On Tuesday 22nd of September I went on a reccie to Brighton with the rest of the Media Studies students. I learnt a good few things from this trip, most importantly to remember to record from the end of your footage rather than the middle after watching some and forgetting to put it back to the end! This is very important because if you only have 1 day to record a set amount of shots and you overwrite part of your recordings it will be very difficult to get them back or to go out and shoot them again. It was also a good opportunity to familiarise myself with the camera equipment again. I learnt that it is very important to manage your time because, similarly to overwriting your recording, if you have 1 day to film and you don’t get it all done then it will be very difficult to plan another day due to organisation of booking equipment and having your performers available. Luckily we had good weather and so the filming went well and looked good but as it gets nearer to the winter it’s going to be harder to get good weather and so the possibility of bad weather needs to be taken into consideration as it could ruin the shots and potentially the equipment too.
We were given a shot list which consisted of:
• 2 exterior locations
• 2 interior locations
• MLS panning establishing shot for narrative/performance
• Use of high/low angle for performance
• Footage for sped up shot of character in crowd
• POV handicam shot
• 360 pan
• Tracking shot with character / performer walking in first person mode of address
• A variety of CUs suitable for instruments
• 2 shots of our own design
As you can see from the video above, I did not manage to film any interior locations but I feel that the interiors available in Brighton were not suited to my video. Another thing you might have noticed is that not all the shots included a character, this is because I, unfortunately, had no other group members with me and so I had to ask my friend Oli from another group which meant I couldn’t always use him as he had his own work to do. The first shot is a shot of my own design and I think that alongside the text it is very effective. This shot also features at the end of the video. I did this because I think that it is a very appealing way to start and finish the video. The second shot (MLS panning establishing shot for narrative/performance) was fairly simple but tells the audience where the character is located and gives them an idea of what the location is like. The third shot (high angle for performance) did not include a character but if you imagine him sitting on the beach or walking along the beach playing guitar or singing. For the fourth shot (footage for sped up shot of character in crowd) I was unable to ask Oli to stand there for 10 minutes whilst I recorded this shot but if he was able, I would have placed him about 5 feet away from the camera so that he has the busy world whizzing past around him. I think that I probably sped this shot up too much but with a character in the shot as well I may change my opinion. The next four shots feature the character performing on the seafront. The shots include a high angle, low angle, close up and a long shot. The ninth shot is the 360˚ pan which I took in the centre of the beach so you get a full view of the sea, seafront, pier and town. The tenth and eleventh shots are a tracking shot of the character walking in a first person mode of address. I did two of these shots because I didn’t know which looked better, tracking the rock as it went into the sea or just cutting as it was thrown. I think that both of these shots would look good in an actual music video. The twelfth shot is a POV of the character looking around then looking down and throwing a rock in the sea. I like this shot because it makes you feel like you really know how the character is feeling as it gives the impression that you are them. The thirteenth shot is the same as the third shot but is from a slightly different angle. The fourteenth shot is one of my own design. I imagined it to be a long shot of the character sitting on the beach, maybe in the same position as he is in shot twelve because it can then cut to shot twelve or cut from shot twelve. And finally, the last shot which is the same as shot one.
I only took 5 pictures as I only had my phone camera but I thought these could be good locations to film at. Picture 1 would make a very nice shot of the character walking towards the camera or they could possibly be leaning against the pillars singing or even leaning against the slanted wall with one leg up. Picture 2 doesn’t have a very attractive backdrop but if you had a close up of the character sitting on the steps or walking down the steps I think the shot could look very good. Picture 3 is of the beach with the pier in the background. I didn’t manage to shoot anything on the pier but I think it could potentially be a good location as I have been on it previously. Picture 4 and 5 are where I filmed the second shot and are where I could possibly film shots of the character leaning over the edge looking into the sea or leaning against the doughnut shaped structure. To make the shot even more interesting I could shoot through the hole in the doughnut with the character placed centrally leaning against the wall.
Overall I really enjoyed the trip and thought it was a great help for the course because it gave me an idea of possible locations and a better idea about time management.
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