Filming Music Shoots

Hi guys,

So I said I was going to blog weekly, and that failed, so I will try and blog more often anyway, weekly or fortnightly, I will make a blog post. That being aside, I want to talk about filming music shoots. Filming music shoots are always fun. However there is a difference between live music multicam shoots and live music single camera shoots, and I will explain the pros and cons of both types of music shoots. I will start off with explaining the pros and cons of multicam first.

With multicam, all the camera feeds are relayed into a gallery through triax cables, in which the director will be able to see on the monitors. Normally the vision mixer and racks engineer sit next to the director, with the racks engineer making sure each camera looks similar to the others in terms of colour and aperture. The vision mixers job is to cut or mix the shots together, with the directors supervision of when to cut and which camera to cut to. This would mean that there would be an edit of the live music shoot already. However, if the director/vision mixer made an error as in choosing the wrong camera or at the wrong time, ie not on the beat, then there is generally a separate camera (an isolated camera) that normally captures a static wide of the whole band/stage, as a backup in case the director does mess up. With the multicam as well, it is generally a larger scale production, as all the feeds are directed into a separate room from the studio in which the shoot is taking place. The only ways that the director can keep in contact with the studio is either through the talkback via the cameras or through communication with the floor manager, who is the directors eyes and voice in the studio. After the actual shoot, the edits need to start. With most shoots, if the racks engineer are correct with the colour and vision mixer with the shots and cuts, the edit should be rather simple, adding the logos and generic templates that the client requires. However, if it is not that simple, it takes a bit more work to do. The editors would have to use the isolated camera to cut inbetween where the shots were messed up and colour grade to a good even level.

With single cam, it can be a bit more challenging in both the production side and post. Single cam does not necessarily mean one camera, you can have several cameras involved and camera operators, however the feed doesn’t go into a separate room. Each feed is used on the camera SD/CF/P2 cards, therefore a bit more work in syncing up and cutting in post production. With both types (multicam and single) a clapperboard will have to be used to sync up the audio with the cameras. Its not so bad with the multicam shoot, as the edit is already there, except for some small edits. However, with the single camera shoot, you will have all the angles from the cameras, then cut between each angle, in time with the music. Its not so bad, as the cameras would all look similar, using the white balance system within the camera. Another problem with single camera is that there isnt much communication while the shoot is going on. With multicam, the camera operators have headphones with the director talking to them. With single cam, the people in the room can’t really talk to each other, so they have to work out the shots of which ones they are going to use before they roll cameras. There is normally a wide camera as well, for safety, but normally the other camera ops can get in the way of this, but it is not always a problem.

There are more points of good and bad reasons for each multicam and single cam, but I can’t think of any at this moment in time. I personally prefer multicam as the director can tell you where to point the camera, to get a different view than the other camera ops near to you, however you can have too many camera angles, which can get over complicated. I will end this blog post now.

I hope you guys enjoyed this blog. I will aim to write another post next week.

Till next time,

SR

Sherlock: The Abomiable Bride Review (Spoilers)

All I can say, after waiting for two years since the last one, is OMG! This episode was absolutely amazing, following on from Series 3 where Sherlock went on an airplane out of the country, then gets turned around as Moriarty, the criminal mastermind, also known as the Napoleon of Crime, starts appearing on TV screens around Britain. However, I should probably start at the beginning for this review.

This episode is mostly set in Victorian times, with Sherlock and John as the respective detective and doctor. With this episode, it goes through the similar events of Holmes and Watson meeting, from Watson coming home from the (2nd) Afghan war, to meeting Holmes in the mortuary, with him beating a corpse to see if the bruises apply after death. Watson then goes to live with Holmes, publishing his stories through the Strand Magazine, in which the original stories were published through that magazine, by the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock then gets offered a case, the case of a woman who shot herself in the mouth and then was seen shooting her husband a few hours later. Of course, Sherlock solves this case by the end of the episode, but throughout this episode, Sherlock is distracted by other things, being stumped by this case.

I won’t go too much more into the plot as I don’t want to spoil it too much for you. However, this episode is not completely set in Victorian times, it is however set in Sherlock’s mind palace of an unsolved case in Victorian times. A bit confusing to explain, but someone else invades his mind palace, someone who will never be gone from his mind. I won’t say who but you will probably be able to guess. This episode was fantastic though, with many elements following on from the previous series’, and also making many references to the fact of Moriarty’s death and how he came to be on every TV screen in Britain.

The camera shots are great in this episode, however there was at least one part of the episode which broke the 180 degree rule, but it worked perfectly, with a conversation between Watson and Holmes, while they are waiting in a greenhouse. With the camera moving around while they are talking, you hardly notice, but as I am a film student, I did notice. But I am not complaining because it does work. I like it as it is a bit experimental, not what it seems. All the camera shots on this episode, and every episode of Sherlock are amazing, which is good. Sherlock has a unique style to the camera style, the music, even down to the titles, which relate back to Victorian times, but mixing in modern day as well.

