Preproduction and shootings of "Savu"

by Lasse Välkkilä & Antero Sälpäkivi

1.The tight preproduction schedule caused a lot of gray hair.  In only two weeks we had to make the shooting and lighting plans, location scouting, casting, rehearsing and edit the script to its final form. As the director of photography I took a part in the casting, because in such a dramatically difficult movie as Savu, we had to see the behavior of the actors surrounded relently by the camera. The preproduction days were stretched well beyond ten hours, and it looked like there just wasn’t enough time.

 

As the gaffer of Savu the biggest headache in lighting design  was caused by the high mobility of the camera. We had to illuminate a wide area for the scenes without revealing the lamps in the shots. Locations of the lamps had to be thought carefully and they had to cover long takes including widely moving camera, without loosing any artistic expression.

 

2. The short preproduction time influenced directly to the shootings. The plans had to be changed even in the middle of takes. Changing the shooting directions caused a great loss of hair for everyone, especially for the lighting team who had to adapt to the situation on the fly and move large light setups in tight schedules.

Surviving the challenges dyed all hair a little darker again, and the world was saved. Problems forced us to rely on our own professional skills, teaching a lot about making of films and take notes of the importance of communication between the different departments to achieve  their maximum potential. The films are not made just with the camera.