Filming Day 5 - Dartford Car Park - Luke

5/12/12

In the initial stages of our planning we wanted to make sure that throughout the duration of the video, the music plays a key part in the editing of the video. This means that we wanted the pace and beat of the music to determine when there were cuts, how frequently, and what type of action was being on screen.

Near to the middle of the song there is a section where the music slows down to create a tense atmosphere, and after a lot of thought, Josh, James and I decided on adding a confrontation between Dan and the two masked characters. One idea that we had for the confrontation that we were forced to change was the idea of the two masked men carrying guns, and using them to act as something that would mix in well with the editing of the music. We thought that it would be a good idea to have the firing of the guns as the point where the music kicks back in and the chase scene starts back up, but after discussing this idea with our teacher we realised that it would be too much of a risk and we could end up in a lot of trouble if we were  caught with imitation guns out in public. We therefore dropped the idea of the masked men physically carrying guns, but decided it might be better if there was a hint at the guns being there, with them looking down to get them out of their jackets just as Dan runs off.

The first shots that we filmed that day were of Dan running through the doors to the car park and a tracking shot showing him running over to hide behind one of the pillars. We then filmed a still hsot of him arriving at the pillar and an over the shoulder shot of him loking out to see if he had been followed.

An idea that we thought would create more tension within this part of the music video was that the two masked characters would come out of the lift together, walk slowly out next to each other, and then split off so that they covered both sides of the pillar, blocking Dan from escape, before they walk slowly towards him. We filmed these shots, and then filmed the shot where the two masked characters look down towards their guns, which would cue Dan attempting to escape.


The last shots that we filmed of the day were of Dan, Josh and Phil running down the slope as Dan attempted to escape. This turned out to be one of the hardest shots to film as even though we knew the slope was steep, and we had addressed it in our risk assessment, it turned out to be a lot steeper than we thought, and it was hard for the actors to run fast enough down it to look like it was a proper part of the chase, but slow enough to prevent themselves falling over. This then led to the shot of Dan running around the corner, and Josh and Phil jumping over the barrier out of shot.

 Overall we were happy with what we had filmed, but today when importing the shots to the computers at school, we realised that we had some big problems. The first problem was that it is clearly visible that it is night outside the car park, and all of our other shots were filmed during the day, and the other was that I had somehow changed the white balance settings halfway through filming, changing the lighting from an effective blue/green tint to an orange glow.

We have now decided that we will need to re-film some of these shots with the lighting sorted if we want our video to look as professional as possible.

Filming Day 4 - Dartford - Luke

1/12/12

On the 1st December we went back into Dartford to film some more shots as we realised that we were quite light on footage of the chase scene in different locations and had to re-film some of the shots that we either missed out due to the camera battery running out or that we didn't get quite right on the first day of filming in Dartford, most importantly the panning shot of the actors running along the bank of the river.

The first shot that we wanted to re-film was of the shot of our actors running along the bank of the river. Instead of just re-filming the one shot we had of that location, we decided that we should film some more shots of this from different angles and positions along the river, from both the other side and the side that they were running on. Here you can see one of the different positions that we filmed this shot from.

The next shot that we didn't have time to film on the other day in Dartford was of our actors jumping over a fence and then running over a bridge. This shot would give the video a bit more urgency as it was a small enclosed space that they were running on and the jump adds an extra sense of danger. Filming the shot of our actors jumping over the fence turned out to be quite tricky as the thief (Dan) was quite slow to jump over, meaning that he would easily have been caught in real life. This meant that we had to find a new way of him getting over it a lot quicker. This turned out to be him almost climbing up onto it like stairs and then jumping off. Josh and Phil were both able to jump over the fence with ease but the problem with them was that the shot would take too long if both jumped over it individually. In order to make this shot work we had to risk them jumping into each other and get them to both jump at the same time. Below you can see some photos of us filming this part.

After the jump over the fence the camera pans around and follows them as they run onto the bridge. After filming them running over the bridge from this angle we realised that the shot was too long and that it was quite boring watching them run the whole way from one position. To fix this problem Me and James went over to the other side of the bridge to film them running across from a lower angle. This gave this section of the music video a quicker pace as the view of the actors from different positions makes it seem like a more frantic part of the chase.

After this we returned to another point further along the river to get a low angle shot of Dan being chased along the path by the masked characters. We were easily able to access the other side of the river, so James and I decided to go over and film a panning shot of them running along the path.

The final shot that we planned to take this day was in Temple Hill. However, as we arrived at the location we realised that it was not as suitable for our music video as we first thought, and seeing as it was getting dark and we already had plenty of footage, we decided to finish for the day.

Filming Day 3 - London - Luke

On Friday 30th November we had a staff development day at school and decided that the day would be a good time to get some of the footage that we had planned to film in London. There was, however, a problem earlier in the week as one of our actors (Ryan) had suffered a stress fracture in his foot while doing judo and was unable to act in our video anymore. We needed someone of a similar build and height to Ryan to take his place in the video without it being too obvious that it was a different person. After a lot of thinking we decided that Josh would be the best person to take over from Ryan.

