Shoot Diary: Day 7

Shoot Diary: Day 7

Today was our shoot at Brands Hatch. Although this day was organised in a rush and considering we didn't have much of a chance to plan or RECCIE it, the day went very well. 

It was just me and Alex today since Cailan and Andrew were busy,even though I was able to re range my entire life scheduled to get here for today, they still couldn't meaning I remain the only group member to attend all shoot days. This also meant Alex and myself had to do the work of two people each, which wasn't ideal but we managed. 

We arrived nice and early and used this opportunity to RECCIE teh location. We had some great access and were able to go right down to where all the drivers were setting up. This helped us work out what would make a good angle/backdrop. Where was too noisy or windy, and who would be good to interview. 

After this we sat down over a coffee break to go over the questions and discuss camera angles. We brought a Tascam and mic with us for the best on location audio. This also made us look more professional. We did a quick check to make sure the equipment was working, ran through the questions, then headed out to find an interviewee.

Ideally we would have contacted someone before shooting, but we simply didn't have the time. We walked around the paddock until we found one of the RECCIED locations we were happy with. We proceeded to look for some drivers who didn't look busy and were quite lucky to find one who was at the end of their lunch break. 

I was tasked with introducing us and our project since I'm apparently the best talker. i politely explained our university project to them and asked if we could borrow them for a quick interview to which they agreed. 

Alex walked them through our idea and the interview process, while I set up the equipment. We had one camera on a tripod for a wide two shot, and me on a handheld set up for punch in's (which we had previously discussed with Helen and she agreed was a good idea). 

I made sure the framing was even and Alex came to check and make a few adjustments since he knew how he would move. Once set up we went straight in to the interview using the questions we had prepared. 

Although it was meant to be "Live" it still took a take or two for Alex to warm up as a presenter. But he has developed so much in this project that it didn't take long for him to be on good form. 

The interview went well, I tried to move around a little to get closer but I think I could have done a better Job. I though about offering directing advice since Alex had to present and check framing at the same time. but I remember from last time that Alex found this ineffective so i thought it best to leave it to his natural judgement. 

Overall this interview went ok, I could have got some better camera angles, and the interviewee didn't give particularly great/gripping answers but that couldn't be helped.

So we politely thanked them for their time, then went to find someone else to interview.

Fortunately we found another driver quite quickly. I once again introduced us and the project and I could already tell they were far more interested in the idea and the interview than the last driver. 

Once again Alex ran them through the process while I set up the equipment. The wind started to pick up here so I used my bag as a makeshift sand bag to weigh down the tripod which seemed to work.

The "dead cat" on the tascam mic did a great job of eliminating wind noise, this was also helped by the fact we were slightly sheltered by tarpooling. 

We went straight on to the interview once set up and after a tiny stumble on the first take, we got a successfully wrapped interview on our second take. 

This interview worked much better. The driver was far more engaging than the last one, and Alex was on top form as a Presenter. The two bounced off of each other well and we managed to just about keep to our time limit.

I also felt my shots were more effective this time round, since I got more punch ins and close up's first of both, but then mainly of the Driver which will look good in the edit. 

We thanked the driver for there time and decided that interview would work really well so we could stop there (we also stopped since it started to rain). we headed back to there car to review the footage which we were pleased with. 

The rest of the day was dedicated to getting B-Roll of the drivers out on track that we could overlay later. Alex got a variety of shots while I took photos which I was happy to do, (its been a while since i've done photography and was happy to re-sharpen my skills). Alex also let me play around with the camera's manual settings, so I could adjust to the changing weather for the most effective shots.

Overall today was one of the most productive and enjoyable shoot days we have had in my opinion, despite being two crew members down.

Posatives

• We were able to RECCIE the location on the day.
• We got two successful interviews.
• The audio and framing were on point.
• Alex's presenting was also on point.
• We did the work of 4 people well.
• We got plenty of additional footage to overlay in post.
• We worked well as a team with no arguments.

Difficulties

• We were two crew members short which didn't make life easy.
• The weather wasn't always on our side and we had to adapt to changing conditions.