I filmed some interview shots on the 8th of December. I arrived at the interviewees house at around 6:30pm and we filmed for two and a half hours until 9:00pm. The overall outcome resulted in quality footage with good audio and lighting effects but there have been a few technical issues to deal with on location;
One technical issue was that the battery was low when shooting on location, having not being able to charge it up before hand. luckily, I had brought the charger and was able to charge it whilst setting up for the shoot however the battery took longer than expected to charge up and so time was wasted on shoot waiting for the battery to charge up.
Another technical issue faced when filming was setting up the lights. The poles we'd been given wouldn't screw onto the lights and so meant that they didn't have any support and weren't able to be kept up. In the end, we decided to put the lighting on the bunk bed which was in a high location however we had to be aware of the risk of the lights overheating and burning the mattress on the bed.
Something I discovered after filming was the positioning and the talking space. The interview subjects have been placed a little too far in to the centre of the frame as I would have preferred it to be, which I didn't notice or correct when filming;
Apart from the issues faced, it was a general success and I got the right shots needed for my documentary.
Because I am filming after school, I have arranged transport to collect the equipment I need to use to film for my documentary. I also have arranged for help to carry the equipment needed into the car and out the car as well.
In terms of equipment, I have a backup SD card in case there wasn't enough room on the first one, as well as spare batteries for the boom mic and the battery charger for the camera in case it dies. When it comes to setting up, I will need to;
- Set up the tripod and camera
- Put the SD card in the camera
- Set up the boom mic and pole
- Put the battery in the boom mic
- Set up the props and costumes in the talking space
- Set up the lighting and make sure its secure on a tripod and in a safe location
- Turn on the lights and adjust them to a reasonable setting
- Plug the boom mic in to the camera
- Test the audio and lighting on the camera
- Adjust the camera with the interviewees in frame to make sure they are in focus and at a good range in terms of shots.
I also need to be sure the interviewees have the questions before hand (at least 12 hours) so they can prepare themselves time to give a well thought out response.
When I am filming at my location, it'll be very dark due to the shorter daylight hours. To obtain good quality lighting, I will be using special studio lighting to light up my location. Because the room I am filming in is a small room, I will only require one of these lights as they are very bright. I will be using high key lighting to obtain good quality footage and will adjust the light setting according to the distance from the interviewee and the light.
The other location I am filming my documentary will be at one of the cosplayers home. The idea of filming in their house is to give the audience an insight into the life of a cosplayer. Not only that, but its also local so this will be convenient for transporting equipment.
I will film in the room of the cosplayer and also set up an area in which props can be used in the talking space to further represent the interviewees interests;
Other locations I have considered includes my own house, the school photography room and other cosplayers homes. These locations are all indoors so there would be no sound interruption from wind, however we decided it would be more convenient for everyone to go to this location as it was the home of two of the cosplayers I was interviewing, and was also in the same town where the other cosplayer lives, and so geographically it was more convenient for all of them.
To get quality audio footage for my documentary I am using a rode video mic on the end of a boom pole. In order to obtain the highest quality audio I must make sure;
- The high pass filter switch (HPF) is on;
By doing this, it will remove low unwanted frequencies that are in the background of the audio recording.
- The microphone level has been adjusted so that the microphone can pick up the sound from a close range and that the audio isn't too loud.
- The batteries for the boom microphone are in and placed the right way.
On the camera, there is a bar in the corner in which will indicate what sound the audio is picking up;
I will use this bar to see whether the sound is being picked up by the rode mic and if so whether it is too loud.
The mic is a hand held device in which requires a second person to hold the mic whilst I will be doing the filming. In order to achieve my goal, I will be getting help from the cast when they not being interviewed so I can get the sound quality I need.
The equipment I will need to film the interview is;
- Panosonic HDC TM700
- Tripod
In addition to this, my interview also requires quality audio and lighting in order to achieve a good product. To control the audio I will be using;
Rode NTG 2
This will be placed at the end of a boom pole so the audio quality will pick up more sound from the person being interviewed. Also, by putting it on a pole means it can be controlled in terms of where about the mic is in the shot and so the person holding the mic can position it out of shot.
I will also be using special lighting on tripods in which will help adjust the lighting quality in which i can adjust the lighting to create the right tone and mood;
For the interview, the cosplayers will be wearing normal everyday clothing to show that they fit into society and are regular people so it relates with the target audience. However, they will also be wearing clothing in which reflects on a franchise from anime/scifi such as tshirts and hoodies
for example;
This clothing is something that an everyday person would wear but is also branded with the franchise that inspired the cosplayers.
