Following putting together a rough cut of the project, we noticed there was not a lot to transition between scenes. Therefore, we decided it would be a good idea to get some different shots of the van driving between locations so that these could be inserted between scenes in order to transition the action from one location to another.
I decided to get a range of different shots, ranging from long stationary shots and long panning shots to wide stationary shots and wide panning shots - this would give us a few different styles of shots to work with in the edit. I also had to make sure any corners the van would be turning would ensure that the slogan side of the van would be facing towards the camera - this meant that if the van was driving away from the camera then it would need to turn left to reveal the slogan and if the van was driving towards the camera then it would need to turn right to reveal the slogan.
To make sure the footage was in focus, I decided to use the focus assist tool again which highlights the areas in focus in red so that it is apparent what is in focus and what isn't. This was useful as the van drives past the camera quite quickly so I was able to use the focus assist tool whilst other cars were passing the camera to focus up the shot and then check that the van was in focus whilst driving past by seeing if it showed up in red (which it did).
The locations chosen are filled with natural light from all directions, meaning no additional lighting equipment or reflectors were required to obtain a well exposed image.
The settings I used kept the ISO at 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.3 and F/7.2, a shutter speed ranging between 1/48 and 1/50 and using an ND filter of 1/4. As the weather was quite overcast (cloudy and 12ºC), I only needed an ND filter of 1/4 to get a correctly exposed image - no ND filter would have resulted in an overexposed image whilst an ND filter any higher than 1/16 would have resulted in an underexposed image. The shutter speed of 1/48 and 1/50 allows for a natural looking motion blur within the footage whilst allowing a good exposure. The range of apertures also allows for the image to be correctly exposed whilst remaining sharp and in focus (an aperture above F/10 on this camera would result in a slightly soft image). This exposure allows for all the details within the shot to be seen.
As well as filming these long shots of the van driving around, I filmed the shot of the dog where Tim and Luke have hit it with the van. I had not originally planned to capture a shot of the dog where Tim and Luke have hit it the dog as the director decided this was not necessary as it is implied by the sound design and Tim and Luke's reaction in their low angle shot where they are stood over the dog. However, in a rough cut viewing, Simon suggested seeing the dog would produce a better quality product as it clearly displays to the audience what has happened and, therefore, heighten the quality of the piece. This was a little bit difficult to film due to the dog being quite lively - however, as we had the owner of the dog on hand, he was able to control the dog and command it to lie down so that I could capture a medium shot of the dog lying on the ground. The clip does include the owner's hands moving away from the dog but this can be masked out in the editing process. For this clip I used the settings; ISO 500, aperture F/7.2, shutter speed 1/50 and an ND filter 1/4. This helped to keep the shot well exposed with the highlights of the shot not appearing over exposed (e.g. the white in the dog's fur). This is important as it means that all the detail within the shot (even the bright highlights) can be seen which helps to maintain a good visual quality throughout the product.
As well as filming this additional shot of the dog, I filmed an establishing shot of the river by the Kent Owl Academy car park as the audio for these scenes (scene 7 & 9) is quite distracting due to the sound of the river. Initially there were no visuals to suggest the presence of a river by the car park which made the audio seem quite strange as there was no apparent reason for the high level of background noise - this decreased the quality of the product. Therefore, by filming and adding in this footage of the river by the car park to the edit, it shows to the audience the reason for the background noise in the car park scenes. For this shot I used the settings; ISO 500, aperture F/6.8, shutter speed 1/50 and an ND filter 1/4. This ensured a correct exposure where all the detail within the shot can be seen.
What went well
- I was able to capture a lot of coverage of the van driving around to be used in the edit to transition between scenes. This gives us more to work with in the edit and improve the fine cut of the film. This adds a sense of fluidity to the piece as the action is continued through the movement of the van instead of the scenes feeling very stop-start.
- The footage is all well exposed due to using the correct ISO, aperture, shutter speed and ND filter. This means that the footage will be easy to grade and will retain all the details within the highlights, midtones and shadows of the footage.
What didn't go well
- In some of the footage it is apparent that it is not Tim and Luke driving the van as there is no glare on the window. This means these pieces of footage cannot be used as it is obviously Alex driving the van. However, I captured a lot of footage in a variety of sizes so this does not present an issue.
- Ideally we would have liked to insert a Kent Owl Academy sign in the last image shown above, however, due to another sign being in the way this won't be possible. There were no other corners for the van to turn into where there was a sign positioned well (to put the Kent Owl Academy sign over) and where the van would be turning the correct way to show the slogan. However, I filmed a shot of the van driving past the Kent Owl Academy sign in the original shoot week so this can easily be cut in instead to establish the location.
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