Digital Cinema 1: Dealer's Choice- Rehearsal Notes and Pre-Production Package

One thing that I noticed in the rehearsal was the time really changed the shots, as it gets dark a lot earlier now, and the film was originally going to be shot at dusk, but with the limited time of that, night shots would work just as well for the plot. I also wonder how the lighting will work in the final production compared to the filming now which just used the camera.

The rehearsal itself brought in some interesting challenges with the close up shots of the bread, as the use of the tripod sometimes could work and other times didn't.

One major issue I ran into is that one of the tripod's legs is loose even with the lock, and I needed a few high angle shots, especially in the toaster area where I couldn't get too close. I wasn't sure if it's the lock wasn't working or if the leg is just loose.

My talent worked well with the shots, and I've been questioning the panning movements, and if they're creating the atmosphere I want of the bread being harmed while still retaining the man's "regular and everyday" type of shots.

The sound, despite not having the mic, sounded about right, all except for the sound of the heat coming from the toaster, which I couldn't get. I might just have to find an already made sound, since its a sound that doesn't need to match the movement of the shot as much. I really did enjoy the shot I got of the toast being scraped, as a lot of the bread crumbs are noticably falling off in the camera and the sound is loud and painful.

One thing that I noticed is that it would be helpful to buy an extra loaf of bread, as using the same toast wasn't working for some of the destruction shots, since after scraping it a bit, it was very broken and barely toast anymore. I do think making the toasts' viewpoint shots to be very exagerrated will add more character to their death scenes, and not having the same continuity exactly from the man's shots would also add more humor.

Overall the rehearsal went well; I do wonder how the sounds will work, as I have another actor who will make the screaming noise at the end.

Here is the Pre-Production package; some parts are from older posts that may or may not have been edited, but I wanted to collect it all in 1 post.

1. Script
Act 1
-The sliced bread is first viewed in the kitchen in its wrapper; it's freshly baked and the bread appears cozy in its place among other objects in the center of the kitchen.
-The man, "Roger," is introduced through a short shot of him yawning, taking off his coat, and walking into the kitchen.
-His introductory scene merges with the bread's, as he is seen walking into the kitchen from the bread's viewpoint. He walks around and walks offscreen for a moment. His hand suddenly reaches in the bag, as the camera is the bread for a moment.

Act 2
-A shot of him is seen as he quietly takes two slices over to the toaster.
-The bread's viewpoint returns, as he slowly moves them toward their torture chamber. They're placed in, and he is viewed to be waiting somewhat impatiently. The bread's viewpoint is at the same view, and heat can be seen radiating on their bodies in the toaster.
-A panning shot is seen of the man walking to the fridge, and he somewhat quickly pulls out ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise and walks back to the toaster in another pan to pick the toast up.
-Seen from the bread, it falls on a cold plate, a knife moves in the background, there's a moment of silence, until the knife comes down scraping the bread. The scrape is loud and painful. A quick cut is seen of the man calmly applying the mayo, and then it returns back to the cut of the bread's crumb skin slowly falling off.
-Another view is seen of the man as he applies the sandwich ingredients to the breads. A quick shot is seen of the breads all being smashed on the cold plate; they break a bit.
-The man is seen cleaning the mayo knife a little. The bread is seen silently sitting on the plate. It is only temporary, as the knife comes down and stabs the end. The knife cuts through the sandwich in half diagonals, and as it runs up towards the camera, the mayo spills.

Act 3
-The man is seen fiddling with something below (the sandwich) for a moment, until he picks up half the sandwich and pulls it toward his face.
-A close up is seen of his mouth biting the sandwich; it begins making a scream, and the scene returns to the cut of the man, hearing a faint scream. He pauses and looks up. He chews a bit more slowly, and he hears strange loud crunching with a small wimper. He raises his eyebrow at the sandwich, but then decides to assume it's due to his tiredness and continues eating and walks offscreen.
-The same shot is seen of the bread wrapper from the beginning, only the bread is slowly inching offscreen away from the deadly kitchen.

2. Breakdown the Script -- Determine the following
a. The number and types of actors required
3 Actors- 1 is the man wanting food, the other is the slices of toast.
-There will also be an actor for the screaming noises; The man is played by Roger Gibson and the noises will be done by Luke Gibson.

b. How many scenes each actor will be in and the total length of their performances.
The man and the sandwich will both be in 1 scene with multiple cuts; the cuts are usually split between the two, with the sandwiches' doubling often to expose more of a slow pain. The voice actor will only be heard for a few seconds of the final cut.

c. The requirements, number, and types of locations.
1 Location: the kitchen at the talent's home with a bit of a shot of the entrance and hall leading into the kitchen

d. The number and types of stunts and special effects.
There will be 4 separate recordings for some of the scenes: 1 of the heat from the toaster, 1 of bread being scraped off, 1 of a loud crunching noise, and 1 recording of the screaming of the toast

e. What special costumes and makeup will be required?
None

f. What props are required?
-The toaster
-Butter knife
-Mayo, lettuce, ham, cheese, tomato

3. Location Scout