PART SIXTY THREE
Evaluation of the shoot day:
Our shoot took place on a Monday, which meant that we had the whole weekend to arrange our props and costumes. It also meant that we had to set up the studio on Friday afternoon ready for the shoot on Monday. However, another group overran their shoot time so we had to build our studio set on Monday morning anyway, delaying the shoot process a few hours.
On the day of the shoot, when I woke up, I felt wary about whether everyone would approve of my input during the day because, being director, I would have to decide the arrangement and positions of the band and set based on my vision of what I wanted to shot to look like. This was quite a lot of pressure.
Even though we did not have the opportunity to build the set on Friday, I still felt confident and prepared because during the time the set was being built, I reckoned we could use this time efficiently to get on with the hair, make-up and costumes of the actors. The costumes took longer than initially thought however, as we had a vision of what the band should look like, making us very specific with regards to; if they looked too similar to each other, if they looked too mainstream and if they looked too young or old.
Sasha did the make-up of the band because it is something she is passionate about and she had already prepared how she wanted their make-up to be done over the weekend.
The second set was completely white. We created this using an infinity sheet covering the walls to the floor. The band stood in the same positions as before, so that we could cut between white and black backgrounds easily in post-production editing.
On the white background, we had two different projections over the top of the band. One of the fairy girl slow motion dancing, which we had filmed the week before and edited on the Friday. The other projection was of the city of London which Fran had filmed the previous Monday and I had edited on the Friday before.
Our sets were very simplistic and therefore easy to interchange. The majority of our studio concept was portrayed through costume and make up, so it did not matter that our set was very basic.
As a group, we had assigned ourselves individual roles prior to the shoot so we were aware which element of the shoot we would each be specialising in. I was the director, in charge of the positioning and look of the band from behind the camera, e.g. facial expressions, posture, hand gestures. Fran was the art director, controlling the aesthetics in the studio. Sasha was the hair an make-up artist, as well as sorting out the costumes of the band. I helped with he styling of the lead singer however because I had blogged a lot prior to the shoot about the vision I had for his look, and Sasha had agreed that she liked this vision. India was the cameraman, controlling the functions of the camera, e.g. zoom, focus, panning etc.
I feel like I stuck to my role and I communicated well with India about how the action in front of the camera looked on the screen. If she told me that someone wasn't in shot, I would move them until they could be seen effectively. When we went into the woods, Sasha had already set up the tents and props because she had said prior to the shoot that, while Fran was artistic director, she would be the co-artist director in the woods as her job of hair and make-up was done already.
I think that the actors really got into their characters, with a bit of help from my group as we tried to jump around to the music behind camera to influence the bands energy levels. It worked though and Ashen, the lead singer d a really good energy for the band. In the woods especially, when I was shouting instructions at the boys they were being co-operative and listening to my directions, which was a huge success.
On the shoot day, we were presented with a few problems. Firstly, our guitarist Rory Browne didn't turn up so we needed to find another actor. Luckily, as we already knew he was not very reliable, on the weekend, we had been emailing each other deciding on a back up actor in case this problem emerged. We had already emailed Charlie before to ask him if he would be available for the shoot date in case we needed to use him in an emergency, so using Charlie was our solution. Charlie was keen to participate and he looked better for his part than Rory did, which worked out much better.
Additionally, we have problems involving the weather. Our time in the woods was limited because it was due to rain and we had to film all our shots before it poured down so tat the equipment didn't get damaged. The weather forecast stated it would be cloudy with a temperature of around 10degrees, however, the evening became very cold and we had to find more layers to keep our cast warm while they were waiting to shoot. The later it got, the more it started to rain and by the time of 6pm, we were unable to continue shooting. However, because we had organised and planned the specific shots we wanted before we went to the woods, we managed to get a majority of the shots we intended to.
The most successful part of the shoot was the style of the band, costumes, make up, hair etc. They really looked like the indie vision we wanted. This was well organised because we had each chosen a band member to do some research into their style. I had chosen the leas singer, finding him a fur jacket, a buttoned down shirt and he provided the black skinny jeans. I also think the projections in the studio worked really well, especially the London projection footage. Because it was light and the editing pace was fast, it really reflected on the band's cool and indie image, making the music video a bit edgy.
The shoot in the woods was predominantly successful because the camera was always rolling and there was never a lack of ideas coming from our group.
