Shoot Day Evaluation

On the morning of the shoot, I woke up excited about the day ahead and eager to get started. It wasn't until I had all my bags packed that the nerves set it. I suddenly started worrying asking myself questions like 'what if the dancers don't know what their doing?', What if the costumes don't work with our set the way we wanted?' However, we as a group were organised in terms of rehearsing before the day and sending the dancers videos so that they could practise as well as making sure we saw them all in costume beforehand, so really there was nothing to worry about.

When we arrived on the shoot day making sure all our performers knew when and where to meet us. I went to the editing suite where we were all meeting at 8:30 and laid out all the costumes in piles for each performer that they had given me prior to the shoot day throughout the week.

When the performers arrived, Eden and I began to do their hair and makeup starting with Yasmin as our artist and then Daisy and Chrissy, the two dancers in the first element. Whilst we weren't doing makeup, they all got into their starting costumes. The aim was to start filming at 9am. Unfortunately, we were about ten minutes late as the hair and makeup took longer than anticipated but we hurried down to the studio as soon as possible and started filming at 9:10.

The studio didn't look particularly different to how we'd left it the day before, however, by the time Eden and I made it down to the studio, after finishing the hair and makeup for Yasmin, Daisy and Chrissy, Eddie had set up the camera and our lighting designer was programming the lighting desk. The overall look was exactly what we envisioned. The silhouettes looked very effective and it worked very well with just two dancers. 

In terms of our jobs roles, we decided before the shoot that we would alternate the roles throughout the elements, allowing us to all have some variation. However, as we were behind schedule, we didn't really get the opportunity to change so Eddie manned the camera for most of the day, with me doing some shots throughout the day, I directed the performers and Eden did the playback and floor manager work.

In terms of managing the performers on set I think I kept the actors on track and ensured they knew what they were doing as well as feeling comfortable with it. Throughout takes, I stood behind the camera and called out certain directions like arm work or particular facial expressions I wanted Yasmin to make. It was interesting to see how as we went through each different lens on the camera, Yasmin also became more and more confident with taking and enacting the directions I gave her. 

Our biggest problem was that we ran out of time. We were too indulgent with the shots we took in the first two elements, granted that we did almost create another one element within the first set up where we filmed Yasmin from behind. By the time we had lunch, we had finished our first element and completed half the shots for the second element with one of the dance sequences. However, we still had one dance sequence to go in the second element that was vital so we couldn't just move onto the third.

Also, after seeing the first two elements, we alongside our teachers weren't sure that our third element would cut well. We'd anticipated that it wouldn't quite work but we wanted something different to cut to, something that would help build the video. However, we began to think of alternates to solve the problem and eventually agreed that we would change our third element.

As we were setting this new idea up, I let the dancers go, knowing that we wouldn't get round to filming anything more with them.

Our interaction between the group was consistently really good as we discussed what vital shots we needed and how we might alter the composition of certain shots. We were all on the same page throughout the day making sure that we all pulled our weight. I think what was most successful was how we approached the set. Although we didn't have a slight battle for time, we were all very set on what we wanted and determined to get everything we wanted before the day was done.

The only part that I felt could have gone better would be our use of time. Although we managed to come up with an alternate, it would have still been beneficial to have the extra time.

Prior to the shoot day, I messaged the performers as well as telling them in person when trying on costumes and rehearsing, what time they had to meet us and where. After doing their hair and makeup I ensured that the three other dancers not being used in the first element were happy to wait, knew what they needed to do and how the day would work. When getting into the studio, we started by filming the dancers first, largely to allow Yasmin, our artist to get used to how the shoot would work in terms of how many shots we needed to get and also so that once we had finished with the first two dancers, they had time to relax before getting ready for the second element. Daisy, one of our dancers, had been in other music videos previously and helped other girls get the hand of the day in general. 

With the lighting we had in the first two elements, I made sure to be aware of how hot the dancers would get so I had water on side ready for them as well as ensuring they took a little break if they needed as we changed the set up of the camera.

I think the part of the shoot that I enjoyed the most was the second element. We didn't have the studio set up exactly how we'd planned with a red infinity screen because it wasn't long enough to fit all the dancers without seeing the screen leave frame. However, we alongside our set designers created a more intriguing textured set. When we got the dancers in and saw the lighting with the shadows and silhouettes, it made me feel a lot more confident about the shoot and the choreography I'd made.

There are certain shots from the first element where Eddie moved the camera sporadically to follow the dancers as they caught different light that I'm looking forward to the most. Within this element we created a second set up where we filmed Yasmin from behind her right shoulder with the lights shining from behind her.

I think as a group, we worked really well. We all worked really hard on the day to make sure we completed our job roles as well as staying on the same page as to what shots we needed to get. When changing the set ups, we all got involved trying to get everything done as quickly as possible to begin filming again.

If we were to do our shoot again, I think we would have to keep a better eye on the time rather than be too indulgent with the dancer's shots. Despite the fact we did manage to manipulate two different set ups within the elements, it would have been nice to have been able to complete our final planned third element as it would have created a variation rather than all read and black.

However, overall I don't think that anything that happened on our shoot day would cause for us to have to alter our website or album artwork as the colour scheme stayed the same and the artist had the look we had originally planned for.