It's a wrap

Equipment:

Sony z7 Camera
Slider (which we learnt how to use, finally)
tapes
Tripod

Shooting time: 10am

We finally finished our filming. Our last shoot was a re-shoot with the track in the dome. This went very well. Having learnt from our old footage, we made sure to learn how to use the track from the tutors before we left, and we were very conscious of levels, and shake. We took out only one camera, which meant we were all watching what the other was doing and suggesting improvements  as well as helping steady and shift focus during rack focus so that we didnt wobble the camera. Once again, we had trouble with spirit levels (the building is very very wonky) but as we noticed, this meant that we have learnt to check for these things, and it meant that we could make the shots straight.

We took many tracks inside and out, and also did some rack focuses, so shots for graphic matches, and some nice close ups. It helped a lot that I had written and taken with me a shot list, and because we knew exactly what we wanted and the mistakes we made last time. because of this the shots are much better and the tracks are almost professional looking. We also tried hard to think about what Paul had said to us, about having focus and style instead of boring pans. Therefore, we were all trying to find good shots and focus changes, and really thinking about composition instead of setting. This meant our shots were much better.

 It worked quite well when we as a group discuss each shot and how it could be better, and we all had trying trying at a different shot. Here are some photos:

After this, we have decided that we are DONE! We sort of had a turning point on this. We had wanted re-enactments and more interviews, but now, with time running out and the constant feedback that we are making the film too complicated, we have decided to not do any more filming. Though it would have been good to have re-enactment, there is some ethical issues to consider (which I have previously mentioned) about the "truth" of the piece, and often reenactment can look cliche or cheap. We might not have made it look like this, but putting re-enactment with our ideas would have made the piece very convoluted and the more I thought about it, the less it seemed to work. The interviews (most importantly with the dome/a historian) was a conclusion to not getting any replies. It has now got to a stage that we need to start editing seriously  and as we have no interviewee, we just had to make the decision to drop that idea, and make a narration instead. Louise as a scriptwriter has volunteered to do this while Ella and I edit some shots based on this paper edit that Ella has made:



Paper Edit – Heritage Project

Royal Stables
1. Timeline – “1803 Royal Stables”
2. Establishing shot - Brighton Dome EXT
3. Interview – The Dome was built by king George.
4. Wide - King George statue.
5. Close up – King George Statue.
6. Interview – Built as stables.
7. Achieve - Drawings of stables.
8. Wide - Modern Dome.
9. Interview – Had a special tunnel built to meet lover.
10. Tunnel track.
11. Interview – But they fell out before it was finished.
FADE


Cavalry Barracks to Concert Hall
1. Timeline - “1850 Cavalry Barracks to Concert Hall”
2. Establishing shot - Brighton Dome EXT
3. Interview – Used as a cavalry barracks.
4. Archive – Photo of Barracks.
5. Interview – Then transformed into a concert hall.
6. Archive – Photos of Concert Hall.
7. Wide - Modern Dome Theatre.
8. Interview – Only became the venue we recognize in 1935.
FADE


Wartime
1. Timeline – “1914 Wartime”.
2. Establishing shot - Brighton Dome EXT
3. Interview - Used for nursing Indian soldiers.
4. Archive – Photo of Soldiers
5. Interview – The Indian gate as a thank you.
6. Wide – The Indian Gate
7. Close Up – The Indian Gate
8. Interview – In 1943 a bomb fell but did not explode.
9. Wide – Pavilion gardens.
10. Interview – Tea Dances held during the war.
11. Archive – Photo of the tea dances.
12. Close up – Ball room dancing
13. Interview – Many couples fell in love there.
FADE


The Brighton Dome Organ
1. Time line – “1936 The Brighton Dome Organ”
2. Wide – Organ concert
3. Interview – Organ was fitted in 1936.
4. Archive – Photo of the organ
5. Close up – Organ Concert
6. Interview - Douglas Reeve Made the organ famous.
7. Archive - Photo of Douglas Reeve.
8. Wide – Organ Concert.
9. Close up – Organ concert.
10. Interview – DR earned a world record and the Organ is still played in concerts today.
11. Wide – End of concert/Audience clapping.
FADE