I think in the studio, my input as a director was not listened to all the time and it would have been nice for my directions to be taken a bit more seriously by my group and the band (the production team). Saying that however, I chose to get a shot of the fairy girl projected onto Ashen's white T-shirt which everyone told me would not work but when they had focused the camera, zoomed to the right level and changed the size of the image, the shot quickly became everyone's favourite studio shot.
Despite one of our actors not turning up, we got on with the rest of them really well and there were no arguments or disputes on the shoot day. They got on really well with each other, helping the band dynamic to develop and creating the on screen image of a band who have been friends for years.
Even though we did not have the opportunity to build the set on Friday, I still felt confident and prepared because during the time the set was being built, I reckoned we could use this time efficiently to get on with the hair, make-up and costumes of the actors. The costumes took longer than initially thought however, as we had a vision of what the band should look like, making us very specific with regards to; if they looked too similar to each other, if they looked too mainstream and if they looked too young or old.
Sasha did the make-up of the band because it is something she is passionate about and she had already prepared how she wanted their make-up to be done over the weekend.
When the first set was done, it was simple and exactly how we had planned. The floor was black and black curtains covered the walls. I placed the band, with their instruments, in a diamond shape, however with Ashen, the lead singer, standing slightly off-shape to the right so that the drummer Jonty was in shot of the camera.
On the white background, we had two different projections over the top of the band. One of the fairy girl slow motion dancing, which we had filmed the week before and edited on the Friday. The other projection was of the city of London which Fran had filmed the previous Monday and I had edited on the Friday before.
Our sets were very simplistic and therefore easy to interchange. The majority of our studio concept was portrayed through costume and make up, so it did not matter that our set was very basic.
I feel like I stuck to my role and I communicated well with India about how the action in front of the camera looked on the screen. If she told me that someone wasn't in shot, I would move them until they could be seen effectively. When we went into the woods, Sasha had already set up the tents and props because she had said prior to the shoot that, while Fran was artistic director, she would be the co-artist director in the woods as her job of hair and make-up was done already.
I think that the actors really got into their characters, with a bit of help from my group as we tried to jump around to the music behind camera to influence the bands energy levels. It worked though and Ashen, the lead singer d a really good energy for the band. In the woods especially, when I was shouting instructions at the boys they were being co-operative and listening to my directions, which was a huge success.
On the shoot day, we were presented with a few problems. Firstly, our guitarist Rory Browne didn't turn up so we needed to find another actor. Luckily, as we already knew he was not very reliable, on the weekend, we had been emailing each other deciding on a back up actor in case this problem emerged. We had already emailed Charlie before to ask him if he would be available for the shoot date in case we needed to use him in an emergency, so using Charlie was our solution. Charlie was keen to participate and he looked better for his part than Rory did, which worked out much better.Additionally, we have problems involving the weather. Our time in the woods was limited because it was due to rain and we had to film all our shots before it poured down so tat the equipment didn't get damaged. The weather forecast stated it would be cloudy with a temperature of around 10degrees, however, the evening became very cold and we had to find more layers to keep our cast warm while they were waiting to shoot. The later it got, the more it started to rain and by the time of 6pm, we were unable to continue shooting. However, because we had organised and planned the specific shots we wanted before we went to the woods, we managed to get a majority of the shots we intended to.
The most successful part of the shoot was the style of the band, costumes, make up, hair etc. They really looked like the indie vision we wanted. This was well organised because we had each chosen a band member to do some research into their style. I had chosen the leas singer, finding him a fur jacket, a buttoned down shirt and he provided the black skinny jeans. I also think the projections in the studio worked really well, especially the London projection footage. Because it was light and the editing pace was fast, it really reflected on the band's cool and indie image, making the music video a bit edgy.
The shoot in the woods was predominantly successful because the camera was always rolling and there was never a lack of ideas coming from our group.
I think in the studio, my input as a director was not listened to all the time and it would have been nice for my directions to be taken a bit more seriously by my group and the band (the production team). Saying that however, I chose to get a shot of the fairy girl projected onto Ashen's white T-shirt which everyone told me would not work but when they had focused the camera, zoomed to the right level and changed the size of the image, the shot quickly became everyone's favourite studio shot.Despite one of our actors not turning up, we got on with the rest of them really well and there were no arguments or disputes on the shoot day. They got on really well with each other, helping the band dynamic to develop and creating the on screen image of a band who have been friends for years.
