Rehearsals.

Rehearsals on Within The Shadow Of the tree were invaluable as most of the time the actors would be wearing heavy prosthetic makeup applications and this had two very important effects on their performances.

One... the time it took to apply the make up usually had a big affect on how many hours you could shoot for, if in Pungin's case the makeup took seven hours to do, then even if you started very early that still eats into your day and under the hot lights the actor becomes hot and very bothered, also simple things like going the toilet , eating and drinking become very difficult and may damage the makeup, so time is of the essence.

Two... when the actor is in all that heavy makeup, it can have an effect on their performance, so when they rehearse you watch them carefully and see where a facial gesture might get lost behind all the make up, so you have to tell the actor to over exaggerate at that point of the action.

This scene where David is sitting at the table eating, was to convey many emotions for him, first he was to be only concerned about his meal, but as the scene continues he becomes funny, then very quickly he must be very concerned over a situation.

On the set a few days before the we shot the scene we sat with a camera and went through the script, this is a learning experience for both myself and David, we find out what works and does not, we throw some elements away and introduce new ones, I can not over emphasise how important rehearsals were to the production, they saved time, money and most important , they improved the scene we were going to film.