Group: Shoot Reflection

Shoot Reflection - 27th October 2015

Shot list for this shoot

• Narrative - Doorstep - Mid shot of Callum's feet stepping out of door
• Narrative - Doorstep - Long shot of Callum stepping out of door
• Narrative - Steal - Over the shoulder (Callum) long shot of Lauryn by tree
• Narrative - Innocence - Close up of Lauryn - track in
• Narrative - Substance - Close up of Callum - track in
• Narrative - Instrumental - Mid shot  - Lauryn walking away
• Narrative - Instrumental - Over the shoulder river reflection - Callum and Lauryn
• Narrative - Instrumental - Low angle two shot
• Narrative - Instrumental - Over the shoulder river reflection - Callum
• Narrative - Chorus - Long shot of running up hill from behind
• Narrative - Chorus - Close up of feet running up hill
• Narrative - Chorus - Long shot of running up hill from in front
• Narrative - Chorus - Long shot of Lauryn and Callum appearing over the hill
• Narrative - Chorus - Medium long shot of bench
• Photos - Bench from in front
• Photos - Bench from behind

Reflection - Hannah

• My role within the shoot was the main cinematographer. I was in charge of ensuring that we got all the shots we had intended to and several of each so that we have a selection to choose from when we come to the editing process.
• We used our storyboard to see which shots we needed to complete, this was helpful as it meant we could start filming straight away and didn't waste time thinking about it. However, although we found this useful for our initial shots we became more creative when we started actually filming and ended up taking quite a few shots we had not initially intended to as we felt they were more effective than the ones we had previously planned.
• An example of a narrative shot we decided to change was the running up hill shots. We still did this but from far more angles than just one to increase our cutting rate when it comes to post production.
• We considered character blocking throughout, we got an effective over the shoulder shot of Callum looking out of Lauryn and often considered rule of thirds as this was a key technical aspect we noticed when researching other videos.
• Although we filmed a good amount of narrative shots, it was difficult to check to footage as we went along as it was so bright there was a large amount of glare on the camera screen. Because of this focusing was difficult as it was hard to see. After reviewing our footage we have found that the shots taken in manual focus worked far better than auto so we have decided we will use only this from now on.
• We also encountered an problem that the stream we had intended to use for our reflection shot had dried up. We instead decided to use a passage way in the park which was covered in autumn leaves as we felt this created a folky atmosphere and filmed a running shot instead when we followed the protagonists using a stedicam technique.
• For our next shoot we have created a list of the shots which did not turn out so well from this shoot which we will need to re film and have also created a list of further shots to take.
• As we mostly have narrative shots at present we are intending on making the full focus of the next shoot performance and will take any other narrative shots required the following weekend in our final shoot.
• From reviewing our footage it is clear that within our performance aspect we need some more close ups and varying angles so we will make this a priority.
• We also need to make more use of the tripod for the shots which do not need to be handicam, for example, we had an effective low angle long shot of the whole band but it was ever so slightly shaky where a tripod could have been used.

Reflection - Callum

• Overall I would say the two shoots that we carried out in the holiday went reasonably well overall quite well. On Tuesday our main aim was to shoot the shots for the narrative of our video, and on Thursday our target was to film the performance shots with the band.
• My role in both shoots was both as a director and an actor, which was challenging as it is often useful as a director to step away from the shot to take it in, however I couldn't do this because I was actually in it, so therefore we had to film before I watched the footage back to check I was happy with it.
• I would say our best shot from Tuesday was a shot of Lauryn and I running through the woods together, all we see is a closeup of our feet, however this forms a link between the characters as our feet fall in the same place one after the other. The reds and browns of the fallen leaves contribute greatly to the mise en scene and add to the folky and rural atmosphere of the production.
• My favourite shot from our shoot on Thursday would be a close up of my guitar, which tracks down the neck towards where my fingers are plucking the strings. This clearly shows talent and musicianship which are important parts of mumford and sons’ metanarrative, as well as contributing to the folky image with an acoustic guitar.
• A few of our shots were effected because of the rain getting in the camera lens which we will avoid next time by holding an umbrella over it, as well as this we didn't have a steadicam, which means that many of our shots were too shaky to be used. To overcome this next time we will be using a steadying lens for the camera, and we will be relying on the tripod for shots which don't require a lot of movement. Finally we noticed when reviewing the footage that the autofocus on the camera isn't very effective, a few of our shots were out of focus, for the next shoot we will use a manual focus.