HG- Reflection on shoot 1

Shoot date: Thursday 5th November
Why did we use this location?
We used my bedroom location as we believed it fitted well with our piece. As well as this, my bedroom is dark blue, and therefore has connotations of seriousness and integrity which coincides with the tone of our piece. Also, we wanted a desk to be in our piece, preferably near a window for a pull-focus shot, which  we managed to incorporate. Despite this, my bedroom is restricted in terms of room to film, and therefore we had to be aware of the shots we could/couldn't do.

Who was the actor?
George was the sole actor for this part of the sequence, and I will feature in the video later on in the piece, when the other brother is revealed. George was acting as the brother who is still alive, and is shown to be grieving over the dead brother. Therefore, George needs to look devoid of emotion, in the dark setting to construct a powerful, hard-hitting narrative.

What was your role during the shoot?

I helped with the framing and composition for each of the shots, using the storyboard to help us. As well as this, prior to shooting, I looked over our audience research findings - in terms of the shots, pull-focus shots and pans were the most popular, and we therefore attempted to take many of these.

Which shots were less successful or problematic? Why was this?
Unfortunately due to my room being reasonably small, there was less room to manoeuvre the camera and tripod meaning that we took less innovative shots. Consequently, we maximized the use of birds-eye-view shots, close-ups, and pans. Our main objective is to always keep the camera moving.

When are we next filming?

We are next filming on Saturday 7th November, to film the next part of our piece in Tom's house, including the study and the cinema room. After this shoot, we would like to also visit Grosvenor park, and Bedgbury, to maximise digipak and advert shots and utilise the wide landscape.

Were there any problems with the footage at the editing stage?
Unfortunately at the editing stage most of our footage in this location was void. Despite this, it was our first time using the steadicam, and we also discovered how we were going to shoot, and how long it would essentially take. The reason that our footage couldn't be used was due to lighting diffiulties, meaning that the camera couldn't focus, and the images were consequently blurred.