Missing a shooting day

 On the sixth day of shooting, I was unable to make it to the location we were shooting at. This meant I was not exactly sure what was happening on set and would just have to wait for the footage to come in.

Initially, I was really worried about not being able to show up on the set for that day of shooting. I wouldn't be able to see how shots were filmed and couldn't really put in any real-time input on the shots. I was worried that the shots would be more difficult to edit due to this.

The shots that were being filmed were the entirety of the first scene of our film and I wasn't going to be there to see any of it being created. My only knowledge of how the events would play out was from the script and storyboard and not getting to view the way they were shot. I didn't want my only experience on the introduction shots to be raw footage that I wasn't present for the creation. I felt that as the editor it would be important to be there to plan how cuts would happen to go from one shot to the next.

Shot of the first running scene of our film

The scene was also a chase shot which was the main concern for me as I wanted to make the cuts seem more seamless to not destroy the tension of the film and I felt that being there would be better for me. I made note of this to the crew but didn't know if it would be as reinforced as it would be If I was actually present. 

However, once I got the footage back, I realized I was worrying for no reason. The shots followed what we had outlined in our script and the flow of the scenes fit quite well. We also had a different mask planned but to my surprise, something completely different was used which added to the humorous tone of the film.

Shot of the second running scene for our film

Although I think the editor plays a key role in films, it doesn't mean they are always needed on set. this reminded me of what Thelma Schoonmaker discussed in her interviews as when working with Scorsese, he didn't want her on set as that shouldn't affect what goes on in the editing of a film. I was so stressed over the fact I was missing the shooting of the film even though ultimately, my main priority was to just focus on the shots I was given and tie them together to create our story.