Musical Milestones
1. Timeline – “1969 Musical Milestones”.
2. Establishing Shot – Brighton Dome Venue Entrance.
3. Interview – Many big names have performed here.
4. Wide – Theatre interior.
5. Archive – David Bowie poster.
6. Interview - David Bowe performed and the seats were torn up.
7. Archive – Photo of destroyed seats.
8. Interview - Hosted Abba’s eurovision victory.
9. Archive – Abba articles.
10. Interview – Pink Floyd performed there regularly.
11. Archive – Photos of Pink Floyd.
12. Wide – Theatre interior.
13. 2nd Interview – Went to the venue, had a great time.
14. Close up – Theatre interior.
15. Interview – Still popular venue used by big artists.
16. Wide – Brighton Dome EXT.
FADE

Though it is a shame that we couldn't do all of the ideas we needed to, I now see that what we proposed to do was a massive task and might have been too confusing and extreme for a viewer to see. As we now focus on archive footage and footage of the dome as it is now, with a timeline over, this is focused and simple. We will also have a few brief sounds capes under the narration, and the interview with the music guy. This seems much less of a mash of ideas. The first edit we have made is clear and on its way, which is exciting.

Interview shoot

Interview

Time: 2pm
Equipment pick up: 12pm
Place: Room 309
Equipment: D7000, Tripod, Marantz, hand Held Microphone, 800Watt lighting set, Filters
Roles: Robyn- Lighting, camera
Louise- interview, scripting, collection of Paul
Ella- Sound

We did an interview with a local man, Paul Clarkson, who went to lots of dome concerts and was willing to give us an interview about the dome and his experiences. The interview went very well; Paul was very knowledgeable and polite, and I felt like we asked good questions and got him talking; Louise had come up with some well researched questions, and we went through how to be a good interviewer before (don't speak, nod and smile etc ).
We managed to set up a good studio feel in the lecture theater with a warm toned lighting scheme. We did this by having two lights as a key and a fill light, and a red filter over them, and then white balancing it so it was less extreme. The room already has a red background and sound proofed walls, so this location was excellent.  I was pleased with this effect, and the colour of the room- this was what we intended to make as an overall tone in the film. I was also glad we decided to use this location instead of using the studio, as it evoked the feeling of being in a theatre.
Here is a photo of Louise on the set:

 The interviewee was found by Louise. There was a bit of trouble before, as he told us only the day before that he could interview on Friday. We had such little time, that the equipment was all booked out, so we had to compromise on quite a few things- for instance, we had to use a marantz and a D7000 as there were no z1's available. We also had to use a 800 watt lighting kit which was a bit too extreme, it would have been better to use a 300 watt one- the light was blinding, so I had to point both lights at the ceiling, which makes Paul slightly flatter than intended. Despite this, the shots we took were nice, and I was pleased with the framing. Ella, who was doing sound, listened to the sound recording, and apparently there is some noise distortion that she didnt notice at the time. Hopefully this can be taken away post production. Other than these issues, the interview went very well, and we worked well as a team, with Louise and I doing questions, I set up camera and lights, and Ella doing sound. Paul also brought lots of old tickets and programs, which was amazing- he was a great interviewee.
Here is a photo of some of the stuff he has written:

In other news, the dome have still not replied to my email, and we have given then 5 days, and then we will write a narration instead. This is quite annoying; we wanted to rely on the interview footage for some of the video. Despite this, I feel like we can write a good narration. Also, we have been given feedback by several tutors that we are trying to do too much. This will cut out an interview and allow for focus on just pans, tracks, timeline and archive footage. It will also be much easier to edit a narrative rather than an interview, as we know exactly what they will say, plus it will be linear instead of cutting up answers. This should make editing an easier task. Louise, as script writer, has begun to start writing the script.

