FMP Evaluation

Production was completed over a couple of weeks in the College, normally during lesson times, but I was able to contact the tutors and arrange a time for me to do this work. Our film & tv tutors were happy for me to do this anyway since the time was allocated for FMP.

My footage was filmed in a mix of HD and 4k which allowed me to have more flexibility with shots in the edit once it was edited down to HD. I filmed it in HD if I knew I was not going to need to move the shot since 4k yields a larger file size and can be harder to edit with. If I wanted to move it or there was the possibility of, I would film in 4k, so I could zoom and move around shots. This was useful especially if the boom mic was in the shot, or for interviews, if I wanted to get closer or wider. All the footage was filmed in 25 fps as I had no need to shoot in anything higher than that.

I will now go through all the sections again. I covered these on the production page but maybe in a bit more detail. Harleys FMP we filmed during the day in the TV studio, the first part at least. We did the outside part the next day. I also had some other roles on the film set, so I was multitasking quite a lot. What I really wanted to do was capture regular behind the scenes and then I did some zoom and pan shots when I had the time. I was using the Sony (FS5 M1) for this in low light but it did perform quite well, I did play around with the settings. Being a new camera, myself and our technician did struggle to work out the plate system for the tripod however we eventually figured it out. 

I managed to capture just over an hour and a half of footage on the first day and then around 30 mins on the outside section. This section was shorter anyway, and I was also acting in this part. I think I set the Sony (FS5 M1) on automatic for this part as I wanted to just capture some quick bits, however looking back at it, this was an amateur move again since the exposure of the sky was really blown out at some points which made some of the footage unusable. I was able to use some bits and worked on it a bit in post. Maybe I could have spent more time with these settings, Harley had allowed me to do this but I also had a dedication to him for his FMP so really it was a balance. The footage I ended up with was mostly quite useable for the bits I wanted so I’m ok with that.

The next section I actually did, not in order of the programme but the order of filming was the live lounge with the music technology students. We had great camera coverage for this as we had a 5 camera setup and 3 operators including myself. Ellie and Gareth  (Students) had the bigger JVCs we have at the College, and I was using the Sony (FS5 M1) handheld for more exciting angles. We also had a GoPro mounted to the wall to capture the drummer and my Canon 700D in the corner for behind the scenes. Unfortunately, since it was a very dark room my Canon just could not really see anything even on maxim ISO, so this footage was never used. This was also an issue with behind the scenes, you could not see the other cameras although the focus was more on sound and music rather than us.

I captured some behind-the-scenes of the desks and sound checks. After I thought about it, I thought I could have really done with a bit more behind-the-scenes footage, but in actual fact, there was not too much more I could have captured. Saying this, it would have been nice to get some footage inside the actual mixing studios, and maybe a quick tour of the facilities. It came back to the fact that we were there to help him with his project, and I was allowed to use it for mine as well. We filmed it after College on a Wednesday evening, supervised by the sound technician. I was able to get a quick interview in before the lounge started which really helped the content flow, and fitted the style I was going for. The footage I was able to capture was great and worked well in the video.

Then it was over to Ben (Photography technician)which we did on a Friday. We spent a couple of hours working with him and getting tours and interviews. Ben’s session was what I was hoping to do at the start of the project when it came to the roles. He was great with the camera, talking to it, letting us know what he was doing. We went all across the art and design department. Gareth (student) was also helping me out with a secondary camera to get some extra footage and b-roll. He was using his Canon 60D and the Panasonic Lumix SH1 when I was not using it myself.

Since the College does not allow pre-booking on equipment, I came into College that morning to pick up the Sony (FS5 M1), which was the general camera I had been using for filming like this, however, one of our tutors had booked it out and was using it for a lesson which was an issue. I did have the Panasonic as well but I did not want the footage looking like the cinema-style it produces. I had to end up using the Larger JVC which I was a bit worried about since they are older cameras and might not match the quality, and are not great in the low light. The JVC would however produce a more similar look to the Sony which is what I wanted, so I had to go with it. Ben was not in the next week so this could not have waited or been rebooked.

I was pleasantly surprised about the outcome of the footage after filming. The footage from the JVCs was a bit noisy, and it needed seriously white balancing which was to be expected. In terms of the filming environment, the studios and rooms that photography had were some of the worst for filming, as they were dark and the lighting was very inconsistent. Considering this, I think it worked quite well. I had to keep stopping to adjust white balance and exposure during the tours and follows. As I said it was a bit noisy in places, but I actually liked this, as long as it was not horrible and ruined the footage because it gave it a documentary feel and emphasized the fact that the places we were in were actually that dark.

I did make the decision to use the Panasonic when we went into the darkroom, just simply because I wanted to have cleaner footage and that room was considerably darker than the rest and I knew that camera would be able to handle it. If you look at the footage, it is still a bit noisy and not very sharp, but once again I loved this. I set up the camera to emphasise the red and create an effect because it really fits the environment. We did a quick ISO test where we took it all the way up to max and you could see the room really bright, still not very sharp but that was also to be expected, but actually, I didn’t want that because I wanted the viewers to have the experience of the “dark” room. It needed to be dark with that red glow from the top lights.

