More Studio Shoot/Set Preparation and Rehearsals!

On Friday we had a lot of small bits to finish up doing ready for our shoot next week. I began by working with a group of people to further update the prop list and check that we had everything we needed and the stuff we were still missing I spoke to the relevant people to source it. Here is the further updated list:

Production design material and prop list

NAME	Make	Buy	Owned	Cost
Mirror frame	Jay will be making this out of skirting board - Need to get measurements and then buy from Homebase £2.99 for 2M	Need to Buy the Skirting Board
Chair x2			Jay - has two of these and will bring them Monday 28th
Curtains (the other group are using a blind? )			They have some in the studio!
Bed sheet or something similar - To hang on the mirror to cover it	Got something in the Studio to use
Lamp x2			Katherine - Metal / glass lamp with cream shade to bring in Friday Sugini - Metal Lamp with purple shade (already here)
Post its			Billie had brought them in
Ink splots			Billie brought it in
Potted plant			Logan brought his dead plant in and will provide more on Wednesday 30th Katherine has provided a dead plant Sugini to bring in fake nice plant Friday 25th
Moss and vines			Logan and Jay to bring in on Wednesday 30th
Condoms			Billie already brought them in. Jay to bring in box for them Friday 25th.
Wedding ring			Billie already brought in rings. Sugini will bring in a box for it Friday 25th.
high heels			Billie already brought one pair in. Choe brought in another pair of heels.
Alcohol bottles			Billie brought a few in but can more people bring more please as and when they get them.
Water bottle		Jay will go and buy these
Bible			Katherine - I have one, please bring Friday 25th
Baby objects /teddy bear			Billie has brought 2 teddy's in already.
Pencils /stationary			Jay will bring these in Friday 25th
Art supplies / pallet			Billie already brought some in
motivational and music and dirty posters		Jay has already brought these
Photos selfies	Need to print these and hang them
Paint	DONE	DONE	DONE
Painting sand, sand paper, brushes, other painting equipment	DONE	DONE	DONE
Broken phone			Ollie owns one, Please bring this in for Friday 25th if possible
desk/ bed side table		Desk has been brought from Charity Shop to match the one in the other side of the set
Costume elements  (look at costume design)	TBC	TBC	TBC

I then sat down with the set designer and discussed where he was planning on putting all these props and we separated them into two piles. One for the Id side and one for the Superego side of the set. This allowed us to work out if we had enough. I felt like we didn't so I asked the entire group to bring in with them on Wednesday before our shoot any extra props they felt were helpful to the piece and also anything that would help make it look like a bedroom.

Myself and Nicole (Assistant Producer) then moved on to look at the costume plans we were provided by the set designer. I liked where he was going with it by having them match with a few small changes to make the Id look more childish and sexualised however we had to revise it because we had to think about the movement the actors would be doing and how effected they would be by the costume. We decided to simplify it as well because we didn't want to make it too obvious and we also needed to keep in mind the budget. We decided on for the Superego: Black leggings, a very floaty white vest top and white socks. Then for the Id we decided on: Black cycling/gym shorts, A tight white vest top (which we will muck up a bit) and black knee high socks. This means their colour schemes match but the Superego will be much more covered up an graceful where as the Id will be much more skin baring and messy. We then went on line to loo at a few cloths websites and work out where we could get these items from the cheapest. We decided on Primark because it was the cheapest and it sold everything we were looking for. Later on I spoke to the actresses to check they were happy with these costumes which they were and then I got all the sizes they wanted as well. I then wrote this all down and gave it to Nicole as she offered to go pick these up at the weekend. We then discussed their makeup and hair as well and we decided that to keep with the neat look we would have our Superego with her hair tied up where as our Id would have her hair down and all messed up. Then for makeup we were going to put them in very simplistic makeup but with red lipstick. The Makeup on our Id will be done all nicely where as the make up on our Superego will be much messier to again reflect who they are. The actresses again agreed to this and were very happy with it.

Next I began looking into the main props we were still missing which was the mirror frame to go round the gap to make it appear like it is actually a mirror and not just a door frame. We had spoke about making these from skirting board so I helped measure out how much we would need to make this and then began searching online for the cheapest places to get this from. The cheapest place was B&Q however there was no stock left in any stores nearby that we could get to. We then looked at the next cheapest which was Home base but adding this up made us realise that with budget in mind we shouldn't really buy it from here. I then asked around our group to see if anyone had any wood or skirting board etc spare that we could use. Jay told us he had a lot of planks of wood at home which he agreed he would be able to make into a frame using the workshop at the university. So I then arranged for Nicole to take him to pick them up this afternoon along with the two chairs of his that we needed and she agreed. Whilst they went off and did this I went through paperwork with Katherine to help her update it.

I also went with Katherine (producer) to go book extra time in the studio on the relevant days we needed it for our evening rehearsals and shoot days allowing us more time. We also went through and sorted out the equipment making sure that everything we wanted was booked out ready for us.

I then spent time reading through logan (Directors) updated script and getting myself prepared for the rehearsals we had this evening with the actresses. We had arranged the rehearsal to start at 4 and run till 7. The other group who were working in the studio with us this day were doing their preflight but had already agreed a number of times that they would be done and packed up and out the room by 4. However for a reason not given to us they hadn't finished at 4 so we compromised and said they could have an extra half an hour and we began reading through the script with the actresses in the other side of the room. This extra half hour compromise then turned into 1hour and a half which was very unprofessional and very embarrassing for us as we had actors present. We improvised though and carried on our rehearsal just using a much smaller space at the side of the room than we originally anticipated. The rehearsal went really well apart from this though because the actresses were very good at taking our directions but also they were very inventive with the piece themselves. We worked in a way were gave them very open directions but then let them try it out and adapt it to how they felt comfortable and then we worked with them to build on the routine counts of 8 at a time. We also provided them music to help them get into the theme and feelings of the piece as well. We then once we had blocked a large section wrote down the moves and also recorded them on a camera just to help them remember the routine when they return next time. Because of the delays we unfortunately didn't get the whole routine done but majority was blocked out which was promising. We were also meant to rehearse on Tuesday evening to be able to block the rest of the routine out and get the camera team to watch it however due to one of the actresses now having work commitments we have changed it to Thursday morning before the shoot when we will finish blocking. I feel like this will still work though because of how well it went today with them. I am very excited as we get closer to the shoot days next week now!