Filming Log Two

After trying to film the live performance in the first filming session, we decided to film it again. This was due to the time we allocated to film: sunset. The background changed throughout each take of the song making a continuity issue and the quality camera gradually decreased as it got darker.
Therefore, in the second attempt we made numerous changes to get around this:

• We decided to change the time we filmed from sunset to around lunch time to ensure the weather didn’t have an effect on the continuity. However, on the day of filming, the weather was still an issue as we had planned to film outside but it was raining and windy, which we realised would again have been a continuity issue in terms of hair placement throughout each take. Therefore, we tried to look for an alternative location. We found an inside part to the carpark we were originally filming at to continue the landscape background with the natural sky. We had three locations to use but we chose the one with the window and a green post in the background as it conformed more the ‘grungy’ tones we were aiming for.

• We also made slight changes to the makeup and costume of the artist. Instead or wearing white, we decided she would wear a black and white checkered top. This can connote a more complex character. This can create binary opposition of good vs evil surrounding the character, creating an enigma around her as a ‘star’ conforming to Dyer. Furthermore, in terms of makeup, we decided to go for thick eyeliner and a bold dark red lip to create dark tones specifically for the extreme close ups. This also creates a unique style for the artist.

• After the camera quality decreasing so drastically throughout the last live performance, we decided to try and borrow a higher quality camera of a friend. Her camera is the Canon 800d. The camera quality was a massive improvement from the iPhone camera we used. It allowed us to use the manual focus on the artist with the skyline in the background to create a shallow focus. It also had a manual zoom and hence allowed us to create smooth zoom in and outs throughout the shots to give us more variance in shot types. This was assisted by the tripod we used which ensured we got a stable shot to conform to the professionalism of other live performance we have analysed.

• The final improvement we made was in terms of how efficient we were when filming. As the actress for the artist had learnt the lyrics off by heart, we were able to take five takes of the song the whole way through of lip syncing. This meant we had five different angles of footage of the song that we can utilise throughout the live performance part of our narrative to make it more interesting and use more shot types.

After this filming session I have realised that we should change the time of day for the rest of the filming to midday where there is better natural lighting. Although this won’t apply to the library scene as it is inside, the natural lighting through windows will still effect the quality.

I will also be able to begin editing the live performance once we have the library and red thread scene filmed as it allows me to intercut the two aspects into each other and establish chronology.