On Monday 24th April 2023, production officially began on Tall Glass of Nothing. This is how it went:
Preparation
On Saturday 22nd April, I went to the supermarket to pick up food for the cast, crew and extras working on the film. I picked up quite a lot of stuff, including multiple packs of Doritos and Hula Hoops, a lot of biscuits and a 24-pack of Coke Zero. While the amount of food could be seen as overboard and unnecessary, I think it was important. Since my cast and crew were unpaid, it is not just important but a goodwill gesture to ensure they get well-fed and rewarded for a job that won't add anything to their bank accounts. It also incentivises them to succeed at the film as there's a feeling that they're working towards rewarding themselves with a biscuit or some crisps. Oh, and for good measure, I also ordered Domino's pizza for everyone.
On Sunday 23rd April, I completed my shot list. Yes, it was quite short notice, however up until that day I was having trouble figuring out how to get it done. I would always get something wrong, whether ordering my shots wrong or being over-descriptive. However, that day it finally clicked, all I had to do was reformat my script in a way that would be quick and in filming, and I was able to get it completely done in an afternoon.
Setting Up
The morning of the shoot, I decided to gather all my crew and equipment in the location 35 minutes before we actually shot. This proved to be beneficial to the shoot as we were able to be ready shortly after the actors arrived on set. We used three lights, two cameras, two tripods, one boom mic and one gimbal.
"and... action!"
We started filming at 10:40 and kept going until 13:10. We managed to film 24 of the 42 shots in the film, meaning that we filmed over half of the shot in 2 and a half hours.
What I Could've Done Differently
The biggest thing that I could've changed with my directing is more clear delegation, since I was a bit unclear about which cast member was doing what, it meant that some of the work that would've gone to crew members ended up going to me instead. I also may have supplied a little too much food as it incentivised people to keep returning to the food area, meaning that there were several occasions where we had to wait for people to stop eating to shoot.
We will be filming again next week so I will keep all of this in mind then.
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