Filming the Best of Both Worlds

   During my filming "experience," everyone in my group shared responsibilities to ensure that everything was done correctly. For the music video, I would be an actor and also one who filmed certain takes. We got together on Thursday since everyone would be available to meet at a specific location that day. I was in charge of carrying the camera throughout the school day and when I got home, I brought the props and clothing that would be necessary to film. Such items included a microphone, a hairbrush, chap stick, fuzzy socks, and pajamas. When I got the Amy's house, I pulled out the camera and noticed that the battery was low and would only last about an hour. It was a group effort to make sure that we conserved the battery as much as possible and efficiently filmed.

   We filmed the scenes in the order that they were drawn in the storyboard. In the first scene, I helped Aitan decide where the tripod should be placed and if adjustments had to be made regarding the camera angle. I also helped determine the perfect amount of zoom that would be needed for the second part of the first scene. In the second scene, I would act as the "normal girl" who didn't apply any makeup but rather put her hair up into a messy ponytail. At the beginning, it was quite hard to concentrate and focus on the objective of the scene. I would forget about the fact that we were filming or misunderstand when to start. However, after a couple of takes, I was finally able to successfully put my hair up. In the third scene, there would be two separate parts with two different actresses. During Amy's portion, Aitan filmed Amy adjusting her clothing straps while I waited outside. I wanted to contribute to the making of this scene but unfortunately, Amy and I could not stop laughing and it was easier to simply leave the room. It would then be my turn again to be an actress where I had to put on my jacket and zip up the zipper. This scene was filmed with more ease as I already knew what to expect and was more comfortable acting "natural." 

   The sun was beginning to set and we had to film our third scene with Aitan with the car outside. I introduced the idea that the scene could imply that the sun setting in real life could be seen as the sun rising in the music video. I asked Amy if she could move her car back a little bit so that the car wouldn't be so close to the garage and so Aitan would be able to more easily get out of the car. In this case, I was the person in charge of filming. Since Aitan was inside of the car with the windows up at the start of the scene, it was quite difficult to tell him when I would actually begin filming the takes. Due to this complication, it took about four takes to finally establish what would be done and when I should start filming. On the following take, everything was happening accordingly when our camera's screen turned black and died. We all went inside and I pulled out the chargers from the camera bag that I had brought. After various attempts, neither charger was showing signs of charging the camera. Each of us tried to insert one charger and we found multiple outlets that we could have used but there was still no progress. We left one charger in a camera and headed out to buy some food to see the the issue was time related. When we got back the camera was still black and had no battery left at all. We all took into consideration our backup plan and decided how we would film the next time we met up.