[The Destination Film Shoot]
13 April, 2015
I went down for breakfast with a lot of thoughts swimming in my head.
1) On one hand, I wanted to give the cast and crew a break. Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day but then that also turned out to be an intense day of shoot. The last thing I wanted was a fatigued team (or a fatigued self, for that matter).
2) On the other hand, 4 out of the 10 days of shoot had already passed and we were hardly close to the half way mark in terms of content canned. So we can't possibly be sitting around twiddling our thumbs.
3) We still didn't have the licence. So it wasn't like we could shoot much either.
4) So the real question was how could we make this day both relaxing and productive?
That's when the editor arrived for breakfast with the good news. Apparently our licencor would be getting his driving licence today so we can shoot the scenes in the car (remember, the licencor was supposed to act as the chauffeur).
Me: Oh great! So let's meet at the lobby right after breakfast and leave for the shoot!
Editor: No, no... not so fast. He will be getting the licence today. He doesn't have it yet. But they have asked him to go collect it, so it should be ready by afternoon.
Oh, OK. I had missed that subtle use of future tense in there.
Alright then. At least the good news was that we knew what we would do in the afternoon. So now the only question was what we should do in the morning.
We had a few filler shots which could be shot within the hotel aisle and the lift lobby. So we gave the actress a break and proceeded to can these filler shots, which involved only the actor. Given that we didn't have anything much else to do other than wait for the licencor and his driving licence, the shoot which under normal circumstances shouldn't have taken more than 30 minutes, took about two hours.
And then we started to wait for the licencor and his driving licence...
And continued to wait...
And wait...
And then, in the middle of all that waiting, was informed that the licencor is now on his way to collect his licence, which seemed to be not in Abu Dhabi city as earlier assumed, but in Al Ain. It would have been awesome had Al Ain not been a mere 175 kms away. By the time he would get back it would be evening and we would lose light.
So we stopped waiting.
Instead I took a stroll to the nearest mall with the cast, and there I bought a few gifts for my little one. As it would be with moms who make films, I was already ridden with guilt for having left her with her dad and our helper for so long.
Anyway, post the visit to the mall, I was faced with a free evening. So I paid a visit to one of my dear friends from school who was living in Abu Dhabi. I had a lovely evening at her place - meeting her family, enjoying the awesome chicken curry she cooked for me, and playing with her two little wonderful kids!
By bed time, this was how I fared on the thoughts that were swimming in my head during breakfast.
1) Everyone got plenty of rest, which is good.
2) 5 out of 10 days had passed and we were still not close to half way mark when it comes to the content canned., which is not so good.
3) We still didn't have the licence for the shoot on public locations but the licencor at least had his driving licence now, which is good.
Because it meant that, for a change, I had a good idea what we would be doing the next day, which is more than what I could have said for the past few days.
That in itself, is great progress.
13 April, 2015
I went down for breakfast with a lot of thoughts swimming in my head.
1) On one hand, I wanted to give the cast and crew a break. Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day but then that also turned out to be an intense day of shoot. The last thing I wanted was a fatigued team (or a fatigued self, for that matter).
2) On the other hand, 4 out of the 10 days of shoot had already passed and we were hardly close to the half way mark in terms of content canned. So we can't possibly be sitting around twiddling our thumbs.
3) We still didn't have the licence. So it wasn't like we could shoot much either.
4) So the real question was how could we make this day both relaxing and productive?
That's when the editor arrived for breakfast with the good news. Apparently our licencor would be getting his driving licence today so we can shoot the scenes in the car (remember, the licencor was supposed to act as the chauffeur).
Me: Oh great! So let's meet at the lobby right after breakfast and leave for the shoot!
Editor: No, no... not so fast. He will be getting the licence today. He doesn't have it yet. But they have asked him to go collect it, so it should be ready by afternoon.
Oh, OK. I had missed that subtle use of future tense in there.
Alright then. At least the good news was that we knew what we would do in the afternoon. So now the only question was what we should do in the morning.
We had a few filler shots which could be shot within the hotel aisle and the lift lobby. So we gave the actress a break and proceeded to can these filler shots, which involved only the actor. Given that we didn't have anything much else to do other than wait for the licencor and his driving licence, the shoot which under normal circumstances shouldn't have taken more than 30 minutes, took about two hours.
And then we started to wait for the licencor and his driving licence...
And continued to wait...
And wait...
And then, in the middle of all that waiting, was informed that the licencor is now on his way to collect his licence, which seemed to be not in Abu Dhabi city as earlier assumed, but in Al Ain. It would have been awesome had Al Ain not been a mere 175 kms away. By the time he would get back it would be evening and we would lose light.
So we stopped waiting.
Instead I took a stroll to the nearest mall with the cast, and there I bought a few gifts for my little one. As it would be with moms who make films, I was already ridden with guilt for having left her with her dad and our helper for so long.
Anyway, post the visit to the mall, I was faced with a free evening. So I paid a visit to one of my dear friends from school who was living in Abu Dhabi. I had a lovely evening at her place - meeting her family, enjoying the awesome chicken curry she cooked for me, and playing with her two little wonderful kids!
I don't exactly have a picture from today, but thought would be a good idea to share a picture of my wonderful team - cameraman, actor, editor/DOP, me, actress!
1) Everyone got plenty of rest, which is good.
2) 5 out of 10 days had passed and we were still not close to half way mark when it comes to the content canned., which is not so good.
3) We still didn't have the licence for the shoot on public locations but the licencor at least had his driving licence now, which is good.
Because it meant that, for a change, I had a good idea what we would be doing the next day, which is more than what I could have said for the past few days.
That in itself, is great progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment