Evaluation of Shoot Day

Shoot Day by Evelyn Wandernoth

 Today was our shoot day in which we filmed our 1920's Jazz Club, Futuristic, and Mad Scientist element, as well as an extra tap sequence done by Oriana, which is intended to help with the transition between the 1920's and futuristic element. In the overall prospect of things our shoot went very well and there were only a few issues.

The largest issue we had to deal with was time, even before our shoot day on Monday the 7th of November. The group with their music video shoot who were in the studio before us finished much later than we had anticipated, which led us to run into immediate problems with preparing the set in advance and caused us to do it the morning of. Chris and Nanci began making decisions and how they wanted things to look, including what they wanted across the back and how much depth should be included. They then discussed the options with the set designers, and because we only had 6 back flats which we could use, Chris and Nanci then decided on having three flats across the back and two stemming off them in a horizontal fashion. This made the set large enough for the dancers to be in, but not too big in order for it to look empty and spacey. I would have been there for the discussion, however as this was during lesson time and both Chris and Nanci had their free period, and I was denied missing my class, I couldn't join in with the decision making.

In the morning I ended up being very stressed. Aside from having to think about all the things we had to shoot today, I also had to worry about my own hair and all the costumes I had to bring in, as well as still organising the traditional violin which had to be brought in by Izzy. I always stress to much, which is why I then simply ended up in a bit of a bad mood when I showed up to school. It settled soon after, though.

Immediately when we arrived in the morning, we had to finish setting up the 1920's jazz club as this was the longest section and the one that we would be filming first. We put up curtains on the back flats, as well as draping some maroon velvet cloth which we draped over two boxes to makeshift tables. This made it appear to be a more welcoming area. Because I had to be in the music video myself, as I was the only violinist available today, I was unable to do as much as I would have liked to. Instead of helping with the build I ended up having to sit in hair and make-up.

Nanci made sure that the make-up artist knew what we wanted our dancers and musicians to look like make up wise. Click here to get to what we discussed. The make up artist was then able to do what we asked her to for the 1920's element and ended up looking quite realistic to the part. This was very effective and established the era.

The dancers weren't quite ready yet and in their costumes which is why it was suggested that Klaudia and I go through hair and make-up quickly as well as put on costumes and warm up our instruments so that we could be on track with the timing. We began with filming the musicians which gave the dancers a bit more time to prepare. The girls were thankfully very well prepared with the several amounts of rehearsals we did beforehand and easily brought in a routine which will help us when it comes to editing. The musicians, on the other hand, didn't really know the song but got away with listening to it a few times and then coming up with some chords to play on their instruments.

The most frustrating part, and which I regret the most, is being cast in my own music video. I honestly wish I hadn't been cast, and we would've just scrapped the idea of having a violinist. Rather than being behind the camera like I said I would do, I was infront of it most of the time. I think one issue that caused a great deal of this problem was that we shot the dancers and musicians together, and because these sequences took so long, I was never able to get away from my position in the background. I always had to be there for continuity reasons. Therefore Luke had to jump in and do the filming, as Nanci took charge of the playback/clapper role with the iPad and Chris helped direct. Nanci was hesitant to do playback at first however quickly got comfortable with the new piece of technology and became efficient. Chris and Nanci also had to split the role of director and art director as they were missing hands (MY HANDS).

We were able to stick to our call list pretty well in the morning and filmed the entire 1920's element alongside some nice shots, as well as an array of wides, mids, and close-ups. However, over lunch we began having an issue. We had to change over the dancer's hair, make-up and costumes, and this ended up taking a lot of time. Here is where the timing started to become a huge issue: The changeover of the set took much longer than anticipated, and we were only able to begin shooting at around 15:30. Changing the lighting and the look of the entire set to make it more futuristic was so much of an effort and took up so much more time than we had thought and planned for. We were already behind shooting schedule, especially because we were supposed to start shooting with Mike Timson at 15:00! We attempted to make up for lost time as much as possible, however in the end we were just late. I wish we had planned more time beforehand.

During the filming of the futuristic element I really began getting anxious; I couldn't do anything to help my group and I just had to repeat myself over and over again. I saw Nanci doing so much work, and honestly, I wish I had been behind the camera in place of Luke. I am really proud of her as she did manage to pull through all the way whilst keeping a positive attitude. If we did it again I would refuse to be in the video myself and take on the roles that I wanted to.

As soon as we were done filming the futuristic section I rushed to get out of costume and help build the next set, as we realised we were immensely behind schedule. Nanci stayed behind in the Studio filming Oriana's tap section, whilst Chris and I were sorting out the container; this was the first time during the entire shoot that I felt somewhat helpful. I was finally able to do the camera work I wanted to, and whilst we couldn't get as much done as we wanted to as we had run out of time, I was happy with what we achieved.

In the end we managed to get everything done we needed to, and cleared up. There were so many good factors that happened today, however there was also a huge proportion of things that should have been foreseen and could be improved next time, one of which is casting myself. The mise-en-scene and art direction in our video is amazing, the dancers and everything were fabulous. The time management was absolutely horrid and the fact that I couldn't help out as much as I wanted to are frustrating, however I know that I can repay my group in the editing stage, as I know I am perfectly capable of doing this, and feel that I have the most experience due to my training in Hurtwood Film Academy.