So, this was from the first day of me joining Anatman Pictures in 2015, the first day of a new week which means a new chapter of life for me.

Putra told me to come early to the office so I can join the pre-production meeting with the agency and the client in order to see how a production house works during a project. The project is a video for Smartfren who is about to launch the 4G LTE network.

After having the pre-production meeting, we had to prepare all the things for the production day. Rere had taken care of the schedules of the studio, the talent, and the meeting rooms for the online presentations, while Tasha began to look for the costume and took it to the tailor to be altered in order to have the futuristic look as requested by the client.

Before the shoot day, we held a workshop at our studio which is located at our office. On workshop day, Putra rehearsed the camera movements, angle, and also the lighting. Kara, the talent, also came to our studio to rehearse her lines and intonations, movements and hand gestures. Earlier in the morning, we took the altered top which was done only in one night by the tailor to be fitted by Kara.  As it turned out, the project was postponed at the last minute, so we had more time to prepare a new costume which would be more suitable as the original schedule had been so tight.  Tasha decided to design the costume and look for fabric, so we sent the fabric samples to the agency and client, waited for their feedback, and finally had the tailor make the new dress design. After the dress was finished, we also had it embroidered with the Smartfren logo on it.

Kara during the workshop wearing the (rejected) tops
Kara during the workshop wearing the (rejected) tops

On shooting day, all the crew had to be at the location at 5 in the morning and we had to prepare all the things needed. Putra set the screen for previewing with the client and agency, Sigit set the camera and table, Black and the lighting crew set the lamps, and Abam the make up artist was doing his job. It was my first time being on the set location of commercial shooting with complete studio lighting and green screen backdrop. After all the preparation is done, we still need Kara to rehearse her lines. The camera finally began to roll at 9:30 in the morning. After taking each scene, we previewed it with the agency and client to choose which one will be used for the commercial. The shooting took so long it started early in the morning and finally Putra wrapped it up at around 10:30 p.m. and we took pictures together, the crew, talent, the agency, and the client. It was a very long and tiring day but it was exciting at the same time.

the cool set location with complete lighting and gree screen
The cool set location with complete lighting and green screen
The make up session
The make up session early in the morning
Kara holding my homemade chocolate cupcake *self-promoting*
Kara holding my homemade chocolate cupcake *self-promoting*
Rere and Abam doing crazy faces :P
Rere and Abam doing crazy faces 😛
Our cool director enjoying his favourite cupcake ;)
Our cool Director enjoying his favourite cupcake 😉
Frans getting ready to be infront of the camera
Frans getting ready to be infront of the camera
Our amazing director who happened to have back pain at the end of the shooting day :(
Our amazing Director who happened to have back pain at the end of the shooting day 🙁
It's a wrapppp!
It’s a wrapppp!

After the shooting day, Putra and Panji still did the hard works editing and making the 3D animations. We held an offline presentation and the client was happy with the rough cut result.  Two days later, we did voice over recording with Kara at the Treehouse Sound Studio. It began around 8 a.m. and it was finished at noon. It was considered pretty fast because Kara did a great job, she could control her talking speed and synchronize her voice over with her lip movements on the screen. On the next day, we held an online presentation with the agency to review the animation effects. It took all day long because Panji and Putra did the editing straight in the meeting location.

There are a few things that I noted during the first month of me working at Anatman Pictures. One thing that makes me happy is that I get involved in the production, even though it’s on progress already and I jumped in the middle of the project, my first day working here is going to the pre-production meeting with the agency and the client. It was also my first time being in a rented studio with complete lighting and green screen, and involving professional talent, agency, and clients. Several minor things that need full attention during the shooting day are the costume, make up, and the hair-do. They need to be the same from scene to scene for continuity. Another good thing from the shooting day is that Kara the talent is very great at her job, she could remember all her lines from the super long and full of technological terms narrative script, and she is being professional by still keeping her spirit high and speaks loudly during the taping sessions although the duration of her arrival on the set to the final wrap took more than 16 hours.

The always powerful and cheerful Kara
The always powerful and cheerful Kara

There’s another thing that happened during the project, the shooting day was postponed and we were told 2 days before the scheduled shooting day. But let’s consider it as a blessing in disguise because although we had to reschedule everything and had to pay for some cancellation fees, we had more time to prepare, especially the costume which was originally made super fast in a day and luckily the client was happy about the final costume.

So, there’s always a silver lining to every cloud, right? 🙂

Fikri

No Comments

Leave a Comment