Production (1)

Production Log 1

1. Experimentation/testing

I used the blackmagic raw camera with a 35mm lens, and a large lighting stand for testing/experimentation and for filming of some clips that I will use in my music video. 

Collation of the best clips I filmed on the day: 

For the footage recorded, I filmed outside in order to test for silhouettes. I also tested on lighting, with the idea of memories being shown onscreen, through the purple dim-lit lighting. The footage came out really well, and majority of the footage I recorded fits in with the my idea of having a VHS rewind/playback footage of some of the clips, in a collation/compilation way. 

I didn't have much experience with using the blackmagic camera, and so I had to watch a few tutorials in how to set it up and each of its settings. 

After learning how to use the camera, I conducted some testing with lighting in a home setting. 

Behind The Scenes:

Experimentation with silhouettes 

For experimentation with silhouettes, I decided to film from my observation deck at my house, which has a large open area. The area is high enough to see the sunset over the sea. 

Collation of the best clips 

The experimentation came out well, as the silhouettes were very good, despite the minimal lighting available, as I was not able to use the lighting stand, as there were no plug points in the area, and thus, I had to ensure that where I would place my camera had decent enough lighting. I decided to place my camera in line with the sunset at just over an acute angle, so that I would be able to actually capture silhouettes with the sunset still largely dominating in the background. 

However, there were some issues with the filming, as with the silhouette, the subject wasn't properly shown, and therefore their movements and facial expressions were difficult to show. After seeing the footage, I then changed the subject's angle, and tested out whether a side-facing angle would be more  successful, which it was. The subject's movements were much more prominent and therefore, I decided that if the subject were to be placed in this angle, it could be successful for my music video. Albeit, I would have to rethink this, and decide how I would be able to show actors movements with the silhouettes - the lack of lighting, was definitely an aspect that may have changed this outcome/result. Perhaps LED lighting boxes may instead be a better alternative to combat this issue. 

Shooting silhouettes at sunset 

Production 

Footage at Labrador Park

For the footage recorded at Labrador Park, I decided to record at nighttime/evening, as the lighting would’ve been perfect to record in, as I did want to have lighting from the park (which we used), and not have to use much external lighting (but, unfortunately, I did have to, as it was still relatively bright in the area during the preferred time of filming, around 6.30pm, and therefore had to use the only working LED light box, and change the settings on it, so that the lighting would be a yellow dimly-lit colour and the brightness was not too bright but also bright-enough, so that it would show up on the camera.). 

Although the footage came out alright, it was done very last-minute, and my actress wasn’t able to properly lip sync, as I was highly unprepared and my communication with her wasn’t too good, hence the footage came out as it currently is. I did not bring the large lighting equipment, as I knew it would be too bright, whilst the lighting boxes would be good, as it would light the subjects face to a certain extent. 

However, I did not bring my speaker on the day, and therefore, it was quite difficult for my actress to lip sync to the song, but she did do well despite the many improvisations on my part. Similarly, it was a Saturday afternoon, and there were many passerby’s and lots of the general public there, and so there were quite a lot of people who would often walk in on set, or walk in front of the camera whilst recording. This was challenging, as we would have to re-record the footage again, and so I decided to have a shallow depth of field, so much so, the subject would always be in focus. This proved successful, and continued to use this for the rest of the footage. However, as it was very last minute and a lot of improvisation, I decided to recollect, and try to make a proper plan, with ideas of what I would be likely to film on each of the days. 

Filming at OneNorth Park 

For filming at OneNorth Park, across school, we had to wait for about 20 minutes (10 minutes with the actors getting ready, and additional 10 minutes as the weather was storming, and very rainy outside, with lots of thunder and lighting). We had to wait for the storm to slowly pass before it was safe enough to venture outside and film.  

I filmed on the backdrop of a wall which was filled with leaves, which looked like the shape of hearts, and thus, decided it would be a great location to film in, and therefore took pictures there, before filming on the fisheye lens. 

The footage came out really well, and managed to take more polaroid photos, which also came out beautifully. We filmed the parts with the main artist, but was unable to take more videos, as the SD card then stated its memory card was full. As there was a lot of footage on the SD card, and we did not know whether we were able to actually delete the large amounts of other footage, I had to figure out alternatives. I then asked my film teachers whether I could delete the footage or just receive another SD card, to which they then checked the footage and stated I could easily delete it. I then exported my work onto my respective areas, and subsequently deleted as much of the footage as possible.

However, when we went back to film again, the memory card was still full, and so we could not film again. Similarly, my polaroid wasn’t working too well, as when I tried to take pictures on it, the camera malfunctioned and didn’t work, and therefore I had to quickly replace the film inside, with new film. This worked, and we continued to take polaroid pictures. 

Afterwards, I asked my teachers again, and they helped delete the footage off the camera manually. I tested the camera again, as I was still not too sure whether there would be enough memory on the card still. Thankfully, everything worked again, and I was ready to film again. 

Behind the scenes