Trouble once more

After weeks of writing, planning and preparing for the shoot of my fairytale short film, last weekend finally brought the opportunity for me to meet my actress Apollonia, head to the set, and finally capture the footage for my black comedy interpretation of the magic mirror from Snow White; ‘Unfairest’.

As I assembled my cast, crew and equipment it seemed that everything was going well and exactly as planned. The location appeared perfect for the setting, with little extra preparation required on behalf of my team. It’s been awhile since I took directorial lead on a project, having been intimately involved with the pre and post-production on my last project, however I was confident with setting up the shots that I had previously planned out. Having a great crew was, as ever a massive help, and as we began rolling, it seemed like the footage we were getting was matching up with the images that had been in my head since I sat and wrote the initial screenplay.

As the day went on, we completed around 50% of the essential shots with relative ease, and watching this footage back, it’s easy to feel the passion and energy that was lighting up the set. Whilst rushing production is not a strategy that would pay off, I was aware from early on that the shots of Apollonia reflected in the magic mirror prop would be significantly more difficult to capture than the rest of the film, and I was keen to make sure that as much time as possible was allocated to these pivotal moments of the story. The final shot, of the camera zooming through Snow White, through the mirror, and resting on the creepy character that makes the joke work was something that ‘Unfairest’ ultimately does not work without. It is with a great sense of displeasure therefore, that I say we were unable to capture it.

My very first blog post detailed my issues with being able to reconcile story ideas with realistic production goals, and the mirror elements of this project summarise this flaw more than anything else. The flat we were in was perfect for the shots of Snow White, it was already decorated and couldn’t have been better. What it lacked however, was a clear location to hang the magical mirror. Worse so, was the fact that our prop mirror was not only incredibly heavy, but also lacked any kind of fixtures to make it easy to hang. I was hoping for somewhere to attach some string, or even some pads to apply an adhesive. What’s worse, is that even though the mirror came with screws, it lacked any obvious guide on how to place them. We were completely blindsided by my own failure to consider this basic production factor. Surely there would be another way? Nope. We tried holding the mirror from underneath, leaning it against some shelves on the wall, and even attempted using a tripod to balance the mirror, which seemed to work if it wasn’t for the angle of the mirror then being far too high to reflect our lead actress.

As a result of this trouble, I do not have the essential camera shots that make the entire story work. An attempt was made to remedy this, and we filmed some shots from the POV of the mirror, with the intention of using green screen to place these onto an outline of the mirror. I’m not an expert in special effects, and so am currently unsure as to whether or not this will work, and so am instead searching for inspiration as to how I will repair the narrative if these shots are unable to be acquired.

Whilst the fate and success of this current project is unsure, there is one thing that I can conclude from the production of ‘Unfairest’. During 2018, I will again be tasked with producing another major project, however this does not necessarily need to be another short film. For the first time, I will be given the option of producing a feature length screenplay, and whilst production concerns must be considered, I will not be required to cast, shoot, or edit this piece. My troubles on the set of my fairytale short have made my next decision a somewhat easy one. If translating my ideas to an actual filmic product is what I often struggle with, the option to be graded based on my screenwriting abilities is one I shall be taking with zero hesitation.

#Reflection