Pathway: The Shooting Process - an example - scene 35 by Sarah Atkinson
This pathway aims to provide insights into the complexities of creating, constructing and shooting a single shot. As you can see from the list of items in the pathway, a plethora of materials are generated for each shot which can relate to their creative vision (directors notes), their logistical planning (schedules), the tracking and logging of materials (shots, takes and reel numbers, continuity), their previewing (video assist footage) and their documenting (photographic images). I attempt to provide a contextual dialogue for each of the items in the pathway, explaining their function and their relationship to one another. I have also attempted to order the items procedurally to demonstrate the off/on set workflow.
Black and white A4 computer printed with handwritten annotations, bound into book, Paper,Orlando Sally Potter’s Shooting Script Title Page Back
Black and white A4 computer printed with handwritten annotations, bound into book, Paper,Orlando Sally Potter’s Shooting Script page 14 front
Overhead shot of woman lying dead in frozen ice of River Thames, her lap full of red apples.
1 x colour slide in transparent plastic hanging sheet, Digital, Film Stills - Scene 3 - Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp) in the film
Still image
Black and white A4 computer printed with handwritten annotations, bound into book, Paper,Orlando Sally Potter’s Shooting Script page 4 front
A4 computer paper with handwritten notes, Paper, One line shooting schedule, London, Khiva
This is the director's annotated shooting schedule which includes details of Scene 35. The schedule provides a day-by-day overview of the scenes that are being shot, the nature of the shots (INT. - internal or EXT. - External), a brief description of the content and the action of the shot and their locations. This particular schedule covers the period in April where the filming location moves to Uzbekistan. The particular item of interest for this pathway is Day 46 in which an External Shot of Orlando arriving in Khiva is being covered.
A4 pages, text document with handwritten notes, Paper, Notes on Khiva and Islam, text
Annotated research notes which capture the director's vision of the flow and pace of the story.
A4 pages, text document with handwritten notes, Paper, Notes on Khiva and Islam, text
Colour A4 Text Document, Paper, Khiva Location Continuity sheet
The sheet provides a record of the shots and the content. It indicates the nature of the shots (handheld and track) which are pictured in the black and white images included in this pathway, importantly for continuity reasons, it also details the directions of the shots (right to left).
Orlando Daily Progress Report No.51, Black and white A4 computer printed, Paper
This document provides a summary of shooting activity up to the point as dated on the document. Note the 13 hour shooting day.
Orlando Reel Breakdown version 1 Reel 6 page 6, Black and white A4 computer printed, annotated in pencil, Paper
This lists the contents of a reel of cinema film.hdhdhgd
Video 8 PAL 90 video cassette, Video 8 video tape, Black and white mute video assist, rushes, Scene 35, slate 447, take 1
This video shows a reference version of the scene as it was shot in order to provide a preview for the director (since the film itself is shot on 'film' - and a preview is not possible, since it needs to be processed, developed and printed). The shot is much longer in duration (50 seconds) to the one that eventually ended up in the film (7 seconds).
6" x 8 1/2" Black and white photographs, Photographic paper, Behind the Scenes Photos - Tilda Swinton on location for Scene 35
This photograph shows the camera department undertaking a shoulder-mounted camera angle of the shot. Behind the camera operator, we can see the focus puller who manually controls the focus using the device held in his hand.
6 1/2" x 9 1/2" Black and white photographs, Photographic paper, Behind the Scenes Photos - Tilda Swinton on location for Scene 35
This still image shows the camera crew preparing to get the shot; the equipment used in the left of the frame is a track and dolly. A boom microphone hangs overhead to capture the audio.
medium shot of Orlando riding on camel in palanquin carrying dead tulips.
This is the resulting shot as it was cut into the finished sequence - it is seven seconds in duration.