Whitby Trip! 2/11/22 - 3/11/22

  Week 8 of Milly's acting journey

On Wednesday 2nd November, we were all told to gather in the dance studio before we embarked on our trip to Whitby to film suspense movies. I haven't been to Whitby in about 5 years, so it felt like such a treat to be going somewhere where I spent a lot of my childhood at, and filming a movie when I'm there which is the life I'd love to lead in the future. When we were upstairs we were given our Wizard of Oz scripts, to practise our auditions when we came back from Whitby. We then gathered into our team of actors and filmmakers, in which my group consisted of Emie, Adam, Laura, Geoffrey, Callum, Jamie, Jack, Bailey and Jessica who are the fellow actors, and filmmakers Tamara, Robert, Oliver, Hollie and Freya. We quickly discussed the plan of the day and made sure everyone was sorted and had everything they needed. Soon, we were aboard on a bus, where I was sat next to Adam, that got us in Whitby for 11:00 ish. 

We walked into our hostel which looked so cosy, and took me by surprise due to the amount of rooms it had. There was football table in the hallway near the back entrance which I had a few go's at and beat the boys at a lot, which took them by surprise. There was a living room that featured a small conservatory round it's side, which was where the makeup team got actors into their character makeup. We had until 3 o clock to get as much as we could get done, but since my scene wasn't until after I helped out carrying camera equipment and holding the light up when necessary. I learnt so much by following the camera crew around, such as the director's thought process and all the different angles they shoot. I'm excited to see the outcome of this film as just by seeing other's act in their scenes, it looks as though it will be exactly what the criteria asked for, which is to be a suspense film. 

A location we went up to film two of the most important scenes, according to the film makers was up to the Abbey's ruins. I couldn't remember ever going up to the ruins, so it was a definite new experience for me. There was chase scene that involved just Jamie and Callum, which I enjoyed watching, alongside a scene that involved all of the main characters but instead of them looking nice and friendly, they were wearing silver masks and wearing all black. There were so many scenes that I'm wondering how they will compile into this film, which makes me even more excited for it's outcome.

Soon, as the night drew in, the weather picked up and due to the strong winds and rain, all groups were advised to finish their filming inside, which our group did. Since the scene I'm in as the girl in the couple is meant to be filmed inside, it meant it was time for me to get ready in character. It's a short scene but there's lots of angles and shots that meant we did it more than once in order to get the filmmakers desired shots. Working with Jack was also a new experience since we haven't really been in a scene and acted together. I was told by Robert, the director, that my acting was clear and just what he wanted so that was unexpected boost of confidence. Unfortunately, the camera was low on battery so we weren't able to finish the scene, which meant we had to carry on working early in the morning. Robert said he'd be knocking on our door at 6:30, which myself and Tamara were not to pleased about, so we arranged to meet at 8:00 which satisfied us all. We knew we needed makeup for Jamie as since they wouldn't be up at 6:30, it would have had to be later anyway. 

The room I was in, consisted of Millie, Kadie, Latoya, Adam, Sienna, Tamara and Emie and we had such a lush time. We spent most of the night playing games, and just talking about everything and anything. Adam was super hyper since it was only his 2nd sleepover, and he kept showing us his drag skills. I don't look forward to staying overnight in unfamiliar places, so I was a bit nervous that I would get quite panicky, but I'm so happy that I was fine and had an amazing time. I think playing the football table made me feel like I'm at home since we used to have one and every time I'd be at my grandmas. 

The next day we went early for breakfast and soon carried on filming afterwards. Our scene was the one to be filmed first and it went amazing. I'm so confident with the outcome, since we were given time to look at certain shots due to the amount of time we had. The came a group scene, where I played an extra alongside volunteers from other groups. And then we were done. I had such an amazing time at Whitby and am grateful for amazing opportunities like this, that I can experience. Before leaving, myself, Adam, Tamara, Emie and Jamie went into Whitby itself and went to get an obligatory ice cream. Soon, 2 o clock was drawing in and our Whitby trip had come to an end, as we all boarded the bus back to Stockton. 

This whole experience taught me a lot, like how a lot of the time you're just waiting around, seeing if anyone needs help and just waiting to be needed. What I found though during the times I waited around, was that you can be doing so much like looking over your lines, helping some one with their own or helping with the film itself. I chose to help behind the scenes when I wasn't needed in front of the camera and in turn learnt so much. I helped Tamara with the lights to produce the harsh red lights behind Jamie's character at some points in the film as well as the natural white light during the bedroom scene with Emie's character. I saw filming from a different point of view and I admired it so much. When the filming and main crew all went up to the abbey, I offered to carry some equipment up in which I did, and stayed to watch the scene that was shot there. 

Jager: The Suspense Film = https://youtu.be/Lye9dAmiBmc