MAJOR PROJECT: Working out the Logistics

A producer should be able to own the logistics of a production while also being part of developing the creative approach

As producer it is my job to work through the practicality and logistics of the scenes that Alex has created. We have many action scenes and these come with ideas that may not be possible, such as the owl and dog scenes. During the pre-production unit, we tested and made sure the owl punch scene was practical and that it looked good. However, during our 1-2-1 tutorial, it was highlighted that we hadn't given the same attention to the dog hit scene. As a result of this, our preparation was unclear about how we were going to shoot the dog hit scene (scene 3). I was advised that the location I had chosen to capture the dog hit wasn't what was expected from the story. The original road was quite residential and from the script it sounded as if it should happen on more of a rural area. As a result of this, I needed to liaise again with Alex about finding a new location and what he wants exactly from the location. 

SCENE 3 - THE DOG HIT

We were advised as a group to find out how best to shoot the dog hit scene as there wasn't any evidence of this in our pre-production package, whereas, we went quite into depth with the owl punch, including carrying out test shoots and working out the logistics of it. As a group we had to work out how we were going to shoot the dog hit, whether we were filming from inside or outside the van, actually running over something or just breaking hard to establish the fact we've just hit something. If we decide to actually run over something, we need to practice using the prop. In the pre-production unit, I explained that we would use a piece of old carpet in a bin bag as a prop for when Luke brings the dog to Sheila's doorstep, however, I didn't establish what we would be running over if we are. This would mean adding in an additional prop to production. Thinking deeper into the logistics of the dog hit has made me realise that whatever we decide to do in order to carry out the dog hit may change my plans for production, for example adding in that extra prop. It may also help me build the risk assessment for this particular shot. The more in depth I can be with the dog hit means I will be able to highlight each risk in more detail and explain how we will control it.

In order to test the dog hit, Katie, Alex and I took the van out with Katie's DSLR. As this was only a test shoot to see if the idea of hitting a dog will work or not, rather than testing the camera itself, Katie didn't feel the need to take out the Panasonic from the studio's equipment store. As a result of her decision, I didn't need to write a risk assessment to get signed. However, in order to keep us three safe I created my own based on our University risk assessments. I first liaised with Katie and Alex to see if they had any ideas on where we could test the dog hit. I initially suggested bringing the Vet Van to Margate but as I hadn't found a more suitable location just yet, we felt it didn't matter where we practised it as the location could change over the next few days anyway. I suggested going to a car park as this would be a safe area with slow moving vehicles, if any were around. It also allowed Alex to drive around in circles without having to pull over and turn around on any main roads. I decided that the best car park to film in during the day would be the car park at New Ash Green shopping centre. This area isn't a large shopping centre like Bluewater or Lakeside. It is small and is home to a few buildings, such as the local Village Hall and takeaway food shops, so it isn't usually busy during the day when people are at work.

My risk assessment for car park filming

After discussing the risks and control methods I have decided that practising the dog hit scene is a low risk and I believe that it can go ahead.

Alex drove round the car park a couple of times until we set a good place to practice the dog hit. We first established what Tim and Luke should do in the van to make it look like they have hit something. If we go down the route of performing an emergency stop, then they could just follow the van and pull forwards and then hit carefully back in their seats. However, if we use the bin bag and carpet, the van will have to deal with more of a bump in the road and the van may rise up slightly over the bump. We tried both of these out to see what was more appropriate for the scene and how to shoot it. Eventually, we decided to just perform the emergency stop on the shoot day. As it all happens so quickly, the jolting forward and back made the most impact and was easiest to do while sitting. It was a struggle to bump up and down the carpet. By creating the dog hit with the emergency stop, we will also be able to approach the hit quicker. Tim would have to be careful when driving towards the carpet, but with nothing in the way, there will be no hesitation on driving faster before stopping. With a runner on board on the shoot day, we will be able to watch the road while this manoeuvre is getting carried out in order to keep cast, crew and members of the public safe.

While we were moving Katie was filming outside the van, we also tried the view from inside but we were stationary at this point as there are no back seats in the van for her to sit. As we could only film the van from inside stationary, we decided this would not look realistic enough to use as driving as the surroundings were also still. We decided that filming the van hitting the dog (performing the emergency stop) from outside was best.

