Production diary: Week 11

Due to weather conditions and minor crew/cast set backs - I've decided to lessen the radius of where we will be shooting as I had to take into consideration costume changes and how certain members of the crew can get around difficult areas. To avoid further set backs I used locations more familiar to myself and my main character which also further helps represent the song as it is the main character herself and she feels comfortable in these surroundings which is reflected in the film.
The new locations are as follows:
Nelson Square Gardens (SE1) which happens to be located behind my apartment
Westfield Stratford City Car park 9th floor (E20)
Southwark station and surrounding areas under 1 mile again (SE1)
I ran these changes by India (my main character) and she felt a lot more confident with shooting in familiar (just as effective)locations, she also appreciated the fact that she was able to get ready in her home away from home (my house) which is always a positive thing as I wouldn't want my main character to not be content with how she looks before filming.

Production diary: Week 10

This week I really wanted to further understand the representation of women in the media Miss Representation was recommended to me by my teacher. Fundamentally it's a really interesting and insightful way to look at all these different women being subjected to the same treatment due to the nature of their gender. I was shocked by the statistics and I really made sure that my short film wouldn't add to them. This film really made me think caustically about what I had India wearing, doing, and how I wanted her to present herself.

Alternative filming idea

I now have a back up plan in case I don't get the results I want from my new camcorder (although I'm confident this time I will!) A friend of mine recently was given a task to produce a quick video for a rap artist, and he edited it with a twist. He used After Effects to create a VHS-esque feel to the video. I enjoyed the fact that he used modern filming and incorperated the VHS style to it. So I've decided to do the same, but only if worst really comes to worst.
You can check out his video and editing techniques below:

Filming setbacks

I recently purchased a Sharp SlimCam VHS camcorder from eBay which I hoped to film with. (camera seen below)

On getting the camcorder, I made the mistake of not testing it out randomly around the house before actually using it to film. So, when it came to filming my first scene on the 2nd of November I made the startling discovery that the battery was completely useless. It would die within about 30 seconds of filming, and as I was filming outdoors - it was a real hassle having to find a charging point to keep the camcorder alive. I returned it to the seller and I'm now on the hunt for finding a new (perfectly working) VHS camcorder.

Production diary: Week 9

As I had no VCR camera to film with, I started seeking alternatives. I spoke to my teacher and he recommended a plug in called 'BAD TV', you can see what it does in the video below:

Production diary: Week 8

This week I was held back due to issues with the camera I was going to film with. I had purchased a used VCR camera from eBay, without checking if everything was working correctly - I proceeded to begin filming only to discover the battery life was completely useless and didn't last long enough to even film half a scene. The even more disheartnening thing was, if we were filming indoors we could have worked around the issue, but as the majority of the filming was constructed to be filmed outdoors I had no choice but to return the camera and begin sourcing alternative filming options.

Kyoto Gardens - Storyboard

I've drawn up a quick storyboard for the first scene in my video, it's just to give me and all the other people involved a vague idea of what we will be shooting and the types of shots we need to get.