Today we had our shoot at Home nightclub in Lincoln. We used the same equipment as our other shoots, this being : SQN 5 Channel Mixer, Marantz Recorder, Rode NTG-2, Boom pole, XLR Cables and lots of batteries. This scene consisted of filming our two lead actors (Issac & April) along with using approximately 10 people as extras in the bar. These extras were several students from the University whose role was to sit in pairs at the tables in the bar with drinks, talking between themselves. We also had to obtain an extra actor to play the bar man behind the bar. For this we used an actor who we located through the University. Due to where the scene was being filmed (at the bar). It was hard to position the boom because there was a large mirror behind the bar which reflected the boom pole because of it being held so high. To rectify this we had to position ourselves behind the bar with the microphone angled up towards the actors. This was so we stayed well out of shot. This was the problem we encountered on our shoot. The second problem we came across was when we listened back to the first few takes that we recorded on the Marantz. The setting for mic/line level was incorrect which caused the recordings to be very distorted with a very high level. Due to us using the SQN we had to make sure the Marantz was on line level in order for the level to be correct. To rectify this we simply just switched the level from mic to line. Because Home nightclub is also used in the day for restaurant purposes as well as bar for the public we encountered a problem with background music and noises from the staff walking around outside the room we were in. Due to Home being a business it was rude for us to ask for the music to be turned off. After speaking to the manager, he turned the music off in the room we were using. The problem we had was the music from the other rooms was being picked up quite heavily through the microphone. This was hard to work around as we could do nothing about the matter. We just had to time our shoots around the music being played. Other problems that occurred were minor problems relating to the shadows that the boom poles were creating on the floor and walls. This was simply rectified by moving the position that we were standing. I think this shoot would of gone better by incorporating a little more planning and preparation prior to beginning the shoot. This would of prevented the loss of audio and incorrect sound recordings. The next shoot is on Wednesday 3rd April at Cafe Nero. This will be the final shoot which has dialogue. Then the post production begins!
