Major Project: Test Shoot and Readthrough

Today I had scheduled a read through for our cast and also it doubled as a test shoot and rehearsal for the cast as we was going to be on location at The Avenue Theatre. 

The cast who was able to come along was Amy Floyd as Bethany, Joseph Kane as George, and Adam Jarrell as Francis. I also wanted to do a test shoot to enable Vic to work with the cast and the DOP so he can prepare for the shoot. It will also allow us to see how Lawrence controls the camera at a more detailed approach and allow him to get a more in-depth feel of the look and camera movements we want.

First of all, we all went into the dressing room and we did a read through of any key scenes which anyone was struggling with and so that the actors could feel more comfortable working together. Overall, it went quite well and it enabled me to make any slight changes to the script that needed to be changed to fit better with the actors way of speaking and acting. The read through also went well as the actors could bring up anything that they was struggling with and we could go over the scenes further.

Another key thing I wanted to make sure we do on the day, was do some rehearsals for key scenes between George and Bethany and the important stage scene between Francis and Bethany.

There is going to be a kiss scene between Amy and Joseph, and I want it to look as natural as possible; this worked quite well and i'm glad we went over the scene as the actors was a little awkward at first and didn't kiss properly, which made the scene look really strange. After a little direction from Vic, the two became more comfortable and confident in when to lean closer in together.

Here is a little snippet of the rehearsal from the day.

The second half of the rehearsal was dedicated to Amy and Adam. During the filming days at the theatre, we won't have hours of time to practice and go over the stage scene, which involves some stage combat, so I want to make sure that the two actors are quite confident before hand, which will allow more time on production days to be filming instead of practicing the stage scene over and over.

Amy Floyd has trained in stage combat and had agreed to help bring the scene to life with her knowledge and skills. We ran through the scene with the two, however, when it came to the way the actions were done and the more combat side to it, Amy led on how Adam should hold her arms, and how she will take control when being 'dragged' off stage. 

The first half of this was a little daunting, as when acting the scene in real it's hard to know if it's going to look good on the shots, however, we did a lot of run throughs and eventually the actors had choreographed a short 'fight' scene which would work well on the stage. We decided to shoot this as part of our test shoot which also enabled Lawrence to practice with the camera and get more of a feel for the way it would be shot. It was also helpful for Adam to do a few practices with the mask on as when he is actually in the scene, his view will be weakened as the mask will take his peripheral vision away.

Here is a test shoot for the fight scene at the beginning. 

The last thing I wanted to get done in the day was a photoshoot for the poster for 'I Pull The Strings' which will be stuck up in the background of the theatre. It was also a good chance for Amy to try on the dress I had go for the final scenes. Unfortunately the dress was quite tight fitting so did not fit, and the sequins also looked quite tacky in the light, which would ruin the style of the scene as Bethany is meant to be dressed up and looking very glamorous.

A lot of ideas was flowing about the different angles we could take and if Amy should be wearing the mask or not, so we have a lot of pictures ready to look at and decide over for the poster.

Finally, we took some photographs of Amy and Joseph together, acting as a couple. This is to be printed for some photo frames in their house, and for on a mug that is smashed.

Overall, the day was a success and i'm glad we had a few rehearsals and run throughs of some scenes which has made myself and Vic more confident about the theatre scenes especially as we do not want to waste any time on the day.