Today we paid a visit to NOIR Darkroom with the intention of test shooting, capturing possible pick ups and familiarising ourselves with the equipment. At this point in time our group has a story we’re passionate about telling, we have a subject and a place but we feel a bit lost in regards to the composition and tone we want to achieve for our final product. We decided that being stagnant wasn’t helpful so we decided to just go with the flow and see what happened. As we shot exteriors of the neighbourhood we started to formulate an idea for an intro sequence, which we shot. Then a tracking establishing shot of the NOIR space, which we shot; and lastly short individual pick ups of specific quirks in the space (art work, signs, pets etc.) Replaying the footage highlighted the shots that worked and those that didn’t. It helped to formulate new ideas about the structure and questionnaire but also flesh out the ideas that we already had.
We had a few issues regarding the tripod, as it did not have a leveller and proved very difficult to level without. As we have hired out the tripod for the weekend, our solution to this problem will be to use a screen grid, using visual cues to level. The darkroom, true to its title, was far too dark on camera. All the footage we shot, even at high exposure, was still extremely dark. We must hire out an LED in order to capture the room, as it is an essential part of the business and adds to the unique quality of the space. The last problem that we faced was stabilisation. During the long tracking shot, where we walk the length of the building, stabilisation proved to be difficult. At any speed we attempted, it always came out slightly shaky and unfortunately using a tripod is out of the question. Yet, when we rendered the footage in premier pro and stabilised it somewhat and sped it to 200% (the effect we are hoping to achieve in the final cut) the shot became more than satisfactory.
We are shooting the official interview with Jessica on Sunday the 6th.
Here are some behind the scenes footage!
Marco capturing atmos. A very important task which must be treated as seriously as you see. 
