Test Film First
Practice makes perfect. The high-quality filmings always require tons of rehearsal. Before including the actress(Naudia) into the scene, we must set up the environment first and test the whole filming process. After the test, we finished a run-down for reminding everyone during the filming.
At base:
- Finish the rundown and print several copies out for the crew to take notes.
- Ensure the equipment is fully charged, including 360 camera, smartphone(camera remote), and other productivity tools.
- Bring the chargers and backup camera. (Remote control camera is running out battery rapidly, a back-up camera is necessary)
- Build a checklist for the items that will be used in the scene, such as tripods, whiteboard, marking tapes, and etc.
- Double-check with actors/actresses for their costumes and makeup(if necessary) (We forget to bring the belt for Naudia to tie the pillow for her pregnant disguise)
Before Shooting:
- Clean up the room; remove everything except the things we need.
- If we want to do extra filming after today, we need to represent everything in the scene. More stuff in the background just makes the work harder.
- Close the windows and lock the door.
- Reduce the uncertain factors like the difference of lighting and ambiance noises.
- Don’t let anyone interrupt the film by accident, especially when you are making a one-shot.
- Put down the curtain and monitor, and turn off the fan.
- Anything that may influence the lighting or noises should be avoided because those interruptions may cause the jump-cut not to be continuous.
- Markdown and measure everything.
- For documentation and expandability, it would always be an excellent habit to mark and measure everything in the scene for the actual filming.
- Relative distance and Absolute distance are equally important.
- Do the clean/empty shot at the beginning. It might be helpful in post-processing.
- Review the clean/empty shot to ensure mode and setting are correct. (We turned off the auto-stitching for the 360 camera, which caused the post-process to become more complicated.)
When Shooting:
- Use a whiteboard to write the mega information and show it to the camera at the beginning of each shot.
- Remind the actor/actress to place their body at the same position during the idle state.
- Someone should write the notes for each take, so the editor can easily find the correct clips for use.
- Review the tapes immediately.
- Be careful of taking a break since the break time always messes up the consistency of scene-setting by some micro-change.
- Take the b-roll for footage and documentation. (recording videos is better than taking photos)
Refine Script and Generate Rundown
Considering reading accessibility, we decide to organize our scripts from flow charts to a word-based version. This change helps us share works with an easy-read version for receiving feedback. Back and forth from discussion and playtesting, we refine the script again. Let’s see our word-based version script:
We give each sentence a unique series. This naming system helps us find the clips and manage the AI Chatbot faster. The series also shows the consequence so readers can find the next section by following the number. This template also benefits in generating rundowns for filming. Therefore, we ensure to miss nothing by following the rundown thoroughly. Meanwhile, the rundowns guarantee the fluency of the acting and filming process.
[Insert rundown]
Official Filming Day
We arrived at UPMC Kaufmann Building at 5:30 pm. It took us almost three hours to finish the entire filming for a four-minute-long experience! We all feel exhausted after the filming, but it’s worth it. Honestly, I am proud to say it’s well done. Thanks to Naudia’s fantastic interpretation. Her clear and clean acting popped out and represented the vulnerability of a pregnant woman in our scenario. We have confidence in developing a compelling empathy story with her performance. Let’s be excited that the third prototype is about to be released!
