Pre-Production: Test Shoot Footage & Feedback

How Did the Shoot Go?

A few days ago, Kate and I filmed a test shoot using the script which I created. Below is a link of our test shoot.


https://vimeo.com/143978631

Feedback

In my opinion, I feel that the shoot was very beneficial. It proved to be quite difficult to get the style of Mockumentary filming when using my camera (Panasonic Lumix GH4). This is mainly due to accessibility reasons, it was difficult to create a still shot whilst zooming in and out and making sure that the focus isn't blurred (which some of our footage is). To me, as I am a cinematographer, using my camera wouldn't be the best bet because of this problem.

Additionally, as we are still technically a documentary, it is quite unusual to be using a mirror-less/DSLR camera for a shoot like this. It seems conventional to use bigger studio cameras purely because it is easier to film actuality with these cameras, and they enable you to have different audio outputs meaning you can optimise sound (as this is important when filming a documentary). The camera I filmed on is typically useful for documentaries however mainly used for cutaways.

Nonetheless, Simon agreed that our test shoot was too shaky and edgy. Although this is a typical mockumentary shooting style, our test shoot still needed some smoothness to it's shots, as this helps to document the actuality you are trying to film.

Conclusion

To conclude, I've decided that I will not be using my camera as the prime camera for the test shoot. In
stead, I may use a Sony EX1 (which are university provides). Having much experience with this camera, I know that this can provide great footage as I used this camera when filming a documentary shoot for a second year project.

Nonetheless, as we have lots of shots which suddenly change direction etc, the size of this camera may let us down. Therefore, I will also be looking at one of the new cameras our university has now got - the JVC GY HM 100. This is much smaller than the Sony however after briefly looking at it yesterday it seems that the camera could be convenient and very accessible. Therefore, I will conduct research on this camera and decide which camera will be the best by hopefully doing a test shoot with the two.