Testing Ideas

Tests.

It's important to test out our ideas before going into production, because if we've had practice it will make for a smoother flow of difficult scenes. 

Casting

During casting, we tested the actors on their ability to improvise. Although this isn't a test in terms of production, it helped us a lot to know who is going to have enough confidence to improvise without too much prompt to do so. If we prompt them to improvise, it will seem forced, but if we brief them on moments that could include improvisation, they might add something that we hadn't thought of. In the past, moments of improvisation have drastically improved scenes with just the smallest action, such as Mac swigging from the vodka bottle in DEADline. 

During the casting, we first asked them to read part of scene 15, where Rob tries to convince Martin to continue with his AA meetings. We chose this because it's a particularly personal scene which really shows the pair's relationship. We then asked them to talk about something that they found difficult as the base for the improvisation. It could have been something as simple as falling off their bike, but it tested them to see how they delivered something that was hard for them and how they can channel emotions like that into the difficult scenes of High Tide.

Test shoot

We have held a couple of test shoots, mostly to the benefit of Ebony (camera) and Esme (director), however I wanted to write a bit about it myself in terms of health and safety and similar aspects.
This is from our first test shoot which was a short practice of how best to shoot from the back of the car. The outcome was good and we were also impressed with how light the shot was considering it was completely artificial and we didn't use any lights ourselves.
The health and safety of these stationary shots will be fine. There is very little to no driving actually involved, and the parts that are are where Liam (Rob) will pull out of a parking space. We need to be careful when Paul (Martin) is outside of the car and gets in, just to be alert and aware that there will be other moving cars around, however this is something that I can help with if there is any visibility issues.
This second shot is using a professional car mount on the exterior of the car. Obviously, this immediately raises more issues that I'm going to go over here.

Firstly, when the camera is mounted on the hood of the car, there won't be any driving. This is too dangerous as it obstructs the driver's view and if the mount were to come off, it would go straight into the windshield. There weren't any shots that we were planning like this anyway. When it is mounted like this, the car will be stationary and capturing dialogue scenes between Martin and Rob in the front seats. Lighting could potentially be an issue because of reflections, but some amount of reflection actually adds to the scene and brings out the separation from the characters.

The second shot does involve driving when the camera is mounted on the side of the car. We tested this and it worked absolutely fine, with no issues. For precaution, we used the camera's strap to secure it to the car so that if anything were to happen, it would stay attached and not pose a risk to other drivers. We were also able to mount it where Ebony, the driver, could see fine out of her wing-mirror and there was no obstruction to her view. One issue would be passing vehicles, but the camera doesn't extend any further than the wing mirror, so this doesn't pose a problem for Ebony's spacial awareness.
We don't want to put the university's equipment at risk at all, so we will be using our own cameras for these potentially riskier scenes. We checked this with Harvey and we all agree that the footage will barely look different to what will be shot on university equipment, as long as colour grading is carried out.
Finally, we will be driving down very quiet roads. We already have an idea of where to do this thanks to the help of Herne Bay locals, and if we still aren't 100% happy with the circumstances we also have private roads that we can use where no other drivers will be present. These will be the riskiest shots in the project, and we have rigourously tested the mount in many conditions (even light rain, although of course any rain will be avoided). There was never a circumstance when the mount failed and the suction cups all stayed completely secure, but there are 3 in total in the case that one does fail.
We have confidence in the tests we have done so far, but this does not mean we will let the planning and safety of the actual shoot drop. I will be constantly aware of any hazards and we are allotting extra time to these scenes so that we can spend a lot of time being completely sure on what we need to achieve and how best to do it.

Script changes

The script has gone through many different phases and even in the first two drafts was completely different. I really hated my first draft, thought it was awful and not even worth sharing. I wrote a second script that I felt was better but when I showed Simon, he said the second was too predictable and the first was a lot better. I persevered and followed his advice and I'm a lot happier with how the script has turned out. It seems a lot more real, and awkward in a good way, which is how I want the film to come across.

Script 1

Script 2

Here, you can see a clear difference in the same conversation. The first is subtle. The second is bolder and explains itself way too much. At the time I was surprised at what Simon suggested, but now I completely see where he was coming from. Trying out this second script did help to encourage more life into the film, however. My descriptions got a lot better and more vivid.

How it helped

All of these different ways of testing the project have really helped me to develop my methods. Everything has led to change in a positive way, whether that's safety or the plot. We've tested aspects to make sure that they work as well as testing things that we might want to change in the future, so we know which are the right decisions to make. This is the best way to develop a project as a whole.