SIBLINGS TEST 2: PRODUCTION

The second test shoot was once again more complicated than expected. This was due to working with children (even if they are my own) one of them being feeling unwell and also again and the creating of a set in my own front room due to ease rather than taking them all off to Ipswich to use proper TV studio facilities there. The fact that the house was all over the show as the builders are working on the house did not help either. I decided against re-filming the complicated boys interacting methods and will go with the old footage for two reasons. firstly the hassle of shooting them again. Secondly I wanted their bits to look a little different to all the rest of the footage that I am re-shooting to see what the audience felt. What follows is a quick catch up of how it went and initial lessons to be learnt from moving forward.

NOTES ON THE SHOOT

The script/Interview questions. The aim was fourfold. Firstly it was to get their personal impressions and pecking order and character traits and personalities of being a sibling. Secondly it was to get them to voice psychologists findings of the same thing and thirdly the view of parents. Lastly it was to use some research from school reports to mock up what teachers thought of the boys with a view for following this up with them through future research. The other element that I addd from the first shoot was to get the boys simply "being" in front of camera so I filmed plenty before and after their statements. The naturalness, awkwardness, performer, boredness of them did indeed come across on camera and added more depth to their personalities on screen for the audience to possibly pick over and get to know the boys better.

The questions to the boys were the same as last time and this element was NOT re-shot..

• Who is the oldest?
• Who is the fastest?
• What do you want to be when you grow up?

The psychologists views of siblings and pecking order and  personality traits was from researching the subject and common established theories. These were as last time read out loud by the boys each saying the one related to their sibling birth order. The boys each spoke 2 statements this time for greater varitey in the edit. they were also asked to pause before and after and to try and act naturally in front of the camera so there would be footage for this. Also it is really interesting seeing how much of their characters can be read from body language as mentioned earlier.

• The first born child is a leader. The first born child is responsible. 
• The second born child is a mediator. The second born child has lots of friends.
• The youngest child is charming.The youngest child is an attention seeker.

The parents views on the same areas were were generated from discussions with my wife again and as above extended to two questions for more variety in the test edit. We recorded the boys saying this and plan to record the audio later to get it lip-synched. The audio was again recorded used the boys christian names and we recorded the audio together in tandem to see how this affect would work as being the parents we discuss them a lot and generally view them in the same way. Boys were filmed fro a long time as above to get them simply "being" in front of the camera.

• Isaac is loving. Isaac is creative.
• Jacob is cheeky. Jacob is compassionate.
• Noah is a perfectionist. Noah is a performer.

Location and MES was OK I used a green backdrop (curtain) and decided to expose the boys for the camera both metaphorically with the questions and physically by having naked torsos. This kept all of the attention and focus firmly on them throughout by not having any other diversions to look at. Issues were the fact that the set was not big enough to film them all at the same time.

Single camera shoot had to be used for the tests due to resources but the eventual aim is to do a 3 camera studio shoot possibly at the university or college. Due to this being a one camera shoot to get the interaction between boys I had to get them in their positions left, centre and right but film them one at a time putting the other boys out of shot in the right positions around them. It worked OK for a test shoot but I feel more natural interaction will be possible with a 3 camera set up recording "as live" so to speak. The edit will tell if this "staged" interaction between the boys works.

Cinematography was again a static centred loose MCU a really traditional documentary shot. After photographic tests he nakedness of the boys was what I stayed with as I liked their vulnerability and the fact they were laid naked in front of the camera.  I also again got the boys to break the 4th wall and directly address the audience a general no-go for interviewees on a documentary. Through this the shots are very subversive but again subtly plays on documentary styles, codes and conventions.

The lighting was traditional documentary 3 point lighting. Used a 300W light as medium key light also spilling a little but not much on the background creating a darker background than shoot one. For comparison a composite image of shoot one is above and shoot one the one below, but still casting no background shadow and creating nice shading to add depth to the boys faces. The effect gave a starker, harder less bright and saturated portrayal of the boys that is an interesting contrast to the first shoot. A house lamp for a fill and an angle poise desk lamp for a back light to draw the subject out from the background a little but this had limited effect. Worked to some degree but a more professional TV studio lighting set up and greater attention to detail will again be needed for the main shoot especially for the back light.

Sound was a basic microphone set up but positioned out of view.

The subjects were again OK but due to the late hour of the shoot and one being unwell the boredom threshold was low. and it was easier working with each one individually and though! For the main shoot (Easter?) a proper 3 camera TV studio shoot would make this quicker and more natural and more time must be allocated and planned. Costs incurred were as before lego mini-figure or 2 packs of match attack football cards as payment for their services!