I was really pleased to be paired with Charlie and her script for this assignment! seeing as I had never worked on a short film in a group before, I was unsure of the exact roles I would need to complete and the manner in which we would organise pre-production documents and work towards our eventual film day. The groups initial meeting was really helpful in creating a timeline for the completion of the project – as cinematographer, I was tasked with annotating the script, writing notes, and creating a mood board (also supplied with the directors mood board) for how I imagined the script could be executed. During this exercise, I thought the addition of smoke would be perfect for the wardrobe scene, which I proposed to Charlie who agreed. With knowledge of what the set would look like, I was also able to annotate sections of the script which I thought may be harder to film. For example, The scene where the tampon scurries away, which was achieved with marking a focus shift.

During this meeting I also discussed a gear list with Charlie, where we planned and scheduled all of the required gear available from the loans store. I decided on using the FS5 camera as we had done a workshop on it in class a couple of weeks earlier and I liked its quality over cameras I had used in previous studios. The function of the ND filter (which was used in a few exterior shots) as well as the overall interface and controls of the camera was also a lot easier to learn and get used to. We also decided on getting the LED light panels since we were filming in a small room and the wireless lights were the easiest to use in that environment, as crew can easily hold them in places tripods may not fit or be as practical (e.g. on the bed or inside the wardrobe).

The group was extremely organised with having back up plans for actors and filming locations in case of any changes. About a week into pre production the set needed to be changed, however we were almost instantly supplied photos of the new filming location so that we could continue planning. Unfortunately due to medical reasons I could not attend the set the day before shooting, so could not assist in planning for the shoot days or get to scope the set prior to filming. However considering I had images of the set aswell as a great idea of the myself and the directors vision for the film, I was confident and felt well prepared when production eventually rolled around.