When filming, it is imperative that you and your group are fully prepared and organised to the utmost standard otherwise potentially challenging circumstances may arise. Some variables can be easily averted by planning to do filming at certain times of the day, evaluating the surroundings and checking weather forecasts. However, other variables can be unpredictable and spontaneous, such as people interfering with filming.
People entering filming area
People entering the area of filming is often an unpredictable circumstance whilst shooting; especially in areas nearby populated areas or that attract dog walkers, runners and chavs. When we filmed close to an abandoned factory in Rochdale, some filming was briefly interrupted by a small posse of kids aiming to loot the place of any diminished amount of copper, although they did help by finding ways into the factory for us. Later on in the day at the same location, a group of men, filming and taking pictures themselves, inadvertently entered some shots/made noise in the background which spoilt a few shots. Obviously, all this required to prevent was to inform them of our filming and the conditions we needed for it to work as we planned. Once again, this meet resulted in more help, when two of the photographers possessed gas masks and volunteered to be in the production. The same group gave us all some practical, lightweight respirators which proved to be useful in the dustier recesses of the building.
Weather
Though weather can be unpredictable sometimes, such as the sporadic rain showers we were subject to one weekend of filming that WASN’T forecast, it is generally easy to avoid problematic weather conditions like rain and gusty wind by accessing forecasts. Simply planning around times of bad weather is a start, but you must also take daylight hours into account. For instance, with winter drawing nearer, the time we have to film after school is drastically reduced since darkness sets in around 4 30 – 5:00pm and that is the time we get home on a typical day. Therefore, we have to film at the weekends on days that all members of the group are free.
Sometimes it is inevitable facing film-unfriendly weather conditions which means the group should be dressed appropriately, that means plenty of warm and waterproof clothing when outside. This was made easier by the fact that we required coats and warm clothing for our actual production.
Wind was another weather condition that complicated filming due to the sound often overwhelming the dialogue in shots, meaning we had to adjust where and how we were filming to reduce this. It also made filming increasingly difficult when the weather got colder. Again, this is rectified by wearing suitable clothing, including gloves and wind resistant clothing. Sometimes the sound cannot be resolved and you have to just make the most of the situations.
Wind was another weather condition that complicated filming due to the sound often overwhelming the dialogue in shots, meaning we had to adjust where and how we were filming to reduce this. It also made filming increasingly difficult when the weather got colder. Again, this is rectified by wearing suitable clothing, including gloves and wind resistant clothing. Sometimes the sound cannot be resolved and you have to just make the most of the situations.
Lighting
Lighting in buildings can be a problem; if there is too much or too little light in the environment it can ruin the mood of the shot, or even make the shot completely illegible. In addition to this, when rooms are partially shadowed and then partially deluged with light, the shots can come across obscured and therefore useless. Although this can be tricky because relocating to another location isn't always available, we did prevent some shadow problems by bringing a torch with a wide lighting radius.
The Law
Obviously the law isn't a problem, it is put in place to protect us, but, following the set rules regarding use of toys/replicas resembling real weaponry did cause strife with our initial plans to shoot several exterior shots with toy gun replicas. On the first day of filming we researched the field around this issue and discovered that we were not permitted to do exterior shots with replicas unless we got authorisation from a local council, but that would take weeks. Precious time that we did not have. Instead, we had to to replace the exterior shots with improvised interior shots at our homes (and a school office with permission during a lesson so it wasn't bustling with students). We did want at least one exterior shot with the replica so we decided to put it in the bag, which would conceal the majority of it and only reveal the rifle butt.
The Law
Obviously the law isn't a problem, it is put in place to protect us, but, following the set rules regarding use of toys/replicas resembling real weaponry did cause strife with our initial plans to shoot several exterior shots with toy gun replicas. On the first day of filming we researched the field around this issue and discovered that we were not permitted to do exterior shots with replicas unless we got authorisation from a local council, but that would take weeks. Precious time that we did not have. Instead, we had to to replace the exterior shots with improvised interior shots at our homes (and a school office with permission during a lesson so it wasn't bustling with students). We did want at least one exterior shot with the replica so we decided to put it in the bag, which would conceal the majority of it and only reveal the rifle butt.
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