We arrived at the film studio at 9am- it being the first scene to shoot. There we met the set which we had finalised the night before along with our punctual actors. We allowed the band to practice to the song once more for them to regain familiarity allowing them to stay efficient; not having to worry about whether they are playing the appropriate chords etc. We placed them on the set with a sense of special awareness and with one last practice in there posts, we began to shoot. The studio was used to shoot the performance elements of the video and was used to shoot first because our next location was Shepards Bush- London. We started with the establishing shots and chronologically moved smaller. After the last extreme close-ups, we experimented with a few unplanned shots because we were in good time. Once this was ‘done and dusted’ we began filming some of the narrative shots that needed to be shot on studio location due to there nature; for example: The ‘backstage party’ scene was filmed in the studio with no built set in order to capture a sense of realism in the video. We also staged a mock photo-shoot in the studio to add to the narrative elements during editing if deemed appropriate. During the trip to London we filmed the bus scenes so that we could work with the actors internal feelings that may correlate with that of the ‘bands’. I.E; the actors were tired on the road, so we even shot some of the actors actually sleeping for maximum realism, also capturing the moving world outside the window. Once in London, we shot some of the streets near and on the Location while also shooting outside the Shepards Bush Empire and the Hammersmith Apollo. We captured the band walking in and around the locations.
The roles my partner and I assigned one and other were designed to emphasize our strengths and minimise our weaknesses. We assigned my partner to handle the camera on the shoot due to his experience as a cameraman in the Hurtwood Film Academy and also to assume the role as ‘main editor’ for the same reasons. I on the other hand, was labelled director of the shoot due to my experience in co-directing plays because of my experience in the Hurtwood Acting Company, having a primitive sense of being able to direct the actors. Another reason for this was that the themes were primarily my invention. These roles were not completely dictating the shoot for there were instances where Tom would direct or I would handle the camera.
We used a JCV500 camera on the shoot, since its HD quality was the suitable candidate for capturing ‘gritty realism’. The fact that everything we filmed was kept on a card rather than a tape meant that we could stop, start and rewind as we pleased without sabotaging our footage, making it more efficient in terms of knowing what we needed to do next and in post-production.
Our first and most disturbing problem concerning the shoot was the loss of our group’s third member: Ross. Since shortly before the shoot he left school due to decisions concerning the powers that be, we were, for a short period of time, left in a state of disarray; since he had various key jobs that we were finding hard to do between us on top of everything else. One of these jobs that ended up never happening was to get in touch with a company that distributes large amounts of posters for a good price. Thankfully this didn’t have a detrimental effect on the shoot since I decided we could work with the sets sense of minimalism. The second problem was that two of our original acting choices dropped out just days before the shoot leaving us to pick up the pieces. Though replacements were found in the nick of time, we weren’t able to camera-test them. Thankfully they ended up possessing screen presence. There was a moment in time when we thought we would have to have Tom take the position of drummer which would leave me to handle the camera for the whole day also, which WOULD have been detrimental! A problem we faced in London was quite simply the rain. Tom and I had to stand in the rain for up to twenty minutes at a time while I help my only jacket over to camera to protect it; establishing our priorities!
The actor playing the lead singer was a delightful success after many spectators of the shoot commenting on the fact that his face matched the original front-mans voice to an outstanding level. He was also very easy to work with along with the rest of the band making the day a much more pleasant experience then if not.
Overall, the shoot day was a great success despite some of the problems we encountered. The replacements for the actors worked better then we had initially foreseen which was incredibly reassuring. The studio scenes worked and the London scenes were spectacular; making the day a wonderful and successful experience.
The roles my partner and I assigned one and other were designed to emphasize our strengths and minimise our weaknesses. We assigned my partner to handle the camera on the shoot due to his experience as a cameraman in the Hurtwood Film Academy and also to assume the role as ‘main editor’ for the same reasons. I on the other hand, was labelled director of the shoot due to my experience in co-directing plays because of my experience in the Hurtwood Acting Company, having a primitive sense of being able to direct the actors. Another reason for this was that the themes were primarily my invention. These roles were not completely dictating the shoot for there were instances where Tom would direct or I would handle the camera.
We used a JCV500 camera on the shoot, since its HD quality was the suitable candidate for capturing ‘gritty realism’. The fact that everything we filmed was kept on a card rather than a tape meant that we could stop, start and rewind as we pleased without sabotaging our footage, making it more efficient in terms of knowing what we needed to do next and in post-production.
Our first and most disturbing problem concerning the shoot was the loss of our group’s third member: Ross. Since shortly before the shoot he left school due to decisions concerning the powers that be, we were, for a short period of time, left in a state of disarray; since he had various key jobs that we were finding hard to do between us on top of everything else. One of these jobs that ended up never happening was to get in touch with a company that distributes large amounts of posters for a good price. Thankfully this didn’t have a detrimental effect on the shoot since I decided we could work with the sets sense of minimalism. The second problem was that two of our original acting choices dropped out just days before the shoot leaving us to pick up the pieces. Though replacements were found in the nick of time, we weren’t able to camera-test them. Thankfully they ended up possessing screen presence. There was a moment in time when we thought we would have to have Tom take the position of drummer which would leave me to handle the camera for the whole day also, which WOULD have been detrimental! A problem we faced in London was quite simply the rain. Tom and I had to stand in the rain for up to twenty minutes at a time while I help my only jacket over to camera to protect it; establishing our priorities!
The actor playing the lead singer was a delightful success after many spectators of the shoot commenting on the fact that his face matched the original front-mans voice to an outstanding level. He was also very easy to work with along with the rest of the band making the day a much more pleasant experience then if not.
Overall, the shoot day was a great success despite some of the problems we encountered. The replacements for the actors worked better then we had initially foreseen which was incredibly reassuring. The studio scenes worked and the London scenes were spectacular; making the day a wonderful and successful experience.
