SHOOT DAY

We began the day off at 9 am on the 11th of November. My group who consisted of JJ, Leo, Tamara and myself were optimistic about our day and felt that we were organized and ready to shoot. We began in the studio where we arrived before the cast did to check that all the props necessary were available and as a group we were sure of what our target and idea consisted of.

We also wanted to ensure everyone was following the same hypothesis/narrative. So we began to check that the DJ set and the lighting was correct. We were using two ‘mover’ lights beside the deck and used multiple blonde heads lined above. The lights were extremely effective to create a realistic rave scene. The day before we had invited three photographers to follow the action from the studio set. We did not want to over crowd the studio with too many of them but we needed some good shots for the DigiPack. Our DJ, Glen who plays professionally was our choice for the character; he suited the roll well and the realism of the shoot was emphasised because of his background knowledge. Before the shoot we gave him a short brief on how to dress; jeans, coloured hat, headphones and an artistic top. He arrived at the set like requested and confident to start. We gave him a few minutes to become comfortable with the set and prepped him for his roll. Again, he got right into the moment and played naturally with a different song playing in his headphones allowing him to relax and get in the ‘vibe’ by dance with the music that he was listening to. As he practiced we tested the sound and colour bars on the camera and were ready to begin.

Matt and both sound technicians arrived with the equipment and we started setting up. The JVC500 was used which is an advanced camera in comparison to what we have used in previous shoots. It enables us to be able to film our work onto a memory card which can be cleared once it has been permanently stored and reused. The cameras also film in HD which is a huge step in the making of our film. Enabling us to see will great clarity the motions and actions of the gangs or the intricate hand movements from the DJ.

We set up one camera and placed it on the Vinten tripod and began filming from mid-shot. Initially we placed the camera about 15 degrees around from the centre and filmed in an unconventional manner; shaking and focusing in and out constantly. We filmed this multiple times for security, to ensure that we had the perfect run through. We also knew that we would be using this scene to cut in and out from the rest of the video. This being one of our main narratives it was important to film it correctly and get enough film to choose from when editing. Throughout these two efficient hours we varied the film angles using wide-shots as well as close-ups (using the same effect.) Once we were assured that we had captured all the shots, we started elaborating with a wider variation of shots. My of my favourites being the over the shoulder shot. We heightened the tripod to its maximum and angled the camera almost pointing towards the floor. We began shooting a full take of Glen on the decks. We targeted his hands and headphones to emphasise his actions. Once we were sure the actions had been filmed, we started brain storming for further ways that we could interest our audience and keep them excited. Tracking was one of our last options that we chose; side-to-side and forward and back. The tracking system was quickly set up using two RUBBER TRACKS that allowed the tripod to roll along with the chosen direction. We began with the ‘swinging’ tracking in which the whole scene was filmed by slowly and smoothly moving the camera round the front of the set. The second idea was tracking directly towards the DJ. We wanted to synchronize the music’s introduction with the slow camera movement. Moving in with the beat in which Glen would point is finger in the air and follow it down to the camera as we tracked backwards. From the monitor the shots seemed surprisingly good. The lack of organisation fortunately paid off this time. By then (12.30) we had finished in the studio. We packed up the equipment and all met in the edit suite to discuss our second half of filming...

The main problem for us was the second part of the day. In the process of planning the shoot there was a lot of confusion to what exactly we were filming and how it would work. So before we went to our location we came together and started to solidify an idea, an idea which could work using eight cast members. Obviously, we based our idea on gangs as we originally planned, but we had to ensure that the audience would understand that two gangs were competing against one another and the use of handheld would reflect the idea of aggression and jealousy between the gangs. Brainstorming continued for an hour or so and finally an idea of ‘caps/hoods’ and no hoods was thought of. This was an idea which could differentiate the gangs without any extra props needed. We had enough caps/hoods available for the four gang members to wear, we already had planned to use handheld cameras and it was decided to split both the gangs. Matt would film one of the gangs for an hour or so and my group would film the other. We would then swap half way through the shoot. This technique is similar to an insurance policy; to make sure we captured everything we needed, a sense of security. We ate lunch, packed the mini bus and drove to Beatrice Webb were we would conclude our shoot day...

We arrived at Beatrice Webb which was fortunately only a five minute drive away. We collected the equipment, walked round the gate and searched the environment that we were about to shoot in. Immediately we found props and objects that we could use for filming that the cast members would enjoy. We began straight away and split the two gangs. We began by experimenting with hockey sticks, batons and natural weapons that we found. We prompted the members to walk down the track path and run riot whilst stamping around. Throughout the day we kept experimenting with different subjects. For example there was a large pile of materials and wood that looked as if it was piled for a bonfire.

We simply asked the members to run, stamp, shout, and simply create havoc and provoke violence within the scene. The day seemed to follow on like this; with a few encouragements and briefs from the group we left the rest of the aggressive action to the cast members. I think the realism of the scenes were emphasised by the members genuine excitement and thrill to be able to smash and ruin any object that was in their way; to act as a ‘real’ gang member, to rebel. We continued filming for another couple of hours until it began to get dark .By about 5pm, we began to film our last two main scenes; one of which was the ‘burning car’ scene. Within this derelict area, luckily for us there was a rotten dumped car that we were able to use. One gang group acted out the scene of setting it alight. We followed the narrative through by asking one extra member to casually throw his cigarette away in the direct of the car, which coincidently would blow the vehicle into flames. This is one of my favourite scenes because of what the burning symbolised to the other gang, who beforehand had been using it as part of their territory. Obviously, we could only capture this once, so there was a lot of pressure. Our final scene finalised the gang war and saw them facing one another. Flares were used for one group and the others were standing on a higher ground. We knew that this would be our last scene of the day and we wanted it to conclude the video nicely, but he also had all intentions to keep the audience ‘hanging’.
(Here are a few photographs of the day that either the members of the group took or our selected photographers)
Overall, I was very pleased with the shoot day. From what I had heard I was expecting a very stressful and rushed day. My group worked well together and considering that we had not planned the second half of filming I thought the spontaneity was successful. From what we have seen from the rushes it looks as if we captured everything we needed/wanted to. The film so far has two strong and effective narratives and hopefully using good editing techniques we will produce a great video.