Documentary Unit - Filming on Location (Chatham Dockyard)

Today we were on location for a workshop at the Chatham Dockyards. We each got in our groups and got assigned an area to film in. We got an inside location where all the old vehicles were stored. It was great for still shots and that's what we mostly did as Helen and Ferg thought that they are generally the best for coverage shots like these.

We did try a few shots with a little bit of movement. They were ok, but not great. Luckily there were some very interesting vehicles inside that we could get some cool focus pulls and static shots.

The main issue with being inside like this was that the lighting was quite bad, we even used out phone cameras for a few shots to help with the lighting. It was a great lesson because for our documentary we will have a mixture of exterior and interior shots so it was an important lesson.

Most of our shots were on the tripod as you want a very steady shot for cutaway shots like these, however there were a few instances where we put it on a railing or something similar so that we could grab the shot quickly as setting up the tripod takes time.

For our actual shoot we will have a lot more time to plan what we are going to shoot, so we should be able to use a tripod for every shot, it would be bad if we don't, especially shots like these.

Overall it was a great learning experience which will help us make sure that our documentary comes out in the best possible way.