First Shoot

So we've obtained our first wave of footage that we shot at our first location in Bury last Thursday. The stills posted below are two examples of the footage taken, highlighting our desire to capture urban and natural usage of artificial lighting. Emphasising the contrast between light and dark is a prominent theme throughout the video and we're encouraged with the way in which this concept was realised in the first shoot.

In the next stage of shooting, we aim to concentrate on the narrative aspect of the video, and collect close-ups and reactions shots of our main character. We then hope to see our video really begin to take shape. With the foundations of the video in place we can then experiment in post-production with some conceptual elements we had planned to incorporate such as time-lapse and layering.

Shooting Tonight

So we've selected tonight as the first day of shooting, since this is the perfect day for everyone involved to be able to do it (Me, George and our 'cast'). Tonight won't be the most technically difficult shots - that'll come later after we've got some preliminary footage, as well as the chance to get some on-location test shots, maybe to try some more editing techniques in preparation for what we can get done in the future.

Layering

Posted below is a still image taken from some test shots we carried out a week or so ago. The image demonstrates the technique of layering, with apparently two of the same figure in a single shot. In actuality, we managed to achieve this using 'Final cut', splitting two different shots and layering them to display this illusion that there is more than one of the same figure in the shot. We're looking to use this techinque in the video, shooting our main character running on a bridge and then the passing traffic below. We'l then split the individual shots to create one shot with the character running in real time whilst the passsing traffic is sped up, creating an interesting illusion as well as refelcting the character's state of mind.

Additionally, we may seek to use this technique towards the latter stages of our piece, when the narratives of the piece collide. Cross-cutting between a mysterious roadside commotion and the unexplained anxiety of our main characters, we may look to eventually merge these two narratives, with the realisation at the end of the piece, that the injured civilian at the centre of the commotion is actually the same person as our main character. In order to illustrate this to our audience we intend on layering two individual shots, to create the illusion that, as our test shots demonstrate, there is two of the same individual.

Locations

Having recovered from my bout of illness, myself and Will have been working hard to find a suitable and viable location for our narrative/conceptual based video.
Initially, i was struck by an area local to me, with a large bridge overlooking a busy main road below. The area was perfect for what myself and Will had in mind, with areas to safely keep equipment when not in use, with the bridge a potential resource for some fantastic panoramic footage. However due to lack of use, the bridge has recently been uprooted, with a traffic light crossing in its place hindering its potential as our location.
Luckily however, Will seems to have stumbled upon a perfect substitute in Bury. With a bridge on-looking a busy road once more, the location seems reminiscent of the intended area for filming. Despite having not seen this location as of yet, i have full faith in Will's judgement and look forward to the shooting process.