Introduction
A full weekend working on-set on the film “The Laser Effect” by Tashaun Stanfill-Perry of Sir Brael Entertainment.
Ty Laser is a high school star athlete who goes thru astronomical turmoil in order to reach his goal of becoming a professional. – From “The Laser Effect” IMDb page.
I am an associate producer on “The Laser Effect”.
Let’s Get to Work!
My primary role today was script supervisor, also known as continuity. I also performed slate duty in one scene.
I took continuity photographs of the actors in each scene filmed today, to ensure uniformity in clothing and look for adjacent scenes to be filmed on other dates.
Just a few notes from two of the three scenes filmed this weekend.
The Car Scene
The car scene was interesting. The original script had conversation going on in the car. But there was no room for the camera and it would be too difficult to frame the people. So it was decided to have all the conversation outside of the stationary car. I marked the position of the tires so that the car could be brought back to the same position after being driven away. To alleviate having to bring back the car more than necessary, a take from the point of view of the stationary car was filmed out of sequence with the car removed.
The Game Scene
Markers, with character names, were placed on the coffee table adjacent to the couch for the game scene. This was done to ensure proper seating. The seating positions were finalized after several iterations. Considerations included camera angles, such as the framing of a wide shot, and the relationships between the characters.
Besides the wide shot that encompassed all the game participants, there were close-ups of each participant and also a two-shot. The dialog by all the characters was repeated for each close-up take. The physical action (dealing or discarding the playing cards) did not have to be replicated exactly, except possibly for the actor being photographed. Occasionally, an actor would have to move temporarily in order for the videographer, sitting on the couch holding the camera, to capture a close-up.
Behind the Scenes Photography
All photos are from the author’s collection.
Conclusion
There is always something for me to learn on-set. Nice to gain knowledge while enjoying what you do!
I will continue to document the “The Laser Effect” experience.
Please provide your thoughts and questions in the comments. I would really enjoy hearing from you. If you have a topic in mind you would like me to cover, please let me know.
Originally published June 1, 2018. Updated October 15, 2020 to adjust category assignments.
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