Problems with filming

After the first week of filming we have managed to get around half of the film done, we have taken a lot of different shots so that we have enough when it comes to editting and some of the shots are looking really good. However we have had a number of problems that we did not expect and that have slowed us down filming at times.

The Environment
One thing we were never going to be able to control is the weather and daylight, there are parts of the film where filming outside is required therefore we could only film when it's not raining or any other bad weather conditions. This hasn't affected us too much, only one day this week it rained and from a weather forecast we had already planned for this making sure that day we had some indoor shots to film. Another problem is that being winter time now not only is the weather getting worse but we also have less daylight. As it gets dark now around halfpast 4 and with us working around college timetables, usually we finish around half 12 so have about 4 hours to get to the locations, set things up and get the filming done before lighting changes in the shots.

Equipment
As we have to rent out equipment from college we have to return it by the end of the day or book in advance to keep it over night, which is what we have done for weekends. This causes no problems really, although one day this week we rented out the equipment and travelled through to Royston to John's house which is where we are filming the opening scene in his bathroom and bedroom. When we got there, we set up everything we needed and the equipment but as we turned the camera on the an error message was displayed. The disc head on the camera needed cleaning and we couldn't use it, this meant travelling back into college to replace it with another camera. We did eventually get some filming done but only the bathroom scene not the bedroom because it got too dark by then. At least now we have learnt our lesson and will be checking all the equipment before leaving for any locations and we have also managed to fit in enough time to get the bedroom scene at John's house done.

Tape Space
Me and Andy have a theory that it is better to get more shots than not get them, that way we have plenty of shots from different angles etc. and when we are editting we can see which ones fit best. However we have filmed so much this week that we have already filled up one of our tapes, the tape for the main camera is now full which means we have to get that off and onto the computer before we can use it again. Luckily we finished everything we had planned to film before it ran out of space but only just. We can record up to 1 hour on a tape so that means that we have filmed a whole hour for a five minute film...and we're only half way.

Time Required Per Scene
Within our projects last year, they were relativley simple. It is obvious to us that this year, we are much more aware of continuity (as it became a small problem last year due to a small glitch in planning). As said on the above paragraph, we love to take the approach of filming too much as opposed to filming too little. First of all, we try to record a continuous shot of a scene so we at least have 1 shot where we can cut to if we are unable to get another shot (if we missed it, poor footage, poor camerawork...etc). Filming a scene multiple times has an enormous effect on the time taken to film; take for instance scene 2 in John's house. Luke is packing his bags and simply leaving the room - But this required to unpack the bags several times, putting everything back in its original place, repositioning camera.. etc

The Hill
Whilst driving to one of the locations we wanted to film at, we took a wrong turn onto a road, further along the road narrowed and then the road ended and it became a dirt road. With no where to turn round we had to go up this road for a bit. The road was basically for tractors so going along it wasn't great, luckily we there was no damage and we managed to get off pretty quickly but we have had to wash the cars now.

Car Problems
We did plan to travel to the coast to film the short scene where Luke is around the harbour before he boards the ship. Weather permitted, everyone was available and we had the equipment that we required to film. However, as the day was approaching it became clear that the vehicle we were taking to the coast was unable to do so due to a failing driveshaft. Rather than risk further damage, we decided to film and alternate scene, and make room for the seaside (hopefully) next weekend. Deadlines for rough edits are still weeks away, but we are all egar to finish filming and into a rough edit!

Tape Overwrite
After the above paragraph about managing to fill up one of our tapes, we came to put the footage on the computer for editing and it turns out that somehow one of the tapes was rewound without any of us realising and therefore when we came to film, any footage that was after that point was overwritten with new footage. which means we now have to go back and re-film the footage that was lost. Not totally a bad thing as some of the shots that was lost could have been better and now we have a chance to improve them.