We decided to film on this day for a very specific reason; the teachers were going on strike outside of The Forum. One side of the split screen in our music video is based around protesting against the 1%, so having footage of the strike would be beneficial because we could directly respond to our themes. Filming the strike was important because it gave us some footage of an actual protest with a large group of people, something that we would not have been able to put together between myself and the other member of my group. Our plan is to cut together footage from the strike with footage of the protester organising the strike. We had arranged to meet at The Forum half an hour prior to the event in order to have enough time to set up the equipment and scout the location. During this time, I also took some still photographs to use for the location planning part of the music video.
Equipment: Canon 550D DSLR (18-55mm lens and 28-125mm lens), Tripod
Crew: Myself and the other member of the group took turns on camera operation.
Tuesday the 8th of October 2013 - 10:00am - 8:00pm
Myself and the other member of my group had several ideas for shots and the locations that would work with the shots, especially for the businessman character. Unfortunately, Norwich didn't have the opportunities for these kinds of locations and so we had to think further abroad. We spoke to our teacher and came to the conclusion that London would be the ideal location due to the various different political/government buildings and the selection of bankers buildings and office towers. We wanted to do the majority of the businessman characters filming around these locations.
We got the train at 10:00am but due to signal failure in Cheltenham, we were behind schedule upon arriving in London at around 12:30pm. We had decided to visit the American Embassy first, before going to the docklands and Canary Wharf. At the American Embassy, we also took the opportunity to take still shots for out print production/CD cover. During filming, we were stopped by the police because the embassy security were not happy with what we were doing. We were searched, however, the police had no problem with out filming and so we managed to get the footage that we had hoped for at that location, for both sides of the split screen. We then moved on to the docklands/Canary Wharf location to do the bulk of the businessman filming. At this point we decided to use the dolly in order to shoot some tracking shots, as all of our previous shots were static. During our time at the docklands, we were stopped on four separate occasions for filming in a public place. Fortunately, one member of the group had his lanyard and so we were allowed to continue filming. We managed the shots of the businessman character as well as several pick up shots and a timelapse before the time was up for that location. We had planned to film a timelapse for each character in separate underground stations; Canary Wharf station was perfect for the businessman and we had timed it perfectly so that people were leaving work, resulting in a rush of people in suits. Fortunately, we had just finished the timelapse before being told to leave due to the tripod. On the journey back to Liverpool Street Station, we had to find a contrasting station for the protester before our train left. We stopped at St Pauls and filmed the last shot before getting back on to the train for Norwich.
Equipment: Canon 550D DSLR (18-55mm lens, 28-125mm lens, 75-300mm lens), Canon EOS 5 35mm SLR, tripod, dolly and cardboard sign.
Crew: Myself and the other member of the group rotated on camera operation and the setting up of the equipment
Cast: We had brought Robbie to play the characters on both sides of the split screen to present more of a binary opposition between the two.
Tuesday the 29th of October 2013
Myself and the other member of my group made use of a bit of spare time by filming a shot that was out of the way in comparison to the rest of our locations/shot list. The shot was a timelapse of an abandoned building that would be used to show direct opposition to the office block that we shot in London. We decided to meet and cycle to the location, taking our equipment in our bags. This was also a good use of time because our actor wasn't available on the day, thus we decided to film the pick up shots with the time we had available. The shot was relatively easy to capture as the location was easily accessible and we had contact details of the landlord if any problems arose.
Equipment: Canon 550D DSLR (18-55mm lens), tripod
Crew: Myself and the other member of my group set up the tripod and camera
Cast: The actor wasn't required to take part in this filming session
Saturday the 5th of November
We used this day to film the opening of the music video, as the light had faded outside, showing the morning routine of both characters on opposing sides of the split screen. This gave use the opportunity to show the way in which the characters live and how this reflects their places within society. We started filming at my house for the businessman character, using my bedroom as to show that the character has a comfortable lifestyle. We also used my kitchen as it has quite a modern appearance, fitting in with the story of the businessman. For the protester, we chose to use Robbie's (our actor) house in order to provide a sense of opposition. Instead of the protester waking up in a bed, like the businessman, he wakes up on the sofa with a blanket. We also made use of Robbie's kitchen in order to contrast that of the businessman. We chose to use mostly close up shots in this shoot so that we could edit them together quickly and keep the interest of the audience within the opening few seconds.
Equipment: Canon 550D DLSR (18-55mm lens, 28-125mm lens), tripod
Crew: Myself and Adam took turns for camera operation and composition of the mise en scene
Cast: Our actor, Robbie, played both characters in the opposing roles
Monday the 11th of November
We had managed to find 2 free hours and decided to make use of it by shooting some of the scenes in the city centre. The scenes that we shot are an essential part to the music video as this is where much of the binary opposition and contrast is created between the personalities and lifestyles of both characters. We started by filming at Starbucks, showing the businessman alone. We chose Starbucks due to its connotations of consumerism and the link to the character of the businessman. We also filmed the protester at the same location, however this time myself and Adam acted as the protester's friends, showing that the character is happier/has a better social life without the wealth and power of the businessman. We also shot a scene at Moss (the suit shop) in which the businessman is seen going in and coming out, showing again his wealth and style. The light began to run out quickly and so we decided that we would finish the last couple of shots at a later date.
Equipment: Canon 550D DLSR (18-55mm lens), tripod
Crew: Myself and Adam shared the camera operation
Cast: Robbie was available to play both characters
An interesting diary of events, particularly relating to the incidents outside the USA embassy and in Docklands!!!!
ReplyDeleteTry to do some video diary work on your blog - this would strengthen. It would be interesting for you to explain exactly what happened when you were shooting in London.