Construction Post 1: Week 1 production

Before we embarked on the construction phase of the project, we decided which weeks would be best to dedicate to certain tasks, and thought it would be best to complete our shoot straight away, so that we would finish the aspect which we believed required the most effort and commitment, and so we would have ample time to edit in, alongside completing the other two tasks.

WEEK 1: FILMING

As mentioned, we marked in the first week of construction as our main shoot week (w/b Monday 7th November). Similarly to the test shoot, we adhered stringently to a schedule, however there was far more commitment required, including late sessions until 9 o' clock, and a weekend shooting slot, which we believed would be a hugely helpful time frame which, worst case scenario, we could fall back on should we either run over our allotted time for a shoot setup, or need to film pickups.

Our shoot schedule. We found that the colour-coding was very useful to distinguish when we were on set, and also

which setups we were filming on a particular day. (Yellow = not filming on that day; Pink = unable to film on that day)

Editing the test shoot

We dedicated our time to shooting this week, diverting every possible spare moment to either help dress & light the set, shoot footage or (at the start of the week) edit the test shoot. We also found it extremely helpful to use this time when editing the test shoot to pick up on any adjustments or improvements we could make having reviewed any errors from the test footage. The main points which we aimed to resolve in our final shoot are listed below:

Upon reflection, I believe that we met most if not all of the criteria when filming this week, though time will tell whether our actual footage will confirm this when editing...
Below I have broken down the first production week into days and I have detailed what was completed on each, from reflections on the day's shooting, to problems we encountered & improvements we implemented:

MONDAY:  Puppet Setup

Preparing to start shooting for the 
puppet setup. We zoomed in & made sure
 each take was in focus before we shot.

We began the week with the 'puppet' setup, which we had deliberately positioned at the start of the week, as we knew that it had the fewest amount of shots needed, and would take far less time to complete. Another positive piece of organisation was that we had originally draped the puppet string (or in this case, rope) over the rigging on the Friday of our test shoot, which saved a lot of hassle and time when setting up on Monday for the main shoot.

We all felt that Georgina gave a much better performance than the test shoot during this setup. Her characterisation as a puppet was much better, tensing her arms and appearing more "knock-kneed" as though controlled by a puppeteer.

The dolly

(left) test shoot puppet  vs  (right) final shoot puppet

Meanwhile, we learnt our lessons in terms of not only makeup - with Phoebe applying makeup without streaks on GiGi's face, and lipstick to her cheeks for a more sleek look - but also in terms of lighting, as the original (above left) was far too dark and meant that the rope blended with the background. An additional improvement which I am glad we made was to add more movement into our shots, as I felt our previous test shoot had been visually boring, static and unconventional, and we experimented with arcs and crab shots to rectify this.

Example of operating the camera using the dolly

Our reflection video for the puppet setup

Snow White Setup
Following on from the puppet setup, we pressed ahead with our Snow White setup. We had produced a decent version of the setup in the test shoot, and wanted to continue this into the actual shoot. One early problem we encountered, however, was that the lighting setup needed tweaking from the original memory which we had used in the test shoot, as GiGi appeared lit too red and needed more of the white spotlight to resolve this. Looking back, I don't think we anticipated how long this would take - and though we worked really efficiently to try and shoot quickly to make up lost time, it did prove to be an issue.

Setting up the lighting for Snow White

One of the pieces of feedback we had received from the test shoot was that the audience enjoyed the zoom out from Snow White - thus we made sure we included it as one of our takes, and will more than likely use it in our final video. Once again, we also experimented with our shots, using the dolly to add variation to our rushes. Despite the shots with camera movement such as arcs and zooms taking a little long to film, I am glad that we added a far greater range of shots than before.

Shooting using the dolly & reviewing footage during the Snow White setup.

Our Snow White reflection video

TUESDAY:  1950s Housewife Setup

Setting up the lighting for 1950s Housewife

Having worked so productively the day before, we were also able to finish the 1950s Housewife setup 4 hours ahead of time and move onto the Land Girls Setup later in the afternoon. This was another setup which we had received very positive audience feedback for, from teachers, peers and viewers who were surveyed, and they noted that not only was it extremely easy to identify, from the props & lighting and GiGi's costume & makeup, but that they enjoyed GiGi's gestures whilst singing. From a group point of view this, too, was a definite positive, as it incorporated Goodwin's theory well (relationship between lyrics and visuals), such as on "fly solo".

Both we, and those who gave their feedback, admired the use of intertextuality,

strong costume, props & makeup, and use of gesture (e.g "and I would rather fly solo")

One of the immediate stylistic choices which we made was to use the other side of the tablecloth to show a Gingham check print, which we felt would better connote the time period that we were trying to replicate. Meanwhile, Phoebe made small tweaks to Georgie's hair, adding more spray to keep it up and improve GiGi's characterisation as a housewife from the era. Moreover, we once more tried to add some extra camera movement to shots: incorporating zooms, pans and dolly shots to add variety and ensure the final visual product was not static and retained the audience's attention.