Feedback and emails

We have begun to edit the footage we shot. After showing it to our tutor, he suggested we re-shoot some of what we have, as a lot of our shots have no focus. This means that they weren't composed properly, and that the eye wasn't led around the frame. We also had a broken tripod, which had a spirit level which looked perfect, but once we got to the edit lab, showed that it was wonky. I took a photo of the spirit level at the time, but it looked ok in the viewfinder, which was a mistake:

The tripod was also a bit shaky. Not many of these shots we have to redo were mine, and the ones we have to redo lacked composition because we wanted to have pans, and tracks which the timeline will track over- therefore the camera had to move. So though I agree that some shots dont "lead the eye", there is an important reason for this. Looking at our footage now, however, I do think that Paul had a point, and some of the footage is underexposed and this is shoddy.
We are going to re-shoot and try and focus very much on composition, exposure, the spirit level, and try and do tracking and pull focus. We are also going to print out the actual pictures we are going to graphic match. I realize that maybe the shots don't have focus because i didnt plan extensively what each shot should look like, as I just assume it will be obvious when i get there. This is a mistake, and I have drawn up a proper list of shots and have taken some time to really think about it, and how the shots might look and be composed. (I should draw it, but my drawings really are bad, so it doesnt help that much)

This is a shot list for the scene:

Pull focus on the door frame onto the reflection of dome sign
pull focus on first dome sign to second dome photo
Pull focus on plants to the dome/pavillion
track next to door of dome, looking extreme up, so dome is looming over
Same shot at the Indian gate
track through windows of the door
close up still of the domes exposes properly.
close up still of the stone rose
pull focus of George statue with dome.
Pull focus of geroge and plants
reflection of geroge or dome in car mirrors? have to see if can do this
Track extreme low shot of statue

Paul also gave us the feedback that we are doing too much. I feel like this is true, as we are starting to run out of time, and we have a lot of stuff uncompleted. Therefore, we might have to cut down on our ideas. Meanwhile, we still haven't heard back from the dome for narration. I am starting to think we might have to write a narration. As we have been told by several people that we are trying to do too much, and if we have so many interviews, soundscapes etc etc, it might be a not great piece of work. If we are not answered before Easter  we will write a narration. Louise has secured an interview with someone who has gone to the dome many times.  here is  of his emails:

Hello Louise,
Thank you for your e-mail. 
I would be delighted to take part in this project, the Dome was and still is my favourite music venue. I still have nearly all of my tickets dating back to 1971 and love talking about music.
I look forward to hearing back from you,
Paul Clarkson

Hello Louise,
Thank you for the map and the directions, from memory and also looking at the map I believe the bus stop is at the Refectory building, if that is correct then I know where that is as that is one of the buildings I worked in. 
I've looked at the bus times and it seems there is a 25 every 5 minutes so I will aim to be there at 2.15pm.
It may also be useful for you to have my mobile number just in case there are any problems 07759926751
I'm looking forward to meeting you
Paul Clarkson

 so we are interviewing him on Friday in room 309 (because it looks like a theater  sort of.) we didn't want to shoot him in the studio, as it kind of looks too hospital like. We thought the theater would evoke emotions.
These are the questions I have written which we want to ask him:

1) Can you tell us what your favorite experience has been at the dome?
2) What was it like to see Pink Floyd? Do you have any interesting stories?
3) How was seeing them perform Dark Side of the Moon?
4) What was it like seeing Led Zeplinn?
5) Why do you think the dome is important to Brighton?
6) How many times did you visit, and did being in the dome effect you?
7) What has the dome given to musicians?

This is how we are going to light him:

We were also reading some of the articles Paul had written, so as to know what to say to him. He has seen a lot and seems to have some good stories. Here are some examples of what he says:

As you can see by the ticket stubs, we had some top bands that year, Pink Floyd was a great gig to be at as it premiered 'Eclipse' or what everyone now knows as 'Dark Side of the Moon', this was the gig where the equipment broke down during 'Money' so they came back in June and played two nights. I went to the second night, I knew what to expect this time and made a point of being in the centre stalls; the price went up by 25% but I don't think anyone minded! 
Then there were the three heavyweights, Led Zeppelin, Free and Deep Purple. What a three months that was. It was very exciting - quite a hit on my wages from my part-time job I had, but well worth it. I have been a fan of Free ever since I heard the LP 'Fire & Water' in 1970, the line up didn't include Andy Fraser as he had formed Sharks who came to the Dome in 1973 as support to Roxy Music.

