Chess Film: The Day Before Filming

Not Enough Actors 

Originally, my group planned on getting four actors for our film. This meant all of us could focus on being behind the scenes. Unfortunately, finding actors was a lot harder than we anticipated. We underestimated this step in our filming process, assuming everyone would want a free ticket out of class. Surprisingly, many of the people we asked said they were camera shy and not interested in being in the film. Another problem that came up was that those who were interested didn't have the required grades to skip class. We ended up with only two of the four actors we needed, which meant some of our group members had to step in. 

Group members stepping up to be in our film 

As the director, I wanted to make sure everything ran smoothly during filming, so I encouraged my other team members to be in the film. Balancing both acting and directing would have been challenging. It made the most sense for our sound designer and editor to be in the film, since the majority of their work occurs after filming. However, they still have important responsibilities during production, so we decided I would cover their roles if they were in a shot and unavailable. For example, while our editor is acting I will manage the shot list, keeping track of which shots we completed and which takes were the best. Additionally, when our sound designer is in a shot I will be the one indicate which shot and take it is. 

Communication

I made sure to contact the two actors who are not in our group the day before filming to provide them with details for filming day. These details included what to wear, location, and time. I also realized that whatever our actors wore would need to be worn again if we did not finish all the shots they were in. So, I suggested to all the actors that they should bring a change of clothes if they did not want to wear the same outfit within the same week. 

Initial messages to our actors