Account of Shoot Day - Performance

Before the band arrived at 8.50, Laura, Fergus and I collected all the remaining props from the theatre department and ensured that everything was set in place. When the band arrived, we discovered that our bassist had a November Assessment which he had to attend and therefore wouldn’t be available for the shoot until 10am. Although this would hold us back slightly, we decided to let the drummer and lead singer/guitarist rehearse with the track whilst we set up the camera.

Halfway through setting up the camera for out shoot, we decided to use a different camera as the quality would be of a much higher quality. The only disadvantage to using this camera was the fact that we didn’t know how to use it at first, as the technology on this camera was much more advanced than the one we had previously used. However, Fergus knew how to use the camera as he is in the Film Academy, so he gave us a quick demonstration on how to use it. With this camera, we had to measure the distance of the band members in relation to the camera in order to set the pull focus points. This was quite a complex and time consuming procedure, but it was effective in creating the image we wanted.

When our bassist arrived at 10am, we began shooting – first focussing on the wide shots of the whole band, and then on the individual close ups of each band member. Due to our silhouetted lighting set up, it was difficult to see the band’s faces, and although we didn’t really want to be able to clearly see their faces, we thought that a subtle hint of their features would look effective, so we decided to use a reflector. We used the reflector to reflect the light onto the band’s faces which enabled us to see their faces slightly more. There was one shot in particular of lead singer which was really successful, because the reflector picked up hints of his facial features, whilst the lighting made a silhouette around his hair.

As we approached the end of our shoot, we decided to do some tracking shots of the band, which involved setting up a track route around the band. First we started off by setting up a semi-circle track around the band, which enabled us to focus on each member of the band with one smooth, seamless shot. Initially this was quite a daunting prospect, as I had never used the tracking equipment before, but after the first shot, I became fairly confident with it. We then set up another tracking set up, which was a straight diagonal line down the side of the band. This tracking shot didn’t work as well, but it has given us an wider selection of shots to choose from.

Overall, I think the performance element of the shoot was very successful, and we managed to complete the shoot within about 3 hours without any drastic problems. I think my team co-operated well, as we all shared the roles so that each of us had a chance to use the camera and shoot a few shots. However, Fergus had the most shooting experience as he is in the Film Academy, so Laura and I took more of the Directors roles to allow his to be the cameraman.