After we arrived, we introduced ourselves to Dan and the rest of the team and proceeded to observe the space we had available to us. This was very important as we had not been able to do a location scout beforehand. We actually had more space than expected, which allowed me to make some directorial decisions before I was in front of the camera.
Firstly, I wanted to utilise some dolly wheels we had bought for this project on the flat showroom floor. This would be the first part of the "walk and talk" interview as it leads nicely from the shot before where I walk through the door after meeting Dan for the first time. These dolly wheels along with the SteadyShot in the camera allowed for a hyper-smooth shot which looked both professional and natural. My main concern when reviewing this footage, however, was that it was more grainy than I would have liked. I would have expected, after the issues we have faced in the past, for a light to be fitted to the camera. This was something I could have mentioned, but I was also in the mindset of being the contributor, and that would have broken that immersion. This issue was present in the diary room test shoot and happened again in a low-light scenario. Therefore, one of my next blog posts will be looking into how we can effectively use lighting on-the-go and create natural shots without the grain. I was a little disappointed when reviewing the footage, that this issue had not been picked up on when filming, but it was something I could do little about as I was immersed in the role of the contributor. Saying this, the actual shot itself looked cinematically very nice. The smoothness of the dolly and SteadyShot allowed this scene to be very pleasing visually. One issue Cailan had which he noted was that there was a crack in the floor, meaning there were 1-2 seconds of unstable footage. I thought an effective solution to this would be filming a UW/S from up above, as both Dan and I walk over the area in which the camera had issues. This means we have options in the edit, as we might be able to fix the subtle movement as the camera goes over the crack. This showed effective issue solving as a team, as we understood the problem we faced and found a solution quickly. This showed we had learned from some of the mistakes of our prior shoot, which allowed us to move on quickly after the issue was resolved.
After we had filmed part 1 of 3, the second part of the interview took place on the upper level of the workshop. There was space for both Dan and myself to walk around the spares section of this level, which allowed us to have a visually interesting backdrop to our conversation. As a part of our mini-recce before the filming started, I envisioned three different areas for this interview to take place. 1- Ground level 2- Upper level 3- Car workshop. I also wanted the interview to feel natural and come off like a conversation, this meant the "walk and talk" technique I have mentioned previously has been implemented for part 1 and 2. Part 2 went smoothly bar George knocking something over and creating a loud noise in the middle of one take. Both of the first two parts of this interview did take a couple of attempts as we wanted to ensure both the camera operation and the conversation was smooth. Once again the shoot looked great. This time Cailan was using the handheld rig as the dolly could not fit but, a similar level of smoothness was seen. This smoothness is an incredible benefit of using this camera, it is not as stable as a purpose-built stabiliser. But, it is much smoother than a regular DSLR meaning we do not have micro-movements which can throw the viewer off. The equipment and its operation during today's shoot were exactly what I expected. However, as with the scene before it, we did have some grain due to the lack of light. After reviewing the footage I mentioned to the team that while the shots are great, the lack of lighting will mean this scene is not as good as it could have been. Going forward, I have told the team to carry lights on every shoot. If we are unsure about lighting, attaching a portable LED will typically make any scene less grainy. This was my only real issue with the whole of the day's shoot.
The last part of the interview took place inside Dan's car. This was probably the worst shot in terms of lighting, as we were inside the car which meant outside lighting was less. I suggested to George that he hop on a camera for this one segment to capture a second angle of me sitting in the car. I am slightly disappointed with the amount of grain seen in these shots, but as the contributor, I don't feel I really could or should have done anything on the day. I feel this is the responsibility of the camera operator, as all my directorial decisions were made before I was in front of the camera. I feel that the interview as a whole went well and we got some lovely footage, the grain, however, was our main nemesis today. The secondary shot George captured was not exactly what I expected, but we may be able to use it to cut around the lack of light on my face inside the car. It was worth having a secondary camera for this scene as we were sitting still, so I will see how this looks when George gives us a test edit. A lesson for our next shoot would certainly be the lighting, as mentioned earlier we should not have left this shoot with grainy footage. It was avoidable, but that is something we may have to solve in the edit, as we cannot reshoot this interview.
As a contributor, I definitely relaxed into my role today. The conversation with Dan was very natural and once in front of the camera, I was completely immersed within my role and duties. So, when reviewing the footage, I was happy to see how natural these conversations were and I was impressed that it was filmed in the style I was expecting. After the actuality interview had been filmed, Cailan filmed the pickup shots of me entering the building, shaking hands with Dan as well as transitions (walking up/down stairs) and beauty shots of the car. This was as planned in my shotlist, so will give us a lot of options when in the edit. As a team we effectively solved the minor issues we found when shooting, meaning that we have covered ourselves for the edit. As mentioned, the lighting was the only issue we need to look at going forward, and a future blog post will delve into this issue and how we can use different forms of lighting.
This day went very smoothly, which was thanks to all of our individual planning as a team, as well as having great access and a fantastic contributor in Dan. I am happy that this interview also tied in nicely with a sponsor we have got for this project. It means we can subtly include their brand without it feeling forced upon the viewer. I am looking forward to seeing a rough cut of this scene as it will allow us to understand any issues we may not have noticed at the time and when reviewing clips singularly. Overall, I feel this interview went better than I honestly expected. The footage we ended up with was of good quality and gives us things to think about going forward. I am happy we managed to pull together as a team and produce a fantastic interview segment, one that feels natural and honest, while staying professional at the same time.
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