The old to new photoshoot is going to be a montage-style sequence with period music as the backing track. The idea for this photo shoot was to get a mixture of shots for each of the four styles in which Alex.H will edit together a 2-minute sequence. Each outfit would work out at 23 seconds of footage with 7 seconds of transitions between each clip.
As with the studio, I am the camera operator for VT which meant I was in charge of rigging the camera, tripod and sound and then getting the shots that George.W had planned. I enjoy getting the camera set up and getting the perfect shot but we were rushed due to only having three hours of shoot time in the project area. This meant in reality, we would have about 30 minutes for each photo shoot as we would have time for rigging and de-rigging as well as changing set. We set up within 20 minutes and Alex.H checked the sound on the camera before we started shooting just in case it may come in handy.
We had three large tungsten lights set up for our lighting which created a really nice backdrop. The photoshoot looked professional as well, with one of Conor's friends standing in as a photographer. This added to the whole shoot as it looks like there is a reason for the model posing to the camera instead of just posing for the camera which would have looked a lot worse.
The project space was not the largest but we did the best with what we could get. We had a nice (if slightly dirty) background in which the models would be modelling in front of. The area also had some nice props which we ended up using eg. Stall, Heater which gave us more of an interesting backdrop than just a wall. Conor had also sourced such things as a record player meaning that the props would keep with the era themes that we were filming.
George was really good as a director as he constantly had the shot he wanted on his iPad as well as having a good idea in his head what this would look like. This means that even though I was setting up the majority of the shots, I would ask George if he liked it as well. I did also use my initiative for times when George was thinking about how to plan shots, by filming some shots that I think would be useful for cutaway shots if needed in the edit.
As Alex.H did not have anything to do after he checked the audio levels and quality, I decided it would be fair to give him the opportunity to film some shots for the piece as he was editing and may have some ideas for good shots that I may have not got. Of course, I would have loved to have been able to do the whole shoot myself, but I didn't feel right hogging the camera when others had a creative vision as well. I still shot the vast majority of the shoot, but I think a change of operator for a few minutes would be good for the edit if there where shots Alex.H could think of, that George and I couldn't think of.
To make sure the four photoshoots where different, we decided to change the set design between each model. This was a good idea because then we would have a nice variety of backgrounds for each segment. I particularly liked the last one we did for the 90's segment. We had the projector playing with some 90's content playing but we used the blur on the projector to avoid any copyright problems.
I knew we were tight on time and George.W had a lot of shots to get through, but I was constantly making sure that the camera settings were correct. White balance was constant but sometimes I had to let more light into the camera depending on how many tungsten lights we had on.
We de-rigged quickly and efficiently before our cut off point of midday and had around 10 minutes to spare. The models and photographers acted in a very professional manner even though all of them were novices in the roles they had been put in. I hope this was easy for them as all of us operated professionally but also friendly so that we eased the pressure on them in something they had never done before.
I feel like we worked really well as a team because we did not have any problems with the filming, the only thing was the time pressure which we dealt with really well. We got all the shots that were on George.W's shot list as well as capturing other great angles to make sure we had the coverage for the 2 minute segment. As with my previous projects, I feel you should always shoot way more footage than needed so we do not need to worry about the edit.
Overall I was really pleased with the whole shoot day. It was really well organised by Conor.D and George.W gave really clear indications about what shots he wanted. I feel like I did a good job with the camera capturing the shots that I was asked to do as well as using my initiative in getting extra shots to make sure we had coverage. I think giving Alex.H the camera for a few minutes will give us variety in the edit, in which his main VT role starts. George.N took some great pictures for the blog as he did not have much else to do as he was mostly involved in planning the VT. He was very helpful when rigging and de-rigging and moving equipment. I feel considering the short time we had in the project space, we optimised it fully and it will look great in the edit.
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