Regular readers of the blog
(and indeed less regular ones!) will know that I’m quite a big fan of all
things dramatic: acting, directing, singing, dancing (well, when I have to!) or
just going along to watch, theatre’s a real passion I’ve
unearthed since starting University, and I’ve loved making the most of every minute of the
multitude of opportunities which Southampton has afforded me in it.
But with so much potential
to branch out to new things while under the safety net of the Students’ Union,
and with our time here seeming ever-shorter by the day (just meeting a second
batch of freshers since mine has made me feel distinctly old!), the temptation
and opportunity to be ambitious, to experiment and to test the limits of what
you can achieve as an individual and a society is, at times, irrepressible (and
not good for degree marks!) – after all, if you think you can do it, why not
give it a go while the support is there?
So when the chance came
along a couple of months ago to audition for the annual feature film put
together by the Union’s television station, SUSUtv, I couldn’t resist
giving it a try, with my only previous screen experience being a ‘tavern
customer’ extra a couple of years ago, during which we
had to swap waistcoats in between shots to fill up a pub with ‘different’ people!
Crafting well-received titles such as the period drama A Game of Sport
and medieval revenge thriller Elfrida, SUSUtv’s traditional production has, in recent years,
not only made it on to the big screen at the Union’s
cinema, Union Films, but also had a red carpet premiere, DVDs made of it
and a blooper reel session to boot, so it really has been an experience to
savour for those involved.
Given how acting to a
camera is a completely different kettle of fish to anything on stage, never in
a million years did I expect to be cast in a role – but, by
some stretch of fortune, I did, and have been completely immersed in it ever
since! And so, when my head’s not been in a book or pondering many an
assignment (this is my third year after all!), much of my free time in the past
two weeks has been spent rehearsing and shooting for SUSUtv’s
very own ‘mockumentary’ style
(think the Office) film, the Society.
The plot revolves around a
modest poetry-based student society which, for the most part, are content with
themselves and their affairs – right up until the announcement that committee
post nominations, and subsequent elections, are soon to be opened! What follows
is a string of events which stir up old animosity, cause some frankly
ridiculous situations, and spark some drastic conflicts amongst close
relationships, with the current President, Alan (played by yours truly!), all
the while doing everything he can to desperately cling on to power.
From the very beginning, it’s been a
unique and challenging experience as we’ve all, as a cast, had to adapt to having
cameras, lights and crew surround us for extended spells of time, repeating
scenes to capture a large number of takes, shots and other aspects across whole
days, while simultaneously trying to preserve continuity and other important
details – during one shoot, for example, I almost drank
two whole cartons of orange squash across the quantity of takes, and I’ve been
putting off getting a haircut since shooting began just to make sure it’s
consistent in every scene!
Filming for me kicked off
in a strange manner as, if I hadn’t already realised how different acting on film
was from stage acting (especially the case in terms of being natural – and not
projecting your voice too much!), I soon grasped it through the events of my
first actual filming session – when we shot my character’s, and
some of the film’s, last scenes! We then headed back to a
volunteer’s house to film another couple of scenes but, finding
it difficult to fit all the necessary equipment into the room, ended up doing
so at mine just across the road – all in all, a very surreal experience!
Not the usual sight in my
kitchen when I come down for breakfast!
I’ve also
noticed that, despite the need to use many of the same skills, screen acting
also has a very different feel to stage acting; for one, you become far less
conscious of being loud with everything you say (the microphones are incredibly
sensitive), but far more aware of the smallest changes in expression or posture
you make at all times – there’s little more terrifying than hearing “so this
shot is your close-up!”
Also, to make the most of
the limited time they have, SUSUtv have also been shooting whole scenes
in individual takes, meaning that, as a cast, it’s easier to keep some
sense of momentum as a character throughout them, but at the same time, to make
audio editing feasible we’ve been asked to try and make sure each take
has the same lines delivered (in the same way each time!), so it’s a lot
tougher to just act round a fluff. One scene I was involved in featured 16
takes, three of which were a result of my mind going completely blank in terms
of what to say next, and one where I accidentally stared straight down the camera
for a few seconds – oops!
It’s also
illuminated for me just how much time, effort, planning and visionary talent
goes into creating such a film; whereas with acting and directing it’s just
about bringing a script to life in the most effective way you can, in the
Society we’ve had directors, producers and crew members
aplenty running about the set and all fulfilling a variety of roles, from
planning shots and takes to watching for continuity preservation, to operating
the clapper board, logging scene takes and many more, each vital to ensuring
the quality of the end product is as high as ever.
Watching all the crew in
action in between takes (and during them on the rare occasion we get to act
directly to the camera!), it’s difficult to imagine that the way SUSUtv members
work is too far from the real thing: their professionalism is outstanding, yet
they’re
all learning on the job themselves as we are as actors, allowing us all to make
mistakes without being under pressure, but also offering great opportunities to
all involved to gain some vital knowledge of these sorts of events.
So on the whole, filming
for the Society has been yet another example of the sort of rich,
fulfilling and diverse experience it’s easy to pick up at University just by getting
involved. Although at times, a couple of hours’ worth of takes into a
scene, it’s been fairly gruelling in terms of stamina for
the cast (so I can only imagine what it’s been like for the crew!), the entire
opportunity has been extremely fun and a unique chance to feel like a movie
star, surrounded by cameras and microphones picking up your every move!
Personally, I can’t thank
everyone involved enough for the chance to take part, and although I always
find it tough to watch myself act (it brings out my inner cynical
perfectionist!), I can’t wait to check out the end product; from my
time on set and the footage I’ve seen so far, it promises to be hilarious.
Robin
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