FWDC Day 14 - murphy's law

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Day 14, the shoot day ... finally. As ever, Murphy's law reared its ugly head when least expected. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong and then some.

The decision to shoot against green was a poor one given the parameters of the shoot, namely:

> 2 hrs shoot time.
> unfamiliarity of actors with the script.
> a Director Of Photography (DOP) who didn't see eye-to-eye with my vision, and
> lighting the green screen.

So ... 40 min into my shooting time I was knee deep in technical discussions with my DOP trying to explain to him how the lights at the edge of the frame can be masked out in 'post', so it's not an issue if they are in frame. To show him the frame I wanted I made the mistake of zooming the camera out a little, at which point I was politely informed that had this been a real set I would've been fashioning a black eye for that brave act. Note to self, DOPs get very possessive about their gear - be ware ...

The fact that the actress wanted to wear the glasses I got for Dr. F. Ope didn't help either.

Due to all these moving parts I ended up shooting a different movie than what I set out to shoot at the start of day 14. That said, very useful experience.

Key takeaway from the day was ... Be strict with your actors if needed and be open to go with the flow because things not always work out the way you imagine.

If all else fails, remember ... you can fix every thing in the post except the acting.