SCENE 4 - THE RIGHT LOCATION

Part of the feedback from my pre-production unit was that I didn't provide any explanation or reason as to why I picked the road opposite Sheila's house to capture the dog hit. I agreed with this and I now understand I need to work out the logistics of the location to see whether it is actually the best place to carry out the scene. At the time, I picked it because we really liked the house I chose for Sheila's and the dog hit takes place just outside it. The script draft at the time explained that Sheila points over at her house when she meets Tim and Luke, so in order to pan from Sheila to her house (which was the plan at the time) the collision would have had to take place opposite the house. I realise that this wasn't enough reason and there may be a more appropriate place to film this particular scene. Alex has changed the script accordingly so Sheila points and says that she lives at number 4. Thinking of it in terms of post-production, by just capturing Sheila pointing and not panning to where she's pointing too means that we should be able to film the dog hit scene anywhere and then cut to Sheila's house in Margate.

As a result of really liking the house chosen for Sheila, I knew I wanted to keep this for our film and as this is only a short scene, it would make sense to keep the previous and following scene in the same area to get it filmed in one day. This will benefit the budget and will be easier as well, however, it's not essential. As the quality of our film is more important than ease, I can schedule an additional shoot day if I found a place away from Margate, but I first wanted to see if there was a better location in the same area as Sheila's house, before I thought about arranging another shoot day.

To start the search for a new location, I first liaised with Alex again to find out exactly what he wants from the location and what he wants it to look like. He explained that he wanted something that is a mix of residential and rural. So not a road with houses lined on both sides or a country road, but something with a mix of both. With this in mind, I started looking around Thanet to find something that fits the description Alex gave me. If I find nothing in this area, I will start looking further afield.

Broadstairs - First Avenue

One of the locations I looked at was First Avenue in Broadstairs. It is a quiet lane and quite sheltered from the wind. It also looks slightly less residential than the original road in Margate but it is surrounded by houses so we may be able to see the houses over the bushes and trees. However, when I drove down the road while I was location hunting, I realised how uneven and bumpy the road actually was. If we were to use this road in the film then it would be hard to see the difference of the collision with the dog to just driving down the lane. It also created a lot of noise going over the bumps, and I can imagine in a van with equipment in the back would create a lot more noise. The bumps may also put our characters off concentrating on their dialogue. Additionally, the bumpy road would make filming generally difficult, as we are filming handheld, the footage would be even more shaky than it would be with this particular filming technique. In case Alex happened to like this location and new how we could work around the bumps, I re-visited the area a couple of times over the next few days in order to see how busy it gets. Roads are generally busier in the evening after people get home from work, and I felt that by documenting the amount of cars in the evening for each location would show how many cars could be on the road during the day. If the road was packed in the evening then it would be risky to film there during the day in case everyone turned out to be at home on this day. This road wasn't busy at all as there are drives and places to park at the end of the road. As a result of this, we knew we wouldn't be disturbed much during the day. 

When I showed Alex this location, he agreed on the fact that it was very bumpy and maybe not suitable to mimic the idea of running over a dog. However, he liked how wide the road was in order to allow cars to get passed us.

Nevertheless, I contacted the Kent Film Office in case we wanted to use this road as a back up, but I found that this road is a private road rather than a public road, therefore they were unable to give us permission to film there. As a result of the reasons I have stated above, I have decided that First Avenue is not suitable for our film.

First Avenue, Broadstairs

Margate - St Mary's Avenue (1st option)

I originally thought of St Mary's Avenue because of the road in the photo below (1st option) as it is a quiet side road, just off of a main road. Thinking of the original feedback of feeling as if the scene would work better in a rural area, I felt that this location next to a large field was quiet suitable. One of the disadvantages of this road is that it is very open on the right side where the field is, this may cause a lot of noise and wind during filming. However, this may be prevented by the house on the left, but this would require a test shoot in order to get a clearer idea of how the wind may sound on the microphone. A test shoot would be easy to schedule due to only needing basic filming equipment, and I wouldn't need to arrange the cast to attend, just a couple of crew members. 

I showed the first photo below to Alex and described St Mary's Avenue. He agreed with me that the road is very open and could attract more wind and noise than what we want. The road also isn't very long and there are poles half way up to prevent cars from driving any further, and as we will need Tim to actually drive the van before stopping quickly once hitting the dog, I realised this road wasn't very practical for that part of the scene. In addition to this, turning round at the end to repeat the driving may be difficult. After thinking of these aspects of the scene, I have realised that end of the road doesn't allow us to capture everything we need for the scene and therefore isn't suitable. 

Nevertheless, this road is split in half by a main road and the other end of the road holds a completely different look (shown in the second photo below - St Mary's Avenue (2nd option)).

