After a hard day of grueling school work, team SAD?? piled into Mahum's car and departed for my house, where we planned to use an empty room as the shooting site. Unfortunately Alishba could not join us for the shoot.
Lighting and Equipment
The room we used as the shooting site where we set up the red backdrop had two windows and was well lit. We ended up making use of sunlight and a overhead dull warm light which acted as a rim light. At the residence we made use of warm light already available in the room we utilised at Mahum's house. We used a Sony HX300 camera and a tripod.
Camera Angles and Shots
High angle, low angle and eye-level angles were used with the majority of the shots utilising eye-level angles. Extra close-ups, close-ups. mid-shots, mid-long shots, full shots and long shots were used.
Experience
Taping up the red backdrop took a little longer than anticipated and took all three present members to hold and put up. Soon afterwards, Mahum started helping the actress with her make up and get up while Mahnoor and I set up the tripod and camera for the first shot.
We first, shot the scenes where she walks over to the telephone and picks it up. Due to the slightly shorter length of the cloth than anticipated due to availability issues, we had to omit some planned long and full shots. My direction at first, I felt was stilted. While the co-operation of the actress was admirable, I didn't always know how to translate my ideas and what I wanted into follow-able instructions, leading me to having to guide her through physical demonstrations till I got a hang of things.
We followed the shot list religiously and made sure shots necessary for continuity editing in the music video were not improvised upon since we can't replace them as they hold significant narrative rich content. We also prioritised shooting these. While our music video is indie and allows for a lot of flexibility we still want to retain some conventions and some continuity so the music video feels cohesive.
We did, however, record extra footage in case we need it. Mahum arranged all the props including the table and the red lips telephone, used for symbolic meaning and set them up. Props for us were exceptionally crucial. As a concept based and performance based video we couldn't afford to have an imbalance between them. While the conceptual shots were quicker to shoot and shorter in duration, they are perhaps more important than even the performance as they play a part in building the narrative. By having accumulated the props beforehand at Mahum's house which was 3 mins away from the current shooting site, we avoided any mishaps such as forgetting these essential props.
We had to take several retakes and shots of the dance performance. By choosing to have an unchoreographed dance sequence, we risked awkward movements which can either look horrific or add a certain quirky charm to the music video. By letting the song play and the footage be recorded for the majority if not the entirety of the duration of the song, I imagined would make the editing process easier. We would simply be able to trim and keep all the parts that we like and manage to remove anything which doesn't fit the mood of the scene. This is also why even though red represents the anger stage following a break up, we had her perform with a smile at times, so we may splice up the footage especially near the end of the song where the tempo gets erratic and all her moods come together to piece a balanced, healthier and happier mental state.
I directed as Mahnoor dutifully recorded all the footage with me assessing the footage every now and then.
We took a short break to eat and energise after which we took an Uber to Mahum's house where we planned to shoot the residence scene. The scene was originally supposed to be shot at a different location but the owner of the location backed out last minute so we had to improvise. Once at Mahum's, our actress Fatima got changed, the look we planned for this location considerably softer than her other personas. While Mahnoor and I set up the equipment, Mahum arranged the props (glasses, telephone). We managed to shoot the scene with the dimming light in the background that we wanted. The dimming light also gave Fatima the softer look we wanted. I took charge of the camera for the hand-held shots as my hands are comparatively steadier. There was still, however, come shaky and unsatisfactory footage recorded due to the shaking of the camera
We had already foreseen that the light we wanted outside wouldn't last that long which is why we decided to shoot the rest of the scenes in the residence location the next day. Our model was exceptionally cooperative, even lending a helping hand at times while setting up, making things easier. The team meshed well together, liberally exchanging ideas and voicing our concerns freely but our impeccable team work shined through at the shoot despite some slight disagreements on the way things should be shot between me and Mahnoor. Each member was well suited to the job assigned to them and no member hesitated to help another if and when help was needed. One location took longer to shoot than I estimated it would and though we had planned for it, we struggled to complete all the shots lined up for the day. However, we managed. While we got things done swiftly, a little anxious to meet our deadlines, we also had fun with the shoot, fooling around, making it a rather enjoyable experience.
We first, shot the scenes where she walks over to the telephone and picks it up. Due to the slightly shorter length of the cloth than anticipated due to availability issues, we had to omit some planned long and full shots. My direction at first, I felt was stilted. While the co-operation of the actress was admirable, I didn't always know how to translate my ideas and what I wanted into follow-able instructions, leading me to having to guide her through physical demonstrations till I got a hang of things.
We followed the shot list religiously and made sure shots necessary for continuity editing in the music video were not improvised upon since we can't replace them as they hold significant narrative rich content. We also prioritised shooting these. While our music video is indie and allows for a lot of flexibility we still want to retain some conventions and some continuity so the music video feels cohesive.
We did, however, record extra footage in case we need it. Mahum arranged all the props including the table and the red lips telephone, used for symbolic meaning and set them up. Props for us were exceptionally crucial. As a concept based and performance based video we couldn't afford to have an imbalance between them. While the conceptual shots were quicker to shoot and shorter in duration, they are perhaps more important than even the performance as they play a part in building the narrative. By having accumulated the props beforehand at Mahum's house which was 3 mins away from the current shooting site, we avoided any mishaps such as forgetting these essential props.
We had to take several retakes and shots of the dance performance. By choosing to have an unchoreographed dance sequence, we risked awkward movements which can either look horrific or add a certain quirky charm to the music video. By letting the song play and the footage be recorded for the majority if not the entirety of the duration of the song, I imagined would make the editing process easier. We would simply be able to trim and keep all the parts that we like and manage to remove anything which doesn't fit the mood of the scene. This is also why even though red represents the anger stage following a break up, we had her perform with a smile at times, so we may splice up the footage especially near the end of the song where the tempo gets erratic and all her moods come together to piece a balanced, healthier and happier mental state.
I directed as Mahnoor dutifully recorded all the footage with me assessing the footage every now and then.
We took a short break to eat and energise after which we took an Uber to Mahum's house where we planned to shoot the residence scene. The scene was originally supposed to be shot at a different location but the owner of the location backed out last minute so we had to improvise. Once at Mahum's, our actress Fatima got changed, the look we planned for this location considerably softer than her other personas. While Mahnoor and I set up the equipment, Mahum arranged the props (glasses, telephone). We managed to shoot the scene with the dimming light in the background that we wanted. The dimming light also gave Fatima the softer look we wanted. I took charge of the camera for the hand-held shots as my hands are comparatively steadier. There was still, however, come shaky and unsatisfactory footage recorded due to the shaking of the camera
We had already foreseen that the light we wanted outside wouldn't last that long which is why we decided to shoot the rest of the scenes in the residence location the next day. Our model was exceptionally cooperative, even lending a helping hand at times while setting up, making things easier. The team meshed well together, liberally exchanging ideas and voicing our concerns freely but our impeccable team work shined through at the shoot despite some slight disagreements on the way things should be shot between me and Mahnoor. Each member was well suited to the job assigned to them and no member hesitated to help another if and when help was needed. One location took longer to shoot than I estimated it would and though we had planned for it, we struggled to complete all the shots lined up for the day. However, we managed. While we got things done swiftly, a little anxious to meet our deadlines, we also had fun with the shoot, fooling around, making it a rather enjoyable experience.
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