As Live Production: Old To New VT Shoot

As Live Production: Old To New VT Shoot

Today we filmed the Old To New VT for our studio production. Considering a lot of details about this shoot had to be changed quite last minuet we did a great job. And although I was only a researcher I still found it useful to be on this shoot.

This shoot was filmed at the UCA project space at Rochester, that we had booked out in advance. Connor Deamer was our producer, George Wing was our director, Alex Baldwin was lead camera, Alex Hargood was sound and assistant camera, and I filled in where I was needed as a researcher and production assistant.

One of the first difficulties we encountered was conflicting schedules. Today was the only day we could reserve the location, but we had the models booked for a different day. As a result we had to source new models just days before the shoot. We also had a time limit on the location and had to ensure we stayed on schedule.

Fortunately the models turned up on time and with me there to lend a helping hand we were able to set up really quickly. We had a photographer with us to help with the story telling of the shoot. Unfortunately they couldn't get their or Alex H's DSLR to work. Fortunately I brought mine as a backup. I gave them a quick tutorial on how to work it. Since it was a different make than they were used to they asked me for tips on how to get the best photos out of it and how to manipulate the settings. I was able to advise and offer help that would benefit the look of our production. 

The models were all wearing outfits and trends that I had researched in detail before the shoot. I picked the biggest trends from each decade that had returned and shared this information with Connor so he could buy relevant outfits for our models. This was done successfully and they had stuck to the themes I had provided. 

 
For each decade we also had a different lighting, which I helped set up and offered opinions on the rise en scene (for example I pointed out some marks on the wall that I was able to clean up so they didn't detract from the rise en scene).

George Wing had also prepared some props to match each decades trend which really enhanced the quality of the shoot. 

The first trend was from the 60's. The model sat on a stool so that the framing would match that of traditional 60's era photos. The model wore a mod style outfit that I had looked in to.

For 70's we had the model wearing patterned flares and they were surrounded by vinyl records. 

For 80's we had a simple roll neck jumper look paired with a bump bag. We also placed an old style space heater to help emphasise the era. 

For 90's we had the models sporting double denim and camouflage jackets. For this I helped set up a projector to play 90's related videos to make for a cool background. 

We had to dim the lights and blur the projector focus to get this to be effective without drawing attention from the models or causing copyright infringement. But I think it worked really well.

We covered a variety of camera angles (George made sure we covered all the ones on our shot list before seeing if we had time to experiment). We tried to get both tripod and hand held shots for each angle so we had options to work with in the edit. 

Both Alex's had great control over the camera, and although we didn't have a dolly we were still Abel to achieve decent movement and effective pans. Thanks to our mock up VT we knew to leave space for graphics and pop ups. We also were sure to get a close up on each individual item of clothing so we could create a tag for them in post. Although we had a different location to our mock up VT, we were also still able to get some great high and low angel shots by utilising the space around us.

My role today was mostly assisting with tripod and lighting set up's since really the majority of my work was completed beef the shoot. Still I made valuable contributions by helping to arrange props, projector set up (finding clips that fitted the era's I had researched) and I also took a variety of behind the scenes photographs that the promos team could use.

Overall today was extremely efficient and productive. We stuck to our time frame and shot list and even had time to get additional shots. George and Connor were very clear as to what they wanted and were able to communicate this effectively to both camera and models.

Both Alex's had great control over the camera and everyone worked together well. Considering we only organised the models a couple of days before the shoot, they were really professional and responded well to direction. Everyone demonstrated good initiative and problem solving skills, key for adapting a shoot to make it as successful as possible. I was happy to lend a hand and had effective input. The photographer, props, set and lighting design all helped to enhance the story telling and I look forward to seeing the edit for this.