1. Did you enjoy the main workshop shoot day? What roles did you take and what did you learn? What were your best bits and why?

I enjoyed the workshop shoot day as I had never experienced or performed in a professional shoot before. We learnt how to use professional filming equipment and each of us were involved in helping the team as much as possible. Although, we had to remember importance of the shoot schedule in order to film each set up in time. It was a challenging an tiring workshop but I was pleased with the footage that we managed to shoot.

What roles did I take on?

Acting as the bass guitarist for Group 3: I had not performed in a filmed production before, so this was a new experience. I tried to take on the character of the bassist in Paramore's video rather than act out exact movements, so that it would seem more like the original. It was more difficult than I expected not to sing the lyrics but to perform as a guitarist.

Photos from the rehearsal and performance:

Clapperboard: I had already used the clapperboard for our film opening in AS Media, although it was particularly important for this shoot. It made it easier to organise set ups and takes while editing, and saves time when watching footage. By helping the crew on set I learnt how different camera set ups create different effects when filming (for example, some of the shots required a dolly and some were hand-held).

I also learnt that other jobs on set were equally important, such as cable bashing to keep the backstage area clear and moving the dolly on the track smoothly. It was particularly useful to have the TV screens by the stage, so that the performers could watch the original video before filming and remember specific movements. The director was also able to watch an edited version of the original video for each band member. Although I did not move the dolly, I noticed that we had to keep the dolly moving at the same pace without hitting the edge of the track to get the most effective shot.

Cable bashing

Moving the dolly on the track

The most enjoyable part of the workshop day was shooting takes of the whole song and watching the footage on the TV screen while it was being filmed. It showed us how important camera angles and techniques were in creating the best effect. It was useful to work with professionals as well as our friends and to experience what a professional shoot would be like.

A gif from our final edit