 Filming during the 1950s setup & giving instructions to improve the next take

1950s Housewife reflection video

Land Girls Setup (continued into Wednesday)

View of the Land Girls setup from the lighting desk

Having steamed ahead of schedule during the Housewife setup, we dived straight into setting up & filming the Land Girls setup. One aspect which I feel went incredibly well was the lighting. Though it could have been an issue when we lost the green diffusers for the turret lights, Phoebe's quick thinking to use yellow and blue tints together was a very good idea, and the deeper shade of green it created was in fact preferable to the original test shoot floor lighting setup.

Some of my jobs on set: adjusting the lights & sweeping hay

As well as this, similarly to the Housewife setup, I felt that the extensive range of props on set, alongside GiGi's interaction with the props such as the poster and broom worked really well, and that her gestures, for instance the salute and "sit still, look pretty" pose, again incorporated Andrew Goodwin's theory to good effect.

  Directing during the Land Girls Shoot: giving instructions to Georgie & reviewing footage

By the end of the day, we had finished all the main Land Girls shots and were left with only experimental shots for the morning, and I believe this is testament to the hard work and thinking on the spot which was demonstrated by our group.

Land Girls reflections

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY:  Dolls House Setup

The dolls house scene would prove to be a difficult setup to complete in terms of the effort it required as we were shooting all day Wednesday & into Thursday, and because we were in and out of the studio at different times. I believe, though, that we overcame this potential issue well, and for some shots we would ask Emma, our technician, to film in place of Georgie if she was away. Another problem we encountered was the loss of the school's internet, though fortunately we used an iTunes version of our song to work around this.

Dolls House, as viewed from the lighting desk

Oops...

(Please click to enlarge)
I created small shot lists which were
added to and changed depending on
which takes were successful. At the
end of the week, shots we needed to
re-shoot were added to a pickups list.

One method which I used all week, but came in particularly handy during this setup, was to make a small version of a shot list for a particular setup, adding shots which we wanted to either retake or experiment with. As it was such a long setup, and because at times we were not all in the studio together, this proved very useful to ensure that we had enough decent footage - even if it did require a little extra energy on an already long shoot day. Another important aspect of this setup was that, as it was our narrative section, we needed to ensure was unique enough aesthetically to intercut and reflect Vernallis' theory through the lyrics of the video such as "living in a Barbie world"; "in a pretty world". I feel that through our set design, considerable amount of props and lighting we were able to achieve this.

 Preparing to shoot some shots & on set with Phoebe

The three of us on screen during a take.

I particularly enjoyed being able to act with Phoebe in this setup, and it gave us a chance to not just take a break from the camera and lighting desk, but also try our hand at the performance side of the shoot for a change. As well as this, we has the chance to use the other Canon camera for slow-motion shots which we didn't have the opportunity to do during the test shoot week. Overall, I would say the multiple roles required, and the range of shot types and camera movement which we used in this setup meant that I probably gained and consolidated my skills the most from the dolls house setup.

Dolls House reflection video

FRIDAY:  Performance Setup

Having made sure that we got the majority of filming done for the Friday to take the pressure of us at the end of the week, we went ahead with the performance setup. This was a really important setup, as it involved the shots at the beginning and end of our video, as well as most of the lipsync that would be intercut throughout the video.

A stand-out improvement was without doubt the difference in lighting, and we felt that the lighting for our final shoot was far more crisp and not too intense, as was the case for the test shoot version:

(left) test shoot performance vs (right) main shoot performance

Overall, I believe the performance went very well, and we were able to finish all of the takes which we needed in time, making sure we completed multiple takes of both gesture shots, and performance shots to guarantee an adequate amount of footage for our final edit. I also think the extra emphasis on routine in GiGi's dance and gesture was a positive, and helped with our incorporation of Richard Dyer's Star Theory, as something easily identifiable with GiGi.

SATURDAY:  Pickups (Snow White & 1950s) & WRAP
Fortunately, despite needing to use the backup Saturday slot, we only left ourselves with a few pickups which we needed to complete, as we hadn't taken any shots interacting with pancakes or the Dole ketchup bottle in the poster in the 1950s setup, and that the lighting was still too intense in the Snow White setup. I feel that once again, we remained focused and made the necessary improvements well. Please find videos from the Saturday session below:

A time lapse video of one of the pickup setups on the Saturday.

Some lighting demonstrations which we conducted

(please click the square icon to enter full screen)

Overall, I think that the first week of construction has been a huge success, and I am very pleased that we have completed what we agreed would probably be the task which required the most time, effort and commitment. I believe that we thought quickly on our feet when faced with problems, worked hard - and at times ahead of schedule - to produce a number of good takes as well as implementing improvements and experimental shots, and also incorporated a number of theories into our shoot to add a professional and plausible feel to our final video.