In order to practise filming we have carried out some preliminary filming which has allowed us to experiment with aspects such as shot type, lighting, and timing. In addition it helped us get used to the camera in terms of where buttons are, how to change the settings and how to hold/position the camera. In order to relate it to the theme of our planned music video, we chose to film a couple of people together interacting as if they were in love; however the setting is very different to the settings we are going to include in our music video.
There are clearly many issues with our practise shots, however we can learn from these mistakes so that our final music video is of better quality. One of the most obvious things we have learnt is that using a tripod is essential in order to achieve a steady shot in which the camera is at the right height and angle and the actors are in the right place, as our filming was hand held and was therefore quite unsteady. In addition it is clear that we will need our actors to be comfortable around one another and be sure of what they're doing; it is clear within the video that they feel awkward around one another and are not comfortable embracing in public, also when we got feedback from our prelim filming actors they said that they didn't feel comfortable together because they didn't know each other very well and they had not known they were doing it until the day before we filmed. We have taken this into account when choosing our actors for our music video; we decided to use two people who are friends and will hopefully feel comfortable holding hand, embracing and acting as a couple; we have also planned what we are going to tell the actors to do and we have confirmed that they will both be in the video so that they can consider the role they will be playing and get to know one another even better. In order to avoid laughing which cannot be included in the video, we will ask them to 'get into character' and will use instructions such as 'quiet on set' to ensure that they know we are about to film and we need them to act appropriately so that time and footage is not wasted.
Another problem that we came across was other objects/shadows/people being included in the shot when they are not planned and they ruin the shot; and example of this in our prelim filming is when a plastic bag was blown into the shot and it makes the scene look untidy, this is not suitable for our video because it connotes negative emotions and situations whereas we aim to create a loving and happy situation during the parts of our video which focus on the couple, and although we could use items such as rubbish to show the sadness of the ex--boyfriend, we do not feel that this will be suitable because we want our video to focus on nature. Therefore we must be sure that our filming will not be interrupted by passers by, rubbish, our shadows, the shadows of the equipment, the shadows of others, insects, etc.
We feel that the lighting within our prelim filming is suitable for the shots which focus on the couple and are the 'happier' aspects of our music video. However we plan on shooting during slightly duller weather when we are filming our actor who is playing the ex-boyfriend as this is a use of pathetic fallacy as the weather will show how the character is feeling. We will also need to learn how to change the settings based on the weather, for example if it is sunny sometimes facial features are less visible and the shot can be too light, therefore our teacher will assist us in learning more about the camera settings.
At the very beginning of the footage one of the actors makes a noise which may seem like an issue, however we have considered this and we feel that, as there will be no noise in our video other than the song itself, we should allow actors to make as much noise as is necessary because this will hopefully allow them to seem more natural and comfortable within the music video because in reality a couple would not be silent when spending time together; they would talk and laugh, etc, for this reason we have asked our actors to talk and react naturally in order to make the situation seem more real to viewers of the video.
Overall our prelim filming has been very useful and we have learnt a lot which will help us create a good quality and interesting final piece.
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