Friday, 18 March 2016

Filming Day 3

In the final filming day we needed to get the trick sequence filmed as this is a crucial element of the video. We arranged to go out Thursday 17th of March to get the clips however the weather wasn't sunny enough let alone dry enough for us to ride properly so we re scheduled it to the 19th. We came across some some problems that Saturday in regards to security issues and them thinking that where we were riding we were vandalising and causing damage to surrounding property which of course we weren't. In the end we were told to leave despite speaking to the manager and were threatened to get our riding equipment taken away which would have drastically changed my final video and plan as I would have to collect riding gear again which would take time to get together which I couldn't allow as the deadline is close.

Tom and I decided to go back and risk getting told to leave again, because within the matter of days our stuff could be taken which would have meant me re filming half of the video. On Monday the 21st of March we went back with the camera and after 15mins the security guard came back over. I then had a chat to the guard and asked to shoot here just for one more afternoon/ evening and I would never come back which we agreed on and managed to get all our final shots within this time period. To make sure we got the shots we wanted without risk (as I could never come back again) we got multiple shots that were the same so that I could pick and chose once editing.

Overall this was successful although there were lots of complications. I am happy I was able to speak as an adult to the manager and security and make out how important it was for me to get this sort which was lucky they let me in the end. In hindsight, I should have requested permission to use this area to film at this time and place however did not so as I had used this space for riding for years prior with no problems or interruptions at all. I also was under the impression it was public property due to the area being broken down and an unused space for years and have recently discovered it is owned by the council so writing for permission to use the space to film would have been the correct thing to do. If this product was for commercial purposes I would have to gain permission by the council however due to it not making any profit and being for educational purposes only I can leave it, however a valuable lesson for the future has been learnt.

Thursday, 10 March 2016

Filming Day 2

The second filming day was the 23rd of January where we aimed to collect more shots for the trick sequence which starts half way through the video and also film the ending once the sun has started to set.

We wanted some really pretty and creative looking shots so Tom brought along his 'Camera slide' which allows the camera to be mounted and then move smoothly sideways which combined with some manual focusing in and out of focus would look really nice. We managed to collect a few shots of this style which I think would work well in and out of a trick and also some in-between shots giving the audience some background to the riding itself.

We got some cool trick sequences filmed which would work well in conjunction to the rest of the shots I had previously collected however didn't manage to film all of the tricks as we wanted to improve the obstacle/box we were mainly riding on. The improvement of the box could also be filmed from a 'POV' view which would make the 'day in the life' realistic and then the progression of building and then having fun would be more evident with this improvement. We stopped filming and collected more wood so that we could build it up in our next filming session.

We moved onto trying to film our final shot of us riding off into the distance which was difficult as we only had a short period of time to get the shot where the sun was and also people were driving in and out of the centre where we were filming making it difficult for us to get a smooth flowing shot without disruptions. We finally managed to get what we wanted which was worth the efforts in the end.
Camera Slide

Saturday, 5 March 2016

Filming day 1

Filming day one set out well, the sun was out producing some really nice sun light for camera lens effects however the ground was slightly damp. This was a slight issue as the slick tires us boys have could easily slide out causing injury if a trick was landed slightly off centre so we both had to be careful of this.

We took my camera and Tom had recently brought a new filming camera as well, so we set out with 2 lots of equipment as back up if there was technical difficulties. We didn't encounter any social interferences with residents which was good as it could have effected the flow of shots we were collecting however half way through the filming session my camera died so we switched cameras, swapped lens and adjusted ISO and shutter speed settings so that the rest of the shots were as close to the first half of shots as possible which as a result worked well and saved the day.

The water became a problem once we got to the riding spot where the trick were supposed to go down as tricks such as 180's, 360's and bar-spins made the bike slide out from under our feet which meant we had to stop and complete the trick section of the video in filming session two. I predicted this might happen which is why I planned ahead.

Here are some photographs of use on the day...

The first set of images show how in the introduction the camera is spotted in the reflection of the kettle which was then corrected producing the same effect.