Film log: 17th November (Saturday)

We arrived at the abandoned, decrepit factory near Spotland in the morning and set up our equipment within close proximity of the areas boundaries. We filmed some shots of the buildings facade, and a couple of long shots showing myself and max running from the area to connote some element of peril, though without delving into the source of that peril which forms enigma codes. Following on from this, we made the most of the drab, overcast weather by filming Max and I roaming a road. Kieran manned the camera whilst I had to play my role. For the shot-reverse-shot I used the steady cam to film Max in his role, and he the same for me. Furthermore, we shot a snappy fight sequence including Kieran and myself. I set up the camera angle and then subsequently performed a tackle on Kieran who was portraying a henchman.

We did confront a couple of problems here, such as the sporadic rain showers which sometimes intruded upon the shots we were trying to create. It also meant we had to protect the integrity of the camera with our coats etc. whilst it rained which, given the on and off nature of the rain showers, became time consuming and equally irritating. Fortunately, what boded as another problem, soon became an opportunity to advance our project. A group of local kids came across our filming area and, instead of causing a fuss, suggested I go with them to scout around the abandoned factory with them as they were familiar to the area, so I did hoping I could discover areas of interest and then feed back to the group who remained where we started.

After exploring the building and racking up numerous ideas to discuss with the group, I headed back to inform Max and Kieran. Soon we were inside and making the most of this hidden gem of a location though I had to carry the equipment, again. Inside we met a group of men who were doing a photography project who also advised us on the buildings interesting areas. Being a tad bit of a silver tongued devil I even managed to employ the use of two of them to be in our production as the two gasmasked me; an area of improvisation that I, and I'm sure everyone, believes will contribute to the overall quality of the projects end result.  I filmed the shots in the map room, abandoned storage rooms and the high angle panoramic of the horizon and factory ground from a smashed out window on the facade. Overall, the day went well and we got the work done that we had planed to, with the addition of another unexpected but great shot.