St Mary's Avenue (1st option)

Margate - St Mary's Avenue (2nd option)

There are houses along the left side of the road and a church surrounded by trees and nature on the right side. The road is very wide and would be big enough for cars to drive around the Vet Van once it's pulled over. This location can be seen as having a suburban look due to the mix of houses and grassy area. This road is also a cul de sac and therefore, there is room for us to continuously turn the van around to repeat shots. 

The trees on the right side of the road could be seen as a blessing or a curse as they may shield the wind and prevent additional unwanted noise on our audio, or the wind may make the sound of the trees and leaves louder than normal. This is something I would need to check before agreeing this location. As a result of this, I returned to the road over the next few days to see how loud the wind was against the trees. Luckily, the wind did not make the trees and leaves louder than normal and I believe that it shielded the wind instead, making it a good contender for the right location for our film. I will also keep track of the wind level from the weather on the lead up to our shoot so I can compare the levels from when I visited to the actual shoot day. By doing this I should be able to predict the amount of wind that may be around on the shoot day. While I re-visted the road over the following few days, I also took a note of the amount of cars that were on the road as we would like the road to be as clear as possible. Each time I visited or passed the road it was very clear with a maximum of around 4-5 cars parked on the left side of the road. Luckily, the road was still relatively clear in the evenings. All the houses along the road have drives which may be the reason as to why the road was quite clear. 

The other thing I had to think about if we chose this road to shoot on was the church on the right side of the road, behind the trees. Although the date can be changed if needed, it would be easier to keep the date for Margate as the 18th February as I have already informed the cast and crew of this date and they are all available. This is why it is important to look at the church's activities throughout the week to see whether this road is ideal on the Monday or will need to be changed if it's scheduled to be quite busy. 

As there are no double yellow lines on the right side of the road means that anyone can park there and as there is a main road on the other side of the church, I can imagine that St Mary's Avenue is more favourable to park down to visit the church. The shoot day isn't scheduled for this day but filming on a Sunday would be out of the question as a lot of people visit churches on Sunday's. In order to estimate how busy the road may become on the shoot day I decided to look into the church and look at the days and times of their activities, as this will be when the church and road is busiest. I had a look at their website to see what they put on during the week and I found that they hold a number of activities such as dancing, eating, relaxing, playing and learning on top of being a fully working church and holding worshipping and praying times. 

The activities from their website include:
- COGS Club on Wednesday and Thursday, 10am to 3pm.
- A wide range of arts and crafts, drama, singing and exercise activities are offered during these weekly three hour sessions either 9.30am to 12.30noon, or 1.30pm to 4.30pm, Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
- Peer support group - every fortnight Monday 1.30pm to 3.30pm (doesn't fall on our current shoot week)
- Line dancing - Monday 1.30pm
- Games morning - Fridays from 10.30am
- Boccia - Tuesdays 1.45pm
- Seaside singers - Thursdays 1.45pm
- Silver song - Wednesday 2pm – 3.30pm (1st and 3rd Wednesday)
- Friendship tea - Tuesdays 1.30pm
- Trinity toddlers - Every Wednesday from 10am to 11.30am, during term time.

In order to see these in a clearer format, I put them into a table and shaded in the times in which the church would be busy. I particularly needed to focus on Monday's as this is the day in which I have scheduled the shoot day at the moment, however this can be changed. The light grey rectangles are when there is an activity on at the church, and the black rectangles are when there are more than one activity on at one time. 

Church timetable according to their website

Looking at the timetable I created it is clear that the church is being used regularly on a daily basis. As I am passionate about using this location, I still think it is possible to film here on a Monday as there shouldn't be any problem when the activities are going on, it's just when the public are entering and leaving as they will be walking and taking and starting up their vehicles. Thinking of it from this perspective means that I would want to avoid a day which has a couple of short activities as this would mean different times throughout the day in which the public would be arriving at and leaving the church. This narrows the choices down to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday as Wednesday has one extra activity timetabled for that day. Although it can be changed, as I have already scheduled the shoot day for Monday it would be beneficial to keep it on that day as it is all arranged with our cast and crew. I believe that we could keep the shoot day as a Monday as the second activity of that day starts at half 1 which is when we would be having lunch (1pm-2pm), according to my production schedule. Also the first activity on a Monday starts at 9:30am and we aren't scheduled to film until 10:00am, and the final activity ends at 4:30pm when we are scheduled to wrap at 4:00pm so these times won't be a problem for us. The only time we would have to concern ourselves with is 12:00pm as this is when the first activity finishes, and I am happy to take a break from filming during this short period when the public are leaving the church.

