Shoot Day Evaluation

1. Shoot Day Evaluation

2. What did you do the day before, to set up for your shoot day? • Prior to the shoot, we all met up in the TV Studio to prepare our first set up. • We all went around the music department and collected instruments such as the keys and stand, as well as the microphone. • Earlier that day I also unloaded all the gym equipment and brought it into the prop tent. • I made sure to bring the props in such as costumes and the Hungry Hippo's game the day before the shoot to make sure I didn’t forget anything. • Finally, we still had to create an award for the final set up – Fran had the idea to put the Hungry Hippo logo on a plaque and so before finishing for the day, I searched for and went to print out images of the cartoon.

3. How did you feel when you woke up on the morning of the shoot day? • I was quite nervous as it had been a while since I had been on a proper set. • I had been doing a lot of weekend shoots for several short films the weekends before however, so I was excited to see how far I had developed in my camera skills and directing.

4. How well prepared were you when you arrived for the shoot, what did you have to do before you could start shooting? • On the day of the shoot, we started off by meeting up again in the studio and then proceeded to gather the cast members for the first set up – the performance scene. • Everyone was well prepared and had all the props – the band were already in their costumes so all we had to take care of was the hair and makeup. • Personally, as I had the wigs, I was in charge of allocating them to the cast members and styling them. I wanted the wigs to look slightly realistic but also comedic. • I also had the job of ensuring that the vocalist knew and practiced the words.

5. Describe what the location was like prior to your set dressing? How did you adapt to the demands of the shoot? • Prior to the set dressing – the TV Studio was generally bare and the first set up was a simple dress. We had a plain black backdrop that wouldn’t show up on camera so ultimately it was up to the instruments and the surrounding lights to create depth within the set up. • Christ – the lighting designer set up Parcan lights to surround the instruments that we brought it. • After the first set up, the Parcans were moved to the side to create light for the second set up (the gym). For the background we simply used the grey walls of the TV Studio, we then just moved the gym equipment into place. • For the final set up of the competition, we returned to the black backdrop, placing a banner at. The back as decoration, then we moved the small table and chairs to the middle of the set up and Chris shone a spotlight. For this set up I focused on hanging and dispersing the balloons.

7. How did you divide the roles on your shoot day?What role(s) did you play? • Initially we were going to divide the roles so that everyone had one thing to focus on, soon we found out this would not be possible or fair as essentially whilst shooting we only needed a director and camera man, subsequently that meant that the two other people would be in charge of moving sets around and so on. • This we thought was unfair and we began to alternate the two primary roles whilst all contributing to set design as well as costume and makeup. • I first started off as director, but as we got to the final set, I took predominant control of the camera whilst someone else directed.

9. What do you think that you personally did particularly well? • I think that I managed to communicate with the cast and crew well – by keeping their motivation up and staying positive. • I believe this was essential as we were one of the last groups to film and particularly the adult part of the crew, had a tiring few weeks. • I also think that due to prior practice, I could easily use the camera which meant that we made up for time as we didn’t have to keep reshooting more of the complex shot such as using the camera on the dolly track and having to tilt and zoom at the same time.

10. What problems did you have on the shoot day, how did you solve them? • We did not have many problems on the shoot day – most of the slight hiccups included props. For example, the stand for the keys in the first set up kept falling, so Emm had to provide another stand whilst I set up the keys on it once again. • The eggs that we were using for the second set up had cracked, we also forget to get a glass which the eggs could be cracked into. Therefore, we had to ask the kitchen for a couple of eggs as well as a glass. • Finally, perhaps the biggest problem was us running slightly behind schedule as we took longer than anticipated to prepare our band members. Ultimately, we made up for the time in the end as we only finished 15 minutes past 3 which was the deadline.

11. Which part of the shoot do you think was most successful and why? • I believe that the second and particularly third set up was done quickly and efficiently which reflected our group getting more familiar with the workings of the set and being able to follow instructions and contribute ideas at a faster pace. • Visually however, I think that the first set up will turn out to look the most impressive and visually pleasing as it certainly echoed a late 70s and early 80s era. • I further believe that we worked well as a production team and therefore our communication on the shoot day was successful.

13. Which part of the shoot do you wish had gone better and why? • I believe we could have spent more time focused on the second set up as it felt quite rushed, and a lot of the crew were agitated. • This set up was just before lunch and therefore I think that we were under time pressure to finish the shots. • Subsequently, I believe that we could have captured more of the workout montage if out group collaborated and communicated ideas more efficiently. • This problem did seem to disperse however after lunch, so I expect that it was due to fatigue rather than a problem in communication of teamwork.

14. How well do you think you managed your talent (actors)? • Personally, as aforementioned I believe that I managed the cast quite well – in particular the band, it was easy to work with them as they were all enthusiastic. • For the second set up, the cast member seemed hesitant and rightly so as we asked him to complete some bizarre tasks such as shouting and grunting whilst picking up weights, nonetheless I believe that by the end of the session, my group managed to encourage him to do so. • For the final set up, we had to work with a younger cast member and so I believe a different approach had to be taken – I was on camera for the majority of this set up so I did little of the directing, however it seemed important to reassure and to express to the child exactly what emotions she should portray and so on.

16. What was the part of the shoot you enjoyed the most? • I really enjoyed seeing how all the set ups had turned out, in particular when I was behind the camera. • As this enabled me to not only see the live design but also how it showed up on camera. • Furthermore, I think that the camera work was the most enjoyable part of my day as it also gave me something else to focus on rather than simply the music that played on repeat whilst shooting.

17. What are you looking forward to seeing the most in the edit? • I look forward to seeing how the montage is put together and how the narrative will be edited in. • Furthermore, I am interested to see how the performance will turn out both aesthetically and how the jump cuts from the performance to the narrative will look.

18. How well do you feel that your production group worked as a team? • As afore mentioned, I believe that we worked well as a group – everyone was eager to help in any way they could and as we had been working on this project for a substantial amount of time, we easily caught on to the ideas of other group members. • I feel that now it is important for us to continue communicating in post-production as we work on our assigned tasks – I have been appointed with creating the digipak, therefore it is essential for me to work with Theresa who is overseeing costumes and social media to collaborate on the photo shoot.

20. What lessons you learned today that could help you make your next shoot even more successful? • I believe I have learnt the importance of communication and hearing everyone's ideas out. • For my next shoot I think that having a shot list would be a good idea to make that communication easier on the day as we would have already agreed upon what exactly we want the video to portray.