Filming Blog

During my Media Studies class I did a variety of things while filming my team's project. To start off, one of the things I helped do was collaborate with my teammate on making decisions throughout the process. We were filming outside and had to make slight changes when certain locations didn't work out. I had to help come up with new ideas for when lighting or people got in the way of the shot. For example, one of the locations lighting wasn't as we planned and we had to find a new spot. Or when a spot was taken up by other people, I helped figure out what we would do instead during that time until we could film there. I also in some parts gave input on what my group-mate would do in some scenes. For example if what she was doing looked a bit off, I mentioned it to her and we worked out something better. I wouldn't say I directed the whole commercial myself since she played a huge role in the decision making process as well. Though I definitely tried to help out in that area and contributed to some of the directing.
Another example of something I did during the filming process itself was the actual filming. My other teammate was the main actor of the commercial so that left me to do the filming when she was in a scene. Although I didn't film every scene, every scene that wasn't a nature shot I filmed. I really enjoyed getting experience filming and being able to learn about it through. While filming I also made decisions about the camera movement that would work best if the scene had limited space to move. If something didn't work out I had to change it and make a decision. While filming, I also had to direct my teammates acting a little. As I mentioned before this included just telling her if something looked wrong. I made sure that the shots came out right and would replay them to get the ok from my teammate. Once the shot was good, I helped move on to the next scene.
One more thing I did during the filming was setting up the scene. In each shot we needed the background to be clear of people or things that would get in the way. I helped make sure that the spot we chose was perfect for it. I also helped set up the camera equipment so we could actually film. One part of doing the was setting up the tripod. I had to make sure it was level and that it didn't mess up the angle of the camera. Another part of setting up was making sure the props were in the right places. I had to make sure that the water bottle we used was perfectly in line with the camera since the techniques we used require that. The prop placement was a key part of our commercial. Overall this was a fun part of the project.