On Saturday, production for Murder at Curtain Call officially began. The first scenes to be shot were the bathroom scene with James and Elisabeth, then James talking on the phone to Madeleine. Shooting these scenes went extremely well given that it was our first day on set. The shots turned out beautifully and I am incredibly proud of the set-up we achieved in such a tight space.
However, Javier and I found it difficult to stick to the schedule and we ended up running behind very quickly. This was partly due to the limited space in the bathroom, as only the actors, Jamie (Elisabeth) and Andre (James), were able to be present along with me, Javier and Danay - sound recordist and editor. This meant a producer could not be present in the room to remind us to stick to schedule and, if I needed a lens changing (for example), Javier was the only crew member readily available to carry this task out. This delayed each take greatly, putting us behind schedule for the evening’s shoot; an issue that needed to be rectified before we entered the longer filming days with a greater number of scenes and shots.
The scheduling issues were worsened by a misunderstanding that took place involving the codec being used. We had recorded the two forementioned scenes directly on the Sony A7Sii, rather than on the BlackMagic 7” Monitor. This meant we had been recording in a 4:2:1 rather than a 4:2:2 codec, a setting that would greatly affect the colour grade during post-production. For the benefit of Danay as the editor, we needed to record in 4:2:2 as it offers more tone in colours whilst making it easier to correct and grade footage; necessary for complimenting Emma’s vibrant production design whilst achieving the neo-noir visual style I envisioned for the film. Theodora Clayton, an incredibly talented cinematographer, was helping on set as a runner and - luckily - helped us rectify this issue. As well as this, due to Millie and Julia’s impeccable organisation, Monday 28th March had been set aside for reshoots in the house so we could record these scenes using 4:2:2 codec.
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