BLOG POST G: Test Shoots

TEST SHOOT 1: VT  #1: DIRECTED BY JAMES HUNT // LOCATION: EAST GRINSTEAD

BIRDS EYE VIEW OF LOCATION.

Location:

The location that was chosen for this test shoot was actually only meant to be a simple recce for this filming area. We were told that this location was great and had everything that the VT directors were looking for, a big rocky area, surrounded by flat woodland and was easy to get to. All these attributes that they were looking for were very persuasively given to us, which gave us no reason or hesitation about the location. However, this was not the case, the location had not rocky/boulder type areas at all and ended up being a 2-mile walk through muddy fields. The area would not have been visible for cast or crew to even get to this location. To add to the list of what was wrong with this location is that we were told the woodland areas around this location would be great to film in, however, I came across a sign whilst we were walking which said "No entry live shooting in these areas" which was crazy to even suggest filming in there, I said before we even looked at this location that we should have just gone to Vinters Park first as it's a 2-minute walk from the studios, but no one liked that idea.

Due to the location not being up to par this is the reason why this test shoot was very rushed and not really thought out. Therefore this was simply a waste of an opportunity to really think of how we were going to express ourselves through these VT's. In the next location test shoot we will be more prepared for the terrain of the location and hopefully will be able to produce more realistic shots to hopefully match the ones we'll be using in the actual Live Show.

Filming:

So for one of the VT's has our characters leave the tavern to then proceed to run through woodland areas, due to us not being able to really film in the woods we decided to just film next to them. As James and I discussed how he wanted it to look, he said to me that he would like it with fast pace cuts. So with this information, I immediately thought that we need to first get some establishing shots of the characters running through the woods, following Malaghast (Reuben).

As you can clearly see the framing is all off with this shot, there is way too much headroom which makes the shot look awful. James did say to me when filming that he would prefer if the shots were tighter, however, I stated to him that if we did go closer then the percentage of the clip goes from 100% useful to maybe only 50% of the clip is then useful. As we were using the 4K Panasonic I said that in the edit they can scale into the shot without it losing quality. Looking at how professional filmmakers produce fact action chase scene through woods so we could then use the same techniques in our VT's.






















With the other wide shot I was a little bit happier with because in this shot we wanted to make the characters look small in this huge new world they're exploring. However, James and I forgot to get close-ups of the surrounding area so we could have potentially had a better understanding of the location before we even see the characters.

In this shot, we looked at the storyboard and noticed that we haven't got tighter shots of the contributors. so for this next shot, we decided that a mid-shot so hopefully the audience would then know roughly what their faces are doing whilst they run to the next challenge. With this shot it was actually quite hard to pull off due to the fact Reuben is 6ft4" and Charley and Kelsey are pushing 5ft7", so to get around this issue I decided to do the Dutch angle. Using this camera angle helped give off the sense of unease and frantic actions, which is what they should be doing frantically running through the woods to get to the next challenge. So this shot is still being considered with James and me just to see if this is how he envisioned his VT looking like.

Overall with this test shoot, it was not a complete waste of a day, we got a couple shots just to see how the camera would be positioned and other small details that we wouldn't have known unless we did this test shoot. We now know that the Panasonic 4K camera might not be the best suitable for the VT's. Due to the producers wanting these VT's looking very cinematic, which is something we could definitely pull of with the 4K Panasonic, however, there was a shot where James wanted a tracking shot of the cast's feet and legs as they were running. This shot looked incredibly shaky as there was no stabilization in the shot causing it to be very shaky.


TEST SHOOT 2: VT #2: DIRECTED BY REUBEN JAGER // LOCATION: EAST GRINSTEAD

Location:

Well as I have already mentioned that Reuben asked for a rocky area so it gave the illusion that it's the entrance to a cave where the dragon would be. However, this was not the case the rocky area that we were told would be great but was literally stones that were covered in wet mud and you couldn't actually see the stones. This made it really hard to help us picture the cave entrance and the footage doesn't give that impression that he's at the entrance of the cave. Luckily we found a woodland path that gave the impression that this could lead to a cave-like area. Overall this location will not be used for the actual filming day for this VT as it would be hard to get the actors to this location and it was not what Reuben was looking for.

Filming:

For the filming Rueben only needed two shots for this VT as the rest of the VT wasn't visible to film. The shots he needed were a handheld tracking shot as we follow James as he ventures towards the Dragon's lair. As we were filming this shot I came up with the idea to only follow James for a few seconds then to lower down to have leaves and sticks impairing the sight of James
going into the lair.

I was really happy with how this shot looked as I was really worried about the lighting of this area as the light is being restricted by the trees and the bushes. We could potentially lower the aperture the allow more light into the camera (I believe during this shot the aperture was roughly around F8 or around that area). However, if we were to do this the likelihood of the shot going out of focus would increase and due to me not having someone on a focus wheel this would be difficult to keep the shot in focus unless I was to place a mark on the camera so I know where to focus too. We tried this shot about 5 times just so we could get it perfect which I felt we got close to, but the other shots we have done broke the 180-degree rule as we decided to do the same shot but to see more of James' facial expression before he enters the lair of the dragon.



Looking at the two different shots, I personally think that we should see James face rather than his back so that we can see his facial expressions. Also when someone is walking towards the camera it gives a sense of power and control, whereas when he walks away it shows less power. I think that the directors and I need to communicate more to see whether this is the right style for this specific VT.


Sony A7 and DJI Ronin Test Shoot


As Ewan and I were main camera operators for the VT shoots we decided to do research into the Sony A7 camera. We soon found out that the A7 was capable of tracking focus on a moving subject. This new feature to the camera would be game-changing in the sense that if we managed to successfully get the shots our directors are looking to achieve we could meet our producers' request to make it cinematic.

Setting up the Ronin was not as hard as we first assumed, the most challenging part about the set-up was balancing the camera correctly. It took us roughly 15 mins to get the balancing right, but I can see this time shortening if we use it more and get used to setting everything up. Once everything was set-up we decided to pick it up and have a walk around our house. One aspect of the Ronin I noticed straight away was the weight, it was quite heavy and I can see us both needing assistance when using this piece of equipment. Another thing we need to have consideration for when it comes to filming as I know that with most of James' shots consists of tracking and following through the woodland areas.

During the set up of the Ronin, I decided to watch a short video on YouTube, which went over and highlighted specific elements of the camera which gave it such high praise in the industry. The guy in the video talks about basic camera terms and functions on the camera like Whitebalancing, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and audio. Without this video, Ewan and I would have been sitting there for hours trying to get the camera to suit our shooting style.

The video below is the test shoot that we filmed, as you can see we had a little trouble with getting the focus spot on, but this would be the case with a camera we've never used before. Even though this was our first attempt at using the A7 and the ronin, I'm quite pleased with the outcome, we managed to successfully set up the ronin in less than 20 mins and with the help of that YouTube video it made the whole experience with using new equipment less daunting.