Account of Shoot Day

Our shoot took place on the 20th of November in the studio. We built the first set the night before the shoot in order to maximise our time the next day. This proved to be a very wise decision as the next day was very busy. The previous night I also practised some hair designs on Gigi and settled on her having her hair down with flicks at the end as I thought that while this is cute and suits the era in which our video is set, it is also quite casual and not over the top.

I also chose to add a sparkly hairband to reinforce the idea that her character is pleased by superficial 'face-value' items. As well as this, I went down to the costume store with the Wardrobe Mistress, Loz, from the Theatre dept. to choose the costumes for the shoot. Fortunately, the costume store is plentiful and we found everything we needed; we also brought backups up to the studio in case some items didn't look right or didn't quite fit- despite us measuring the actors.

On the morning of the shoot day I felt quite prepared but, of course, a little apprehensive of how the day would pan out. I was very aware, from filming our thrillers last year, that filming is a lot of work and I was also aware that it can be very easy to lose track of time and not stick to the schedule. We all met at the studio at 8:30AM to have a quick meeting and plan the day in accordance to our shooting schedule and call list. After we decided the plan for the day we finished off dressing the set and adding the props in for the actors to use. After this, we called the actors in for hair and make-up; our make-up artist was Sophia Stanway, a fellow student who is training to be a make-up artist and has attended a 3 week intensive course in make-up artistry over the last summer. I took on the responsibility for hair, make up and costume design because I’m a theatre student and am used to working with these areas. I did some research and decided that the main girl (Gigi) should have very natural makeup, with light blusher and mascara so that she looks quite perfected when she wakes up, but not fake or like a cartoon doll. I stayed to watch and guide Sophia to exactly the look we'd envisaged while she did Gigi's make up and I then recreated her hair from the night before. Whilst I did this, the other group members continued to dress the set. For the main boy, Finbar, I did the same thing; Sophie and I both thought that he should have a foundation layer of make up on so that the light doesn't reflect off his skin and we used a face powder to ensure that his face was matt and all one shade. By doing this, it also made his skin look flawless; perfect for his 'ken-like' character. His hair was left casual and brushed to one side- we considered having a comb-over style but decided this would make him look to geeky, a different stereotype than the one we were going for.

When we arrived on the shoot, we were well prepared; to make items in the house appear as if they'd turned into cardboard we decided we would wrap them all in brown paper and I suggested that we do this the day before and then film all the shots of these items before we film the scene. In doing this, we saved a lot of time as we didn't have to film the scene and then wait to continue filming whilst we wrapped the items before filming them again in the correct location. As well as this, we'd made a plan the night before so that when we came in on the day we all knew what we were doing and wouldn't be lingering waiting to allocate jobs; for example, I knew I was to go with Gigi, Fin and Sophia to do their hair and make-up.

 When we first arrived in the studio, the set wasn't completely ready to shoot and neither were the actors of course, but after an hour or so of preparation we were ready to go. The set, I thought, looked impressive and realistic- the bedroom was the first set we created with the en suit bathroom; we spent a fair amount of time getting the lighting right because it was an aspect of the mise en scene which we thought was very important to create an authentic bedroom. At first we felt the bathroom looked a bit bare, so we took some time to dress the set and make it look 'lived in'; this actually included adding a small tree into the room as decoration. I feel the set for the bedroom was very successful in creating the look of our concept; when we first designed the look of the room and the mise en scene we knew that it might not look exactly the same as how we'd planned it, but when it came to it, it was almost exactly the same. The one item we forgot to bring was a bottle of aftershave for Fin to use in his scene which could've been a problem but fortunately we found a friend who was willing to lend us theirs, however this little mishap made me realize the importance of a well-considered props list and if we were to do a similar project in the future I would be careful to pay more attention to props. The next set, the living room, looked slightly different to how we'd planned it to look but I will still very happy with the image. The colours were warm and cosy which created a warm atmosphere which you would find in a home. If I could have changed anything, it would have been the kitchen; however this was due to a lack of time. Due to the way we want our video to run (tracking across through the walls) we had to build a dividing wall on the set. For the first set, we placed the wall at a point which made the bathroom much smaller than the bedroom, like an en suit usually is, however this meant that when we came to film the living room and kitchen, the kitchen was really small. This resulted in us changing a scene in the video which I was initially apprehensive about but after we sat down and discussed a solution I was much calmer. I had a lot of influence in directing the scenes because of my experience in theatre and the actors were really cooperative and took the direction well.

With regard to allocating roles and jobs on the day, I felt we all worked well as a team and took on an equal amount of work. We all filmed varied shot types, including using the dolly to create the tracking shots; usually Francesca handled the camera, Annabel pushed the Dolly, Alice controlled the lighting and I directed and cable-bashed but we swapped roles too; sometimes I would push the Dolly, Annabel would do the lighting and Alice would direct the scene. I think it was important that we all have a go at doing the different jobs because filming a shot is obviously completely different to deciding how to light a whole scene or instruct actors without distracting them.

