I have recently just finished my first high tech film which I wrote myself. The film is about a boy named stevie (Stephen) who is having an 18th birthday party. His girlfriend is the main character and the film shows how the hate that stevie's sister has for the girlfriend can end the party in a destaster.
I was paired with my class mate Eamon O'Neill and was giving a small crew. At first the crew worried me because there were certain people who I knew didn't seem as reliable as others and so I asked another member of the class who I could trust to come and help which he was more than happy to do. However on the day of filming the crew members did show which was brilliant as it meant I had more people to help out.
One of the problems we came across was the location as I wanted to have the main location in a pub. Eamon eventually wa able to get a pub in the falls road which was a handy location for everyone and we were able to have it all day which was surprising considering it was the day before st paddys day. This however did not work out as just 2 days before filming a member of the pub died and because we didn't pay for the location the family got put first and got the space we had booked. This obviously created caos as we didn't want to reschule everything due to the amount of actors and extras we needed. So thankful Eamon was able to get his mummy to get us a hall above her work. It wasn't the place I was hoping for but with it beig last mintue I was more than happy to take it. It actually turned out well after we fixed it up and added in party stuff (banners, party poppers, childhood photos etc) However one thing I realise was going to be a probably was the shot list we had created around the previous location as because it was different space it meant things ha to be changed which was confusing at first but we got there in the end. We were thankful still able to use the previous pub for scenes like the argument between te sister an girlfriend in the toilet and the existing of the pub because it meant we were still able to give that pub look without having he vitally hall.
Another problem we faced was actors which was my main part of organising as I knew actors from my youth group. At first it wasn't hard to get people and everything was sorted quickly but then a week before filming my main actress had to pull out and because it was too short notice it meant I had I do it as I have an acting background and was the only one who could do it. We also had trouble finding someone who could play the sister, Rebbecca, and so we didn't to put it up online (twitter, Facebook) and eventually we got a reply from a girl who sents us a video of her acting out some of the lines and from this I knew she was perfect for the role. Extras were also a problem as most people were going awayfor the st paddys day weekend or where working as the group would have been teenager who had part time jobs which meant they worked on weekends. But we finally got people the day before filming and thanks to the hall being a small place it made it look like there was more people than there was.
So it came to the day of filming and myself, Eamon and the crew got there early to set up and run through some things and when it came I filming everything went great the actors where on time and focused, the crew were on the ball an well prepared and helpful whenever we got stuck.
So overall my experience for my first short film was mad and stressful but with the end result it was with it and I love every minute of it.
