I was extremely anxious for this shoot because I had only finalised some of my styling the night before and still hadn't decided how the scene was going to end to fade into the final image of She. I was also nervous because we only had until 12pm to shoot everything as Natalie (model 1) had to leave then. I had set as much up as possible the night before so I could start straight away in the morning so I knew where everything was. I was relieved when everyone turned up on time as there were no delays.
The first hair and makeup looks on the models were very simplistic so I could do each model in just under 30 minutes, meaning we could start filming as soon as 8am. Up until two days ago I was only going to use two models so I felt slightly rushed having to fit another model's hair and makeup in, but I managed to use the time efficiently and teach the other two the choreography whilst doing her makeup and hair.
I did not realise how long it took to set the lights up for each shot because when I did the test shoot I only used one light and just moved it quickly to take the next shot; whereas we needed to use two lights to fill in the harsh shadows so no detail was lost. This meant that even though I was clear on every shot it still took longer than I had hoped, giving me less time than planned to do the models' makeup and hair for the second part. When I plan my next shoot I will allow extra time for the lights to be set up and then even more time to allow for any delays. Even though I found shooting stressful towards the end, I still did not let it distract me from achieving the shots I wanted from many different angles.
Looking back, I should have printed out the storyboard instead of having it on my laptop to make it easier for everyone to see instead of constantly having to move to see my laptop. I was also playing the music from my laptop so it was not ideal to keep having to find the storyboard. I will print out multiple copies of the storyboard in my next shoots to make sure everyone is clear about what they are doing.
My models and dancer took instruction effectively, with no complaining or confusion, allowing me to teach the choreography at a fast pace and correct their movement to be synchronised. I worked efficiently with my cameraman and lighting technician to create the correct lighting set up, angles and closeups for each clip at a steady pace. I was clear with what I wanted in each scene so he could set up the equipment whilst I instructed the models.
The biggest regret was not taking photos of every makeup, hair and styling look for each model. I was in such a panic trying to complete each models' makeup to a high standard that I ran out of time to photograph them and the photos I did take of the makeup and styling did not have realistic lighting, making the models look washed out. I was disappointed that I couldn't capture each look because I was proud of the work I had achieved but felt I didn't have closeup images to showcase this. This emphasised to me that I always need to allow more time than I think for every aspect of the shoot; I will do this for my next shoots. I will be shooting the other scenes in the university studios so I will set up an extra soft box and camera and take the photos against the surrounding black curtains.
I ran out of time at the end of the shoot to film the final clip with Natalie in her white leather blazer; however I can shoot that on another day. My priority was to get all the scenes filmed with Louise in as she won't be available after this, whereas Natalie will. After Natalie had left we shot some beautiful clips of Louise doing some jumps and tricks as I am hoping to integrate them with the faster dance sections to add power and strength.
Doing this shoot made me reconsider doing the other two scenes in one day because the lighting took longer than expected and I want plenty of time to do the model's makeup and hair, and take photos of everything. I will therefore film the second scene with the model scribbling her nightmares on one day and then the opening scene and the final clip I didn't have time to film today on the second day. I think it would be unrealistic to film it all in one day, especially as I am now doing three hair and makeup looks. I would prefer to take my time to get the filming and styling to a high quality, rather than rushing.
After looking at the behind the scenes footage, I felt that if I continued to create similar footage for my next two shoots, the end result would be extremely tedious and monotonous for the viewers to watch; I therefore felt images would be a more effective and quick way to translate the behind the scenes action for my film. I also needed images to include in my website and Instagram, so it was essential I had professional and high quality images of my film's production. I will therefore not continue to capture the footage on film, but instead through imagery.
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