I created a shot list as well as a camera plan which would allow us a wide range of shots. It has been great to have a variety of cameras available to us as it means we can edit each sequence to a higher quality. For this sequence we had four cameras, each with a unique angle. These, along with my plans can be seen below, and they give you an idea as to how we can change the camera angle depending on which works best. We had external help from a former Graphic Design university student who has video and camera skills and was extra crew, alongside Connor and Cailan. George would be in charge of taking crew stills along with his role as a producer today.
Shotlist:
GV: Driving to Brands Hatch
M/S: From back seat - Alex and Dad driving to track / into the venue
UW/S: Car parking up and Alex and Dad walk along, parallel to the barrier
M/S [Track and Dolly]: Alex and Dad sitting on the barrier
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“CHAT”
Alex R.O.F - Dad L.O.F For ALL Bar track and dolly
G7 - W/S: Looking towards Alex and Dad with a little space either side [Low Angle]
UNI PAN T+D - MS to MC/U: Track moves closer as both speak [continually reset after movement], from behind Alex and Dad
FZ330 - MC/U: Alex and Dad from a 45 Degree Angle
SONY - C/U: Alex or Dad depending on who’s speaking
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M/S,C/U: Cars on Track
UW/S: Timelapse of circuit buildings
W/S,M/S: Alex and Dad watching the race
W/S: Various Establishing Shots from around the track
We got to the location very early and I talked through the plan for all of the cameras as well as what shots I was expecting. Cailan had not created any storyboards for this shoot so we relied on the camera plan and my visual outlook for this scene. We had a slight issue with rough ground for the track and dolly but fixed this easily with a few stones to prop up either end of the track. We had to adapt by doing things like this otherwise we would not get the shots that we were after. Once the track and dolly was set up just behind the barrier, I focused on our other three cameras. Cailan would capture a Mid shot, Jon would capture a close up of whoever was speaking and there was a tripod which was capturing a medium wide shot at an angle. All shots would work together well in the edit and the various options would mean a clean edit process.
We had an issue which was possibly a slight oversight from all of the crew, this being the track commentator who would speak constantly from 10am when racing starts, until around 1pm which was lunch break. We tested to see how the audio sounded when there were cars on track as well as the commentator and while we could have possibly just about used it, I was not prepared to accept mediocre sound quality for this scene when the rest of documentary has had a lot of time and thought put into such things. The reason this would have been an oversight is that all of the track days we have been on recently have not had a track commentator so we had forgotten that on race days this would happen. I will hold my hand up to this and say as a long time visitor to race events at Brands Hatch I should have realised this beforehand. However, as we had to wait for around 90 minutes for lunch we decided to run through the sequence multiple times with cars and commentator making noise.
It was good that we did these tests as even though all of the shots were looking great, it became apparent that Connor was getting into Cailan’s mid shot [Which was also the main shot] so I had to think fast and find an adaption. My plan was for Cailan to slightly lower the angle of his camera as this would mean Connor would not enter into shot. To make completely sure that there was no issue I asked Connor to crouch down as that would mean he was even lower. This worked out well and we tested it again before we started filming and it worked exactly how I envisioned. Before we actually filmed, I looked through all of the cameras and was happy with the shot that they were getting, meaning we were ready to shoot. My Dad and I were both mic’d up and we both wore the dead cat on the microphone to ensure there was no issue with wind. This worked and the audio was very clean, exactly as it has been throughout our documentary.
Thankfully for us, the lunch break came 15 minutes early and after all of our practices we were ready to go. I had four questions that I asked my Dad and considering the time this scene was to take he gave responses that would answer the question without being too long. This was perfect for the edit and I think both the questions and answers worked well and we got exactly what we needed. To be sure I decided we would do 5 good takes so that the edit would be able to have a few choices. Both Cailan and I agree that Take 6 was the one, but we did do two further takes afterwards to make sure we had what we wanted. As soon as we finished our 8th take the commentator started speaking so it all seemed to have worked our perfectly. I was very happy with how the crew performed when reviewing footage - they got exactly what I had planned.
I am very happy that we worked around the issues we faced today. The biggest of which being the noise from the track commentator. I plan to overlay a buzz track that I previously recorded in the background so it still sounds like there are cars on track, but we can see if that works well in the edit. Once again a few cameras will need colour correcting, which does lead me to think that I have not emphasised the importance of this enough. I did send the shots seen above to the crew and they were happy with the angles, which is the main thing. The shoot went well and I think my Dad did extremely well considering how apprehensive he was about being on camera. He did a great job and this will allow the documentary to have much more grounding as it confirms my interest in motorsport from a young age. My Dad being a part of the documentary will also be a great moment for me personally and I look forward to seeing this again in years to come.
A great day in which we adapted quickly to apparent issues and came out of it with a number of great angles and perfect audio. The sequence is very important for our documentary so this will be one that I spend a lot of time on in the edit. The plans made allowed today to work around external issues and I want to maintain this consistency all the way until we finish shooting. I am very excited to see how our final few shoot dates go. The big race awaits and the journey I have been on has been incredible, we just need to ensure that this is apparent in our documentary.
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