Test Shoots
Test Shoots
In preparation for the commission shoot I decided to carry out a few test shoots which would mimic the video I intended to make. I thought this was important as I knew it was incredibly hard to shoot cars as they essentially act as large mirrors which have lots of reflections; on top of this, I had never shot a car before so was inexperienced in this area. By completing test shoots I was able to trial and experiment with different ideas and shots as well as get first-hand experience of collecting the correct coverage of cars and how to avoid reflections.
To begin, I decided to do the shoot on a smaller scale, using a LEGO VW Campervan, this allowed me to practice some of the shots and camera movements on a smaller scale to get an idea for the type of movements I need to use to achieve certain shots. I was also able to decide what rigs I would need to achieve certain shots to a high quality e.g., track, fig rig, stabilizer instead of handheld which is used during this test shoot. As this was a toy and a campervan instead of a car, many of the features were different from those I would be shooting for the actual commission. For this shoot there is a lack of interior shots due to the scale of the toy and the size of the camera which made these shots hard to achieve. I also know there is a lack of detail throughout this test shoot however, for the actual commission there will be more details of the car featured. Although this shoot was not entirely similar to my final product, I think I learnt a lot about the camera movements/rigs I need to use, and it also helped me with the second test shoot I completed.
For the second test shoot I used an actual car. This shoot was more beneficial as it could be shot to scale, and I could mimic the shoot I was going to complete for the company. I already had a sense of how to move the camera to achieve certain movements e.g., cork screws which I learnt during my first test shoot. But for this shoot I used more rigs rather than entirely handheld shots which added some stability e.g., fig rig. I really benefited from completing this as I knew how much space I would need around the car for the actual shoot and could communicate this with the company prior to the shoot to prevent any delays. I also gained good experience in collecting coverage for cars, I spent time walking around the car and finding interesting details to focus on – something I will mimic on shoot. As well as, gaining experience working with reflections in the car and find ways to avoid these. I found that if you shoot a feature sideways it is harder to see reflections coming off the car, this was an important issue I solved prior to the shoot which could have delayed the actual shoot of the commission. I also believe that completing this test shoot myself I will also be better at directing and communicating with my DOP as to what shots and camera movements I want to achieve and how to achieve them, if they are unsure. This test shoot really helped me to understand my projects on a deeper level and provided me with on-hand visual references of my planned shots on the day to refer to.
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