application forms, risk assessments, storyboards, a schedule, a shot list, the list goes on. We had to write risk assessments for every location, thinking of every possible risk and how we could prevent it - here is an example of one we filled out for filming in a stair well alley in Bath.

We also had to push back the schedule for filming to make more time for creating props needed, etc. One of the main props we needed was a photobook of the photographer Maynard's photos, which we created by taking photos of the locations we would be filming in black and white, then putting it all into a book using at the last resort a shoelace to tie it all together, courtesy of Ant and Seonaid Aitken. Here are the photos we used, all taken by Ant and James at locations around Bath and Bristol.














































We also changed some of the locations of the filming: instead of filming at James' house for the first scene after the title sequence, we were able to use a flat belonging to some friends of mine, Tim and Rachel Chapman, that was located in the center of Bath right next to one of our locations that had a spectacular view of the city which worked perfectly for it.

The Filming

So at long last we were able to begin the filming, starting Day One in Tim and Rachel Chapman's flat and working our way down the high street of Bath filming in the different locations in chronological order. While we had some setbacks mainly due to the weather and having to run to get a photo done for the cover of the photobook at the last minute, the filming overall went well. James was the cameraman, using his own Sony DCR-VX2000 and Ant and I did the acting and making sure it all run smoothly. On the first day we filmed all the Bath locations except for some shots of Maynard in the flashback sequences, which we filmed the third day.

The second day of filming we all went to Bristol, did a two-mile hike to get to a tunnel to do some more filming that unfortunately we were unable to use most of due to it not working in the story. We were able to use the part of Maynard in the flashback sequence of the tunnel, which we used in the beginning in the dream she is having of the photographer. We then went back to James' house and filmed the end of the film, in his garage and his father's darkroom.

The third day we did the rest of the shots needed, which were some of the dream scene when Maynard is taking photographs around the city of Bath. After we finished all the shots needed we then were finally able to call it a wrap, finished with all the filming!

Overall the filming and pre-production went really well, it took a long time to get permission and we had to change the schedule to push it back a bit, but in general things went smoothly. We did well sticking to the time line needed, finishing all the filming with plenty of time for post-production. The only things I can think of that we could have done differently would have been to be more prepared with getting the props ready, perhaps meeting more beforehand to have more of a handle on who was doing what and applying to the Film Office for permission much more in advance then we did. We also probably should have thought through the schematics of the story more, for example we should have made the decision to go to the tunnel only after we figured out a way we could have it fit in the story instead of going without thinking it through first.

Overall though it was a productive, fun and challenging task that we thoroughly enjoyed and got loads of experience in filming, constructing a storyline and plot, acting, producing, directing and doing all the pre-production out of! I personally enjoyed doing the acting as that's something that I love to do and while I've done professional acting jobs before, I hadn't done any acting in a while and I loved getting back into it. I also really enjoyed the writing of the plot and storyline, developing the character and thinking of different ways we could carry out what we wanted to achieve through it, as well as making sure there were no continuity errors on the day of filming and that it all would work to make sense to the viewer.

Here are some production photos: