Reply To All Production Weekend - Update 3

Job done! (for now...) We wrapped the Reply To All shoot on Sunday evening after two full-on days in a hotel suite in Richmond. The biggest challenges were the time pressure - we had a lot of material to get through and it was a constant battle to get everything done while there was still enough daylight, and the continuity issues: our heroine Becki accumulates damage of sorts throughout the film so her appearance had to be right for each scene.

Actress Tracey Pickup prepares for a tricky POV shot

High points of the weekend were several difficult shots we managed to pull off, some in the original plan, others improvised on the day. A low point was on day two where, running out of time to complete the shot list I found myself demanding that Nick, the scriptwriter, come up with a shorter re-write of one scene on the fly. He came through - we completed the shoot and the rest will soon be cinematic history. Having the writer stay on as an integral member of the production crew is worthwhile even if it's not the Hollywood way...

DOP Oliver Cross sets up for a dolly shot. The Indie Dolly system seen here is far superior to my own homemade version (description here and here, tracking demo here). 

I'll post more thoughts and pictures from this shoot soon, and watch for more news on the Caramie website too. Meanwhile production continues - the next step is the voice-over recording session, then animation and editing will be taking place over the next few weeks and months. Thanks again to all the backers who made this production possible.

Reply To All Production Weekend - Update 2

On my way home from first day of shooting. It's been a challenge, we've achieved a lot today and I'm particularly happy with some of the shots we've had to improvise. However there's still a lot to do and we will have to pick up the pace on day 2 if we're going to complete the shot list. I'm exhausted right now but will post more tomorrow.

Reply To All Production Weekend - Update 1

With thanks to all our lovely Kickstarter backers, Reply To All goes into full production this weekend - our hotel-room shoot starts early tomorrow morning. We're as ready as we can be - we held a productive rehearsal earlier this week, and since then I've been busy finalising the shot list. Really looking forward to directing with an extremely talented cast and crew. I'll post more updates as we go. In the meantime there's more about this film, and others in the pipeline, over at the Caramie Productions website.