People I speak to now say how lucky we were to see these acts so cheap. I like to point out that I had a friend who worked full-time and only earned £9 per week which, when you work out the percentages to salary and costs these days it is not that much difference. The cost is irrelevant, If you were to ask a young Led Zeppelin fan now, and there are many of them, how much they would pay to go in a time machine and go back to 20/12/72, I would bet it would be in the hundreds, even thousands if they had the money, so yes on that basis we got it cheap!

As for today, I think the Dome is still a wonderful venue, an absolute gem. There are some good concerts to be seen there now but the amount of gigs has dwindled but I think we were very lucky to see so many top acts in such a short space of time.   

 From: "1972: a great year at the Dome" by Paul Clarkson, 2012, published on the website "My Brighton and Hove" accessed at: http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__11327_path__.aspx

More shooting

Shooting 2:

Equipment: D7000, Z1, tripod, flash gun, Macro lens.
Location: Dome, outside.
Roles: We all helped out with the camera today. Louise was more focused on stills and me and Ella were doing the video.

Shot list
The Indian gate- a shot of it from below
the Indian gate sign
A pan and track of the dome door (going down and across)
details of the domes
details of the doors
pans of various doors and walls.
track down from the dome to the street
focus on dome signs around the dome
long shot from across the street/ from the gardens
rack focus of the pavillion and dome (?!)
rack focus of leaves
anything else

We went out and took some more photos today of the dome, and did some filming. Here are a few examples (below). We worked well as a group, i think, as we all have different ideas and shots which we think was good; it seems that as we all have ideas, we can shoot them all, and combine them, which allows for everyone to cooperate. This means we get a lot of ideas in, but also manage to make sure that everyone has a try.
 We took exterior pans of the dome, the pavilion gardens and the Indian gate. As our last shots were slightly shaky and weirdly exposed, this time we were much more careful to get smooth pans and well positioned and set up photographs. We have therefore learnt to be very careful with how we set up our shots. The shooting did go well, and we had enough tape space to make these.

 It was quite difficult to get the exposure right, as the day was overcast but bright, and it was difficult to get the D7000 to not over-expose the sky, or under-expose the ground. We tried light metering, but when filming, light metering control is minimal. We will have to see in post edit if this is a problem.  We also had a broken tripod, which meant the spirit level was uneven. However, it seemed like we got past these problems, from the photos below, we will have to see when we edit.

As a group, we worked well, with two of us concentrating on video, (one looking for location, the other filming) and with Louise concentrating on stills for graphic matches. This meant that we all had the chance to shoot. On the whole, it seems like it was a successful shoot.

Some more emails

 We have been exchanging emails with the dome about interviews. Here are the emails below:

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Robyn Furtado [mailto:rf205@sussex.ac.uk]

> Sent: 13 March 2013 16:19

> To: Zoe Curtis

> Subject: RE: Filming on March 5th

>

> Hi Zoe,

> We've been emailing various historians about the doing an interview

> about

> the dome, but we are worried they might know as much as we require for

> out

> video, and were wondering if you thought that any of the dome staff

> would

> be interested in doing a short interview for us about the history of the

> dome? Thank you!

> Robyn Furtado

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Robyn Furtado [mailto:rf205@sussex.ac.uk]

> Sent: 13 March 2013 16:19

> To: Zoe Curtis

> Subject: RE: Filming on March 5th

>

> Hi Zoe,

> We've been emailing various historians about the doing an interview

> about

> the dome, but we are worried they might know as much as we require for

> out

> video, and were wondering if you thought that any of the dome staff

> would

> be interested in doing a short interview for us about the history of the

> dome? Thank you!

> Robyn Furtado

-----Original Message-----
From: Robyn Furtado [mailto:rf205@sussex.ac.uk]
Sent: 13 March 2013 19:59
To: Zoe Curtis
Subject: RE: Filming on March 5th

Hi,

We would be asking questions as in a normal interview, and would ask the

interviewee to answer in a narrative style.