 Personally, I think I worked well in preparation for the shoot, making props, designing and sourcing the costumes and creating the general narrative of the video and then recreating it when it went wrong. I came up with the initial idea for the video and this meant that I had clear images in my head of shots, angles and sets. When shooting our thriller last year, we found that one of the most difficult things to do, due to our apprehension, was to get in to the studio on the morning of the shoot and start dressing the set but this year, because I was so clear on the concept I directed the group and we got on with our jobs straight away. This saved time on the day and meant that we didn't feel stuck, before we'd even started.

On the day of the shoot, we realised that because of the way we'd built the first set, the second set didn't work as well; the bathroom would later become the kitchen, however we'd put the dividing wall in such a place that the bathroom, and subsequently the kitchen, was quite small. We had initially intended on moving the wall when we redressed the second set but when the time came, we realised that we didn't have enough time for this. We had planned a whole scene in the kitchen but it was obvious that this wasn't possible and so we had to change the narrative slightly and come up with another plan. When we planned the video, in the shot by shot guide, we suspected that we may have too much footage to fit into the time space of the song, but thought it's better to have too much than too little and because of this, it wasn't a huge surprise when we needed to change a section of the narrative. As I've mentioned before, I'm a keen theatre student and so I sat with the actors and Francesca and discussed some ideas I had to get the narrative back on track. After a lengthy conversation over our break we discovered a solution; increase the length of the 'Scrabble Scene' in the living room and change the focus of the scene in the kitchen to the toaster turning to cardboard, rather than the couple arguing. Despite this being slightly stressful, I think this change actually worked out for the better because it meant that we created a cross-cutting effect; at the same time as the toaster turns to cardboard, so does the scrabble board. This effect is more effective as it makes more sense in the narrative; rather than objects seemingly randomly turning to cardboard, now the objects change because of the argument the couple have just had.

I think the 'Scrabble Scene' was most successful because, personally, I thought the set, lighting, mise en scene and narrative all worked really well. The section where we see the characters' hands placing the letters down I think will look really effective when we've edited the shots together. Furthermore, we got some really good close up reactions of the actors and I think these could be quite comical once slotted into the narrative.

If I could change anything about the shoot day, it would be the organisation of the crane shots. Due to the situation with the kitchen being too small and having to change the narrative, the transitions were effected and I'm worried that we don't have a transition crane shot going from the living room to the basement where the band are playing. We found ourselves rushing slightly, due to the changes and quick readjustments we had to make and therefore didn't consider the change to the transitions. I really hope that we can find a way to get round this issue and I'm sure we can as we all work really well as a team and have a lot of creative ideas, but if I could change something about the shoot day, this would've been it.

I think we managed the actors well; one thing I did worry about was them getting cold as it was a particularly cold day and the studio reflected that! However, my room is on-campus and so I went and got blankets for Fin and a coat for Gigi so that they wouldn't freeze. As for their acting, they were brilliant to work with; Gigi is my roommate and a talented actor so I was always confident that she would provide the performance we needed however I didn't know Fin before we started filming as Alice knows him and suggested that we use him in the video. Fortunately, Fin was brilliant too; he took direction really well, looked good on camera and was offering ideas for the scene work which added detail to make it more believable.

I most enjoyed filming the tracking shots because they're more risky than the other shots. The extended length of time in filming means that there is more involved in the shot so it's almost more risky and interesting to film. I also enjoyed creating the set and dressing the actors and the band because it was satisfying and exciting to see the image in my head come to life. My group members were also great to work with and we jelled well so come up with interesting and aesthetically pleasing ideas which we hope will come through in the editing.

When we edit, I'm most looking forward to seeing the effect of editing the rooms in to the dolls' house. I think the effect will look really impressive if we can achieve it properly, so as well as being excited to see how it turns out, I'm also nervous to see if it works. In my research and planning I noted that it's particularly important to film the rooms from the correct perspective in order for this effect to work and this is something we kept in mind whilst filming but we can't be totally sure how successful it is until we finish editing the video.

I felt that the production group I was in worked well as a team. It's easy to get frustrated with one another with so many ideas being offered and people trying to create their own vision for the video but we didn't have any clashes and I felt, and still feel, that we have worked well together to create a group idea. We each have a skill which we brought to the team and as well as using these skills to create an effective music video, we also transferred skills to one another; before the shoot day I'd had very little experience with lighting whereas Alice works with the Tech Crew in the Theatre dept. and so lights the shows that I'm usually in. We worked together and she taught me how to light a scene or person effectively and I now feel confident that I could do this myself. In our thriller last year, we used lots of tracking shots and so I showed Francesca how to operate the camera on the dolly and so she filmed most of the tracking shots.

I've learnt from doing this shoot that organisation is key and if I were to do it again I would make more lists and schedules to ensure that all areas are covered, as there's lots which can be forgotten. As well as this, I would also have a back-up plan, properly and fully organised, in case the original idea won't work. While we managed to fix the problems we encountered, thinking of these solutions took time, but if we'd have planned in advance then we could have saved time meaning the process would've been less stressful.