Wheatus Workshop

What do you think you learnt from Friday's workshop? It could be specific things about making a music video OR general things about the production process.

I think the workshop helped with a variety of things:

Directing/shooting

Performance

Pre-production stages

Directing/shooting

I learnt quite a lot here, as Jake Wynne, our director proved through his knowledge of the film that he has watched it numerously. This is important because it is essential for the director to understand and know well every shot that is filmed. It is important for the director to be communicating with the crew and actors at all times, otherwise nobody will know where they stand. The easiest way for Wynne to show the actors what he wants exactly is too simply demonstrate it himself. The director also has to be a rather patient person, as the actor’s performance may not be spot on straight away! I noticed Wynne was regularly going back to the Wheatus video and checking it to make sure his shots were exact and he didn’t miss anything important out.

I also learnt that a good rough idea of how a real music video would be filmed. I thought the tracks were done really well, and the equipment used for them was really good to see how it worked. Also, things may happen on the day that you have got to be prepared for, for instance, lighting in some places mainly the hallway were too bright and so we used filter paper to tone it down slightly.

Another factor that is essential is performance. The actor has to be confident; otherwise it really shows on the camera. The actor also has to be someone who will be able to put up with being told what to do constantly, it cannot be someone who has a short fuse and doesn’t like being bossed around. They also have to be reliable, therefore many of us have learnt it would probably work better if someone from your own group were to act in the music video. Purely because they would have been there throughout the whole pre-production stage and would know exactly how you want it to be seen.

2. For you, what was the best bit?
I enjoyed the whole day, from acting in the shots to sitting down and getting ideas from the camera work. To be honest I think my most enjoyable bit would probably be watching them film the band on their own. Solely because I was able to look at how and why they shot certain things in different ways. In addition this will really help us when thinking about special effects and what shots to do for our real music video.

3. How do you think the work we have done will impact on your group project?
I think it has had a big impact on the group project because the workshop really proved how important pre-planning was, and how without it everything will go wrong on the day. We need to think carefully about a shooting schedule, and what shots we will shot were. We must stick to our time allocation as closely as possible, otherwise we could end up not shooting certain shots that will be crucial for when we edit.

Additionally, I think we should allocate one director for the days we shot, we cant rotate but I do not think it will do any favours if everyone ends up telling our actors what they should be doing. I think we should also decide on who will shoot certain shots, this is because within out group each member may be better at a specific shot than another and it would only be practical to use the best person and we do wish to end up with a perfect project by the deadline!