Fiction Adaptation: DAY 2 FILMING - NANCY

Today we began filming the second day of filming with Jennifer for Nancy's roles. Today we filmed the scene where Nancy finds out Jack's been killed at war, the scene where she's in the park, and a scene where she visions Jack and a lot of creepy stuff begins to happen!

As I had a lot to do today I began early and asked Jennifer to arrive at 8:30am again. However due to train troubles, Jennifer was late which meant we didn't begin filming till around half 10 as I needed to do her hair.
Whilst styling Jennifer's hair I began getting worried that it wouldn't look the same as day 1 filming and ruin continuity. However after looking at clips from the previous days work, I soon was able to create the same look (near enough) which I was happy with.

We began filming immediately and started with the kitchen scene. I was really happy with the way this scene turned out as it's quite slow paced but brings out all the emotions I want Nancy and the viewer to feel. I filmed a variety of shots to make sure I had enough coverage and close up's of Nancy's face and reaction when she reads the letter. I wanted the scene to be very powerful and dramatic so filmed Nancy falling to the ground and dropping the letter. Filming went really well and I'm happy with the shots we got!

Next, we filmed the scene where Nancy runs back to the house and finds one beautiful, rich red rose left from Summer left in her garden. However we see Nancy reacting to Jack (her imagination) and step back and crush the rose.
Throughout this scene I wanted it to begin with a pan of Nancy looking at the rose and gradually build up with tighter shots and a more abstract feel to the piece. Jennifer is very easy to work with and understood what I wanted in the piece and I feel she performed very well. It took us around half an hour to film this scene as I wanted to film it with a few different varieties of shots to make sure I could change my mind if I wanted.

The last scene we shot was at the park, it was a 10 minute walk but I didn't mind as it was the perfect place to film my scene. I made sure my actress was wearing warm clothing during the journey there and offered her a break before we left.
Throughout this scene I wanted Nancy to be very happy and excited, and finds a shiny red apple on the floor which intrigues her. For this scene I told Jennifer I wanted her to imagine she is in a field full of flowers and spin round then fall to the floor. I asked my production assistant, Vic to film some high shots looking down on Nancy to make her seem vulnerable and small as I was too short to film them. Jennifer once again performed really well throughout the day.

I'm really happy with this days filming as I got so much done and shot a LOT of material, especially for the out door scenes which I was worried about. Throughout the day I did change my mind a lot of what shots I wanted as some didn't turn out as I expected. However I am happy with what I've got and I'm going to edit this in with my footage so I am organised for the next shoot and will have this edit ready.

Fiction Adaptation: DAY 2 FILMING SCHEDULE

Fiction Adaptation: COSTUMES

For my fiction adaptation, I want it to be set in the 20's therefore need to make sure all the costumes and props look right. I did some extensive research on previous posts on what woman wore back then and how they styled their dresses - i.e accessories, headwear. I had to make sure to look for frills, lace and floral patterns.

I finally found some dresses on Ebay and in charity shops after a very long search. I found some really nice ones however even with 1st class postage they wouldn't arrive till mid December as they was posted from far away. 

The first dress I found is a blue cotton dress with frills and lace on it - which I immediately knew was right for at least one of my characters. I dressed the costume up with some beads however need to remember if I use this for my main character she will be wearing a locket. I really like this dress and think if I add more necklace and arm beads to it it will look more 20's style.

Blue dress 1

For the second dress, it's exactly the same as the first except it's in black.

I thought this would fit well for one of Nancy's best friends as a little joke because their wearing the same dress (the girls characters are very over the top). I think because of the colour difference the two dresses look different and unique which I like.

Black dress 2

The third dress I really like, however when it arrived in the post I realise I needed to buy more beads and dress it up more, as on Ebay the seller made it look really 20's style with long white flapper beads and a hat, however on the photo below it doesn't look too good.

Yellow/Cream dress 3

For the last dress I'm not too sure of but when I looked at 1920s dresses I did find a lot similar to this with floral dark patterns therefore I'm going to ask my actress to try it on to see which looks best.

I found this dress in a charity shop.

I also bought a hat for one of my characters to wear (preferably the one who wears the yellow dress) which I found on Ebay. 

(pic)

Overall, I do like the dresses for my cast however I prefer the first 1 definitely for my main character as it's very girly, petite and elegant which matches her personality. It's also the brightest dress and will make her stand out the most.

Fiction Adaptation: RISK ASSESSMENT

Fiction Adaptation: DAY 1 FILMING SCHEDULE.

I have created a filming and general schedule for day one of filming.

I've looked at the weather and found that Monday 24th November should (fingers crossed) be sunny. I decided on this day I want to film the garden party with Nancy and the 3 friends. I'm planning on giving myself 3 hours + to film the garden party, and if we do get finished before then, I will film some of Nancy's scenes at the beginning of the script where she sets the garden party up and also scenes after the garden party where she is walking around the markets by herself and in the fields, writing the poem. As the second scene sets the scene and shows what Nancy is like, I want to make sure that it's set out well and I have all my props and the weather is sunny. I have also wrote in my schedule when people will arrive so I know how long I have to do each persons hair.

On set I'm going to have 6 people.

Myself filming, Vic helping me out as a production assistant and my 4 actors.

Here is the filming schedule below.

Fiction Adaptation: CASTING

After a week of successful auditions and phoning people, I decided I needed to choose who to cast for my roles.



For the role of Nancy I decided to cast Jennifer Done. This is because as soon as I saw her in person and she acted out the scene for me, I knew she was exactly what i'd been looking for. I was looking for a petite young woman with dark hair that could portray a 'typical' 'proper' british accent. I also wanted her to have a natural persona of being friendly and caring - Jennifer did just this and she was also naturally friendly which helped. She acted out the scene where she drops the locket on the floor and she portrayed the emotions I wanted to see really well, including being confused and looking sad whilst thinking of Jack. I also really liked how she pulled the locket close to her neck and closed her eyes showing passion. Jennifer is also available to film on the dates I need her for. For these reasons I decided to cast JENNIFER DONE for the role of my main character, Nancy.



role of old nancy - HEATHER PHILLIPS

role of eve - RUTH MARSDEN

role of jane - GEORGINA PATRICK

role of jenny - N/A at the moment

role of jack - VITTORIO FALCUCCI

Fiction Adaptation: PROPS LIST

Here I am going to write down a list of the props I got that I will need for each filming day.

DAY 1 - GARDEN PARTY - NANCY, EVE, JENNY, JANE

• 1 tea pot
• 4 cups
• 1 necklace locket
• 4 dresses
• white beads necklace
• white bracelet beads
• hat
• red ring
• white table cloth patterned
• round table
• cupcakes
• poem
• pen
• cake stand

DAY 2 - FIELDS/MARKETS - NANCY

• 1 dress
• white beads necklace
• white bracelet beads
• red ring
• 1 necklace locket
• poem

DAY 3 - HOUSE/MEMORIAL - OLD NANCY

• 1 necklace locket
• old photos of the past
• wooden box
• poem
• candles

DAY 4 - FIELD - JACK

• WW1 hat

UPDATE!

After a long search of local shops, charity shops and Ebay I finally found some props which I think really do fit my film. Here is the props I bought for the film.

I'm really happy with the props as although it took so long to find them, it's worth it as they really will build up the mise en scene in my film and create a more hyper real 20's scene.