Filming
The filming process for my production project has now been completed after filming on 3 separate occasions; I used my Nikon D5100 DSLR with a Nikon 50mm lens. Notably, I did have some troubles with finding the right time for me, and my model, to be available for a full day of filming, and there were a various number of cases where it had to be rescheduled for another day. In terms of location, it was very easy access for us both and didn’t take much time at all. Travelling on the central line to Bond Street takes only 15 minutes and costs a very little £1.20 at off-peak (which is the time we chose to go every time). Additionally, all of the locations I filmed at were extremely close to each other and all at a walking distance e.g. Oxford Street and Carnaby Street. We did catch a bus a few times when the walking back and forth got a bit too much, and because of our 16+ oyster cards we get free bus travel which is a huge plus.
My original plan was to film only 1 interview for my video as I thought it would fit in better with the amount of clips I have. However I managed to film 2 at last minute from another friend. The filming was extremely easy and took a total of 10 minutes for them both to be completed. However I did attempt to film an interview outside on my iPhone (as my camera ran out of battery), but when importing it onto Premiere Pro the quality was very bad and the audio was inaudible. The second time filming as I said was extremely successful. As most of my filming took place outside in Central London, I didn’t need to use the green screen or studio facilities at college. Whilst it could be very useful and professional looking, I didn’t feel it necessary to include it just for the sake of doing it.
Audio
The production of audio has also been completed as it was done together with the filming process. In terms of equipment, I didn’t use any professional microphones or boom poles to enhance my audio. Instead I used the manual microphone that came built in with my Nikon D5100. Audio didn’t take as much time as filming as I didn’t need to capture any particular noises or background noises. When importing my clips into Premiere Pro, I deleted the audio anyway as I’m using background music instead. I did overcome some problems with audio, as mentioned before, when filming my interview. I had to temporarily use my iPhone 6 but later found out the audio was terrible and the quality was below what I expected. In order to capture clear and crisp audio, I would suggest purchasing or borrowing a professional microphone that can be clipped onto the camera.
In terms of voiceovers, I didn’t require any to be filmed so that made the audio process much easier. However if I were to record any I would definitely use a microphone to achieve that clear and distinct recording.
Sound
The development of sound is still in progress as I’ve had troubles with trying to find the right background music to use for my video. I took it upon myself to research different fashion movies and took a look at the soundtracks, and found one that could be suitable from The Devil Wears Prada, which is Vogue by Madonna. This song is hugely related to fashion and is quite upbeat. However I also found an instrumental track from The Holiday (not a fashion movie), called Maestro by Hans Zimmer. I feel like having an instrumental track is more favourable as it’s not distracting from the clips and also provides something to listen to. When editing, I had the idea to use the audio from my interviews as sound and overlap it over some of my other clips. So it almost serves as a voiceover but is in fact background audio.
Sound effects won’t be necessary for my video, as I will only be using audio from my interviews and simple background music to accompany the clips. However sound effects could be useful when changing from clip to interview or vice versa. It just adds something extra to my video whilst also incorporating an additional asset from the background music. On another note, I could even use two different tracks for my video. Instead of just using an instrumental song I could also include a song with words, adding more life to my video.
Other
In terms of the development on all other assets including stills, photographs, graphics, and video clips; I would say they’re still in the process of completion also. I have taken quite a few photographs of Central London in general that could be useful when designing my interface, and I have also taken various still images of shops. I don’t think these will be making an appearance in my video however they could still be useful in some other way e.g. pre production pack when talking about my location. I haven’t designed or created any graphics – nevertheless I might choose to do so during the Easter holidays as it would be good to incorporate one.
