Construction Post 1: Studio Shoot

Preparation:

Reflecting on our test shoot, there were a couple of issues we identified which we wanted to improve upon for our main shoot:

• The lighting was a little bit shy of the 'infinite white' backdrop we were looking for.
• We didn't have many shots in which our lead singer, Luke, was not singing. This meant that some of our editing was inconsistent as it switched between shots with and without singing.
• Some of our shot setups were a little bit dull; we wanted to vary beyond standard close-ups, mid-shots and long-shots.

With this in mind, we have made some preparations for our Studio Shoot.

Firstly, we decided to work on our set design. This included making adjustments to the cyclorama as well as the lighting; we have put tape over the connection between the floor and the cyclorama to make the transition between the floor and the ceiling more subtle.

This difference was very noticeable when we compared it to our lighting from the test shoot. 

Our lighting from the test shoot (top)
compared to the lighting we achieved
before our main shoot (bottom)

In addition, we made a couple changes to our shootboard as we decided to add some different shots. Types of shots we added include:

• Low-angle shots
• Over the shoulder shots
• Side-on shots (these were more difficult as we had to make sure the cyclorama was not in the shot)

We believe that including more of these types of shots will make it easier keep our music video quick and well-paced during post-production.

During the shoot:

In our studio shoot, our roles were largely the same as they were in the test shoot. Once again. My dedicated roles had me managing the lighting and ensuring that we were keeping to time, but I also contributed significantly to the shooting of our footage.

As well as shooting our required shots from our storyboard, I set aside some extra time to get filler shots. My reasoning behind this was that we had some concerns about whether our concept would be enough to sustain the whole three minutes. These filler shots will be useful to fill in the gaps between our performance and concept.

Beyond this, I spent the time inbetween shots managing the set and making sure we could make the transition as quick as possible. This task involved setting up the props we would need for the next shot and giving our actor some direction on what we need from the take.

If I were to do our shoot in the studio again, the only change I would make would be to have a clearer idea of the kinds of specific shots we want, as one of the main concerns we had with our concept was progression. If we'd had a clearer idea of how the concept in the studio would have progressed, we could have shot our footage with a greater focus. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the footage we have been able to get.