Shoot Day Evaluation 

 

 

The day before our shoot day we went to the studio at 3.30 to build our first set, the pink room. It was the best set to build as essentially it was three white flats with a white floor. We would use this structure for two of our sets by changing the colour of the lights and the lights. We helped put the three flats in position and laced down the white floor. Once the base was done, we started to put all the props we needed for the pink set. When I got back to house, I ironed some of the costumes that were wrinkled so when it came to filming, the costumes would look great on camera and the cast would more professional. 

 

 

On the morning of our shoot day, I felt ready and excited as I wanted to see our vision come to life. I made sure I had everything that I needed to bring. I made sure to dress comfortably as I knew it would be a busy day but overall I was very excited as I knew we were prepared. 

 

Before we could start the shoot there were a few things we had to do. We got the whole cast to meet at 8.30 so we could tell them what time we need them and what they need to do. We got the solo artist straight to makeup and costume as we were going to shoot her first. We also got Matt (who’s playing Ricky), to put his costume on as our first shot was Matt and Skylar in the pink room. While Emmy and Bella were making sure the cast knew what they were doing, I was in the studio making sure everything was ready. I got the pink confetti and spread it around the floor. As the set were white flats the lights would make it look pink so I made sure we had it the right pink we wanted. When it was perfect and the stars were ready, we were ready to shoot. 

For our first set we were in the pink room. This consisted of two paintings hanging on the back wall, two striped, pink and purple chairs, a small tall table with a white sheet draped over it, a big pink tea cup and a pink telephone on top of the table and two pink flamingos at the back of the set. The whole set was lit in a bright pink. I really liked how the set looked and it came to life from my original concept. It also looked great on camera. 

On the day of the shoot as a group I think we worked really well together. Emmy took control of the camera for the whole day which I think worked really well as she was the most experienced with the camera and it saved time on the day. Bella and I took turns on the clapper board and directing, When I was on the clapper board, I controlled the music. I had to make sure I got the clapper board in front of the camera so the footage can be synced when it comes to Bella editing the video. When directing either me or Bella were talking to the cast, instructing them what to do. 

Personally I think I was good when coming to directing. I had a clear loud voice so the cast could hear what I was saying. I also gave them simple instructions that they could understand. What particularly went well was when we shot the set of the screens with the dancers behind it. As there was no clear choreography for the whole song, we decided that it would be best if the dancers did different poses throughout the song. To make sure they did it to the beat and all at the same pose, I would shout pose when the dancers should switch poses. I think this really worked and looked really good on the camera. 

On our shoot day we had a plan on what sets we would shoot in order. We decided on firstly the pink set, following the empty party set, then the shadow set and lastly the screen set. When it came to our lunch break, we saw that we were running out of time and had two sets to shoot left. We knew that we couldn’t possibly shoot in two sets in the space of an hour as it would take around 30 minutes to change sets. We knew we had to cut one set. We decided to cut the shadow set as it was the least important as we knew we had a lot of footage of Skylar, Matt and the models but none of the dancers. We all made a decision quickly and informed Luke and Dave. In the end, we had a lot of content to work with and it all looked really good. 

One of the most successful moments in our shoot day was while shooting in the pink set with Matt and Skylar. as we needed to film a wide shot amid shot and a closeup for each part that we were going to shoot we did one white shop of Matt and Skyler sitting together then a wide shot of just Skylar and then a wide shot of just Matt this carried on with mid shots in the close ups. it looked amazing on the camera I'm both actors performed really well and you exactly how to act like while we were filming that set up. Bella was shouting out the commands before shooting, standby, Roll camera, playback. Emmy responded with rolling camera and I responded with playing back. then once the camera was rolling we all sat behind the camera and watched Skylar and Matt perform. during the take we were able to talk to Skyler and Matt as we want going to use the sound from the camera so we could tell them where to lurk either at each other or the camera and how to interact with each other. 

One thing that could have gone better while filming was the party scene as we wanted to get shots of the models however we didn't know exactly what we wanted them to do this meant that it took more time to get the shots and wasted opportunity for clean-ups and better direction. nevertheless once we finished the park of the models we quickly picked up the pace again and got back into our groove. 

I think we managed our talents very well. at the beginning of the day we told them what we told them when they were needed under hang around so if we needed them easily we could easily get them. as the dancers we're off timetable all day they were able to practise their dance which was choreographed for the chorus. we also gave him clear directions so they knew what they had to do when we wrote the camera so they didn't just stand there not knowing if they were doing anything wrong. I think this really helped them as they knew what we wanted meaning they were able to be more confident in front of the camera because they knew what they were doing. once the cameras finished rolling and we didn't need them for a few minutes we told them to go take a break or get some water as we knew that it can get very tiring filming for a long time. this was good as they didn't lose all that energy towards the end of the day and they were able to relax from time to time.so if you want me to stop just let me know  

One moment that I really enjoyed was in the screen set while the dancers were behind the screens and Skylar was in front lip-syncing. The screen set looked better than anything I could have imagined and Skylar looked so powerful and beautiful. The dancers were also really good at taking instructions and their silhouettes created a great aesthetic to the video. In one of our takes, the lighting of the individual  screens changes throughout the song which looked great. 

One of the shots that I am looking forward to see in the edit is where Skylar and Matt and in the empty party set standing up and dancing/ interacting together. I think it will add a great visual to the video as well as Matt and Skylar looked so great together and we got some really nice candid natural reaction shots which add a great vie to the final edit. 

As a team I think we worked really great together. We all took responsibilities during the day and all of us worked hard and effectively. We listened to each other and made decisions together which made it really easy for us to make the video look as good as it did. There was no tension on set as we were all happy with each others work. I also felt like as we were all prepared and none of us slacked off, it made a perfect working environment. 

I learned many lessons on our shoot day that will help me in further film work. For example, you need to make sure that the shot looks great on the screen before we start rolling. Make sure you are aware of time and are time sufficient, to be as prepared as you can be the night before as it helps speed up the process as well as makes you stressed out on the day.  I also learnt that you should always listen to the crew as you all need to work together to make it look as good as possible.