Production Blog: Filming With the Male Character

            On our third film day, we had finally gotten a male for the boyfriend role! The person who played the role’s name was Connor, and I've had a few conversations with him before as he is one of my best friend’s friends. However, Marissa and Mackena are much better friends with him than I am, so it was their efforts that got him on board. We had a lot of scenes to get done today because Connor was only available for a single day of filming and would not be able to return. 

As with every filming day, transportation is always an issue for me. We all had initially planned to film right after school like we had done the last time, but this time it was the day before filming, I was at school, and I still did not have a ride to or from the location planned. I had assumed that Marissa could take me like she had done in the past, but in the middle of the school day I got a text from her saying that her car only fits five people, and she would be taking herself, Mackena, Connor, Riley, and Riley’s sister. I was a bit confused because Riley had driven herself last time, but it turned out that she was not going to have her car the day we were filming because she shared it with another family member. Here was when I started to panic a bit because both my parents were busy that afternoon and told me that if I were to film, neither would be able to get me to or from so I would have to find a ride someway. Luckily, while this was going on, I was in the same class as Riley, so we were able to discuss together and figure out a plan in person, whereas we were not face to face with Marissa so it was very difficult and stressful to communicate and problem-solve. After many plans and phone calls, Riley was able to work out a way to secure the car for the next day and very kindly offered to take me home. 

As for the actual filming day, we all found our way there and met right after school. Today, their dad was not on duty, so he was not at the fire station to watch over us and follow us around, which in all honesty, I kind of preferred. I had to be home within the next hour and a half from when we started so we had to get started immediately. We had to wait at the bottom of the stairs for a little while for one of their father’s friends to open the door to let us in. 

Once we were inside, we decided to work from top to bottom, meaning we would film all the scenes that were on the top floors of the station first, then move down to the stairwell, then the street outside, then the cars. This meant we would start on scene four- the arguing scene. 

I headed up to the day room and worked with Riley to film and direct the scene. Because of my preparations on Capcut earlier, I was able to look at the blocked-out segments to see how long I needed to film each scene. I am so glad that I did this because it really made the filming process so much easier than guessing and failing later. During this, I felt like Riley and I made a really good team. With Riley’s assertiveness, my filming, and our collective visions, we were camera operators and directors together. I stood in position with the camera, giving feedback on the lighting and set for Riley to fix. For example, I looked at the camera while telling Riley to close the window behind them and move the ping pong paddles around. When the set was complete to the way we wanted it, Riley and I would act out bits and pieces of the way we wanted to scene to go for Connor and Marisa to watch and imitate. A common theme throughout each scene is always the time needed for laughing and mess-ups. There was a lot of energy while filming this scene because we were all trying to work as fast as we could, and everyone always had things to say. Many times, Mackena, who was standing away from the scene to avoid more laughter and delay, told us to quiet down because we were being too loud for the fighters in the kitchen right outside the door. At one point I suggested we create a “talking stick” that gives the right to talk only to the person holding it so that we could all be heard.  

Everyone but me and Riley went down to the next location to prepare while we stayed back to quickly re-film Riley’s split-screen scene in the chair in that same room. I was shocked at how fast we were able to do this since it was only us two in the room. I took the same position as I did the first time, shot the scene with the correct time length in mind, and we were done. 

After completing these scenes, we met up with the group to start scene three which was Connor and Marissa chatting in the stairwell. I thought that the scene we just filmed was as chaotic as it was going to get, but I was very wrong. Everything is amplified and echoed in a stairwell, so it was challenging to give directions from the top to the bottom. I started standing a few steps ahead of them and attempted to walk backward as they walked forward. It took me only about two attempts before I realized that walking backward upstairs while staring at a camera and trying to stay stable all at once was not a very good idea. Riley and I then tried to start with me sitting at the top of the steps with the camera forward, moving it backward, and then smoothly passing it to Riley standing behind me. This did not work either, so we opted for Riley to shoot it herself from where she was.  

Five minutes into the start of this scene, the alarms in the stairwells kept going off what felt like every three seconds. There were constantly people coming up and down the stairs getting in the way, and there was no air conditioning either. I was wearing sweatpants, which I deeply regretted. All these issues were making me very annoyed, so I was very thankful when we finally finished. 

We then moved from the stairwell to the locker rooms, which were thankfully air-conditioned. Now compared to the other scenes we had just done; this scene was by far the easiest and quickest to film. There was a perfect open spot in the center of the room that we could use to stand to make the shot less cramped and close. I then started to film the shot, but Riley was not liking how I was doing it. I gave my phone to her, and she filmed the shot as I told her where to stand and when to start and stop. She was able to shoot the two-shot, and both over-the-shoulder shots without a hitch. During the time she had my phone, my sister who is in college had called me and I had to have Riley hang up on her because we had no time to lose. 

We moved immediately outside for scene ten, which was Mackena and Connor holding hands across the street. It took a bit of time to decide where I wanted them to stand. Since we did not have the firefighter group scene yet that would take place in the same area, I needed to make sure that where they were standing would not be in that same area. This was to prevent any discontinuities in scenery. I had them stand across the street on the sidewalk, and Riley was very adamant about filming this scene herself, so I again gave her my phone and she began. Marissa and I stood across the street and were on car lookout duty since Riley did have to stand in the road to get a wide shot. Riley came back and showed us the finished product, and I sent her back over to get a closeup of their hands holding just in case I would want to include it later. 

We had saved scene one for last as this one they would need to be in the car. We made our way over to the parking lot and I gave Marissa my phone to set up on the dashboard. I told them to reverse out of the spot and pull back in while chatting so that the scenery outside could be seen moving in the windows. Riley, her sister, Mackena, and I all stood in a nearby empty parking space to wait for them to finish. As I rewatched the videos they left on my phone later that day, it seemed they were really struggling to get the phone to stay up when the car was moving. 

After scene one was finished, I asked Marissa and Mackena to make sure they spoke to their father about informing the firefighters that we would need them for our next film day. I got into Riley’s car and she got me home just in time, listening to Taylor Swift all the way back.