Filming Part One- Photo Pan Sequence (1st March)

Preparation-

After we finished making the shrine, we took it, along with the rest of the photos (which we will scatter around it), the props, camera and tri-pod to Sophie's house to film. However looking back now it was not really necessary to go there, we could have just filmed at school. Sophie's dad was busy at work which restricted where could film because we did not want to disurb him. We filmed in the conservatory and closed all the blinds to make the room a little darker which would create a darker atmosphere. Ideally we would have liked it darker but we had to make due. Before we started filming we placed the clipboard on the floor and placed the remaining photos around it, amongst them we placed the props that Andrew brought it in such as a camera, pens, a diary and a pin pot to show it was a work in progress. Sophie also placed some candles on the clipboard but we did not light them until we were ready to film.

Filming, Shot Types and Problems-

As we were about to film I noticed on the camera screen that the colour did not look right. The colour did not seem strong enough and instead the resolution was light, unclear and slightly green. Everyone else took a look and confirmed my suspicion. This seriously delayed us as we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out what was wrong. We tried to adjust the white balance, we opened the blinds but then Josh noticed that someone had accidently put the camera into Night mode- explaining the colour. After this we decided we would film the pan in two ways- with a birds eye handheld techinique and a pan on the tri-pod. Sophie filmed the pan using the handheld technique for around 90 seconds trying to keep as still as possible. She moved across the pictures slowly and zoomed into some. Sophie was the best person to do this as she has the steadiest hand. I wouls have been shaking all over the place. We filmed for a long time so we could select the best bits or the steadiest parts when we come to edit. Andrew said it was better to have too much than too little. Sophie filmed a second time as some of the first footage was too close to the pictures and I thought the audience needed to see more. I filmed the sequence using the tripod, and although we did not have to worry about it being shaky it was hard to get a bird's eye view without seeing the legs of tri-pod. It was also hard to move the camera along continuously and sometimes I suddenly jolted it in another direction, so we decided the handheld shot was better and what we will use. Overall this second half of the lesson could have been more productive if it weren't for the problems and delays but we achieved what we wanted to in the time we had.