One small problem with this would be that there would be less of a chance for Josh to film and direct the video as a lot of his time will be spent acting. Josh did, however, feel that he could still give feedback on how each shot went as he would be getting a different point of view than me and James who were filming. A lot of the time Josh would come back to me and James after filming a shot to say that he wasn't happy with the shot as he had seen something that we hadn't noticed. This was one of the benefits of having him as an actor. Josh did in he end film and direct the shots that he wasn't acting in, including the shots of dan running on his own.

The area that we spent most of our time filming in was along Southbank and the Soho area.

The first shots that we took on the day were of our actors running down Southbank and jumping over the many obstacles in the skatepark. After having a few initial problems with keeping the camera steady while running, and after many different shots from different angles and positions, we eventually got the shots that we needed for our video. Below you can see the pictures of us filming and directing some of the shots here.

After successfully filming the shots in the skatepark we moved on to our next location, which was running alongside the River Thames down the Southbank and the small stunt/jump that we had planned. This shot was fairly simple to film, the only problem being the large amount of people walking by that were sometimes getting in the way of me with the camera, the actors when they were running, or generally getting in shot and looking into the camera (ruining the shot).

We proceeded to move on to other areas of Soho, which gave us an endless set of locations with the exact urban looking shots that we wanted for our video. One of the best locations that we found was an alleyway just off of Oxford street that would allow us to film the actors running in a tight space, creating a sense of panic and urgency, as one wrong move would mean that the thief would be caught.



Another location we knew of in Soho was Soho Square, a greener location which we thought would link in well with another shot that we had planned to film in our home town centre, Dartford. At this location we decided to try a different type of shot and started experimenting with different ways to get good feet shots with the camera still moving with the actors (a lot harder than it sounds). In the end we ended up putting the camera on my tripod, flipping the tripod upside down and running along holding the legs of the tripod with the camera only inches off of the ground. As this section was done we realised that we couldn't just have our actors running up to the building in the middle of Soho Square and then cut to them at another location as there would be no continuity. To make up for this we filmed them running around the building and along the path on the other side and towards the gate. This meant that they would be seen to be going on to another location, and it wouldn't look like they had just appeared there.

The last shot that we filmed on the day was of the actors running through Covent Garden and out through an alleyway. This location differed slightly from all of the others that we had filmed previously as there was a lot more members of the public in the area. This meant that we had to make sure that there was enough space for our actors to run through without being blocked off by anyone or knocking anyone over. We ended up getting over 7 shots at this location purely because of the large number of people and the fact that our actors kept running out of places to run into. In the picture on the right you can see Josh, Phil and Dan trying to navigate their way around the crowds of people as me and James filmed them.

Filming Day 2 - Beadles Garage Dartford - Luke

For our music video we needed an official office looking area for Dan to steal the CD from. Luckily, we were able to get access to the Beadles Garage in Dartford which had a large amount of offices above the showroom that we could use. Within this location we wanted to create shots that would look like real CCTV footage so that the two anonymous characters could watch Dan breaking in and stealing the CD from one of the rooms. After researching what you would typically expect to find in CCTV footage, we knew exactly what sort of shots we needed to get and how they should be set up.

The first shot that we filmed in the garage was of Dan entering one of the doors on the ground floor and of him making his way up the stairs towards the offices. In order to get the footage for this shot to look like it was recorded from a real CCTV camera we had to make sure that the camera was perfectly still when we were recording, and we had to make sure that we filmed from two different places of the same event happening. This meant that Dan would have to do the same steps twice, while we move the camera to a different location in between shots. The first shot we took was of Dan running up the first set of stairs, and the second being him running up the second set of stairs.

We got plenty of footage of this just to make sure that we had filmed it correctly and we even filmed some shots of Dan running up the stairs that could be used as normal footage instead of CCTV footage just to quicken up the cuts and give us more of an option when we are editing. Here you can see one of the shots we filmed that we intended to use as a normal camera shot.


Some other normal footage that we got in the garage was of Dan entering the code of the door, him entering one of the offices to look for the CD, him grabbing the CD and leaving the room, and one final shot of him running across a walkway above the showroom. These shots would allow us to break up the shots of CCTV and the anonymous characters in their office, and allow for better continuity.

After filming all of the normal shots that we needed we proceeded on to filming the last two of our CCTV shots, which were of Dan walking though the door that he had entered the code on an along a large corridor, and of him running out of the building and out to another location.









Overall we felt that this was a very successful day of filming as we got it done in such a short amount of time. There are however shots we will need to go back and film such as the shot of the CD where the writing isn't legible. Overall we were happy with the shots that we got and are now looking forward to editing them into real CCTV footage to include in our music video.

Filming Day 1 - Dartford - Luke

The first day of filming for our music video took place on Sunday 25th November in Dartford, a decision made based around weather reports for the weekend which showed that there was a high chance of rain. We didn't want to go up to London on this day if there was a chance of rain ruining our plans of filming, and so decided to stay closer to home making it easier for both us and our actors to get together for filming. This was also the first time using the camera we had been lucky enough to get and filming closer to home would make it easier and make us feel more comfortable when using it.