Going back to the interview at the start this, and the darkroom was probably some of my favorite footage I captured, using the Panasonic with the 50mm lens created such a nice depth of focus, and with the composition I had set up, it just looked so clean and sharp.  

I was overwhelmingly pleased with how this footage turned out, Although I still would have loved to use the Sony rather than the JVC. That was the only thing, but I problem-solved and that was the best option I had available for me so I went for it.

The last section of the main content I shot not including b-roll was the interview with Tim which is funny since that was the first section actually in the programme and it was done last. I was once again using the Sony handheld for this, but I also wanted another angle so I could switch it up, so I had Gareth (Student) with the Panasonic and 50mm lens in a static position. Saying static, I was also mostly static, however providing a wider shot. I wanted to capture a decent background of the reception, however, I had to film at an angle because otherwise, the incoming light from the door would have over-exposed the shots. You can see the effect of the light slightly in the Panasonic shots in the first scene, however, I don’t really mind this. I think the mix of shots with the Panasonic and Sony work well together. You don’t see a major difference between a cinema and documentary camera here, but it depends on the camera settings and the environment. We then switched to the tower block area, (while the others moved the rest of the gear) I followed Tim up the hallway, handheld to capture this movement for the audience so it was not just that he had switched places. I had a vision and I was able to make this work in the edit.

I had collected B-Roll along the way but also wanted some dedicated shots using the TV facilities and Reception. I once again had a basic vision of what I wanted but got as much random and planned footage as I could get. This was a mix of handheld and static shots using different techniques such as focus pulling. I used the Panasonic for this, using various lenses, as I wanted the sharper look. For the reception shots I used the Sony as I wanted that look again for these shots that would be used as cutaways and openings, this also included the time lapses I created and knew I wanted to use. I created the main one by using the upstairs area in reception which I got permission to use, and set up a tall angle on the reception. Once again I could not angle this directly because of the incoming light. The exposure was still a little odd and the reception is not greatly lit so I set it up to the best of my ability.

Looking back after the edit, I really could have done with some extra general b-roll. I had plenty of specific areas, but I needed some other areas like hallways and hub spaces. I decided I could work with what I had and I needed the time then to edit, but if I did it again, that would be something I would make sure to do. I knew b-roll was important, so I got lots, but even lots was not enough. I did however make do with what I had and it did not majorly affect the programme.

The next big subject was the audio. We used the basic setup of a boom pole with a shotgun mic attached via xlr to a Zoom H5 recorder. As I am normally the sound specialist, I had to focus more on camera and directing for this project, which meant the people doing sound were much less experienced operators. This did mean some of the audio was a bit messy at times due to poor positioning and levels. I did notice it was peaking sometimes, but I was not able to concentrate on levels of the audio during filming, I did the best I could with it in editing.

I had also noticed that although the audio was set to a reasonable level, it was really quiet in playback after filming, only for some of the sections. I think this was due to the phantom power being turned off on the zoom recorder due to the fact it drains the batteries quickly, and the battery in the microphone was also flat. Although there is a switch on the microphone, there is no indication that the battery is charged or flat so this can be hard to judge. This is my theory based on experience working with audio, however, I can not be sure this was the cause. If the sound operator was more experienced, they may have been able to check these settings and batteries, however, I will say that I could have done that myself before shooting, however as I said, my focus was on directing and shooting.

In some of the other sections, the audio is fine since the batteries were probably replaced in between bookings. Next time I may look to work with a more experienced operator however due to it being a student project, the crew was quite specific.

Another challenge I did come across while planning locations within the College and when it came to shooting, was an echo. As it’s an old building most of the hallways are very echoey, I took some measures to mitigate this issue, such as positioning and mic covers, but I had to work with what I had. I don’t think it was too bad. You can hear it a little but it’s not off-putting or horrible to listen to.

The voice acting stage went smoothly, John was great to work with. Being reality TV, I had to write most of my lines based on the footage I had put together in the edit. I would send him the lines and would normally receive the completed work in a couple of hours or days which worked for me. I needed a reliable person that could produce professional audio, and John and his voice really did that and it fitted perfectly. I wanted a professional voice as audio really does raise the production value of a project and just makes it more interactive and interesting for the audience. I made a couple of changes along the way to allow the programme to flow better and John was happy to accommodate these changes.

Another really annoying “issue” I had was the amount of SD cards I had everywhere. Some belonged to me, some to the College, and some to Gareth (Student). I started losing track of footage and audio to the extent that I actually lost some of it for a while, I managed to find it eventually. I have noticed that the cameras and recorders have a really awkward file system which makes it hard to find the resource you actually want. Some cards are also HC and some are XC which cameras can be fussy, about which then confuses it even more. I think I will invest in a card pouch so I can organize and keep track of cards better but when using a mix of equipment I think it’s something I’m just going to have to keep a note of.