I will end this review now, hope you guys will enjoy the episode as much as I do. I will not give this review a rating out of five or ten or even a hundred. All I can say is that personally, it was a great episode, not my favorite episode of Sherlock, but all the same, a very good episode.

Farewell guys,

SR

A New Year

Hi guys,

Thought I would write a new blog post, celebrating the new year! I hope to do more blogging throughout the year, telling you guys everything that is going on. I am currently studying Film and TV Production at Bucks New Uni so some of these posts will be about either films or filmmaking.

As you can see, most of my previous blog post have been reviews, on various films that I have watched and a few TV shows as well. So I may be doing a few film reviews still within the weekly blog posts as well.

I will be watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens later, and I am looking so forward to it. I have avoided all the spoilers I can, so I know nothing about the film, except from what I have seen from the trailers. I may do a review on this later on as well. I will also be watching the new Sherlock episode as well, which should be fantastic! I have been waiting a whole year for this episode, and I must say I am looking forward to it more than Star Wars (please don’t hate me).

I will end this blog post for today with how I started, I hope you guys have a fantastic new year and I hope to make many more films throughout this year, which is my aim for this year. As many people will say, my new years resolution.

Bye for now guys, will catch you next week

SR

Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

 Kingsman is a brilliant film, based on classic spy films. It was originally a comic by Mark Millar who also did Kick-Ass. This film was fantastic from beginning to end. I loved all the fight scenes and all the action parts, it was also very comedic in parts as well.

The characters in this film were very stereotypical. The main character, Eggsy, grew up on a council estate and his accent and presentation reflects this well. However on the other end of the spectrum, Colin Firth’s character was a posh gentleman spy, with a nice suit and a posh accent. I really enjoyed the character development and how they progressed throughout the film.

The music in this film was brilliant as well, the score and the soundtrack. Some of the music was used for comedic effect and helped to bring the story along. There were some classical music parts and some other music, such as KC and the Sunshine Band.

The settings for this film are also great, with a posh suit store as the main base for the Kingsman, and a council estate for the main characters house. It reflects the characters so well, and shows a story for each character.

This film is awesome, so I am going to give this film 5/5 stars!

*****

Big Hero 6 Review

This film is brilliant, from characters, costumes and setting. The main character, Hiro, is a boy who likes making and fighting robots. However, he gets acquainted with Baymax, a huggable health robot, whose main concern is the health of humans.

The characters in this film are excellent. Each character is different in their own way, however all of them are interested in science. It’s sort of similar to our own lives, we are all different but we all have similar interests as well. And that everyone can work together to achieve anything they want.

The settings are very good as well. In the science lab, we see all sorts of experiments going on, so it shows what the area is about. Also at the main characters house, it shows that the house is not that big, due to him having to share with his brother, however they do live above a café.

This film is also a Marvel film, and so they even had a brief cameo of Stan Lee, which is awesome, even though it is an animated film. Overall, I find this film fantastic, which can be liked by all the family. I am going to give this film 5 stars.

*****

Birdman Review

This film is fantastic! The whole structure of the film makes it seem like one endless shot, with a story about an actor who’s trying to make his play work well, however he is mostly known as Birdman, a superhero. The film makes you feel like you are actually with them as the score is shown being played by other people on the film.

The actors in the film were fantastic! Michael Keaton played the lead role as Riggan, an actor/director of a play called The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, who had previously been in a superhero film called Birdman. Edward Norton plays an actor called Mike White, who Riggan hired for his play. Riggan’s daughter is portrayed by Emma Stone.

The score of the film was amazing as well. They managed to integrate the film so that we could see the instruments being played as the score. The main score was mostly a drum being played, and in a few scenes we see a drummer playing. It’s just very well done.

The film was mostly set in a theatre but there were some parts that were shot out on the street and in a bar. It really showed where the film was set as you can see a famous place, Times Square, as to where the theatre was located. They really showed the detail of the locations, inside and out.

The film overall was a brilliant masterpiece! I highly recommend this film to anyone, and I am going to give this film 5 stars.

*****

Leon The Professional Review

Leon the Professional is a brilliant film directed by Luc Besson and stars Jean Reno as the main character, Leon, a hitman who tries to live a quiet life. This movie is fantastic, with Gary Oldman playing a corrupt cop and Natalie Portman as a troubled young girl whose family has died.

The acting in this film is fantastic! Gary Oldman plays his character very well, and I enjoyed his acting in it. Natalie Portman as the troubled young girl portrays it well as well. With Jean Reno as the main character, he becomes a sort of fatherly type to the troubled young girl, and helps to find revenge for her.

The music in this film is very intense in some parts, but works really nicely throughout the film. I enjoyed the music in this film, and its works for the genre of movie as well.

