Somewhat different to the first day of shooting, Day Two turned out to be relentlessly exhausting, jam-packed, rushed, stressful, and somewhat dangerous. In the morning we turned a classroom into a boardroom and tackled one of the heavier scenes of the film. The day as a whole was one I was dreading months in advance because I knew we would have so much to get through, so many actors to handle, and as it was a key scene in the film, would require a delicate touch to get across exactly the tone we wanted. Given the pace of the shoot I was struggling to focus on the performance a few times (it was noted a few times that I’d speak too fast, and get the lines completely wrong…this was because my mind was racing about focussing on a thousand things at once). Luckily I had Tom Bridger on board as Producer to bluntly call me out on any issues I might be having and steer me in the right direction (greatly appreciated).
Later in the day, having got everything we wanted from the boardroom scenes, we headed to our (very swiftly acquired second location), a performing arts centre which would serve as a TV/Photography studio within the film. Special thanks needs to go to Nikki Mclusky for sorting the space for us, as the entire film would have been ruined if we couldn’t find a replacement. The second half of the day was unbelievably stressful, as we had to rush through two scenes in the space of two hours because we had to leave by 8pm). The second scene was the one with the most shots of any scene in the entire film. We only just managed to make it in the end…but not without a few cuts and bruises.
Although I was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted, the thing that really topped off the relentlessness of the day was the final shot we did, in which I was thrown across the room onto the hard surface of the studio floor. We did a couple of takes, and you’re going to be able to tell just from the sound of the impact alone, just how much I hurt my wrists, ankles, hip, back and shoulder (I did say before the shoot I wanted to put everything I could into the shoot and performance, and I feel we’ve all lived up to the hype). I’m covered in cuts and bruises now. The day itself was a massive blur though.
Thanks to Rob Smith, Paul Sutton, Tony Cartwright, Georgina Weller, Sophie Crabtree, Sarah Hacking, Katie Rawlings, Siobhan Douglas, and the usual gang, for helping take part on Day Two and for helping to make it happen. I’d also like to say thank you to James Jackson (our newest Production Assistant) who proved just how useful he could be several times throughout the day, but really shone when we literally had 20 minutes before we would be thrown out of the last location, a battery was about to run out, and he sprinted to buy a new 9V for our microphone. As a result we finished on time, and in spectacular fashion. Good work team!
