Professional Practice: Filming Update

What's the Latest News?

As I've been preparing for the last couple of weeks, I'm coming closer to finishing the first draft for my shooting script plus confirming everything which I need for filming. Below is the latest work and changes to this project.

Content to Film, and What will be Filmed

In my previous post, I mentioned what could potentially be filmed. Now that I have completed my location recce and researched more into the features which the Dockyard offers, I can now confirm what my content will consist of, which you can see in chronological order (however this is subject to change depending on the actual filming dates and what order flows best once I begin editing) below:

Introduction: Establishing the site by filming a POV shot walking through the entrance, followed by a graphic match of the long railway empty to becoming filled with tourists (this will be filmed on the quiet day, which will then be filmed on the busy day). I will film iconic parts of the Dockyard such as it's tall machinery statues.

Warships: For this section, I will begin by filming a virtual tour of the submarine. This will work by beginning with an interview with the submarine tour guide, who will explain the sections of the submarine whilst the camera is exploring it. Once this tour has finished, the tour guide will give some statistics and background behind the gannet then the cavalier. This sequence will end with the tour guide giving a brief statement on what made him choose these warships and why he/she chose to work at the Dockyard (hopefully positive and helpful answers will be given as this is a promotional video)!

The Smithery Gallery: After the warships, we will then see a POV shot walking from the warships over to the Smithery. Once here, there will then be an interview with the tour guide at this location, whom will give us a background of the Smithery and its upcoming galleries and activities for this year. Here I will also be asking questions regarding to why they chose to work at the smithery and what they're opinions of the Dockyard are.

Ropery Tour: I will be sticking with the idea of learning how to make rope. So, another POV shot will lead from the smithery over to the ropery. We will see the steps on how to make rope with a in-depth shot with my GoPro, allowing us to see it directly and clearly. Once finished, the same questions above will also be asked: this is purely to gain more coverage and could all be used for the ending - hopefully everyone will give me happy and positive replies to help end the promotional video on a high.

Festival (Steam & Transport): After learning how to make rope, my video will then jump into the festival section - I will be filming at the Steam & Transport festival not only just for this section, but to gain more coverage of the Dockyard of when it is busy. This also allows a perfect opportunity to get VOX POPS of tourists asking if they've been to the Dockyard before and generally asking what they enjoy about it. This section will focus on what the festival offers and I hope to get interviews with a volunteer worker to see why they volunteer for events such as these. This is almost like the climax of my video as it seems to be the most thrilling and exciting, so I need to make sure that i get all the footage to promote not just the festival but for what extra the Dockyard offers.

What makes the Dockyard 'special', and it's future plans: Now that the climax has shown, I've decided to add some sensitivity to the promo video. To do this, there will be a section which focuses on the tourist site outside of the tourists: talking about the small businesses on the site, the residents, and the volunteers. To do this, I will be arranging an interview with one of the Heads of Departments, as these are useful as they are an important role for the Dockyard's function, meaning someone who is passionate. 

These interviews will discuss about the preservation on the Dockyard: the amount of work which is being done daily to keep the original state of the site whilst coping with its tourism. This will include an interview with one of the life boat museum volunteers as these people too obviously are passionate for the Dockyard by working for no cost. Once this has been shown, the HOD will then talk about the future plans: The Command of Oceans Project, as this too links to the preservation of the site as some of the funding is being spent to maintain the site, as well as making it more convenient. 

Ending: Now that my promo video has a different perspective which you may not expect, my ending will consist of a mini-montage and conclude on what the Dockyard can offer. This will also include some of the other features which I haven't mentioned in the Dockyard. For example, the SSS room, The 'Big Space', Hearts of Oak, etc. Once these have been mentioned, the prices and opening times will be shown to conclude and end the video.

Filming Dates

I've also confirmed the dates which I will be filming. I am also currently working on what will be filmed on each date - this will be determined by the scene numbers which I'll show once my script has been created. Nonetheless, the dates are:

   - 2nd March (Quiet shoot. The Dockyard has only been open for a couple of weeks so it should be
     reasonably quiet for this date.)
   - 29th March (A date for what can't be filmed on the quiet shoot. For example, for interviews).
   - 5/6th April (Steam & Transport Festival. Second day will be used if needed)
   - 12th April (Busy Shoot. This date is at the end of the Easter Holidays so should be busy, but not
      too busy it can cause problems to shoot).

Quiet Filming Day vs. Busy Shooting Day.

As this is a promotional video, it is critical that tourists are evident at most stages of the video, to reinforce this idea that the Dockyard is an attractive tourist site. However, I also need to make sure that I get the shots that I need, otherwise the people watching my video may find it difficult to see what I'm trying to show. For example, if Im trying to get a long shot of the submarine and it's a busy day and has lots of people crowding around it, then I may not be able to get the shot which I need.

So, I've decided I'm going to split my script up and film certain scenes twice: one on a quiet day, and one of a busy day. This is so that I know I'll have enough coverage and the exact shots I need, whilst having the opportunity to have some quiet establishing shots of a feature, and then add in shots with tourists to reinforce this idea of promoting. However, this may be difficult to edit in terms of continuity - the weather could be different between the two dates, or I could have different camera gear. Nevertheless, these are only minor problems and I'll still have the choice of 2 types of footage to choose from (plus an extra day of filming if needed) which isn't too problematic.

Tourist POV style

I've also decided to film the promotional video as if the whole video is a virtual tour, however more of a 'tease' than a tour. This can simply be done by frequent POV shots - perhaps using them to link locations to one another and to be used for certain aspects in the video to give my video some interactiveness by showing the audience a first person perspective (like my ropery idea). This could be used in the warships - we could see a POV of someone climbing through the submarine for example. However, this cannot be too frequent otherwise it may reduce the quality of the film, and even contrast against some of the establishing shots which I am aiming to use.



Now that I am confirming and preparing my film bit by bit, I will now continue to work on the first draft for the script as well as prepare everything for my first shooting date, as it is only a few days away!