Pre-Production Starts

This week we had our first crew get together since the photo shoot for “Clowning Around” to discuss pre-production on the actual film. Having focused for the past few months solely on the IndieGoGo campaign and the photography, we need to start turning our attention more to what we need to do to actually make the film!
The first thing we need to do is set a shoot date so we all have something to aim towards, can make sure everyone is available for and set schedules and deadlines so we can accomplish everything we need to. Because of both the ambition and complexity of the film, and that we have so much backing and support from the IndieGoGo community, we need to make sure we are as organised as possible so we can make the most of the shoot to create a fantastic film.
For that reason, we have brought on some more organisational production crew, namely Katherine Evans as Production Manager, Juliet Parker as Assistant Producer and Dan Hammersley as Production Co-Ordinator who will help us figure out what we can accomplish with the tools and people at our disposal.
As in any project we are balancing the logistics and creativity involved. We want to shoot on the ARRI Alexa (link) which is the closest digital representative to film and will allow us to show the epic and cinematic tone of the film. We also want to use slow motion for the fight sequence, setup a scene with over 150 school children, strap a camera to a shopping trolley in a stunt scene and get tricky locations like a pub and a supermarket so we need to set our ideas out clearly and marry our creative ideas with what we can actually pull off. This is not matter of limiting ourselves as everyone involved in the project wants to make the project as ambitious and awe-inspiring as possible, but we also have to make sure we are not unrealistic or if there is a simpler solution (that will be no less effective) and will save us time and money.
It was also good to sit down with Azul and Bianca and work through the storyboards and start to break down how we will do certain shots and set pieces, as again preparation is key to everyone understanding what we need beforehand so the thinking time is done then, not on the shoot itself.

So where we are at in the coming week or so is for me to go through the storyboards to make sure there is nothing there that needn’t be and also implement new changes in the script, for locations to start being sourced, a shoot date to be locked and for us to schedule in costume fittings, finalise the makeup and rehearsal...oh yeah and of course to raise another $1,000 at least for the IndieGoGo campaign and get as many backers on board as possible!