Studio Production: Trailer Shoot

On the 18th of February, the DOP and I filmed the trailer for Teach 'Em A Lesson.

Actors & Crew
In the role of the teacher, we cast the presenter of the show, James Percy-Smith. We felt that it was important to include the presenter in the trailer as he is so heavily featured in the show, and this gives the audience an idea of what to expect. He is also brilliant at portraying the snooty, old fashioned teacher that we required.

For the POV student character, I worked as the GoPro camera operator (wearing a GoPro headmount) / the character acting out their morning tasks. However in the final shots of the trailer, we will be using an older woman from the first year of our course, as she allows the final reveal of who the student is to be a plot twist - as we assume that the student is a child, rather than a middle-aged adult.

Locations
The locations for filming were decided on as a student's house and Maidstone Studios.

The student's house was used for...

• Waking up in bed (girl's bedroom)
• Eating cereal (living room)
• Putting on tie (girl's bedroom)
• Brushing teeth (bathroom)
• Packing bag (girl's bedroom)

The studios were used for...

• Walking to 'school' (studios entrance)
• Walking to school inside (studios hallway)
• Entering and sitting down in the classroom (lecture room 2)

Having previously seen the student's house to know what to expect, along with the girl's bedroom being perfect for an already needed female bedroom as well as being able to dress it up to be slightly more schoolgirl-like, along with it being available time wise and location wise on filming day, the student house was perfect.

The studios was also a very convenient place to film the school shots, as outside of the entrance could be mistaken for school grounds if filmed correctly, as could the hallway, the lecture room was capable of being dressed as a classroom and it was also available time wise and location wise.

Walking to school POV shot outside of Maidstone Studios

Set Dressing
Dressing the set of the bedroom consisted of...

• Displaying stuffed animals around the room
• Scattering school supplies around the room
• Scattering child-like items around the room such as storybooks

Dressing the set of the studios lecture room consisted of...

• Clearing out the room, leaving only a table and two chairs
• Adding a large 'desk' style table to the room
• Putting up two school-style posters
• Moving the whiteboard nearer to the centre and writing 'TODAY: 1 TO 1s, DON'T BE LATE!!!'
• Teacher desk décor including a plant, folders, an apple, a miniature globe, stationary and books
• Adding 'student' to the smaller table
• Placing an exercise book on the student table

I think that with the resources that we had available, we dressed the sets very well. However I feel like the 'classroom' appears to look quite flat in colours due to the amount of white, so will need to be made more vibrant and colourful in post-production.

A set dressing example - needs to be livened up in editing and potentially resized

Props
Many props were bought, borrowed and used for the making of the trailer, including...

• A backpack
• A mobile phone with a childish wallpaper
• A Mickey Mouse bowl
• Chocolate, young appealing cereal with milk & sugar
• A child's toothbrush & toothpaste
• Sweets
• A child's lunchbox
• A feminine pencil case
• Colourful pens & other stationary
• A bright red watch (part of costume)
• A feminine notepad

The addition of these thought out props really helped with production value.

Example of props used

Costume
Costume for James as the teacher consisted of him wearing his own striped tie, shirt, trousers and shoes, with us providing fake comical glasses and a specially bought teacher's gown and cane. I feel that this costume helped for him to look the part, he appears in the way that most audiences could imagine a snooty teach to look.

Costume for myself as the student consisted of child-like and feminine pyjamas for the waking up and having breakfast shots, and a white shirt, black trousers, socks and shoes, a borrowed school tie and a child-like red watch. We deliberately decided on a slightly scruffy shirt with rolled up sleeves, untidy shoes and a loose tie to represent the child's laid back attitude. Due to the trailer following the theme that the student goes against the rules.

The costume for the first year student appearing in the final shots will be exactly the same as my school costume for continuity.

Script & Shooting
When following the script during filming, there were only minor changes made. I gave any input necessary as the GoPro camera operator and producer, but with the DOP in charge I made sure to follow instruction under her style and planning. With the trailer script improved on after the test shoot, we were able to follow it consistently, but decided to make small additions such as adding the character's supposed mum calling out "you're going to be late for school" when she wakes up, along with stretching out her arms as she does so. I think the creative improvisations added to the quality of the trailer.

An improvisation that proved to be successful

It felt quite tricky to get the camera shots correct when filming, as while I was operating the GoPro, the DOP was the person that could see it, and vice versa. So neither of us had total control or manoeuvrability, which proved to be a challenge. There were some shots where my hair (which differs to the first year actress playing the character) fell into shot unnoticed, that will need to be cut around, and areas of the set that weren't supposed to be in shot. But I will be attempting to cut around these issues in editing and making them unnoticeable.

A shot that needs to be resized

The final trailer script is below...

Link to Teach 'Em A Lesson Trailer Script

What's Left

• Filming of the first year portraying the student character on a Sony EX1 will take place tomorrow. Then all material will be recorded for the trailer
• I will then continue editing and add the final shots to the edit
• GFX blackboard rules (as seen in the test shoot trailer) will be created by the DOP and edited into the final cut by myself
• The final soundtrack for the show will be added into the edit with footage cut in time with it by myself