Major Project - First Shoot Day (Medical Examination) & Brand's Hatch Circuit Recce
Shooting Begins
Yesterday marked our first day of principal photography for our third year major documentary project - 'DreamChaser'. Our goal during this day was two-fold; We wanted to shoot the medical examination process that Alex was required to take in order to participate in his ARDS National B Racing License test this weekend and given that we were already going to be at Brand's Hatch ahead of Saturday's racing license shoot, we wanted to utilise the time effectively by carrying out a recce of the track ahead of time.
By doing this me and Alex were able to pinpoint the appropriate locations necessary for the shots that we wanted to get on the day, as we walked around the track we noted down and marked 4 specific points on a Brand's Hatch map, as well as took photographs of each of the shots to give some kind of visual reference material for the shots we want from each of our camera operators on the day. Alex has since used this to put together useful help sheets for each camera location ahead of Saturday's shoot, including information such as the points of interest for each operator, as well as detailed framing and instructions from Alex and myself.
The filming of the medical exam felt smooth, with myself on the shoulder-mounted Sony hand-held camera, and George alongside me using my own Panasonic FZ330, also shoulder-mounted, for C.U. shots of Alex specifically. This 2 camera setup will be crucial throughout the entire production of 'DreamChaser' as we fundamentally believe in having too much coverage rather than too little - furthermore, having separate angles and perspectives on events will more easily allow George to cut into close-ups during pivotal emotional or intensive sequences. We worked based off of the shotlist that Alex had previously compiled and made sure that we acquired all of the listed material before leaving the site.
In regards to audio management, as of right now we're planning on relying on shotgun mics mounted to the top of our cameras to capture relevant audio and dialogue during scenes, we understand that this may become an issue later down the line, especially with loud ambient noises such as the engines of race-cars on the tracks, however doing so this early in production will allow us to adapt and overcome these challenges should they arise, sooner rather than later. The alternative to this set-up would be to have Alex clip-mic'd up during every sequence, however from a practicality standpoint this may be an issue to maintain during sequences which require Alex to be wearing protective leather, helmets and racing gear.
I think the day went well and we were able to be productive with the additional time we had at Brand's Hatch ahead of the racing license shoot Saturday. By doing so, I feel like we will be far more organised going into said shoot and we're all the better for it. In terms of how well we worked as a team, I found things to go smoothly in general, however if I was to ascertain a single point of contention it would likely be George's proclivity towards unnecessary bickering. By no means do I think it's an issue worth investing that much thought into, however it is something that I've noticed during previous shoots and I worry that petty arguments of disagreements could end up having some impact on crucial documentary decisions during this project. We have acknowledged this issue with George now and hope to see an improvement going forward, as our ability to work as a team is going to be the most crucial aspect of this project.
Yesterday marked our first day of principal photography for our third year major documentary project - 'DreamChaser'. Our goal during this day was two-fold; We wanted to shoot the medical examination process that Alex was required to take in order to participate in his ARDS National B Racing License test this weekend and given that we were already going to be at Brand's Hatch ahead of Saturday's racing license shoot, we wanted to utilise the time effectively by carrying out a recce of the track ahead of time.
By doing this me and Alex were able to pinpoint the appropriate locations necessary for the shots that we wanted to get on the day, as we walked around the track we noted down and marked 4 specific points on a Brand's Hatch map, as well as took photographs of each of the shots to give some kind of visual reference material for the shots we want from each of our camera operators on the day. Alex has since used this to put together useful help sheets for each camera location ahead of Saturday's shoot, including information such as the points of interest for each operator, as well as detailed framing and instructions from Alex and myself.The filming of the medical exam felt smooth, with myself on the shoulder-mounted Sony hand-held camera, and George alongside me using my own Panasonic FZ330, also shoulder-mounted, for C.U. shots of Alex specifically. This 2 camera setup will be crucial throughout the entire production of 'DreamChaser' as we fundamentally believe in having too much coverage rather than too little - furthermore, having separate angles and perspectives on events will more easily allow George to cut into close-ups during pivotal emotional or intensive sequences. We worked based off of the shotlist that Alex had previously compiled and made sure that we acquired all of the listed material before leaving the site.
In regards to audio management, as of right now we're planning on relying on shotgun mics mounted to the top of our cameras to capture relevant audio and dialogue during scenes, we understand that this may become an issue later down the line, especially with loud ambient noises such as the engines of race-cars on the tracks, however doing so this early in production will allow us to adapt and overcome these challenges should they arise, sooner rather than later. The alternative to this set-up would be to have Alex clip-mic'd up during every sequence, however from a practicality standpoint this may be an issue to maintain during sequences which require Alex to be wearing protective leather, helmets and racing gear.
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