Shoot Day evaluation

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  1. What did you do the day before, to set up for your shoot day?

Prior to our shoot day, we began to set up in the studio. We debated lighting patterns and gobos for the wheel with the lighting technician, and revealed our shooting schedule. We explained that we were to shoot in this specific order to accommodate makeup and hair requirements, such as not constantly having to change hair and makeup. We decided on what looks best out of all the colours we were shown. We liked the blue and the pink dotty colours. If we had enough time on the day, we were to use the spirally gobo as an additional lighting feature.

 We ran into various problems prior shoot day. Both of our backup dancers fell ill, meaning that we had to find last minute back up dancers and have them quickly learn the dance and bring in/try on costumes. 

  1. How did you feel when you woke up on the morning of the shoot day?
I felt good waking up on the morning of shoot day. It was an exciting day ahead of us. I got up early to meet the crew on set, so we can prepare and set up. I felt confident with our new dancers, and had faith that they would do a good job. 








  1. How well prepared were you when you arrived for the shoot, what did you have to do before you could start shooting?
Before shooting, I checked in on how the set was going. We had simply draped some black curtains across the wheel and blacked out any gaps of light there was. I told the dancers to arrive at 8:30, so that they could learn and practice the dance until they were needed. I also told them to choreograph their own movements, as we trusted them to execute this task well and stick to the style of music. Jackie, our makeup artist, met us at 8AM to set up her station, and began Nandi's makeup at 8:30AM.

We presented the costumes to the dancers, and discussed footwear. We quickly decided to go bear-foot for the dancing, as this made it easier for them to dance and it would be more effective than wearing flats. 

 We then began setting up the camera and beauty lighting.We set up the lens, by using an iPhone app to configure and identify which lens was needed. when required we used a measuring tape to measure the distant between the lens and the object. We were using a black magic prime lens camera. 





  1. Describe what the studio looked like when you started to shoot, how well do you feel you managed to create the look of your concept?
The studio was dark as it was surrounded by black out curtains. We had a big TV connected to the camera, to act as a monitor for the crew to see what was happening during filming. We made At 9AM, Whilst Nandi was getting makeup and hair and costumes on, we decided to do some shots with the dancers in the wheel. As this was silhouetted, we weren’t concerned about lack of makeup or hair on them at that time. We told them to do some striking poses and slow movements in the wheel. This also acted as test shooting/ extra footage. From this we could see how everything was going to look and help us take advantage of the time we had waiting for Nandi to be ready. I made sure that the shots were visually how we wanted them, in terms of composition and shot type. 
Nandi was ready to begin, we did one shot of her as a silhouette. We didn’t need an extraordinary amount of her silhouettes as we already had the dancers now. We produced more takes with her lip syncing, to help her warm up and get used to the whole filming process. 









  1. How did you divide the roles on your shoot day, what role(s) did you play?
We divided our roles pretty easily on the shoot day. I played the role of the cameraman, as I am the best with technology. Amr has a very creative eye, and knows how to create a performance. He was therefore the director. And lastly, Saskia was the art director and sound playback, as she is good at organising and getting everything to run smoothly. We all agreed that we would chip into each others roles, and contribute with our own personal opinions. For example, if Saskia was sorting something else out, I would run upstairs to see how Nandi is doing in makeup. Me and Saskia also contributed to what we would like to see performance wise. 


  1. What do you think that you personally did particularly well?
I think I personally organised the shoot day very well. As I had conversing with Jackie and our cast, I introduced them to the rest of the crew and reminded them what they were doing. I also contributed to the direction of Nandi, and gave her advice on performance, such as singing the lyrics and performing it like how she did on the test shoot.  

As cameraman, I think I meticulously looked at the framing and any problems very well. I would shout if Nandi's bodytape was exposed to the camera, or if her eyelash was falling off. These minor details would be very obvious in post-production and for the audience to see. 

 I think I also organised costumes very well for the shoot day. I brought them all in a box, where I was keeping them in my house. And placing them out whilst explaining to our talent which is which. 

I was also responsible for behind the scenes. As they were changing sets or discussing performances before rolling, I would take a DSLR camera and shoot the behind the scenes pictures. I think I captured different parts of the music video process very well, as well as taking pictures of the talent for reference. 

