PRODUCTION: Review of the first day of filming

For our first day of filming, we went to Trafalgar Square as our first location. Once we had gotten there, we had not realised that it was the day for the Diwali festival productions, hence there being a big stage in the background whilst we were filming. We had asked the security guards and the manager of the area if we could have a few minutes to get some shots done; luckily they allowed us, once I had shown my C&I college card, to prove that we were students. 

We recorded a few base tracks there, and even got two security guards to be in it too. What was wrong with one of the shots was that we had left the speaker and our team mates phone next to her whilst she was singing, so it ended up being in  the shot. But, if we had not put the speakers that close to her, our artist was not going to be able to hear the music being played. The location was very loud, the sound of the fountain, the practice mic sounds for the festival, and all the tourists around.

Our next location was the 139 bus to go to Waterloo.  The area we were passing had a good view, so we thought we should film on the bus. I think it was fun, we had to hand hold the camera since we couldn't exactly get the tripod out and adjust it. We got permission from the bus driver too, he allowed us since there wasn't many people on the bus, he just told us to not be so loud. 

Our final location for the day was Banksy Tunnel in Waterloo. Filming here was a great place due to all the graffiti  in the background. At one point, there was a group of boys who came towards us, and they actually asked whether they could be in our video. So we started recording them dancing and hoped we could use these scenes in our music video. 

Some of the precautions we took for our safety, were to keep someone next to the camera at all times. Also, one person stayed next to our belongings so they weren't stolen or anything. Since we did have a lot of people next to us in Banksy, strangers, we had to be even more careful with the camera and have every one of us around it and not far away from it. 

It was a pretty cold day, so after 3 locations, we thought we'd do the other locations another day. I think the filming went really well, we got most of the shots we had wanted to in the locations we went to. However, looking back at some of the recordings, I believe that the Banksy Tunnel place was a little dark, and that we may have to alter the lighting when we come to editing it. 

Production: Review of First Day Filming.

I think our first day of filming went very well, everyone had their jobs to do so that no one was wandering. I think filming in Trafalgar Square went surprisingly smoothly, because i had initial feelings that there might be precautions filming it a tourist attraction, but the guards allowed us to film and were nice enough to let us film them.

Banksy Tunnel was a very enjoyable place to film, as the people there were very friendly and even offered to dance in our video. Although because there was people there we had to bare in mind our risk assessment. We also found some really unique and amazing graffiti that we filmed, that added to the spontaneity of our music video.

We were allowed to film on the top deck of the 139 bus on our way to Waterloo  from the permission of the bus driver and the commuters sitting on the top deck as the bus drove over Waterloo bridge which made the scene much better. 

Overall the day was very good, we were able to film a lot due to it being a Sunday, this enabled us to get to locations quicker because there wasn't a lot of traffic. Having people volunteer to appear in our video was very advantageous because it not only gave us a genre signifer (dance sequence)  it  will also target a wider audience for example dancers or people who don't usually listen to pop or alternative music.

Production: Review Of 1st Day Filming

Well, today was our first day of filming and it was extremely cold but we dealt with it. We were very lucky that we were able to film at Trafalgar Square in front of the fountain. As we went early in the morning they were just setting up the Diwali festival, so it wasn't packed yet, so we were lucky enough to not have a lot of people walking in front of us filming as it can be very time consuming waiting. The shots we got were good but as it was so cold we had to change the outfits, so I still had on a dress as the first outfit but I had tights, boots, leather jacket and scarf as we don't want to risk any of us getting ill. 

We filmed on the 139 as the bus driver gave his permission because there were very few passengers but we also asked the couple at the front of the top if they minded, and they said it was OK. It was difficult filming on the bus as it is very bumpy and turning corners can make you fall over, also the camera was shaking a little. What I really liked was we got the view of the Thames as our bus crossed over the bridge, as you could see houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye. I hope these shots worked well as I think it would look really effective as this is a big part of what people think of as London as they are very iconic places.

Banksy Tunnel/Leake Street was amazing because of all the graffiti makes it so urban and its really good. We were also able to see a few of the artists paint which was also good. It was quite hard to hear myself in the tunnel just because there were quite a few people doing photo shoots  doing graffiti, or dancing but that might of helped us as no one in our group can sing. In this location we danced a lot as a filler for our music video so that it isn't just me standing there by myself singing, and we were approached by some guys wanting to know if they could dance for us which also added a lot of humor and I think it will work really well.

Production: First Day Shooting.

This is a video of our first day on location shooting for our music video.

Production: First Day-Stills.

First Day on PhotoPeach

Planning: Permission to Film

When we were looking for exterior locations to film we found the boxpark in Shoreditch, we went to the management office and asked the manager if it was possible to film she said yes bearing in mind that we had to contact prior to filming.

Skills Development: Planning

The planning for A2 music video I think was a lot better than last year because this year we were a lot more organised. Some of the different ideas we had were extreme or complicated or we just wouldn't be able to accomplish it as we are only college students. Last year I personally think that we were a little naive as to think all of it was going to be really easy and the planning wasn't. Everyone was trying to think of different ideas that no one else would think of or that the examiner wouldn't have seen before. The idea we came up with last year I really do not think that anyone has done it before. This year we had a production schedule that did have to change so we just made a new one, we knew exactly where we were filming and the risks of  filming in certain locations like Trafalgar Square and normally you need permission but the security allowed us. This year I found the whole planning process very enjoyable as we all were on the same page and we all added our own ideas and listened to each other which is definitely an important aspect to working within a group.