Friday’s class saw a rather fundamental decision we had made being changed: we have decided to completely reshoot the pilot episode, rather than shooting the remainder of the script which we hadn’t originally shot, and merging it with our existing footage. While it throws our well-formed plan out the window and makes the task at hand more time consuming, I think it’s ultimately for the best. We have now received a lot of feedback, both technical and conceptual, and we have the chance to re film the pilot with all this feedback and criticism in mind, as well as the decisions we had made regarding what we would change for episode 2.
These decisions and changes for the new pilot include:
- casting Birrin (the writer) as Duncan, and having Christian (the first Duncan actor) to play Christian (the character)
- Having a more ‘realistic’ set that looks more like an office space, including a reception and break room
- Fixing the technical mistakes (framing shots incorrectly, setting the wrong exposure)
- Filming the entire original script after necessary adaptation from the writers to include Christian and make other small necessary changes
It will be more efficient than our first shoot as a lot of decisions that had to be made then will still be relevant and effective, meaning we won’t have to waste time making them again. We’re also all more exposed to the set structure now and so the hierarchy and roles should work even better.
We have started scheduling this shoot, beginning with a week of pre-production next week. As first AD, I will be heavily involved in scheduling, pre-production, and planning. I think I will be better in this role than a practical or creative one, so I’m excited to get to work.
We also had a guest speaker today, from Melbourne’s WebFest. It was interesting hearing about web series from a more industrial and critical perspective. A lot of what he said reinforced in my mind, the ideas I have talked about previously regarding the possibility of using industrial models to create web series. He spoke about many different funding initiatives, and if you are receiving funding from an external organization, you need to be efficient and professional and hence it is more than likely industrial models would be used in the production of funded series. Of course, noteworthy or funded series need to be adventurous, fresh and innovative, but once again, this does not necessarily distinguish them from being industrially made.