My First Experience on a Film Set

Once a film has been green lit, it can take years of production before the film is ready for release. I don't think I have ever thought about the process of making a film. All the steps and things that have to be done to get that movie from script to film. My Handsome Man is currently doing a 'Producing For Writers' class. He is a producer on a five minute short film called Snakebite and Black. I have had a behind the scenes view of the number of people and the length of time it takes to produce a five minute film and now I completely understand where the time goes.

Pre-production includes: searching for the right actors to play the characters, the casting calls, callbacks, table read and rehearsals; sourcing equipment and props for all the special effects; organising the craft services (catering) to keep all the cast and crew happy and well fed on the day of shooting, as well as at each meeting. There are emails that fly back and forth, ensuring everyone has the latest information, including the most recent draft of the script; scouting for a film location, then figuring out how to transport a cast and crew of 25 people to said location for filming. Of course there's also all the legal forms, insurance paperwork and the challenge of sticking to (in this case) a low budget.

Our alarm bleeped us awake at 5am on Saturday morning. We quickly got ready and left the house by 6am. We arrived early at the meeting place, but we didn't have any time to spare so being early was a good thing. Everyone was assigned into different vehicles to get to location for 8am.

Thousands of dollars worth of equipment piled into the house they were filming in. I watched as our Make-up Artist made over our actors, transforming them into their characters. The Production Designer discussed costumes and was in charge of props and how the scenes would look.

Each shot would be blocked, rehearsed, then filmed as many times as it took for the Director to feel like he had his shot. My Handsome Man had the role of Script Supervisor. A Script Supervisor pays meticulous attention to each take and writes up a report for the Editor. If someone coughs, the script supervisor makes a note, if there's a false start he makes a note. The Director's favourite take is also noted. Anything that will help the Editor to do his job more time-effectively is written up in the report.

I was on set to take behind the scenes photographs. I had the job of capturing the action, without getting in the way and without interfering with shooting. They wanted photos of each crew member at work. It was a challenging task but I am pleased with the photos I managed to capture.

Each scene was recorded by two cameras, both operated by two people with the Director of Photography overseeing.

Each scene needs to be set up so there would be mini breaks, from five to twenty minutes, throughout the day; the Make-up Artist did final touch-ups before each take; the Production Designer had props ready to go. Every socket was full of spare batteries charging. Different lenses covered the tables behind the scenes.

There was the Gaffer and Grip who were there for the day with the purpose of setting up the equipment at the beginning of each shot and taking it down at the end of the day.

The Green Room was full of fun, food and friendly chatting. On set there would be silence as actors transformed themselves and dealt with fake blood and all the props, not to mention their dialogue.

Filming started at 9am on Saturday and didn't finish till about 9:30pm. The cheer from the basement indicated to the rest of the team that shooting had finished. This was for a five minute short film! There was an amazing professional team there on Saturday - everyone knew their roles and got on with it. The set was incredibly positive and everyone was enthusiastic about being involved in the project. I cannot imagine the scope and the organisation that goes into making a feature length film.