Fiction Adaptation - Shooting

Prepping of shoots -
Knowing that i had from the 28th - 4th (Nov - Dec) to gather all of my footage was kind of daunting as after those dates i knew that whatever footage i did have, would have to do me for the edit. I looked into the weather during the week in Manchester and there was only one day with fairly decent weather so i planned with my partner a rushed time schedule of what time we'd get out there and begin filming. we knew roughly our primary location, it was situated in a large field, called turn moss meadows, and from there we would then venture down to the river Mersey to acquire some more shots. We had no actual idea of how the weather would really turn out so we wrapped up for all terrains. There was also quite a physical challenge taken on by myself before all of this was to begin, that was carrying the camera bag, tripod, and my large rucksack back with me from Maidstone to Manchester. Having to get the underground with that amount of stuff should be illegal, but i can safely say i did it, an also safely say i'll never be doing that again. 


Manchester
Shoot day 1 - 
This day actually fell quite short of what i thought i'd be able to achieve simply down to time management. I had spent the morning preparing and wanted to leave for 12pm, however my partner wasn't ready due to miscommunication and we ended up leaving to shoot at around 2pm. This left us with little time as we had to actually walk to our location from the house which was a time consuming 35 minute walk, by this time you could already see the colours in the sky changing and the sun sinking away into the abyss. My heart was sinking as the weather report gave me one clear day and it was running away from me so we set up shot in a nearby location with similar natural surroundings to speed the process up. So we got to the location and now we needed to set off the smoke bombs which were no way near as straight forward as they should of been. The smoke bombs needed fire to ignite them and a lot of it. I was sat with one for 10 minutes atleast with a lighter underneath it, in the mean time the weathers temperature is dropping and so is the suns angle. 

(Turn Moss, Stretford, Manchester)

I wanted to get a variety of the smoke bombs being set off so that when i came back to the edit i had a vast amount of differing smoke footage to manipulate. I knew that the more i had, realistically the better off i'll be as it'd give me a greater option to choose from. I was only actually able to get 2 shots on this day and i did begin to worry and anxiety began to build as the weather reports weren't looking hopeful.

Manchester
Shoot day 2 - 
I was extremely lucky as on Friday 1st December, for weather was a blessing! I got on the phone an organised a quick expedition to the same location to gather more footage with my partner. We headed out much earlier, around 12, so had plenty of time in comparison to the other shoot day. I did have a few issues regarding dog walkers, joggers etc, making sure it was secure to set off the smoke bomb, as i didn't want to attract any unwanted attention that could create set backs on the shoot, so i was vigilante and aware of my surroundings at all times. I felt i'd gathered enough smoke bomb footage at around 2pm so we made tracks on the upper level running along side the River Mersey. This is when things just clicked in my head and i knew i need footage of the river running down stream. Also coincidentally when i had my camera out the sky transformed within about 20 minutes of us shooting the river, into a gorgeous orange/crimson delight, an i just had to grab as much footage as i could. 


Maidstone
Shoot day 3 -
This to me was probably the most significant day in terms of the content i gathered. It was a make or break situation as I'd realised after coming back from Manchester that i didn't have the main arc of my subtle narrative, an i needed to shoot something that would represent the themes of reincarnation quickly. Flowers and fruit decaying needed a fair bit of time to achieve a decent aesthetic and feel, so i just went with the ice. Earlier in the day though i knew i needed shots of the night sky, and imagery that would convey new life/beauty in the everyday moments. I was struggling at first for the night shot, as the Panasonic DVX 200s don't deal great in dark spots, however the moon was that bright an orange, an with the zoom that the cameras have, i managed to get quite a nice shot. Then in the morning it began to rain, giving me a beautiful shot of rain drops gradually falling down through the crack of my loft window. It was a very opportunistic moment which i knew had relevance and would be able to be incorporated very easily into the narrative. Knowing it was raining, i had a chance now to grab the 'money' shot, a shot that i had drawn into my storyboard atleast three times, and had been so far, unsuccessful in trying to attain it, this was the leaf shot with water droppings on. Fortunately it was easily accessible and right outside the front door of my house, it took me a while to focus, and as i was fully zoomed in, a breathe of air would judder the camera, so i had to be incredibly still, however it was still relatively shaky. 

(Nearing the night)

It was nearing the night and i only had a few more hours to get the ice sequence shot, so i set up in the basement of my house. Gavin helped me with the tripod as i wanted it lowering to about just above the floor level. I had one light fixed in an upwards position, giving a solid drop to the ice melting. The shot was set and now it was literally just waiting it out and capturing the footage. 

(Ice shot set-up)

Analysis of all shoot days and footage gathered - 

I believe that i prepped a fair amount, but maybe didn't manage my time well enough to carry out the level of preparation that was done. The shoot days in Manchester didn't go as smoothly as the one in Maidstone and i think that came down to fully knowing the ins and outs of my narrative and that became so much clearer when i got back to Maidstone. I knew fully what was needed to be captured on the camera when i arrived in Maidstone and i think that was a result of knowing i didn't gather enough in Manchester which did put the pressure on a little. I think next time i'll have to think more about the structure of my shoot days, prioritise scenes that need a particular setting and lighting, e.g like being outside in an open space. 

I am happy with the majority of footage i acquired, it did make me realise how great these new Panasonic's are also. As well as that, it's definitely got me thinking more about the camera and its vast abilities, which is engaging me to think more about the actual footage i shoot and how it will be perceived and interpreted by the audience. Some things obviously didn't go great, out of 8 smoke bomb shots, i only used two, that was just down to being rushed each time they went off as you were always in a tense limbo, not knowing when they would set alight, but when it did you would never be ready. 

So i think i could definitely improve my patience behind a camera, and i need to take out one of the cameras in my free time and really delve into the vast attributes it holds an absorb as much as i can about it if i do want to get into camerawork. 

Also, not to allow everything to be left last minute, this is in regards to the ice melting sequence, I knew i had a rough idea but i didn't believe it could be achieved so i kept batting it off until i knew it was the only option. If i maybe applied myself to that initial idea in the first place then maybe i would of gave myself more time to enhance that sequence? 

Overall, my shoot days were more of a success then a failure, i wasn't able to capture one of the initial ideas, but i replaced it with a similar visual concept and now in the edit i should have lots of footage to play with.