Shoot day evaluation

1. Shoot Day Evaluation By Hollie Potter

2. Pre-shoot day Before our shoot day, we placed huge importance on organization, we felt it was necessary to be thoroughly prepared in order to prevent any delays or unnecessary obstacles. We began the day by creating the ‘dreamland’ set, this was inevitably our hardest design to produce, therefore we wanted as much time as possible to construct the set to our highest caliber. As my mother is a floral designer, we spent the following weeks together picking and arranging flowers, (this is discussed in greater detail on my flower market blog posts). In the final days leading up to the shoot day, we utilised my dad’s machinery to uproot a 5x5 squared foot strip of grass. This was to replicate the wild meadow we were aiming for. The grass was cut into several patches and placed into the back of a trailer. The grass was then driven down from North Yorkshire to London where we met my parents and collaborated to construct the meadow as a team. The process, no doubt took quite awhile, however with a positive group of people and a room full of determined brains we were all more than happy with the protocol, and even more satisfied with the result. As the grass was being laid down, we added several sandbags to various areas of the meadow to create a dynamic texture to the field. When all was laid, my team all contributed to arrange some flowers. This was an extremely rewarding part of the process and allowed us to utilise our creativity to the best of our abilities. In terms of arranging the flowers we used biodegradable foam, chicken wire and real, authentic flowers picked fresh from the local market at home. Finally, we arranged some essentials for the ‘bedroom set’, such as, arranging over twenty vases of flowers, all shaped and sized differently which we later scattered all over her bedroom and printing out the posters which is seen pinned all over her walls. • • • • • •

3. Morning Of The Shoot Day • On the morning of the shoot day, I was undeniably nervous. I was concerned in terms of time as we had a tight schedule to stick to with no time to lose or waste. I was also nervous that our ideas which we worked religiously on for the past month would not come to life or fulfill our satisfaction. Despite my anxious feelings, I was able to compartmentalize my thoughts, allowing myself to be excited for the project. This really helped me begin the day with a positive attitude and with the help of my team we were able to start our shoot day with ease.

4. Before Hand • Before the filming process could begin, there was a few tasks which needed to be complete. For example, Ø Locating all the cast. Ø Putting the cast in costume and makeup. Ø Setting up ‘wardrobe’ for quick changes later in the day. Ø Locating all the props used for later sets. Ø Deciding between different backdrops. Ø Setting up finalized backdrop. Ø Setting up lights, cables and camera equipment.

5. First set The studio was a relatively large space, consisting of three black walls and one green screen. As the first set was already prebuilt, we spent some time deciding the best backdrop, eventually we decided on white to demonstrate the abstract charisma of this set. Although we wanted elements of the set which looked genuine and real, such as the flowers, we also wanted the audience to be submersed in a surreal experience which felt somewhat off. This is because the ‘dreamland’ is Talia’s visions and we wanted to replicate that sense of a ‘fever dream’. • We then decided on the lighting, we originally set up red and pink lights via the red heads, however, this felt unbalanced with our colour pallet of the music video and therefore opted for a blue to green blend. In hindsight, if we had more time I would take longer to come to this decision as I still wasn’t 100% satisfied with the lighting and felt it may have made the set look less expensive and thought out. • Regardless of the lighting, I was still extremely happy with the outcome and the results really cultivated my motivation for the rest of the day. •

6. Second Set • After the first set design, we knew we had to plan a lot of time to remove the grass installation and clean up. Therefore, we finished filming the first set design just before lunch, allowing us to work in between lunch to keep within our time goals. My parents helped remove the meadow, carefully dissecting the flowers from the grass in order to reuse for other projects. • As the grass was extremely muddy, we spent a huge proportion of time to sweeping and mopping the floor. We couldn’t allow the studio space to get dirty and therefore was thorough with the cleaning process • Eventually the previous set was evacuated, and we began setting up the second. • What I loved most about the second set design was that we initially had a different idea, however, once we were in the space, we organically went for an alternative route which resulted in a funky, abstract set design. Essentially, we lit up body mannequins and scattered them around the room between the dancers. We then chose to light the mannequins green, again blending cohesively with the overall colour scheme we picked, consisting of cool tones.

7. Third Set • The third, similar to the second, was envisioned extremely different in the planning process. However, due to the lack of time, our team had to be concise and quick, therefore, we had to trust our creative instincts and as a result we constructed a space even better than what we had initially planned. • We first created a template for the ’bedroom scene’. This consisted of a white mattress placed on the floor and two blank walls which was set up behind the bed. As time was running, we scattered posters all across her room, plastered on every inch of her walls. This is where I believe the lack of time worked in our favor, as initially we were going to place the posters in neat rows, however, the imbalanced and oversaturated placement of the posters really accentuated the infatuation Talia possesses over the mannequin and gave the audience a clear vision of what’s happening inside Talia’s mind. • Finally, we placed the vases of flowers we had prepared from the night before and scattered them across the floor. On camera, this really brought texture to the room and took away from the ultra realistic bedroom imagery we were aiming to stray away from. Throughout the whole process I found huge intrigue in making the spaces abstract and unconventional, something familiar without being a replicate of our every day life's.

