Umbrella, Our Weapon Shoot Day

Today I had my studio shoot for the Map and Networks Project. This is the first time that I get to film in the big studio and I was very excited about it. It is worth booking the studio one month in advance!

When I first enter the studio I was a little bit shocked to see a film set in the middle of the room. Luckily, there was some space at the side that I can film in.

(Update of screen shots)

Shot list for the day

Schedule of the day. I organised the schedule according to the nature of the shot and make the shoot day productive.

First, the Green Screen.

Filming with the green screen is not as tricky as that in the Journalism studio. The studio light was very good, so as the green screen. However, I didn't film the actor's whole body because the limit in space. I can't stand far back enough to get the actor's whole body but instead I had to cut off where her knee is in the frame. 

Then the smoke machine.

It worked very nicely. 

I was going to project news headlines on the face mask but it was impossible. The refreshing speed on the projector is quite low that you can see the projected image flashing on the camera view finder. I will try to do it in post-production because it is quite a important scene. 

My only complain of the filming is that I didn't have enough time to play with the shot more. I had enough time to get the necessary scenes done but I wish I had more time to play with different camera angles. I already knew before filming that everything has to be done by 5pm but more the shots the better when I am editing them. 

What I've noticed is that I was too busy during the filming. I was directing the actor, operating the camera, thinking about the lights, checking and trying to keep up with the schedule. I didn't have time to think about slating. Even I got Ethan to help with moving the lighting and handling the smoke machine, I still have too much to do and it was slowing the shoot down. I now understand the importance to having a well communicated crew! I thought this is a simple shoot but I am definitely asking for help next time I need to shoot in the studio. 

Overall, I am happy with the outcome from the 3-hour studio shoot. I booked an Avid computer to edit for Tuesday and Thursday. I hope it went well as well:)!