Establishing Shots

Why The Ropewalk?

We chose to shoot at the Ropewalk shopping centre, as the top level open car park was readily available to use and would give us a good height and different perspective to shoot establishing shots from. Also we were able to shoot different types of views from one location; shots of the town centre, the horizon, sky shots and high angle shots. 

Town                            Skyline shot
Establishing 
Shot




High Angle                    High Angle      Shot                          Horizon Shot






Filming On Location

Location: Ropewalk Car Park, Ropewalk Shopping Centre

Date: 24^th September 2012

Brief: To film establishing shots that set the context of Nuneaton but to keep the shots new wave by not showing the relationship between its important figures and objects.

·      Equipment Used

·      Canon 600D x 2

·      Tripod

·      Fluid Head Tripod

·      4GB memory card

·      8GB memory card

·      Experience
        Filming on top of the Ropewalk shopping centre was a different experience. by filming up here i was challenged with different weather conditions, including rain and high winds. there were no cars or people on the top level so we were able to maneuver around with ease and not get in anybody's way. the same can not be said for when we filmed some innovation shots inside the rope walk using the escalator  people were cation of entering the shot and very aware of the camera, so shot were taken with people looking at the camera. this helped with the new wave style, keeping the atmosphere realist and not using extras. 
         when using the escalator to film, we did get in some people way, but they were very polite about the situation  also during filming we were approached by the Ropewalk security  who asked what we were doing and were very understanding, telling us to be careful and make sure that we are looking where we are going when using the escalators. 

 Footage analysis

    Shutter Speed
In the clips where I panned left and right the image has blur. This is because the shutter  is open for longer, at around 1/30th of a second, so the image in each frame is exposed for long, which is why there seems to be a trail to the movement. To amend this for next time, I will adjust the shutter speed to about 1/200th so that the footage is much clearer and crisp, with little to no motion blur.

motion blur from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

Still Shot With Motion Blur

Still Shot Without Motion Blur

         Amount of Footage 
              I don't think that we got enough footage or a great variation. there are not very many locations in Nuneaton where you are able to obtain establishing shots, and the Ropewalk was the only one that was readily available, it would have been nice to get some establishing shots from different locations and areas of Nuneaton, however with this said the one we where able to get, i.e. the town centre, I think were good.

Town Centre from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

               
                     Also the footage of Sammie on the escalators were limited, we only got one of each type (behind, going down the escalator,  in front going up the escalator and with Sammie on one escalator and me on the other with the camera). this limiting footage was because of the security guard being very caution of what we were doing and we didn't want to over stay or welcome, so we though that just getting one at the time would be enough; but when revisiting the clips, I feel that it would have been nice to have choice. 

Sammie Up Escalator from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

Opposite Escalators from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

Sammie Down Escalator from Simmone Dudley on Vimeo.

           

   New Wave Conventions Checklist

·      Hand-held ✗  
We didn't have any hand held shots, so to speak, the camera was hand held when on the escalator but the escalator was providing the movement. 

·     Long takes/tracking shots ✗ 

·     Youthful iconoclasm ✗ 

·      Political and/or social troubles captured ✗ 

·      Homemade accessories/innovative camera movement ✓ 

This was done effectively by using the escalator to create the innovative camera movement giving a smooth forward tracking shot of Sammie ascending and descending. this same innovative movement was used in the French new wave film Breathless. 

·      Documentary feel ✓ 

I feel this was done slightly because the people captured in the shots that did not expect it were visually uncomfortable.

·      Friends used to act or as crew ✓ 

Once again the actors and the crew were made up of the HNC group.

·      Unbiased and personal realism ✗ 

·      Real locations/ environments ✓ 

A shopping centre was used as the location around lunchtime.

·      Improvised dialogue ✗ 

No dialogue was require this time. 

·     Take the audience out of the film/direct address to the camera ✗ (

This was not a focus of this particular location shoot, so in this time it was not met.

·      Establishing shots ✓ 

As this was the brief is was met straight away. All of the establishing shots were from a high rise building so a lot of the surrounding environment was seen at once. 

·      Rapid movement ✗ 

·      Unusual camera angles ✗