Thank you!

Robyn

-----Original Message-----
From: Robyn Furtado [mailto:rf205@sussex.ac.uk]
Sent: 13 March 2013 19:59
To: Zoe Curtis
Subject: RE: Filming on March 5th

Hi,

We would be asking questions as in a normal interview, and would ask the

interviewee to answer in a narrative style.

Thank you!

Robyn

Because of this, we are going to meet tomorrow and talk about what questions to ask them. We want to get a proper narrative narrative that goes through all of the stories in the narrative slowly and calmly. 

We have now met, and we have put the questions into categories. This is a list of the questions we have put down. This task was quite difficult, we are suffering from what Zoe mentioned in the pitch- we want to include a massive amount, and this is making our task a lot harder than first assumed. The questins are huge ones, and have a lot inside, but we chose to ask open ended questions rather than what date was this, when did this happen, which would be boring and a pain to edit into a narrative. We dont need everything that we have written down (for one thing, it'll be very very long if so) but we felt that if we get as much a possible  we can edit it down. 

1) When and why was the dome built?
What we want covered: Who by, what for, who inspired, purpose, cost and time span of initial building? The stables. 

2) What is the story of the tunnel?
What we want covered: Lady Fitzherbet and Geroge 5 story, what has happened to it now.

3) What happened to the dome after it stopped being a stables?
    What we want covered: When it became calvary barracks, why and how long for. Explain who stayed there, and include the Indian gate. Why was it then transformed into a concert hall? Who paid for this? 

4) What happened to the dome during the war?
What we want covered: The tea dances- who attended, and how many, any stories from the tea dances? Also, the story of the bomb that fell in the garden, but didnt explode. The hospital- who stayed in the hospital, how many, when and why did they stay in the dome?

5) When and why was the Organ made?
What we want covered: The Organ's story, include Douglas Reeve. Story of the Organ playing during air raids, and the suffragettes that hid in the pipes. 

6) Does Brightn Dome have a musical hertiage? Can you tell us some of the historical music moment under the roof of the dome?
What we want covered: David Bowie gig that ripped up seats, ABBA winning eurovision song contest, pink floyd etc. 

7) Why is the brighton dome important to brighton? 





We are also experiencing a little bit of a split in opinion on the issue of the re-enactment. We were going to shoot some scenes (a tea dance, a "tunnel", a gig, etc) which were set up, or not in the dome itself. This is a legitimate action for historical documentary, espeically if we dont say that it IS the dome. However, Ella believes that this is leading the audience to believe something that is not true, and that we shouldnt "fake" these shots. To be honest, I think that it IS true, we are making a documentary about the dome, and making re-enacted shots will make it "not real", but i also think this issue of "real" is a controversial one. Surely if you argue that re-enactment is "not real", then we can also argue that our timeline idea is "not real", and therefore shouldnt be use,d because it "doesnt exist." I think that the re-enacment will add a more interesting backdrop to the narrative than endless pans of the dome. We were thinking of shooting the dance in the studio, where it will be obvious that the dance didnt happen, so it will just be an "artist impression" of what happened. (I think maybe the word "reenactment" is the problem here, it conjures up images of fake blood and costumes.) Anyway, we will be shooting the re-enactments, and then see how well they fit in. As Ella is the editor, they will most probably not fit in, but they could do, so we can see. 

We are also shooting some exterior shots in the garden of the dome on monday, and taking photos for graphic matches. For this I need to make a shot list to avoid the problems of last time, and also make sure have enough tapes. 

