Evaluation of shoot day 

This blog post will be a reflection of our shoot day and what we did the day before the shoot. Doing this allows me to reflect on the shoot and from this I can develop an understanding on what could be done in future to prove and what went really.

The day before the set we began looking at the space we had to create the set. By 3:30 we began collecting all the things we needed and assembling them in the studio.

Creating the set 

The final product 

Because we didn’t expect our first set space to be as small as it was, we had to think of the things that wouldn’t fit in like the sofa. We also had to figure out where we wanted the band to be positioned and where the posters would go. Once we figured out where the band would go we began placing the posters on the wall and we also had to print some more just to fill in the spaces. Wendy and I then brought a table on set so we could start setting up the table and what would go on it. On the left side in the background we have two huge boxes to fill the space and to re emphasise the fact that this was a basement however we didn’t like this so we took out one box and put a blanket on top of it to hide the colour. After this we decided to add magazines and cds on the shelfs an on the floor as this was a boys basement so we didn't want it to look too arranged or neat. The smoke machine was also tested out to create the kind of basement feeling we wanted.

On the morning of the shoot day I felt stressed and excited at the same time as I had to sort out the shot list and call sheet and also be at the studio. This was stressful as the printer wasn’t working so I wasn’t able to print the mood board but I was able to get copies of everything else. I was excited as this was a fun experience to be shooting, especially since it was my first shoot. 

I think to some extent I was prepared for the shoot when I arrived and before we began we made sure the cast was in the correct costume. As the art director I had to make sure the lead singer’s makeup looked good and that everything on set was in place. To ensure that the studio wasn’t too busy all the bags were put in a different room so they wouldn’t intertwine with the wires.

When we started filming the studio was arranged in four main sections. The first section was the first set where all the props were and where the band was positioned. The second section was right in front of the first set and this is where the camera was placed and connected to the camera was a little monitor for the director and the art director to see what camera was going to produce. The third section was where all the light settings were and this was where the lighting was controlled to create the atmosphere we wanted. The last section had a huge screen where we could see what was being filmed on the camera.

I think I managed to create the look of the concept really well as the more I began putting up the posters and the more elements we included like the carpets and fridge made it feel like an actual basement. At the beginning the set wasn’t what I was expecting so it was a bit harder working on the set when it wasn’t what I had imagined but once we started working on it came together and it created this new basement. Once I got over the idea that we weren’t having the sofa it made it easier to develop the set more.

The group divided the roles on the shoot day to ensure that everyone had something to do on the day. Millie was the camera concentrate and I worked with her to get some behind the scenes when Wendy was doing the clapper board. Millie also worked with Maddie who was the director and they worked together to capture the right angles. Maddie directed to the band on what they should do and what was working well. Wendy’s role was to capture all the behind the scenes footage and photos and have the clapper board at the beginning of every shot. My role as the art director was to overlook the set and how the shots looked. I also helped Maddie when it came to positioning the band in the right places and also fixing the set in between shots when the props either looked out of place or when the posters were falling off the wall.

Personally I worked really well on helping the cast with their costumes and also ensuring that the set looked in place at all times. I also ensured that everyone knew that if they needed help I could always help them with their role as one filming began my work was mainly done.

I think the most successful party of the shoot was the second set as it was so simple yet it looked really good. Because we wanted to show this idea that the band had made the costumes and the lighting mirrored the set so well that it delivered this idea so well.

I wish we could have done the non lip sync parts better as when it actually came to filming everyone was confused as we didn’t have the mattress or the sofa so we had to rethink where the band would do certain things. To solve this we came up  with  other things that they could do which still worked really well however when editing i’m not sure there will be enough footage that is non lip sync.

I wish the part where we filmed Molly and Felix had gone better as we didn’t have enough time to get a perfect shot as we had to move on to filming other things. 

I think that the talent was managed really well as the whole cast knew their lines really well and after practicing on set twice and getting used to the set they knew their positions. Their costumes also fit them really well and the make up the lead singer had on the second looked really good.

The part of the shoot I enjoyed the most was the whole process of filming. I think that because everyone was excited to film the whole process became more fun to film.

In the edit I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product as it’s going to be interesting to see what has been made out of all the work that we have put into this video.

Once the production group moved past all the stress of putting things together we were able to work really well together to pull together what we hadn’t done before our break.

From this I’ve learned that organisation is very important as if we were more organised at the beginning of the term we would have been able to have all the poster props before and our second concept would have been more decided.

To make the website and artwork fit the video we shot I might change the colour schemes to mirror the music video and also the pop rock genre.