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Production Diary

Production diary content

During pre-production, I was a part of the writing team. This involved working with a team of people, planning out the overall narrative of the film along with the finer details of the characters – their motivations, obstacles and thought processes. Alongside this, I was also playing the part of Charlie in the film. In terms of preparation, I felt confident with my lines and I think that spending time on the writing team was really beneficial as it allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and the story. As a group, I felt that everyone was really focused and worked hard to the point where, when the shoot did come along, everything ran smoothly and we could simply work though the days

The first day of shoot went well. Everyone was in high spirits and just looking forward to getting on with filming. The abundance of snacks and lo-fi music reverberating around the green room helped exponentially. We started off filming the climax of the narrative which consisted of the party scenes along with the dream sequences. Whilst it did feel briefly overwhelming beginning the shoot with the most technically challenging scenes, the hard work felt very cathartic considering the long hours spent prior writing and planning. A personal highlight was filming the dream sequence, it was genuinely interesting watching such simple techniques create such a visually twisted and dark sequence.

       

        

The second day, whilst it did carry the same energy, felt a lot quieter considering we were working on the scenes in the flat along with the opening advert. This, along with the fact that everyone was slightly more comfortable in their roles meant that this felt more like professional work.

      

During the shoot, there were several people I worked closely with on set; the directors, the director of photography and the rest of the cast. The directors, Peggy, Izzy and Jachur, were great – it was necessary to maintain a close dialogue with them in order to gauge precisely what they wanted in each scene. Similarly, I needed a good dialogue with the DOP, Louie Blystad in order to understand how I could best accommodate his visions for each setting.

In terms of professionalism, I felt that the whole crew were talented and prepared enough that they could work in their respective roles with ease. This, along with the tutelage of Bex, Max and Ses allowed the shoot as a whole to move forward quickly and efficiently. However, whilst shooting ‘Incubus’ was a predominantly fun and engaging experience, it wasn’t without it’s pressures. For instance, time management is integral to the film-making process and definitely proved a struggle on set – specifically, during the party sequence on day one, we needed a lot of coverage and it was difficult to stay on schedule considering the amount of people in the scene and the technical difficulties involved. Nonetheless, the shoot as a whole was relatively fluid due to the professionalism of the crew and the motivation we all had.

Overall, shooting this film was genuinely fun and one of the most informative and engaging experiences. All the crew were great, professional and made the whole project that much more enjoyable. Whilst I do feel that, as an actor, my performance could’ve been better, I did feel confident and comfortable in my role and enjoyed it profusely. I feel very grateful to have been a part of ‘Incubus’.

Comments

  1. Bex Rose

    Nice work George, this is a really good record of your production process. It shows how you were able to develop your own technical skills (section 1) and also develop effective working relationships with your team members (section 3). It is also evidences the practical application of learning outcomes for sections 2 and 4. You have worked diligently throughout the whole process, both on an individual level and collaboratively with your team. The diary also shows how engaged you have been throughout, your contribution has been invaluable. Incubus would not have been made without you and your original idea about some friends and a machine that records your dreams.
    You have achieved all your portfolio work to a good standard and more than met expectations in terms of the amount of work produced. You have clearly shown you can develop own working practice for the film industry. Well done.

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