R+P Post 18: Our Test Shoot

We carried out a test shoot in the same way we would carry out our real shoot in order to see if our sequence works practically and to highlight any changes or improvements we would need to make. Our call time was 9:00am and we wrapped at 4:00pm. 

Shooting the jogger sequence

Using our test shootboard, we had planned each shot and the order in which they would be filmed so that it would be completed on time. We changed the order of a few of the shots on the day in order to be as efficient as possible. Instead of starting with the outdoor shots, we started with the morning routine section so that our actress wouldn't have to continuously apply and remove make up. We found this to be more practical and a change we will apply to our main shoot. Here is a sample page of our shoot board.

I was very pleased with our test shoot as I found there were many shots I was happy with for example our lipstick shot and the stalker's point of view shots.

There were also shots that I think we could improve on for our main shoot. Firstly was our shot of the legal document. This was included so that the audience realise that our character is a high profile lawyer and involved in the court case mentioned on the radio. However the document had no relevance at all to the radio announcement and it was also difficult to read. For our main shoot, if we decide that this document is to be a crucial part of the narrative, we need to make it more relevant, easier to read and linger on it for longer in order to allow the audience enough time to read it. 
Secondly was the shot of the character putting on her shoes. This was very time consuming and lead to the shot lasting longer than it was supposed to. We are going to change this by having her put her shoes on beforehand or by having a longer stalker's point of view shot when she leaves the kitchen, giving enough time for her to have put her shoes on off screen. 

Finally we noticed a continuity error between our last two shots. Our actress moves a few metres between the shots and it is noticeable as the location is quite different. We plan to improve this by changing the location of the previous shot and moving it slightly further down the street so that the locations are the same in both shots. This is due to the fact that the suspense and climax in the previous section didn't appear how we wanted. Instead of creating tension it created confusion and this is something we plan to change for our main shoot as well.

I found that our test shoot was extremely useful as it allowed us to see what we needed to improve and what worked well. Additionally it meant that we could find out what made sense to our audience as well as what confused them. To begin with the costumes we had planned were not ready in time for our test shoot and so we had to change our plans. However we realised that our lawyer's outfit wasn't appropriate for a high-profile work environment and so for our main shoot we are going to make sure that we have the more professional, formal dress. In addition to this the jogger's costume didn't connote the character well enough. By the main shoot we are hoping to use the costumes that we planned in order to represent each character better. 

We spoke to our teachers, technician and friends for their opinions on our test shoot and we can now use this feedback to improve our main shoot of the opening sequence. Below is the feedback we received typed up on a word document. 

The feedback and test shoot itself were helpful as it has lead to us making a lot of changes, helping us to develop and improve our project.