Onion

Apr 22, 2025
3 min read

Updated: May 10, 2025

Alongside my main projects, The White Nightgown and Broadcast Curse, I wanted to gain as much on-set experience as possible and stepped in to help as 1st AD on Onions' first shoot day on Friday, April 4th. Joining the group a few weeks before the shoot, we were having trouble acquiring the necessary equipment. Origionally, before I came on board, the team hoped to shoot everything in one day and use the weeknd for pickup shots however, having just came off TWNG, I advised that it would be pretty risky as the added pressure to film 7 minutes worth of shots in one shoot day would be stressfull for the crew.

Additionally, maintaining consistent lighting across each scene, especially when shot on different days with varying weather conditions, can be problematic for continuity in the edit. Dividing the scenes over two days would be a smarter approach, with Sunday serving as a backup day if needed.

Finding one of our older actresses, as the work was unpaid, also proved a challenge.

After amending the casting call to a younger age and posting it to Mandy, we had interest from a woman who was happy to step in with one day's notice. Though not initially what the director had in mind, as she didn't have a Scottish accent, she still brought an interesting personality to the character that we needed.

Useful Documents

For ease on the day, I printed these out so they would be on hand, saving myself from having to pull them out on my phone or laptop (an iPad would have been useful here).

Shooting Day:

The call time ended up changing last minute to be the same time for the whole crew to be at Waverly at 6.35AM as Chelize's parents were able to bring an extra car to drive the crew to the location (The Horn Milk bar) in Perth from Inverkeithing. Everything was going according to schedule, and I made sure to make the most of the time on set, getting actors into costume and HaM when there was an opening of free time between rehearsals and shooting. It wasn't until the first shot (1.2) with the talent that we started to fall slightly behind. Having a limited camera crew made it more difficult and time-consuming to set up shots; however, we all worked together brilliantly, stepping in when needed to move the camera/monitor and use reflectors. The first shot typically always takes the longest as people are still settling in and getting into the flow for the day. We caught up pretty quickly and managed to warp on time. The simplicity of the script, which didn't require much movement and blocking, meant coverage from other angles was quick and easy to achieve when the sun stayed in its correct place.

This was definitely my favourite set I have been on. Despite having few pre-production meetings and not feeling as prepared, it ran very smoothly. It makes such a difference on set when the crew are all eager and nice when working together.

Some behind-the-scenes photos:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xIw3pA_Oxt4JRhQ3EqUbsgZzXM1P4BoC?usp=sharing

Colour Grade:

Being my first time understanding how to attempt the grading after our introduction lecture from Stephen, I was excited to draw out the bright, vintage colours I felt this film could capture. Aiming for a retro saturated feeling with bright colours of blues and red that pop (the sky and horn sign). The Florida Project's colour scheme really inspired me here.

While I managed to bring out the colours from the bland raw footage, I struggled most with adding a cinematic feeling to the footage. I found it difficult to judge when things felt obviously unnatural, especially when seen on different screens, but after a few frames, I started to pick up a consistent style.

During the process, I realised how frequently the natural sunlight was changing between the shots. Typical Scottish weather. With little experience or knowledge, I found it very challenging to keep it looking consistent, and the last scene proved the most difficult. My attempts to saturate the grass, which was originally very yellow and uneven, to be bright green, were not working and even interfering with some of the characters' costumes. Despite these, I did my best to find other ways to bring contrast and colour to the images.

There were also shots that needed stabilising and boom shadows masked out.

Some shots below: