Shooting in Liverpool

Even with all the issues I mentioned in the previous post, our group still managed to get a variety of nice shots and a large range of content from 3 different interviews. This was due to our planning before we came and how we had arranged and contacted various potential leads before hand and all of this paid off regardless of the issues we faced, as we still managed to keep a decent schedule and get as much done as necessary to bulk out our film.
My main role in our group is sound designer/editor, however since there are only 4 of us and a lot needed to be done on location, I shared the role of sound recordist with others as well as helping on on finding decent compositions to film, and interacting with some performers we encountered.

 

Recording the sound on location is very beneficial to me as the sound designer as I already know what I'm working with before I get back into the edit suites, which means I can make decisions about re-recording sounds that may cause issues in the edit, or even recording a variety of 'random' sounds which can be edited in some way in post-production. Also, with more than one person recording the sound, it allowed a fresh pair of eyes and ears to gage if the sound being recorded was good quality, both in terms of technical quality and content, as well as bringing that individuals view in on what should/could be interesting to capture.

After a days shooting back at the hostel, I listened through the recordings a few times to check for any issues that could be tackled whilst still on location and which could be dealt with in post. Listening through them again also familiarised me with all the different sounds which is very helpful as I can feel comfortable knowing what we have and don't have, and what is said where and all in all just reducing any surprises that could come my way when starting to tamper and edit the sound in post-production.
Building on this, I also transcribed some of the interviews we obtained at the end of the day once again for the same reasons, and also so I could collaborate with the director so we could start pulling together a rough assembly sequence as soon as possible as a time saver for when we got back off location.

 

Short hand transcription of Spanish band interview

Short hand transcription of Vanessa's interview

From these two transcriptions, I was able to collaborate with the director and draw out a potential rough sequence that could be used in the film which makes the editing process a lot less daunting as you don’t have to start on a blank slate. It also allows us to not waste any time doing nothing in Liverpool and not having to wait around until we get back to start making our film.

On reflection, we should have made a shot list from all the footage we obtained whilst in Liverpool and drawn those into the sequences we began to plan to make them more substantial and entertaining for the audience and this could have saved more time instead of leaving it till we got back as well.