Logging clips and problems

Today Ella and I went into the edit lab and logged the footage we took from the dome. I was quite interested to see what the footage looked like, Some of it was un-usable. There are moments where it is shaky and out of focus, and also over or under exposed. I was quite disappointed in myself for doing this, as I had expected to not make such errors. Some of these I cannot be completely blamed for- for example, we were taken unexpectedly to the roof and tunnel- he told us where we were going half way there, therefore I didn't have a tripod to take shots in the dark, and stills in the light. I did TRY to do stills, and i thought they were still, but apparently not... I'm glad to see that the over exposed and underexposed shots are not such a problem, and the focus wasn't too much of a constant mistake- just once or twice. We can edit these out, but I am annoyed at myself for doing this anyway.
We did get quite a few good shots from the roof, but the tunnel was un-usable, firstly as it didnt look like anything in the first place, and secondly as Louise is in shot constantly. This is a shame, we'll have to find somewhere else to film.

We took a lot of shots in the corn exchange, lobby and exterior. These are on the whole very good, and i was pleased with their outlook. The track was less impressive. To be honest, I am surprised they are as good as they are, as me and Louise were using trolleys from building sites and light trolleys which we stole from the builders in the Corn exchange (we had a broken track) There are moments where the camera is steady, the movement smooth and the shot very usable. There are other moments where the camera is jolted (as the tripod wasnt attached) and vibrating (as the trolley wheels werent steady) We can use some of these, but not all, which is disappointing. I learnt that we really do need the correct equipment if we want to create a professional look, and we'll have to go back and repeat with a real track.

I also learnt that we also need to rehearse and check all of our equipment before we set off- sadly, the slider we had been given was missing a part, and none of us remembered enough tapes, so we ran out at the end of the day. If we had been more prepared, we could have had more footage and a less unprofessional end result. I feel like some of the problems we faced was because we all expected everyone else to notice the problems or mistakes, as we all kind of assumed every role, and so we didnt have defined jobs to do. We DID film some successful shots of the concert, and inside the dome. also, last years footage is really good, so we arent left completely with no footage; it is just a shame that not all of it will be our own- which is what we wanted.


I feel a bit like i let the group down, as the camera was my job. I know i did shoot some really good stuff, but some of the mistakes I made could easily have been avoided if I had prepared more (like bringing a spare tape, for example.) Next time, I will do this. I think we need proper shot lists and schedules for each shoot. I will do this for our next shoot.

In other news, Cal has had to leave our group, as she has to go home (a bad family situation) This is in no way her fault, but it has left us a bit lost. She is the one who has the graphic and after effects skills, and without her, we as a group have no idea how to create the timeline, which is one of our main ideas. we have been searching online and looking at tutorials, it doesnt seem incredibly difficult, but we dont want to make a timeline that is only mediocre, and so have been discussing that we might have to change our idea. We don't know yet what we will do, however. We are also struggling to find a historian to narrate the film, or to interview. we have decided to write to the dome instead, and get a person who works there to talk. We hadn't wanted to do this, as we were worried that this would look like we wernt trying. However, we want the interviews done as soon as possible, so we can edit together a skeleton of a film and then work out how to fit in soundscapes, photo montages, graphic matches, re-enactments etc. So.. panicing at the moment!

work and dome filming

To get ready for the our first shoot on the 5th, I decided ti draw up a shot list of things that we need. Its going to be a bit of a strange day because we don't know what we need and what we are allowed to get, but i am going to draw up things from the best situation.

Shot List

general needed shots- timeline and filler

track through the doors of the dome
track down the corn exchange corridor
track into and out of the corn exchange
track down the isles of seats
track on stage
outwards curl of camera from roof
still of roof
 still of seats
Pan of the dome inside
exterior shots from garden

Organ concert

People clapping
the organ being played
organ rising up
red seats
people filling in/listening

Episodes

the tunnel tracks down
handheld down tunnel
still
the roof?!

Equipment List
D7000
Flashgun
Sony z1
Tripod
Slider
Photo Tripod
Macro lens
Tapes

Roles
Cal and Ella- Archive
Robyn and Louise- Shooting the dome

we have finally finished the dome shoot (Tuesday March 5th) Today has gone quite well. we managed to get more shots than we thought we might- though the dome seemed strict on not wanting us to film various things, we actually were allowed to go and film quite a few places (though this was not REALLY allowed.... as long as we were quiet) I was the camera person on the day> I let the group down a bit because I didn't bring a spare tape, and we ran out a bit at the end, but we got almost everything we needed, as it didn't matter too much. As a group we worked well. We split into two teams. Ella and Cal had D7000's, and were taking photos of all pf the archive footage that we needed, and the dome provided  I wasn't in the group, and haven't seen any of their photos yet, but i know that what they got should be very useful and good. (though I was disappointed by the light in the room- the archive footage was shiny, but they placed it in a room with sunlight and overhead lights- which make it almost impossible to get a good photos of an old photo.)

