Production - Shoot Day 13 South Downs Scout & Drone Footage

Today we visited the South Downs to complete a full location scout of the area in which we will be filming a short sequence where I speak about how I visit this area to calm my mind. Although this is only a short sequence, we intend to plan as thoroughly for this as any other shoot date we have. This day would also prove useful in capturing a number of drone shots for the opening of our documentary. I put together a schedule for the day with George a few days beforehand, which was made available to the group to ensure we were all on the same page. We were excited as a team to be in a less stressful environment because today was mainly a scout, meaning there was no pressure to film a certain number of shots.

After collecting Cailan we met George at the location (Birling Gap). We scouted out possible locations to fly the drone as we wanted a clear plan before the drone went into the air with its limited flight time. One mistake made was that Walkie Talkies were not brought by the producer, meaning we had to rely on a very weak telephone signal. This led to some issues with George flying the drone without us being on the move. It was something that could have been solved by using the walkie talkies we had purchased, but this was just an oversight.

My ideas for drone shots were as followed:
1- One shot flying in the opposite direction to the car
2- One shot looking directly down as the car goes through a twisty section
3- Drone follows car from the side so you see the sea in the background
4- Drone follows the car from behind as it drives

Once we solved these communication issues, George piloted the drone and captured some lovely drone shots around the South Downs. The drone had used a lot of its battery through the communication issue so we had less time than intended to get shots but what George did get was fantastic. I was really impressed that he took my ideas and evolved them to get further great coverage for our opening. These shots will help me when planning for the actual shoot date as I can think of further drone shots and establishing shots that we can film for our documentary introduction sequence.

The scout itself for the south downs followed, and we walked around 3 miles in multiple directions trying to find the right place for this important scene in our documentary. The location needed to have a thrilling backdrop but also not have too many issues with wind as this would effect our sound. Sound would prove to be the biggest headache to overcome when scouting as it was very windy which caused the majority of our microphones to be redundant. This is something I will be focusing on before we shoot this sequence as I intend this scene to have as good audio as the rest of our documentary. However, the importance of dramatic wind and similar noises would need to be captured on an alternate device as they will be important when creating a diverse soundscape for this scene.

We found a few possible locations for this shoot to take place and we mocked up a few possible angles with my DSLR as it enabled me to grasp if this was the cinematic style I wanted. I intend to re-visit the South Downs by myself so I can re-assess the situation and understand exactly where we should be filming this scene. We had a time restriction with a team member needing to get back for a family meal, which meant we did not complete our whole schedule. This was fine as it is not a location inaccessible to us and we can simply revisit before our actual shoot in a few weeks time.

One other thing I noted was the weather was a big issue that we could not control. On our scout we were lucky that the rain held off until we were driving home, but we must be conscious of these quickly changing and diverse conditions in this location so we will need to fully understand the weather before shooting, as there would be no point filming this scene in the wet or in very windy conditions. It simply wouldn’t work. We cannot do anything about the weather conditions but we will come up with a full plan in case there are issues with the weather on our actual shoot date. It is apparent we must be adaptable and react quickly as conditions can change very quickly on the South Downs.

The scout was a massive success and although we did not finish our complete list of things to do, we managed to do the majority and any parts missed will be able to be completed in the next week so we are completely ready for our actual shoot soon. I was very happy with how this day went and I think the time spent looking at locations beforehand will revolutionise these scenes when we come to film, as we know all of the possible hazards and issues. The habit of completing scouts, recces and test shoots is enabling our actual shoot dates to go a lot smoother and I am very happy about this. It shows the issues we had in the early weeks of this project have been understood and we have adapted accordingly. I see that we have made massive progress as a team and the quality of work we are producing is thanks to this further dedication to planning before we actually film. This scout makes me very excited for the actual shoot soon and I am sure it will be a success thanks to the time spent today, understanding how we intend it to play out.