Day 2 of America Live! Filming
Posted by Gus Childs on April 4th, 2011
8am on a Saturday. Here we go again.
Friday’s post, Day 1 of America Live! Filming, spoke about the first of two ten hour days of filming for a Bradley University production titled America Live! It detailed the production, my role in the shoot, and a few roadblocks we overcame. Three commercials, one hosed 5D Mark II, and ten hours later Day 1 was a wrap. Not for long, however, as we found ourselves back in the studio at 8am the next morning.
Director Jim Ferolo briefing everyone involved
On Saturday we shot the last of our five commercials and a music video. The commercial went well but we were only left with about 5 hours to shoot a full length music video. This was the smallest gap of time – director Jim Ferolo explained to the talent – that he had ever worked with. His strategy was to first worry about coverage, or having enough usable footage to cover the timeline, before dealing with anything extra.
I had an added interest in this music video because I was going to be the one to edit it. Not to mention, we had prepared very little for this shot, making staying focused and taking solid notes even more important for post-production. I spent a majority of the shoot next to the director watching the monitor and transcribing what was happening.
Directing the next shot with an actor and two dancers
It was very impressive watching Jim improvise on the fly and come up with one great idea for a shot after another. His experience with working with popular artists, such as the Black Eyed Peas, The Game, and more – really came out and blew everyone away. The whole time he was muttering under his breath, “too much to get, not enough time.” He kept everything moving as quickly as possible, but he got it.
He didn’t do it alone, however. The students of the IM 413 Capstone class played important roles throughout the entire process. From camera operator to music playback, from sound to slate, my classmates were what made it at all possible to get what we needed in the little time we had.
Discussing upcoming shots with Jim
Four and a half hours, eight dancers, and seven actors later, we had pulled it off. We had solid coverage of every part of the song: wide, tight, and angled shots of just about everything as well as extra time to get a bit of additional footage that could be inter-spliced with the coverage. Not only that, but Jim had managed to keep all of the talent involved and excited about what they were doing.
We spent the last half an hour getting random b-roll, shot a few outtakes, and called it a wrap. The second half of the twenty hour shoot was in the can. We had gotten so far after two long days at the studio but we all knew that it was only the beginning.
classmate Matt Vroman operating the camera
Wasting no time, our editing was to begin at 9am the next day, Sunday. Two different students were assigned to edit each commercial, while a past video partner of mine, Matthew Vroman, and I were assigned to edit the music video. It would definitely prove to be the most challenging edit, but we knew we could handle it. We had worked all summer on Bradley’s Orientation videos, so this was just another adventure in the world of Final Cut and After Effects.
Besides, if anyone is up for a challenge, it is Matt and I.
Posted in Video
Who?
I am Gus, an interactive designer with a passion for web design and development.
I am set to graduate from Bradley University in May and hope to hit the ground running. Here you will find my work and an insight to who I am behind the scenes.