  1. What problems did you have on the shoot day, how did you solve them?
We had problems in terms of timing. We had many sets and shots that we wanted to do, however, little time to do it. We thought it would be best to get the biggest elements out of the way, without sabotaging the shooting schedule. We therefore did the wheel first, especially as it needed to be destroyed immediately afterwards to allow more space in the studio. We got the most takes for the wheel.

 Another time-related problem we had was the amount of sets we had. We realised we may not be able to do all of our sets in time. I suggested that the similarities between the dance elements and the screen, will allow us to scrap the screen element, and shoot the same element on the dance background. This worked in our favour, as we saved a substantial amount of time, rather than resetting and moving the set around.

 There were smaller problems on our shoot day as well. Some involved continuity and wardrobe malfunctions. As I was watching carefully through the monitor on what was happening, I noticed these and quickly pointed them out, so they will be fixed before the next take. E.g. Eyelashes falling off, body tape exposed etc.

 I also discovered half way through a dance take a peculiar spot, in what I thought was a lens flare. We cut the take and looked into what it was. The spot turned out to be on the camera itself and not the lens. Another spot had also arisen. We solved this by spraying the camera with high pressured air. We also discovered a dead cell on the camera.

  1. Which part of the shoot do you think was most successful and why?
I think the most successful part of the shoot was the wheel, which was fortunately our biggest element. We obtained plenty of footage from each girl, without many problems. The dance element was tricky with the spot of air and the florescent element we could not finish due to time. 


  1. Which part of the shoot do you wish had gone better and why?
I wish that the florescent element would have gone better. I wanted to spend more time than we had on this element, and get some more footage to play around with. We wanted to use the fan element and a long shot of Nandi in the florescent lights. We also wanted to get some other shots of Manu. We especially wanted a close up of his lips rapping, to give that mysteriousness and a different shot type to the rest. However, we ran out of time for this and began to rush the process to fit everything in.  


  1. How well do you think you managed your talent (actors)?
I think I managed our talent well. I made sure they had everything they needed to know. The dancers continued to practice and choreograph the dance, whilst I told Jackie what we wanted from makeup and hair. Amr was directing Nandi and Manu and telling them what to do when shooting, whilst I told Nandi to actually sing the words, and that it doesn't matter what it sounded like. This was so we could obtain the best possible lip syncing performance. 


  1. What was the part of the shoot you enjoyed the most?
I enjoyed setting up and shooting the wheel. I enjoyed watching the dancers silhouettes and doing different tracking close ups of their hands and feet. I think these will be very effective shots to use in post-production. 


  1. What are you looking forward to seeing the most in the edit?
I'm looking forward to seeing the footage that we have, and considering how I will assemble them together. I will use the storyboard and the timeline to aid me through this process. I am also looking forward to exploring what takes work together and cutting it to the beat. 


  1. How well do you feel that your production group worked as a team?
I feel that out production group worked extremely well as a team. We listened and respected each other's opinions, and we all sacrificed at least one of our suggestions to the others, in order to make the most effective music video as possible. On the day, we all conversed with each other and shared information, so that we were all on the same page. For example, we would ask each other if anyone had recently checked up on how Nandi or the dancers are doing in our waiting area. One of us would then volunteer to go and check.

  Right up to the shoot day, we were constantly communicating in a group chat, so that who had done what, and what we've prepared for was clear to all three of us. The allocation of the roles was also simple and easy to assign; especially as we knew we would all chip in our ideas and suggestions to each other's role, for example: Amr suggested to try some shots that he quite liked, whilst me and Saskia aided him in directing Nandi and what we collectively wanted her to do. We were also able to make quick decisions on shoot day. 


  1. Are their any lessons you learned today that could help you make your next shoot even more successful?
I think the biggest lesson we learnt is how to handle the pressure of time. We had many sets with little time to do so. I think to make our next shoot even more successful, we would make sure we get all the shots we wanted, and then get some extras that aren't as vital or necessary. 


  1. Are there any changes you might need to make to your website and artwork, in order for them to fit in with the video that you have shot?
I think there are no significant changes to be made to the rest of our campaign. We created the iconography and conventions we visualised well. One problem we had is the head falling off the snake on the armband. However, this is so insignificant and still looks like a snake. We will therefore continue with the snake iconography for the remaining campaign formats. 


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