Shooting 'Autumn for Summer'

[Baz R]

We all should know what shooting 'day for night' means - using daylight hours
and then filtering or processing to make it look like night time. Well the
other day I had to shoot 'Autumn for Summer'!

My department doesn't want new students to think the university is a freezing
cold block of ice, so I had to film our three volunteer students eating their
lunch outside and make it seem like summer. Tricky. The sun barely makes
it onto the terrace, so I had to get there early and nab the sunny spot.
I made sure everyone took their coats off and left them out of shot. I got
in quite close so you didn't see anyone else walk past with scarves. And
after a couple of takes, I realised the crumpled leaves between the actors
was a bit of a giveaway. First time I could have really used a broom on a
shoot.

I found another spot for shooting the lunch scene, next to some evergreen
trees!

I recall Peter Greenaway shot Drowning By Numbers during winter, but wanted
an early autumn feel so he had hundreds of leaves tied on to bare trees....

Baz

[Ian Gardner]

Dear Baz,
I like your idea. I know it`s not always possible to bring your own lights
to brighten the scene up but you could use camera lights to do this. Also,
for scenes that include the sun, I would have done a few special effects
to superimpose the sun.

I hope the film works out ok.

Ian (Stingman) Gardner

[Cinema For Thurso Group]

Seven Shades was filmed in the start of Autumn but it was still cold. It was
meant to be a summer shoot but got delayed. The cast enjoyed being frozen
stiff in the first gales of the season. Aside from the fact that the film
was in monochrome it still had to look summery. Thankfully our trees tend
to hold on to their leaves right up to the start of November.