TV News: Shoot Diary Day 2

TV News: Shoot Diary Day 2

Today saw the second day of shooting for our news project. Cailan wasn't feeling well today which put us at a slight disadvantage, but I think we adapted well. 

This day was dedicated to obtaining B-Roll from Smart, dealerships and other places that would make great footage for OOV's and cut away's. After a quick group meeting we planned a few locations that we knew we wanted to visit, and planned a few potential additional locations in case we needed to fill time. 

First point of call for today was the Smart dealership. We had previously obtained permission from and RECCIED this location so filming was quite simple. Alex had his DSLR with hand held support and Andrew was given the second camera with the Fig Rig. 

Since there were only three of us today I had to be a primary camera operator which i didn't mind since I certainly know my way around a camera and had a clear idea of the shots I wanted which really helped. I really wanted to get some pans and motion shots with my mini Dolly/roller and Alex was kind enough to lend me his Go Pro which worked really well, so BIG SHOUT OUT TO ALEX for that. 

With this we were able to get some great shots, Alex did some focus pulls and other great stuff, while Andrew got some close ups. Myself, I had already planned out some pans and tracking shots that I wanted to achieve. And although they took slightly longer/more attempts to get right than I had initially anticipated they payed off in the and and I got some great angles with my dolly and the go pro that would be hard to achieve on any other set up. This honestly made me very happy and I was pleased with the results.

The only trouble was we did keep getting in each others way and "stepping on each others toes" as we were fighting for space at times. However we learned from this and when we went over to our next location (Nissan)we split in two groups. I started outside getting some shots of parked cars and charging stations. While Alex and Andrew got shots of the cars inside. Then we switched and this worked a lot better. 

After a quick lunch we set out to our next planned location, which was the Tesla Super Charging station. We got a few shots of the area. Alex got some good pans and cut ins while Andrew focused on iconography shots. 

Alex appears to have taken on the directing role for this project, and although I feel we should have discussed this as a group; it doesn't matter too much. As he has better knowledge on the subject matter than anyone else and i know he will do a good job. Besides my skills lie in post production rather than directing anyway, so I didn't want to get in teh way when he could probably do a better job. He seems very enthusiastic about the role as well which is good.

Next we went to obtain more "B-Roll" of cars driving past in various places that we could use for cut away's. I helped set up the shots and shot a couple of extra bits with the go pro. I think we left the camera running longer than necessary but its far better to have too much than too little. We went for a drink in Next/Costa and also got some shots from high up out of the glass walls (we asked permission first). This gave everyone a chance to relax a little and get over the fact we got in each others way a little earlier. 

Then to conclude the day we went to the day we sat and reviewed the footage from today and yesterday and were pleasantly surprised with the results. We realized that we had missed 1 or 2 shots from yesterday, so went to do a couple of pick ups. 

Unfortunately at this point Andrew had to leave suddenly and had us drop everything just to take him back to the studios which was incredibly annoying. Alex and I proceeded back to the same closing/opening location as yesterday and used our team working skills to get the couple of shots that we missed yesterday.

Overall today was very productive and went all according to plan, we were even able to fit in bonus locations. 

Positives

Alex came with a fresher mind today and was able to see the positives of his presenting. 

All that attended today had a fair contribution.

We were very productive and able to fit in all planned and bonus locations. 

We improved our team working skills slightly.

We were able to review footage and had some nice positive results.

All equipment was utilized very well. 

 

Difficulties

We were one group member down today.

We did get in each others way at times.

While at the Tesla charging station we had to wait for some cars to pass before we could start filming. 

Andrew had to leave early which messed with the flow slightly.