First Day on-set for JACK!

So it was finally the day for the first shoot of Jack the musical period drama Danniella has been writing not only the script but the songs as well. It went so unbelievable well and although not to complete schedule and planned times we still accomplished so much and it looks absolutely amazing and I'm so proud of Danniella and the cast and the crew and yeah I'm pretty tired and exhausted but on a high from today so yeah.

Anyway, after a slightly delayed start because of taxis and getting into the location later than we liked we immediately cracked on. Danneilla handed out shot lists for both units and as I was 2nd unit myself and the amazing Matty worked on the shots we wanted to get. It was a very busy and frantic start making sure everyone was getting costume and makeup and then who was needed but sooner or later we were off capturing the first shot.

Second unit had one big scene in the police station then the others were out in the street, the big scene included a real kidney (which I had to touch) in a box and some police officers. Due to the limited space in the room we had to constantly keep moving the light - which decided to buzz very loudly when we needed to record dialogue - we also had to keep the door closed and frame shot carefully to reduce as much natural light as possible but damn the shots look pretty! They make the room look so much bigger and are perfect for the time period and yeah we love them. Danniella gave us some shots which we did but also added our owns as we started filming and worked out the best angles an positioning. I feel like in this scene I wasn't much of a director, Kelly was on set and I let her take the lead a lot but I think I was just worried and scared of screwing up and ruining Danneilla's film and I was also unsure as to what she wanted in the scene but after that I gained some confidence and took control of the other scenes and directed. In this scene I sat on the floor a lot, turning the light on and off between takes and moving it between setups. I love the lighting in this scene it just looks so amazing and right and Matty is amazing and wow.

After this scene we took a break as our stomachs were rumbling and you could hear them really loudly after break we set to work on the other scenes we had scheduled, since unit 1 finished their scene before ours and needed to be in the police station they continued filming 2 scenes unit 2 had scheduled. But then we continued filming what was planned. These scenes were in the street and made we had to be careful when filming as the police station can hear the noises therefore we had to do take for take which would have worked perfectly except it was raining and meant between takes we had to keep running back inside the tea room. This scene took a longish amount of time because of take for take and the weather but also because there was a lot of extras supporting actors.

The next scene Matty and I got a range of shots, mid shots, over the shoulder and then got a whip pan and quick zoom which we weren't sure whether Danniella would like it but we got it and hoped she would.

The acting was great and although I didn't get to work with everyone I know they'll be great, Kane impressed me with his characterisation of Swanson. The supporting artists, especially those who aren't actors were great and really helped bring the street to life. The first years who helped out as crew were great and I know we could not have done it without them. The MUAs helped bring everyone to the right time period making sure not one looked out of place.

I'm so pleased and proud of everyone involved and I can't wait to see it pieced together.

(As you can see in my sleepy state I used a lot of adjectives, but its true.)


Throughout the day I took as many photos as possible whilst filming and tweeting from the Ufilms account so that I was creating an online presence for the film and starting to create buzz.