Seeing as we were in Dartford for the first day of filming, we had to start off by filming a small part of the chase scene and the ending of the video as this location is where we had planned for this to take place.

Here you can see Josh, me and James filming one of the chase scenes in Dartford High Street.

The first location that we filmed in was Dartford High Street. This shot consisted of Dan, Ryan and Phil running out of an alley and along the highstreet, and was filmed by tracking our actors using a pan shot. Within this location there were quite a lot of people which turned out to be a slight problem as we kept getting people accidentally walking in front of the camera when we were trying to film some of our shots and others who were purposely getting in the way as soon as we started each shot. There was however one benefit that having the public near when we were taking our shots brought, and this was that when our actors ran past large groups of people they would naturally turn around and look at what they were doing. This natural reaction helps to enhance the sense of realism and intensity that we wanted to create in our music video.

Still on the highstreet, we decided that we needed to get a shot of the actors running straight past the camera, with absolutely no camera movement to make the shot quick and them look like they were running as fast as they could. The short length of this clip also allows us to cut quickly to the beat of the music, helping us with our editing.

The next location that we filmed in was an alleyway just off of the high street. In this alley we wanted to get shots of the actors' feet as they were running. To take these shots we ended up taking the camera off of the tripod and using it handheld. Using this alley carried the same problem of people getting in the way of some of our shots so we had to be patient and wait for the way to be clear before we started filming each shot.

Below on the left you can see me, James and Josh setting up ready to film the shot and below on the right us filming the actors running past.



The last set of shots that we took were in the underground walkway in Dartford. We had to change from the original alley that I wrote about in my location post. As you can see below, the original walkway that we had planned to film in was flooded and had rubbish everywhere.

Therefore we decided that this couldn't be used, even if it did add to the urban look, and decided to look for another location to film in. We ended up finding another walkway in Home Gardens that was very similar to the one we had originally chosen.

In the picture below you can see all of us planning and working out what shots we were going to film in the underground walkway. This is the location in which we were going to be filming the last scene of our music video, and being the final concluding part, we wanted it to look as good as possible so took a lot of time and effort to make sure that the footage was perfect. If any detail was slightly wrong we would film it again. For example, in one shot James noticed that Ryan's tie wasn't straight so we filmed it again.We went over these shots in great detail due to the fact that they were more focused on the end of the story than the faster paced shots throughout the rest of the video We decided on using eye line shots, over the shoulder shots and shots from either end of the walkway as the action takes place in the middle. These types of shots would be much more suitable for filming in the tight space and woulld emphasise the sense of the theif being trapped in the walkway.



Here you can see one of the shots being filmed in the walkway. Ryan is slowly walking round the corner and into the walkway to block off the path of dan who is trying to escape.



The next shot we filmed was the last shot of the video. Within this shot we planned to have Ryan and Phil stand in front of Dan as he surrenders the CD, they would then remove their masks and the video would fade out to black. This shot took particularly long to film as I had to shoot from a very low angle and film dans face as he walked backwards, whilst also making sure that I had framed it correctly so that the masks would be seen at Phil and Ryan's sides after they were taken off.



The shot below is of Ryan walking past Dan, bumping into him slightly. I was filming this shot, josh is using the clapperboard and directing the actors, and james is filming the 'Making-of Video'. We have decided to film this shot again after our rough cut as we noticed that Dan smiled slightly as Ryan bumped into him, ruining the effect that we wanted to create with this shot.



The next shot that we did was a point of view shot from Dan's perspective of Ryan and Phil as they close in on him.



Following on from the shot of the actors running through the alley, we set up this shot to capture them coming out of the alley and heading into underground walkway. This shot took the most planning out of them all as we had to figure out a point where Phil and Ryan would split up and head off to cut Dan off as he enters the walkway. In order to get this shot right we spent a long time filming Phil and Ryan stopping and splitting up at different points so that the split looked as effective as possible. We made many changes to the point where they would stop, look at each other, and split up, and the speed that they run.



The final shot that we filmed was of our actors running along the bank of a river in Dartford. Seeing as the path was quite narrow, and due to the variety of shots we wanted to get for our chase scene, I decided to film a panning shot from the other side of the river. In the picture below you can see that I actually had to place the camera on the tripod into the river to allow me to film the shot from the best possible angle. Whilst I was filming the shot James and Josh were over on the other side of the river directing our actors.

Call Sheet - James

Before we started filming we created a call sheet so that we would know who needed to be at each day of filming.

We also created a pie chart to show how our time was going to be split between the different locations and filming days. The areas in which we spent the longest filming was where we recorded the most footage so we could see in editing where we had to be selective in choosing the best clips and not including any test shots etc.

Risk Assessment - Group

Before we could start filming we needed to create a risk assessment for each of the locations that we planned to film in. We had to include the possible hazards, who would be involved at each location, what measures we will need to put in place to reduce the risks and when this action will be completed by.

Below is the finished risk assessment form.