Meanwhile, Louise and I took some footage of the dome. We worked well together- we shared responsibility of the camera, and came up with ideas which complemented each other. We found some of the workman's trolleys, and decided to make a make-shift slider, (as the slide we had been given from the media department was missing a piece) it meant that I had to hang on to the bottom of the slider, and Louise had to ride on the top, to keep the camera steady- we got quite a few odd looks, but it was fun and the resulting shots were exactly what we needed as something to put the timeline against. I was glad we had the idea to experiment with these trolleys. We also had access to the roof and the tunnel. the "tunnel" was nothing more than an unplastered and dark corridor (sadly) so we didn't shoot much there. The roof was a great location though, and we got some beautiful shots of the pavilion gardens. In all, the morning went well and we worked well as team.

In the afternoon, we were forced to go to a organ concert. we split up into groups again to cover this- I was with Cal this time. Cal and I had a telephoto lens and were doing close ups of the dome, which was great, and Louise and Ella were on a long shot with sound (as they had the z1) The concert was good, we got several nice shots that we needed, though as our plan wasn't to concentrate TOO much on the organ concert, this wasn't THAT helpful. We also got some music which we can use throughout the piece.

afterwards we had 10 minutes to film inside the dome. again, i think this is a rather strange action on the dome's behalf- why employ us to make a film for them and then not let us film? anyway, we did get some shots but they were quite rushed, and I would have loved for some more time to shoot in the dome itself, which is beautiful. LAos, they were taking down the lights on stage, so it didnt look very nice to film ot, which was was shame. In all, it was a successful day. we got 2 hours worth of footage, and ticked off most of the shot list. There were some infuriating things, but we have concluded that this is something you have to deal with when working for clients- you have to do what they tell you.  As a group we worked well, splitting up time and tasks so we were most efficient, and working in pairs so we could concentrate on what was being filmed, and have one person clearing people away, deciding the next shot etc. I felt that I did do well in the group, coming up with ideas and improvising on equipment and shots. i also felt that as a group we were on task and motivated to shoot lots of things, and that we all knew which shots we needed, thanks to our extensive research. This was great!

Work

We have been planning to shoot our video footage at the dome, for Tuesday. We had booked out two sets of equipment so that we had time and enough space to film footage. We planned to get there at 10, and film all day, including a organ concert. As the main camera man, I was in charge of working out what shots we needed exactly, and have been drawing storyboards. I have been doing this, (though my storyboard drawing skills are so bad I wont put them on here) I want to have tracking shots throughout the dome, and a focus on little elements. We are hoping to have shots in the tunnel. I am not sure hwo to do this- we don't know what it looks like, or how we can light it, so we have got out a portable light and will hope this helps. I think the dome was a bit unhelpful not providing us with information on this. I also wanted shots outside the dome, though we can do this later.

 However, we got some bad news- the dome have contacted us telling us that we only have "possible" access to the dome, that we are allowed access to the archive footage and the organ concert, but not the dome. We all feel quite frustrated by this- after being told we had access to film, letting us devolp ideas and approving them- and then telling us we  weren't allowed to film. It seems like a waste of time. After filming, we might have to completely change our ideas. We have been discussing this, but so far we cannot know what we are allowed to film, so are going to wait til after Tuesday. Therefore, we have been drawing story boards and writing storyboards which reflect this. I think that it is very hard to prepare for a shoot when we don't know where we will be allowed to film or how much we should film. This means our shoot might be a bit hectic, but I'm hoping it wil be better than we are worrying about.

We have booked out all of the necessary equipment, and have our roles sorted out. i feel quite confident, even though we are unsure about the dome.