Shooting fast?

Azmyth

Azmyth

Veteran
I know shooting fast is not something thats common. I know its usually very time consuming, but sometimes you can only get access to things for a short period of time..

This saturday we are shooting the final scene of my feature film which requires several sheriff's dept. and law enforcement vehicles including an ambulance.

The last time we used them, they somehow thought they were only going to be there for a few minutes, and it made it difficult for us to get the stuff we needed. The shots didn't take long to shoot, but the setup did.

This scene is similar. There is no dialog, just two actors walking out of a house through a yard of corpses to the safety of the awaiting law forces. Its during the day, so we won't have a huge light setup to deal with.

I talked to the colonel today, and he's totally cool.. and he told us to call 911 when we need the cars and they would send them our way. He told me to do so an hr before we are about to shoot to give them time to get there if they are on a call. They'll be on duty, so its possible they could have to leave. But we are in a small town, so it might be slow.

I was thinking that we needed to have everything set up and ready to go by the time they get there so all we have to do is position them and roll. If we do this, should we be able to be done with them fairly quickly so they can get back on the patrol?
 
You could do one of two things:

1.) Yes. What you said. Prepare everything for the arrival of the cop cars. (AKA Hurry Up and Wait) But cut your master shot down to a smaller time frame so you can get a couple good takes. Then switch over to closeups with a prop police light casting a glow on your actors. (is this a night shot?)

2. ) Shoot an alternate angle without them. Just get some normal cars and place them where you want the cop cars to be. Go ahead and shoot the scene from the reverse angle so the blocking is ready to go. (maybe you don't have a reverse angle in mind) Whatever. Figure out the blocking. Maybe the lighting and camera will be too complex for this option. But it's something to think about. Maybe all you'll want is a closeup of an actor. But this will give you more coverage so that if the cop cars come and go, you won't really need to establish them in a master shot for the entire scene.


I imagine this is that scene of divine intervention where everything in the house is resolved and the exhausted main characters walk out of the house to find the police having just arrived? :)
 
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I shot this in 90 minutes (having no audible dialog helped of course), it´s possible but you have to be absolutely prepared.
You have to have every single cut and edit in your mind before you roll. It´s like a SWAT team operation. You have to train every move again and again, till you can do it in your sleep.

Frank

 
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