1st Day of Filming

    Finally, after days of unexpected plans, dropped cast members, and procrastination, we had our first day of filming. On March 9th, my group met up at around 7:30pm and filmed all of our mobster and mob boss scenes.

    After all of us arrived at our filming site (Aidan's house), we all met up in the dining room and began preparing for filming. We set up our chairs and discussed where we should all sit, who had what roles, and what lines we needed to read.

    Each actor was dressed in a black button-down, with black pants, with each actor having different props. We decided Noah (right) would be a much scruffier and disorganized mobster, leaving his shirt unbuttoned, exposing his wife-beater, a gold chain, and messy hair. For Ryan (left) we went for the exact opposite, a nice collared shirt fully buttoned, a nice watch, and glasses. I, the mob boss (center) was much more well-groomed, and plain, as we didn't want to reveal too much information about him.

        After figuring out each actor's positions, and we sorted out all of the outfits and props, we started working on camera angles and lighting. For lighting, it was extremely difficult for us to figure out how dim we wanted it, what light sources to use, and how it worked with the angles of the camera. We brought out different lamps, coverings, and even unscrewed a few light bulbs, but ended up settling on the base chandelier lighting. Although we wanted a much dimmer, and darker effect, we found it was best to just stick to what we had, as it gave the best lighting out of all the options.

    For camera angles, we had my partner (Aidan) move around at different positions for each scene, as we meticulously positioned the angle for each scene. We knew our main concern was not showing the mob boss's identity, so we prioritized making the mob boss seem as mysterious and intimidating as possible. We positioned the mob boss at the end of the table, in a different chair than everyone else, to make sure the audience knew the importance of his role. 

    Overall, our first day of filming was a success, even considering all of the troubles we encountered. Despite audio, lighting, and camera difficulties, we filmed all of the scenes we needed and finished filming on time.