After working out how busy St Mary's Avenue could be on the 18th February, I am happy to keep this as an option to give to Alex as the activity times work quite well for us. There is also a cafe in the church but this is at the top of the road nearest the main road, so if we film further down the road this shouldn't be a problem. The church also offer room hire, where someone can hire a room if they need. As this would be arranged directly between the person wanting the room and the church administrators I am unable to find the timetable for this, so we will be prepared to encounter a few more members of public for the room hire. 

I showed the photo below (2nd option) and described the location to Alex and he was surprised that they were the same road but with such different looks. I explained that I re-visited the location after taking this photo in order to find out how loud the trees are in the wind and he believed when I said that the wind creates no additional unwanted noise. As this location fits Alex's description of a suburban area, he liked the location and agreed with me that it was a good choice. He also agreed that it would be best to keep the shoot day for the Monday 18th February after listening to my explanation of the church timetable. The road is wide like I said previously and there is a good amount of space on the pavement and grass on both sides for our cast and crew to use. I said I would explain the other locations and we can decide after.

St Mary's Avenue (2nd option)

Kingsgate - George Hill Road

This is a long road which connects Kingsgate to St Peters in Broadstairs. It is covered by trees and would fit the idea of a rural area. Also, as the road is more substantial it would be safer than a country road. There are road markings splitting the two-way road, which means there is enough space to fit two cars down without the worry of pulling over, whereas, on a country road or rural area there may only be enough room for one car which would make it impossible for us to film somewhere like that.

However, as I found out by driving through it, there is no where to stop. This is why I had to video the area from my dash cam rather than stopping to take a photo. This road fits the rural idea that I was advised at the beginning, but would be far too dangerous to film on due to the lack of pavements. This road is also on a bus route, causing the risk hazards to be a lot higher. As a result of this, I didn't look further into the location as I knew it wouldn't be worth it with the large risks involved with filming there.




Kingsgate - Botany Bay

Due to the idea of a dog getting hit, I thought about a couple of places which may be more suitable for the idea of Sheila taking a dog out for a walk - even though we find out she was looking for her cat. As a result of this, I considered the idea of the top of Botany Bay. This area is very grassy and can be described as a rural area. It is very open and as a result of this it may be too windy to film. Especially with being next to the sea, this may mean the risk of wind and additional background noise may be increased.

The most beneficial thing of filming near a beach at this time of year (February - March) is that it wouldn't be as busy as it would be in the summer. It would be colder but it would be worth it due to the lack of people surrounding the location. There may only be dog walkers out and about at this location (which fits the idea of Sheila losing her dog in the area). There is also a lack of houses which would limit the amount of people and vehicles, the only houses are from behind this photo. This location doesn't particularly fit the country look that I thought of when I gained the original feedback, therefore, I first felt that it would not be suitable for our film, but as it has houses behind and the grassy area in front of the photo it suits Alex's needs. However, being right beside the sea means that the risk of high winds and unwanted noise is too big and because of this, Alex didn't like the idea of using this location for our film. 

Botany Bay Beach 'The Ridings'

Throughout my location hunt I kept Alex's requirements in mind - somewhere that isn't over populated and not too quiet - he described the area he wanted as a suburban area, which is like a mix of a residential area and a rural area. After weighing up with pro's and con's of each location I suggested, together Alex and I have decided that St Mary's Avenue (2nd option) is the most suitable location for the dog hit scene. We believe that we shouldn't be interrupted too much by the public and that the area isn't too windy due to the trees. The road is also wide and caters for vehicles who want to drive around us while we are parked. The road is half residential with the houses on the left side, and half rural with the grassy area on the right side so I feel that it suits Alex's requirements of a mix of residential and rural and would be very appropriate for our film. I have contacted the Kent Film Office and we have permission to film on the road. Due to the nature of the film, I will write up a letter to put through the houses on the road to inform them of our filming and to get their permission. 

Reflection
- It was beneficial to work through the dog hit to see how we wanted to carry it out and film it. Deciding now that we will perform an emergency stop means that we shouldn't be wasting time on the shoot day deciding on how to perform the manoeuvre. 

- It was very beneficial to look at other locations and finding the advantages and disadvantages of filming there before agreeing a new shooting location. It was helpful to get Alex's opinions of each location as I may have set a location and Alex not know anything about it and then he may not have liked it as much as I did on the shoot day.

- Finding the church's timetable online was helpful, as I was able to make a decision about the location there and then, rather than having to visit the church to ask about their activities which I may not have been able to do so due to our busy University timetable.

- Finding a location in Margate was helpful as I didn't have to look further afield. Keeping the location in Thanet means we will save slightly on the budget, rather than picking a location in a completely different area as we might have had to get the cast and crew back for an additional filming day.