YM- Filming Day, London

On Monday 24th October, Abbi and I went to London for our shoot with our actors.  We had split the required equipment between us so we were both responsible for ensuring we had all the equipment we would need.
Abbi was generally in charge of the producer/director roles while I focused on the cameraman roles.  However we did have a chance at each others roles so that we both contributed creatively in all aspects of creating a music video.

We did face a couple of technical problems that caused us to find a solution.  Firstly, we arranged to meet at 10am at Waterloo Station, however we fell behind schedule early on when our actors missed the stop and went over to Charing Cross before having to get back to Waterloo to meet us.  Regardless of our late start, we got to work as soon as they arrived, filming them walking through Waterloo Station, not wasting anymore time.  We knew at this point that we had to get to each location quickly and film the footage with no messing about.  Also, we were aware that sunset is earlier in autumn months and this late start would put us at risk of not finishing our filming in time for sunset hence our need to continue from location to location as quickly as possible.

Another problem we faced was the batteries running out half way through the day, giving us no way to work the camera.  We took 2 fully charged batteries with us on the shoot but due to our narrative following the day of a group of men, it was essential to have the camera on between loactions to capture some more natural footage for the video.  To overcome this, we took a break and went to find an electric plug which we could use to charge the batteries. This, of course, put us slightly behind in our schedule but with the battery charged enough to last us the rest of our day it was extremely beneficial.

Overall, the day went really well, we captured a wide range of footage that we had planned to take and caught some really natural moments which is an important element in indie videos. It was rather challenging having to direct 4 teenage boys to act in different ways but if we decide to do a shoot of the band performing to get more close-ups then we will have knowledge on how to direct them better. Similarly, it should be easier to film in a confined space as there is no risk of members feeling embarrassed and we can adjust the lighting to our specifications.