On September 19th and 20th, the AIB film students
teamed up to produce four short films. A few weeks back, the 18 of us
chose which scripts were to be made; the writers of the chosen four
became directors and the remaining students were divided into teams to
work as crew. After casting the actors, the groups were excited and
ready to film.
Day one of shooting: Germany is actually freezing cold. Up to
this point, we have been very lucky with the weather here in Bonn. Sure
it rained once or twice, but I don’t think any of us were ready for the
weather to be in the 50s (Fahrenheit) in September. Most groups began
shooting at 9am in this chilly weather. And let’s not forget the clouds.
This weather did present a bit of a challenge; being used to Los
Angeles shooting conditions, holding a boom and operating a tripod
became a bit more difficult as our hands froze straight to the metal
(excuse the exaggeration). Despite the weather, as we get older and more experienced, working on sets becomes that much more smooth and enjoyable. While I heard some groups had trouble with sound, the set I was on ran effortlessly. The professors came by to make sure everything was fine and I am pleased to say that day one went off without a hitch.
Day two of shooting: the day before we began shooting, we realized that there was a conflict with locations. My group ended up compromising and said that we would shoot in one specific location after another team finished.
The other team was supposed to be finished by 12:30pm on day two of shooting in this location. However, in film, relying on someone else’s schedule is not a wise decision. Would the other group really be finished in half a day? What if the weather changed later in the afternoon? We relocated to what ended up being a better location for our film anyways. Sometimes compromising provides you with good karma. With the final two scenes to film, everyone began the day in positive spirits and worked hard the entire time. The actors were wonderful to work with, professional yet still kind-spirited.
In all, shooting was a success. I was worried that these two days could potentially be some of the worst of the semester. It is always hard letting go of control and working on someone else’s script and taking direction. I was fortunate to have such a great group where everyone’s input was taken into consideration and respect, yet full of laughter and fun.
Written by Hanna Finlayson