8. The Roles • In terms of roles, we were each established a role to fulfill for the day. Despite being assigned specific roles, we made it clear that these were ‘fluid’ and that everyone’s creative input was welcomed and encouraged. • My role was ‘Director’. I was extremely pleased to fulfill this role as I had a lot of ideas I wanted to bring to fruition and felt comfortable to manage the cast, exploring alternative performance techniques and visual movements. It was also a personal pivotal point for me as I was ‘female’ director of an all ‘female’ cast and crew, something of which is a rarity within the industry. I am very grateful for the experience and strongly believe that I learned a lot about myself. In reflection, I could have been less fixated on specific images and instead allowed the process to take its natural flow. Throughout this process, I have learned that I have a urgent need for control. As sometimes it can be helpful and keeps the target on track, it can be detrimental if other creative inputs are being subconsciously dismissed. • Ava was also assigned the role of director, including documenting background footage. • Millie was assigned as camerawoman. • And Sanjana was placed in charge of the clapper board. Top grossing female directors 2019

9. What did I do well? I believe I was successful in executing our ideas from paper to camera, I felt I kept in alignment with our overall concept whilst also creatively pushing boundaries and embracing new ideas which were derived on the day. • I also felt as though my perfectionism played a massive role into the finer details within the music video. For example, continuity, eye alignment, head alignment, specific movement motifs, expressions, and proxemics. • I also contributed a lot to the overall vision of the music video, specifically the camera angles/transitions seen. For example, the transition from the ‘bedroom set up’ to the ‘dreamland set up’. The second transition where Talia is seen alone in the meadow and as she lays down on her back, with the camera placed in a bird's eye view, the mannequin comes onto screen. I felt it was important to reflect how Talia’s fantasies are constantly slipping into her reality and to some degree, she is losing sight of what's authentic. • Backstage, I also helped Talia with costume and makeup. The most challenging part within this process was the eye makeup seen on Talia within the ‘bedroom set up’ and the ‘green set up’. I loosely improvised two makeup looks which included gems and fire inspired eyeliner. I believed the gems would follow Talia’s funky and abstract persona and the fire would show that Talia keeps up with the latest trends as ‘graphic eyeliner’ was the current trend at the time of release. I also believed that the gems would catch the light on camera and display a tear like shape, allowing the audience to interrupt in any respect. I was extremely happy with the result considering I had limited time to compete the looks and zero experience in that region. •

10. What problems occurred? • On the day of filming, we were fortunate to have a relatively smooth shoot. However, it is inevitable that obstacles will occur. For example, we were presented with a lack of time. Therefore, some costume choices and looks were created within extremely limited time. I personally don’t think it put our video in jeopardy as our group dealt with it extremely professionally, we remained calm and focused on the priorities instead. Some creative choices were made under the lack of time and worked well with the pressure.

11. What part of the shoot was most successful? And why? I believe that the set designs were the most successful aspect of our shoot as I felt we created three clear and creatively strong visions, which were all cohesive with one another, whilst maintaining their own unique imagery and characteristics. I loved how we weren’t afraid to venture out our original plans and illustrated our designs based on the space. • If I were to choose the most successful aspect of the entire video, I believe my concept of the ‘dreamland set up’ was hugely successful and resulted in our music being visually different in comparison to the other mv’s released, in fact in terms of statistics our music video is currently the second most viewed on the Hurtwood YouTube channel. • I think I managed to manipulate the grass installation to look wild and authentic and it worked well with the overall concept. • I was extremely satisfied with our audience reactions to the meadow and felt it really pushed our music video into something quite spectacular. We had many people asking and discussing our set choices, ultimately praising my creative choices which I found hugely gratifying as there was always the opportunity for my idea to not execute. •

12. Which part of the shoot do you wish went better? And why? • In reflection, I would have liked to film more shots and angles given we had more time. In addition, it would have been extremely beneficial to film for the duration of the whole song rather than the first verse as when having our first preview of the rushes we realized we had a limited variety of shots for the second verse. I believe this was a product of the trial-and-error process of filmmaking for the first time and now that I'm aware, I can prevent this from happening again.

13. What part of the shoot did you enjoy the most? Personally, I enjoyed the directing process the most. I found the role extremely rewarding due to the abundance of exploration one is creatively given. Although, prior to the shoot day I was admittedly quite nervous to be the director, I thoroughly enjoyed what the role had to offer and left the shoot day wanting more. Specifically, I enjoyed the creation of idea’s and illustrating them visually on camera, managing the cast and being an influence on the greater decisions made throughout the day. • An aspect I didn’t originally think I would enjoy as much, however resulted in enjoying the most, was the costume and makeup. The process of sourcing material, which was reflective of the central imagery of our project, proved to be extremely interesting. I learned how wardrobe can be one of the most significant factors when creating a cohesive and powerful look on screen. Clothing and makeup are two fundamental elements which hold the ability to speak beyond the material and offers a textural array of tones and timbre. •

14. What are you most looking forward to see in the edit? • I am most looking forward to see how all the set designs cohesively immerge into one video and how they look on screen overall. I believe this will be successful due to our team’s dedication to the colour pallet and creation of the set designs. As I will be the editor for our music video, I am awaiting in anticipation to begin the process and looking forward to playing around with the footage until I achieve the desired look.

15. How do you view your team in terms of working collaboratively? • I believe our team worked efficiently and consisted of various, unique characters whom all offered so much, not only in their own field but also within elements opposed to their usual protocols. There was a strong sense of contribution throughout the entire process, from planning to paper, and therefore resulted in a successful music video where it was evident of the textural array of opinions and ideas.

16. Are they any lessons you learned today that could make your future shoots more successful? • Yes. I believe the entire process has taught me so much in terms of media and filmmaking. Before beginning the project, I was unaware of the significance that can be found in the finer details, I was naïve to the amount of time, effort and dedication that goes into creating a music video. • I was foreign to the typical protocol and was learning how to conduct myself as the process unfolded. I was new to the equipment, terminology used on set and overall environment of the average ‘shoot day’. I now feel confident that I would be able to navigate myself through a future shoot with a sense of calmness, clarity and professionalism. Although I still have a lot to learn, the music video itself has really opened my perspective on media and how I perform when placed in pressured environments. It is now my responsibility to utilise the knowledge I have gained from my experience and recycle it into my future works.