J.D Reflection on Shoot

1.  When and where was the shoot?

• The shoot was carried out on the 11th of January at Hamish's house.

2. What scenes were you focusing on?

• the main focus of our work during this shoot was to get the main shots completed, to act as a scaffold to build the rest of the shots on. These building blocks will be, the final chase scene, the scene of the psychiatrist entering the house. The psychiatrist shot is important, because this acts to trigger the premonitions which make up the majority of the opening. 
  

 3. What was your individual contribution to the shoot?

• my activities during the shot were to act (TopHat) as the antagonist, I also played an important role in that I helped position and control the camera. Often I was the main controller of the stedicam, as I was able to keep the camera steady. I also had direct contact with Dan the actor playing the protagonist (Allen Daniels) as I aided him in dialogue and actions, by coordinating his role. 
  

 4. To what extent did your storyboard affect your use of camera and framing?

• Our story board was an effective starting point for our day of filming, as it gave us the base shots that we knew we would need. however our approach to the filming became more free as the day progressed, as we came up with new shots which had previously not been identified.
  

5. What do you think worked particularly well?

• During our shoot, we experimented putting our camera man on a Long board and having him follow us at speed, this meant that due to the large wheels on the board the shot was remarkable smooth and allowed us to have a shot that has been unmatched as no track and dolly which we have access to is long enough or smooth enough, the lack of track also meant that no track or rail had to be in shot.
  

6. What were the challenges of this particular shoot?

• Our Location caused particular problems with regards to our shadows and reflections being in shot, this was caused by the direction of the sun in relation to the camera, which is unavoidable, however we have managed to combat this by use of editing. The tripods were also found to be too cumbersome and we ended up deferring to use a stedicam. 
  

 

7. How will you use this experience to inform your next shoot?

• During this shot we have discovered new angles which we would previously not have used. this means in the coming shoots we will have a broader scope of ideas to use. it is also now visible that sometimes the simplest solution is the best (longboard tracking) and we should avoid over complicating things.