It’s what Jake (our Cinematographer) and I often refer to as the delirious hours – after we wrap each shooting day we generally eat for an hour or so and then return to HQ to design and schedule the following days’ shots. That means 13 hours on set and another 3 and a half or so in the office.
Usually we start by identifying the coverage that we absolutely need to tell the story, followed by the “flavor”shots which add complexity, interest, and style to our sequences. They also add time to our day. Some times we’ll add what we call star shots – shots with stars drawn on them to indicate that they’re not needed but would be very cool to get. Needless to say, a day when we get all of our shots AND our star shots is a very happy day.
A shot of Eugene and Garth pulling into a parking spot.
After talking briefly about coverage, I set about composing and drawing the shots in the form of storyboards. We average around 14 shots per 12 hour day. We’ve gotten as many as 19 in any given day. Every single shot (except for pickups) gets story boarded and shot listed and 9 times out of 10 we shoot exactly what’s on the board. Sometimes we can’t get to them or the situation (location, actor availability, etc) is such that we need to augment what’s been drawn or (even better) we realize with a simple camera movement we’re able to combine two shots into one or completely ignore one.
The point is that when we plan this way we have a better day even when things go horribly and inevitably wrong. Someone said plan your dive, dive your plan. The worst thing is having to let go of a shot that you really wanted – or worse, one that you needed. Filming this movie has been a process of intense emotional investment for me and giving up on a shot because of time constraints can be devastating. That’s why Jake and I agree that it’s important to meet after each shoot and plan the next day, even if it’s at the expense of 4 or so hours of sleep.
