Log diary 1

Our first batch of filming began on 1/11/12. It made sense to film all the performance shots first inside the garage so that we had substantial footage to work with when we were editing. We had organised a week before the band to come down with all their instruments and equipment to the location, which was in one of our garages. Before filming could begin we cleared out the garage to ensure that it looked like a typical garage setting. We set up the bands equipment with the drums at the back, two guitarists left and right and the lead singer in the middle-a typical band set up in a live performance. We then set up the lighting, the flood light behind the camera angled at the whole band. We also had two filler lights either side of the room which were bulbs, one of which dangled from the ceiling. The lighting setup worked as planned, making the band stand out whilst the rest of the garage looked dingy and "grotty" as mentioned in the lyrics.
      We ensured that we stuck to the storyboard throughout however certain aspects didn't work and so we came up with new ideas there and then. We set up the camera mounted upon the tripod and were ready to begin filming. The song played out from our laptop for the band to hear and keep in time with, as we realised if they had just played the song it would be slightly out of time. We filmed from various angles the whole song of the band, and then attached the fish eye lens to the camera and tried again from different angles. We filmed close ups of the drummer playing certain parts and the lead singer mouthing the words to the camera. Parts of instruments were shot too, during the guitar solo part we held the camera at the neck of the guitar looking down. Also we attached the camera to the drumstick and hit a drum in time to the song which was a spontaneous creative idea.

The tripod set up looking down at the drums and symbols

As the sky darkened and cloud thickened we thought it was good to shoot the outside point of view shot to get a dingy and dark feeling. The POV starts from looking up then gradually moves into the garage room as if you are entering in to watch the performance. This had to be done twice as we had trouble with the timing and playing of the song initially.

We adjusted the lighting when filming the girl dancing to the song so that it was more saturated and rosier. This was to enhance the idea of the romance the singer is talking about in the song. We also adjusted the lighting for when the band are laughing/ dancing knee-ups. We brightened it so that the band were more visible and it created a slightly more upbeat tone. Here we used camera movements to conjunct with the rhythm of the song. Also we used a technique of flooding light into the camera when the band were laughing.

Lastly the fridge shot was filmed, luckily the fridge already situated in the garage we just had to clear it out for use. We placed 4 beers for each of the members inside and placed the camera behind and continuously filmed them walking up to the fridge and taking a beer. This took a couple of attempts as we were not able to look at the camera whilst it was rolling.