Today I filmed the opening scene of my narrative, where Dylan is at the car park waiting for the Father's arrival. The weather was very grey and overcast, perfect for reflecting the mood of the scene, but a downpour started whilst I was midway through filming and so I couldn't film the entire sequence. As a result, like with the Big Mead, I shall have to return to this location in order to finish shooting some other day. Since I was unsure at the time of my dad's working schedule, I made sure that I had filmed all of the planned shots with him in so that if I did need to return to film I would be able to come alone.
In terms of footage, today wasn't as productive as my first day, and overall I only managed to get 27 shots due to the unpredictability of the weather. However I successfully filmed the integral parts to the scene and also filmed some shots of the surroundings that could possibly act as cutaways if I wanted them. When I dragged all of my new footage onto the timeline, I made sure that I put them before the Big Mead shots since I knew that narratively this scene would precede it. At the moment the running time is 8 minutes and 31 seconds, but I am going to follow the same steps I used before to shorten this length. Firstly I am going to cut down each individual shot by removing the shouts of 'action' and 'cut', and then I shall sort through the shots for which I have multiple takes and select the one which is the best, removing the others.
With the unsuccessful shots and the director's shouts edited out, I am now left with 5 minutes and 43 seconds (Big Mead sequence included). Even though I am aware that the scenes are going to be too long, I am going to leave all of the good shots in the film until I have completed filming and editing, at which point I shall then start to cut out shots that aren't necessary and don't add anything to the film. For now though, I don't want to be too selective. 
The reason this sequence is so long at the moment is mainly the result of one shot. This is Shot 19 from my storyboard (shown above), the push focus that introduces the Father into the narrative. Due to its importance I wanted to ensure that this shot was filmed perfectly and that the focus shift happened gradually and steadily. It was a difficult shot to master because not only did I have to change the focus dial manually, but I also had to slowly pan the camera from left to right to follow the character on screen at the same time. Consequently I recorded 5 separate takes that I will be able to choose between.
Shot 21 from my storyboard was also very complicated from a practical perspective. I had to use a tracking shot to follow my dad walking, and so I had to walk backwards so that I could film him from a side angle but also keep up with his speed. The main issue here was keeping the camera balanced and steady, whilst also making sure that Dylan's car is kept in the background out of focus.
I have now edited the scene so that in total the running time is 3 minutes 55 seconds. In terms of pacing I know that it will be very slow and so I will make sure that once I have completed filming I start to cut shots that delay the progression of the narrative.
Although this wasn't originally planned on my storyboard, this is one of my favourite shots of the day. The slightly out of focus shot of the roadside is both visually engaging but also narratively poignant. I think that I will use it towards the beginning in order to foreshadow the plot of the film, because the canted angle and close up are aesthetically enticing.
As you can see above, the first 48 seconds of my current edit are all possible insert shots to cutaway to during the film. I have no intention of using them all, nor am I sure if I will use any, but at the moment I am leaving them here to refer back to at later points. These were all spontaneous shots of the environment that I found potentially significant on the day of filming.
When watching this updated version of my film, bear in mind that it will appear disjointed and nonsensical due to the fact that it is very incomplete and only in the early stages of the editing process. Even the scenes which I have filmed aren't complete yet so this is a very rough cut of my work so far, and is a while away from taking shape at this point in time.
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