BWB - Reflection on drama studio shoot

Who, Where When?

• On the 17th November our sixth form had an own clothes day as part of a fundraiser for the sixth form charity. We decided to make the most of this and take the opportunity to shoot our "Party" scene at 12:30. I explained the concept of our video in an assembly earlier that day and asked for volunteers to come to the drama studio at lunch and be a part of our video. This proved successful as we managed to get a group of 20 people together at lunchtime which was the number we required. During my free period an hour before we filmed, me and Ollie we went to get some props including balloons and plastic cups in our efforts to transform the drama studio to a stereotypical party scene. When we came back from getting the props Mr Fiveash and Mr Pearce kindly helped us set the lights up in the drama studio and with the props added into to the room we managed to successfully emulate the look we were after. Everyone arrived at 12:30 and we had finished filming and clearing up at about 10 to 1.

My role in Production

• My role in the shot was to collect the props as previously mentioned and make the most of my free time before lunch to successfully transform the drama studio into a realistic party scene. Furthermore I played a significant role in getting a large group of people together so we had enough people to act in the dance scene and successfully briefed our concept before we began filming so everybody had a clear understanding on what we were looking for them to do. In addition to this I carried on my role of the main character when we started filming featuring in almost every scene.

What were your best shots?

• Our best shots where achieved when using the steadicam as Ollie went through the crowds of people dancing catching footage in 60 frames per second which have now been slowed down and look really effective. The majority of our footage was shot in this format and when put onto our editing software all looks very professional.

How useful was the shot list?

•  The shot list was only really used for our first two shots in the drama studio of me swiping my hand across the lens complying with our narrative and brought the party to life. Other than this we quite simply improvised as all the actors did an excellent job of dancing and representing youths at a stereotypical party. This enabled Oli to go round and film whatever footage he deemed necessary.

Any problematic shots?

• We had an issue when filming the swipe across the camera. This was due to the very high amplitude on the camera meaning that the background was very dark and it is quite hard to see the actors in the distance, however we believe this issue can be rectified by enhancing the lighting on our editing software. A further shot we weren't able to successfully achieve was the high angle shot. This was due to the incorrect framing, you can see to much of the background such as book cases and stacked up chairs, so we were unable to use that piece of footage. Overall it was a very successful shoot, considering the large amount of people involved and the short space of time we had.