The Shoot:
17th Feb 2014:
This was the first day of shooting. We went to Eleanor's house (Speke, Liverpool) to introduce ourselves and talk about what was going to happen on the 18th as that was when we intended to start filming. We wanted to make her feel comfortable and prepared on the first day so we didn't take much equipment as we didn't want to intimidate her. I did some test sound recording to get a feel for the location and think about what sounds were going to be needed. I left the zoom in the corner of the living room where the interviews were going to be held and recorded the room for roughly an hour. This ensured that I added to my audio list and planned for other sounds we might encounter. Listening back to the audio we noticed sounds such as toys and children in the background which we weren't initially planning for. This made us also add more shots. Eleanor also told us some ideas she would like involved in the film which included filming Jayden's chest - where he has tubes for chemotherapy and medicine and also the medicines he used to be on. I then planned for these sounds after we had left. Communication was really key to this day and I felt that as a team we worked really well with planning every part of the video and helping each other with ideas.
18th Feb 2014:
Second day, first full day of filming. We got to Eleanor's around 12:30pm and started filming almost straight away. As a team we managed to get all the equipment ready before we got there to save time and make Eleanor feel less intimidated. Whilst we were waiting for everyone to get into position and feel comfortable I started sound recording. I first started with atmospheric sounds in the hallway, kitchen and living room as we had 2 zoom microphones with us. This ensured we had plenty of time to record the sound and have enough variety. We also did a couple of test interviews to check sound levels and check how loud Rebeccas (Eleanors daughter) was as she was slightly quieter and we wanted to pick her voice up clearly. I left the microphone recording throughout the entire living room interview scenes which was to pick up a little extra atmospheric sound and set the scene. This day went really well overall and the sound was really clear when played back. As a team we worked really efficiently and helped each other if there was something we didn't understand. I worked with Chris recording sound and he helped me set up the equipment and also double check the levels. Overall, we got everything done and got more footage and sound than we had intended too which was a success.
19th Feb 2014:
Third and final day. As we finished everything we needed to in the previous days we decided to film Liverpool based cutaways - e.g. monuments to set the story and explain where we were especially as Eleanor explains that they are from Liverpool and they need to get to Paris, France. Today didn't require much sound however, I recorded a small amount of ambience down at the docks, should we need it.
Reflection on my practice:
Overall, I feel that I learnt a very wide knowledge of sound recording from this project. Sound recording is something that I had never paid attention to and overlooked it's importance. I think that I did well and pushed myself to learn new techniques and learn to use equipment I had never used such as the boom. However, when we returned from the trip we realised some clips of sound were no longer there when they were when we recorded as we made sure to log them, name the file and listen back to the sound. We have no idea how this happened and intend to edit with previous takes and also should it be needed, the in camera sound. This could have been something I did wrong and should have checked it was still there many times before we left Liverpool. However, having a contingency came to be a really important factor afterwards. I felt that I was prepared for any mishaps we could have encountered and made sure that every possible way of recording sound possible, I would do. Obviously with losing some recordings it was a relief to find some good quality alternative recordings. I feel that I could have improved by learning more about some equipment I was using such as the Zoom as sometimes I was a little unsure how to set it up and how to format it. I also could have been stricter when recording sound as sometimes I was picking up unwanted sound and didn't point it out straight away.
Teamwork/Communication:
Overall, communication within the team was good. However, there were times during pre production where the communication wasn't very strong. For example, we all needed to find a way to stay in contact and agreed that 1 form of contact was good e.g. text messaging. However, sometimes it was awkward especially as some members of the group, including myself didn't have a social network to contact the rest of the group. We instantly discussed this and found it wasn't the most efficient way and people were getting left out. However, despite this, the communication began to get stronger and more professional as we included more full team meetings where everyone had a voice and opinion.
During the shoot the teamwork and communication was really strong and we all helped each other be efficient and prepared if something was unknown. We all helped make Eleanor feel comfortable and talked to her before the interview and also interviewed her as if it was a conversation.
Rough edit tutorial notes:
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