The settings of the film are very American but have some Italian aspects to it as well, as the main character is supposed to be Italian. The setting for Leons flat for example, is limited in furniture, showing that he lives a simple life.

This film is one of the best action films I have ever seen, it is one of my top films. I highly recommend this film to anyone and I give this film 5/5 stars.

*****

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Review

 A quick review on this very good film. I watched the first two and thought they were fantastic, so I went and watched all three, one after the other. You get the whole story more if you watch them one after the other.

Following on from this, the film was most definitely a spectacle to watch. I would most likely want to watch this film again. The Hobbit films are the prequel to the 2001-03 films Lord of the Rings. They also referenced some characters from the Lord of the Rings such as Gimli and Strider, those of you who have read the books or watch the films will know who they are.

The whole setting of the film is spectacular as well, using locations from New Zealand, which looks like a great setting for medieval films anyway. New Zealand was used for the Lord of the Rings as well. They use some very wide shots to establish the location, so we can see its vastness.

The music in the movies are very epic. They make the scene seem 10 times more exciting! The action scenes, such as the battles, seem very epic, with the expanse of the army, and with the epic music in the background.

The characters are awesome, each of them slightly different to each other, but they come together as a team to defeat the villains. Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman, was originally just an average hobbit, happily living in his home, however changes once he goes on his adventure. Gandalf, Ian McKellan, is a wizard who is mostly known for his fireworks, but is a powerful wizard, and is a true ally. There are many more characters in the films, but I can let you watch the film to see how you think about them.

I will conclude my review by saying that it was a very enjoyable film to watch, I would definitely watch it again, and I will give it 5 stars out of 5.

*****

X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a brilliant movie! From right at the beginning it gripped my attention. As I also love superhero movies as well as action movies, it was a perfect blend to peak my interest. I am going to review this blockbuster movie and what makes this movie excellent.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a sequel to the 2011 movie, X-Men: First Class. It is the 7th movie to include the X-Men with the same actors (well, specifically one). In this film, the mutants are being killed by Sentinels, created by a man called Trask. They decide to send one of their own back in time to stop these Sentinels ever being created. However it isn’t as straight forward as that.

This film was directed by Bryan Singer, who also directed First Class. The cast in this movie is absolutely fantastic. Professor X and Magneto are also in this film, portrayed by Patrick Stewart/James McAvoy and Ian McKellan/Michael Fassbender respectively. Wolverine is also in this movie, portrayed by Hugh Jackman, who has also been in all the X-Men films. Mystique is portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence. Storm, Beast and Kitty Pryde are portrayed by Halle Berry, Nicolas Hoult and Ellen Page respectively. Peter Dinklage portrays Dr. Trask, creator of the Sentinels. Quicksilver is also in this movie briefly, portrayed by Evan Peters.

The music in this film was absolutely fantastic. Very gripping and dramatic in the moments when it was needed, however also made humorous in other moments. My favourite scene for the music in particular was the slow motion scene with Quicksilver. It made the scene much better and made it work well.

The settings fit with the situation at the time. In the future, the settings were all dark with not much colour. However, in the past, there were more colours, a bit more vibrant. The film also told us where each location was, as there were quite a few throughout the film, ranging from the USA to China to Russia. This provided a bit of variety, not just restricting the setting in the USA.

The cinematography in this movie was fantastic. The way each scene looked matched how it was supposed to be. The movie captured each scene perfectly to create a brilliant movie. In the past, they created the videos to look as if it was made in that time, a slightly static look. It made it feel as if you were watching it in that time.

In conclusion I cannot recommend this film enough. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would give it a 5/5 stars. A truly X-cellent film!

*****

Godzilla Review

To start this review, Godzilla (2014) is one of the worst movies I have seen, only due to the story. The CGI effects were brilliant, however the whole plotline just let it down. The whole film seemed to be filled with clichés: the main character narrowly missing death several times, monsters in the fog, the monsters seem to be wherever the main character is.

 

The main character, named Lieutenant Ford Brody, is portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. He is a bomb disposal expert. His father, Joe Brody, a nuclear physicist at the Janjira power plant, was portrayed by Bryan Cranston. Joe’s wife, who was a nuclear regulations consultant at the same power plant, was portrayed by Juliette Binoche. Elizabeth Olsen portrayed Ford Brody’s wife, Elle Brody.

 

Most of the scenes contained clichés. The monsters that were discovered by the military were kept within a quarantine zone, which apparently was overrun by radiation, was completely clean, a cover-up for what was really happening. Later on, havoc just happened to be where the main character was, whether if he was on a train to get to the airport to go home, or escorting a train with a massive bomb on it. I felt rather disappointed of this film. I had expected more. The trailer seemed to hype it up more than it actually was.

 

I believe that this movie could have been made better, not necessarily the special effects, but mostly the storyline. I would have to give this film a very generous 2/5 stars.

 

**