Pool shoot | poolcrew

Mood boards for underwater mermaid shoot

Mermaid Test Shots

Make up by Lucie Eckersley

Shoot Day

Assistant Director - Art Director - Lucie Eckersley -

At first when I had to take over the role of Art director I was really worried as I had such a short amount of time to get the costume and make-up sorted. This is something i've not had much experience in but was looking forward to doing.

My first thought was how am I going to make her look like a real mermaid. We had the tail sorted and arriving in a few days. All that was left to do costume wise was find something she can wear on her top half. Originally we were thinking a long sleeve bodysuit but that would mean having to cover up all of the edges of the bodysuit. Talking back and forth with Rusty and Chelsea we decided that a plain white bra would be the best option as because we know the water would be murky and fairly dark underwater we decided a white bra would work best. White being better than nude because white means that the 'mermaid's' chest would be covered.

Mermaid make up on Chelsea Marie

GRIP - Christian Jones -

On this shoot I was chosen to be a grip and very happy with this role. On Monday the 27th we met at PCAD then headed off to Whitsand bay holiday park pool which was a great set and met our actress Chelsea. As a team we discussed our thoughts and how we wanted to things to look and began to set up the pool ready for shooting.

Through out the day we had many issues and hurdles to overcome but they helped us learn for future underwater shooting.The water was murky but allowed for us to have a great deep sea effect and fitted with the chosen look. Next the camera we were supplied really wasn't great and we ended up using Andy's phone which worked the same or even better! After multiple reshoots , drying off and getting wet again , it was a great day and cant wait to see the footage.

Assistant Director - Art Director - Lucie Eckersley -

I was really pleased with how the make up turned out as for only having one practice I think the scale effect with the fishnets worked really well and gave off the illusion that she did have scales. I also decided to cover most of her arms as well to help show that she is a mermaid by making her more scaley.

Art Department - Aria Tabatabai -

The first scene we are shooting is completely underwater, which is a totally new and interesting task for me. I have been tasked with various responsibilities within the art department, the most important aspect being designing & developing both the look for our sets mermaid character.

Once I gained the position of Art Department, I immediately got to work on creating some digital concept art and designs for what would be the look of our mermaid character using the apps ‘Adobe Draw’ and ‘Procreate’ on an iPad Pro. I and planned to work with several art & make-up students on other courses to create the final look. However plans changed when time constraints and budget problems came into play.

Unfortunately these concepts were never used, maybe only slightly as inspiration. Due to budgetary restraints and time restraints after getting the location confirmed only several days before shooting, the crew forced to pull together their best time management skills and manage without the originally intended plan for the mermaid’s make-up design and overall look.

However in the following shoots to come I will be working essentially wherever I am needed due to the fact of jumping straight into second year, so doing this will help my crew figure out where I best belong in the future.

Producer - Samuel Constable -

As producer on this shoot I was helping everyone out with everything that was happening from aiding the camera OP Alfie Goodwin on camera to general organisation of the shoot and making sure we got all the shots we needed. My focus on the shoot was behind the scenes, this was so that I could give me crew something that they could show of and to best show of the skills they demonstrated during the production. I believe I captured the essence of the shoots fairly well and got lots of the information filmed. This has ultimately helped me coproduce this website alongside Director Lucie Eckersley.

Assistant Director - Art Director - Lucie Eckersley -

The production design for the pool shoot was pretty straightforward. All we needed was to have a black piece of material at the back of the pool to make it look like it went on forever. This creates a more believable ocean scene. Having this black piece of material behind the shots would also help cover up any of the tiles on the swimming pool. Having these visible would break the illusion of a endless ocean, which we really didn't want.

Saying that, it was a lot harder than anticipated as getting the black sheet to stay down was harder than you think it is. We used weights to keep it at the bottom of the pool and chairs to keep it up on the surface.

GRIP - Christian Jones -

Throughout the shoot my role as grip was mainly focused on the perspex glass that creates the boundary within the film as the viewing window on the ferry. Myself and Dave had to make sure the glass was in position and correct distance from the camera as well carrying and assembling all the equipment through the day.

Since the shoot I have been hunting down all the props for our new scene that we have been asked to shoot. Luckily I have a few items at home or know of people with them . However finding the mantelpiece has been proving really hard within our budget.

Art Department - Aria Tabatabai

To kick-start our team’s work, we started with the pool shoot. Before we had any location confirmation we got to work on creating the mood and gain a better understanding of what the script demanded from us as a crew. As I was new to the course, having jumped straight into second year; it was understandable that my crew were uncertain of what position to put me in as they did not know any skills I possessed as of yet. However once I gained the position of Art Department, I immediately got to work on creating some digital concept art and designs for what would be the look of our mermaid character using the apps ‘Adobe Draw’ and ‘Procreate’ on an iPad Pro.