Day 1 of Filming

 November 22, 2025 @ 3:30pm

The first day of filming has begun.  By 3:45pm the entire production crew has arrived at my house for the production meeting.  We discussed how the actors would start playing Clue so that it did not take up too much time in the film.  We printed several copies of the script and shot list.  We discussed which props and equipment we will need to take over to the filming location (Clue, chairs, lamp, battery powered lightbulbs, remote for the lightbulbs, backpack, tripod, food and drinks for actors and the production crew).  Later, we realized we needed paper, pens, and a stapler for the script to make changes.

4:00pm - Actors arrived.  We met with them to discuss the script and do a run through of the shoot.

4:15pm - Actors continued rehearsing inside the abandoned house while the director and camera operator discussed the establishing shot.  The director (me) decided to start at the fence where the 'Beware of Dog' sign was located and pan over to the burn marks on the side of the abandoned house and end with the actors walking up to the house and opening the screen door.

4:25pm - The director (me) had the actors come outside, and I did a run through as the actor to show the actors what I was looking for in the scene.

4:30pm - The filming of the establishing shot and opening scene began.  We did four takes of the beginning.  The camera operator discussed with the director (me) that the scene was too long for the opening of the film.  We shortened the dialogue to make the length shorter and did two more takes with the revised script.

5:00pm - Meeting inside with production staff and actors to discuss the game play of Clue and order of actions in the scene (such as giving out the cards, moving the Clue pieces on the board, where the actors would be moving around to).  The director (me) practiced using the remote to turn the lights on and off and the flickering of the lights.

5:15pm - The director (me) had the actors do two run throughs of the first part of scene 2 where the one actor walks to the chair where the other two are already sitting and started playing Clue.  

5:30pm - We did three recordings of the first part of scene 2.

5:40pm - We reviewed the footage to see if any changes needed to be made.  We decided to move on to the second part of scene 2 with no revisions needed on the first part.  The camera operator took five shots of the second part after we did a couple run throughs with the director and actors.  The camera moved around to different locations for the different shots.

5:50pm - We reviewed the second part of scene 2 and made no revisions.  The third part of scene 2 began with one of the actors running to the front door.  The director (me) ran through the third part of the scene with the actors twice before actually recording began.  The camera operator took three recordings tracking the actor and two shots of the actor at the door.   

6:00pm - No revisions made. The fourth part of scene 2 began with the actors looking for the light switch, lights eventually turning back on, the actors realize that their friend is missing, and they go running through the house.  The camera operator did five takes of this part after the director (me) did two run throughs with the actors. 

6:15pm - The director (me) and editor go over the footage to see if any parts of the two scenes need to be revised or recorded again.

6:20pm - The director (me) and editor decided there were no revisions needed at this time and we had enough takes to put together a first draft. 

Day 1 of filming is a wrap!