As we have been doing over the past months, we have done a test shoot and scout for this sequence to allow us to understand the conditions and the possible issues we may have on the shoot date. This test shoot allowed us to understand that the biggest issue would probably be time, as we would only have 60 minutes with the personal trainer. This lead George to make the sensible decision to arrive 1 hour early to pick up possible shots we would need for this sequence. This would probably not be possible after the PT session as it would be getting dark and continuity would be an issue. I prepared a shot list and camera plan for the shoot which can be seen below. I also gave specific reference footage as I thought that would allow the crew to understand what style I wanted from this sequence.
SHOT LIST
MAIN CAMERA - SONY AX53
SECONDARY CAMERA - PANASONIC G7
DRONE
BOTH USING CLIP MIC
Fitness Shotlist:
- Drone shot of Tonbridge
- MAIN CAMERA W/S of Gym Entrance
- MAIN CAMERA MW/S Alex walking into gym
- MAIN CAMERA M/S Following Alex into gym
- MAIN CAMERA M/S Alex and PT speaking
- SECONDARY CAMERA C/U on whoever is speaking (Pan between both)
- MAIN CAMERA M/S Infront of two as they walk through gym (George to assist as Cailan walks backwards)
- MAIN CAMERA M/S Alex when exercising, seeing both the exercise routine an PT in shot
- SECONDARY CAMERA C/U on Alex when he is exercising - facial expressions, hands, sweat, feet. Mix between them all for coverage
- MAIN CAMERA M/S after exercise as the two find out the results and give feedback
- SECONDARY CAMERA C/U on Alex after exercise as the two set goals.
- MAIN CAMERA M/S As Alex walks out of Gym
- MAIN CAMERA UW/S of Gym Entrance as Alex leaves
- MAIN CAMERA M/S follows Alex as he walks to the car and gets in
- MAIN CAMERA M/S as Alex drives and reflects
Fitness Questions:
- (As two are standing still near the entrance) So I am going to be racing in my first ever motor race soon, are you able to assess my fitness level and see what I improve on?
- (As two are walking) So I’m a keen cyclist, but I could definitely put on a bit of upper body muscle, how important is that in motorsport?
- (Continued…) What do you typically find is the area most drivers need to work on?
- (Continued…) Well, I better see for myself then!
- GYM INSTRUCTOR TO RUN THROUGH MULTIPLE DIFFERENT “TESTS” TO ASSESS ALEX. ACTUALITY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AS THEY GO THROUGH THE TESTS. ALEX TO MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT DIET/ EATING THE RIGHT FOOD!
- (After tests…) That was pretty intense, how do you think I did?
- If you were to give me a few goals to reach, what would they be?
- So if I complete those you think I’ll be ready? - Answer “ Yes, but if you don’t get to that level, we would be worried about your fitness behind the wheel”
- Well, that gives me a lot to work on! Guess I better get cracking! See you soon!
- George to ask Alex in Car - “Are you worried about your fitness, as you have a lot to do in just a few months!”
However, it was quickly apparent that the test shoot would not be much use in terms of specific shots for certain pieces of equipment as George had not given me the reality of the situation. The PT would be going through various tests, but none of those was practised in the test shoot. While it did not ruin the whole shoot, it did mean the camera operators were going in somewhat blind as they had no experience in filming the exercises we would now be doing. George did a great job helping out the crew on the day but it would have been very helpful for the whole crew to have known know exactly what was happening. In hindsight, I probably should have made it clearer for. George what was going to be filmed, but he apparently never asked the PT what was going to happen. It was an oversight by George but we did not let this ruin the shoot day.
Cailan and Connor were the camera operators and that allowed us to have a large amount of coverage for this sequence. They both had observed my reference material and the shots that I wanted. They did well to adapt to the camera plans that were not quite in line with what was actually happening. However, the shot list that I created did allow for some adaptions which meant it would work well in different scenarios. Thanks to this both Cailan and Connor did well and captured the variety of shots needed to make this sequence interesting. We also filmed a PTC with the personal trainer which was once again shot on two different cameras. Cailan’s shot was nice and white balanced well as the room we filmed in was very yellow. Connors shot was okay but chopped off the top of the personal trainers head as well as not being white balanced properly. This was in the shot list so I would have expected a little better in this scenario.
The actual footage of myself doing the various tests was interesting but possibly didn’t capture the intensity that I wanted. This could have been down to the lack of knowledge of what was actually going to happen or because the crew were having to think on their feet. It was by no means filmed poorly but I would have liked the crew to have captured more close-ups as the medium and wide shots do not help the viewer engage in a sequence like this. The actuality conversation between myself and the PT went well and I felt like I properly immersed myself into the role on this day. As a contributor, I do feel like this was one of my better days so far as I was focusing solely on being a contributor, rather than a director/writer. I really appreciate the crew adapting well to the scenario and not questioning me continually on what they should be doing. They looked at what I had planned and adapted very well.
The main issue from today is that they did not quite give us the storyline that we would have expected. I did not actually go through the exercises needed to become better, rather took the tests to understand my fitness level. This means that I will have to adapt the story slightly so that we still have a montage sequence of me working out, as the exercises could not be done in the gym. They have sent me a workout routine which shows me what I need to be doing and I will definitely be following it from now to the race day alongside my current one. In terms of the script, I have decided that we will still keep the sequence filmed today but it will be condensed into a “workout montage”. The workout montage would be introduced just after this sequence as I think it is needed to show the viewer the various things I am doing to prepare for this race. We would then go back to the PT a few weeks before the race and see my results.
Even though it was different to what I have planned, I still think this sequence will be important in showing the journey I am going on as a presenter. Even though what was filmed today was good, one thing does stand out for me. The lack of a clear goal to try and beat was not established and I will be in contact with the PT to see if something can be arranged so that it feels as important as it actually is. The main concern is that these fitness sequences may lack interest if I am not actively achieving a goal, simply just improving. I will be working with George over the coming days to understand how we go from here and how we create a goal for me to reach. Doing this would give our sequence power and interest as the viewer would see the effort I am going to, allowing my dream to become a possibility.
This was not the smoothest day for the rest of the team, but I felt it went really well for me personally as a contributor. I allowed myself to feel like I wasn’t being filmed and I was simply there to take the tests. This allowed me to look much more authentic on camera than has been seen in the past and shows my continual growth as a contributor. This is partly thanks to research on my blog but also the experiences I have been going through while trying to achieve this dream. We learned lessons such as - the importance of clear communication with contributors; how to react when plans change, as well as the importance of a test shoot. I would have expected us to have a lot more issues if we did not test shoot a few weeks ago, so I am very happy that as a team we are spending the extra time on these. This is certainly paying off in allowing our documentary to achieve the high standards we all have. I’m not really looking forward to overcoming the challenge of how this is placed in our documentary together with how it is edited. I will be working with George over the next months, ensuring that my creative vision is not lost in the edit, while allowing George to be creative.
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