Journal - Fiming On Location

We filmed the arcade sequence of our music video in two different arcades (Namco @ Southbank and London Trocadero) in London on Tuesday 2nd January. The Namco arcade was the location for the majority of our shoot as it featured bumper cars and more advanced games though we later relocated to Trocadero after it became busier for practical reasons.

All of our props were located at the arcade and so the only equipment we needed was the camera and tripod.

Due to the cold weather, we had to choose an outfit that was both practical and suited to our artist. We decided on a matching jumper and skirt; it was suited to the cold weather and also similar to indie/alternative looks we have studied previously.

We managed to shoot all of our arcades shots; the bumper cars sequence was particularly successful as we were concerned about the practicality of the shoot, i.e shakiness and where we could position the tripod. However, the arcade staff were helpful and gave us permission to shoot. Though we included general shots of Isla and her friends, we kept the focus throughout this sequence on Isla for marketing purposes. The framing on this shot also serves to make the audience feel as if they are with Isla and her friends, watching on the sidelines.

We also shot with an air hockey table, documenting Isla and her friends playing and having fun. We have three long takes of this but plan to use jump cuts and only include the best shots. We varied the angles we shot here in order to ensure we have a variety of shots to choose from.

We also filmed Isla singing the entire song in a photobooth as the white background showed up really well on camera. We included her friends in this take to fill up all the white space behind and so shot it as a mid shot, though positioned Isla in the middle and in the brightest colour so that the focus is immediately drawn to her.

Similarly with the air hockey table sequence, we shot from various angles of Isla and her friends playing with slot machines and other arcade games. The neon lighting inside the arcade suited the shoot well. We ensured that any singing shots or shots over 3 seconds had Isla as the main focus -- i.e in the middle or closest to the camera.

Whilst our arcade shoot was very successful, we did encounter some weather issues. We always acknowledged that we may have to shoot the location shots nears landmarks in London (i.e of Big Ben, The London Eye) on a separate day but the arcade shots were filmed swiftly (by 12pm) and so we hoped to fit all the London shots in on one day. However, due to many storms and severe weather warnings, we had to postpone our outdoor shots as it was raining too much. We plan to reshoot this in the next few weeks of January.