Tuesday 10th November - London arranged for Friday so plans are made in detail in an attempt to make the day run smoothly as 2 groups will be filming together and there are plenty of shots to be filmed. (see further on for results)
Wednesday 11th November - Annotated lyrics are annotated in slightly more detail to give stage directions and hints and tips, Music and Lyrics sent to Leading Male for practice and further preparation.
Thursday 12th November - Lists are created in an attempt to organise everything as Richard is concerned about the following days trip to London and wants to avoid wasting the day entirely. The Weather forecast is checked...
Friday 13th November, AKA The Day I Lost The Will To Live. - When I woke up to rain, went out in the rain, got ready whilst it was raining and prepared for more rain I think the tone of the day was set. I felt that I was prepared for flash floods with a bag full of spare clothing, kitchen roll, food and even a towel, but it was definitely not to be my day. The problems started right from the off when communication and timing issues resulted in a half an hour wait at Gidea Park station, after our original meeting time had already been delayed by half an hour. This already scuppered my first chance to film in a dry location, but refusing to let it ruin the day we made a joke of it as we headed for London. Arriving at Liverpool Street we then contrived to get the wrong train, from the right platform, heading entirely in the wrong direction, away from the centre of London, not towards it. After a swift change we arrived at Westminster, where we found the rain had helpfully intensified. Knowing that it was meant to rain all day my intentions were to film regardless, and my blind commitment to the project can be summed up by my well thought out decision to stand for half an hour in the pouring rain, protecting my camera from the elements, filming a shot that will last for only 5 seconds when the video is complete. After this we took cover in McDonalds where we spent the next couple of hours planning our next movements whilst trying to dry off. By lunchtime we had learned that... I'd had dryer swimming lessons, The Thames looked dry compared to how we felt, and Adam's coat had the capacity to hold more water than the average sponge. Whilst we were bemoaning our luck at the weather we managed to miss the driest part of the day, and even though it was still not raining as we left our shelter, this didn't last long and a considerable stroll later we had achieved nothing further, other than discovering that we didn't know where "The Big Furniture" was after all. Pram-boy, as I was fast becoming known, was particularly unimpressed by the fruitless walk as it consisted of me attempting to manoeuvre the most unfriendly pushchair ever created around. The wheels point inwards so wheeling it requires just as much effort as carrying it so I was in a lose-lose position. The other group did manage to salvage something from the wreckage of the day when they filmed a few of their shots in Trafalgar Square but we were generally wet and miserable and wanted to go home. Having tried and failed to find Covent Garden and salvage something from our day we headed back towards Liverpool Street with our tails between our legs. There was of course still time for something else to go wrong... so it did. Choosing to get on a train that wasn't going to leave straight away this gave me an opportunity to film one of my shots that wasn't weather dependant. However the train wasn't going to wait for me to try take 2 so when the first attempt at filming it failed for reasons beyond my control I gave up, sat down and accepted my fate. What could we take from this day...? George learnt that this media stuff isn't all fun and games, Hayley learnt that McDonalds can be very awkward, Adam learnt that a child ticket to a London terminal can't get him around the underground, Eden learnt that the underground isn't kept upstairs and I learnt that however much stuff you pack into your bag thinking your prepared, you're just not, because the chances are, it'll just get wet anyway!
Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th November - Limited footage from London captured and the London Eye shot is sped up and condensed to 5 seconds and previously captured footage is manipulated to remove unecessary bits. The wreckage of the London trip is also discussed and evaluated.
Wednesday 18th November - Blog updated to mid November including evaluation of London Mark I. Storyboard almost completed. Footage captured previously is cut down to remove useless footage and failed takes. The view of "It could not get any worse" so it's all up from here is suggested and whilst I am sceptical about it It's got to be worth trying this theory!
Thursday 19th November - Success!!! In a completely accidental move editing takes a step in the right direction as I change the speed of a shot with beautiful results :D. Storyboard is completed and plans are made including a list of all shots left to film. Good Times.
Thursday 19th November (Entry 2) - The good times just keep rolling! I've managed to put my video storyboard onto YouTube and embed it onto my blog... 20 minutes later and I don't think anythings gone wrong yet. A collectors item, a good day... "Capture it, remember it!"
Friday 20th November - List of shots left to film is inevitably extended and edited to include gaps, allow for current shots and adapt to issues with Tracking Shots. More scenes are invented such as "The Recording Studio" Scene and locations are considered for the filimg of this and other possible additions. The fact that I am dressed like something off of Benidorm in the name of Children In Need doesn't slow me down or get in the way of work.
Monday 23rd & Tuesday 24th November - Editing continues with footage filmed previously, and discussions about a 2nd trip to London are opened. Thursday is provisionally chosen based on weather reports and other commitments for actors. MySpace Page is created with questionable success but i chose to take this as a positive step because at least it was created even if it looked rubbish.
Wednesday 25th November - Unquestionably the most stressful day and night of the entire project, and one that could have had even worse ramnifications for the video than it eventually did. A lot of planning and indeed worrying about the following days 2nd attempt at filming in London, organisation and the weather were to be the least of my worries though as the male actor pulled out of the trip at the 11th hour because of other commitments and I was left in a state of confusion to say the least. This was also a particularly unfortunate occurence for Hayley who had to spend a large amount of evening on the phone whilst I rambled incoherently. Fortunately though, looking back at this day, it didn't signify a complete breakdown in communication and teamwork between me and my cast, although it was closer to this than I would have liked.
Thursday 26th November - With lack of sleep catching up with me I intended to stay at home, but this was doing me no good at all so decided to head to London without my male star and film some extra shots. I got very cold and fell over a bench quite dramatically making a complete idiot of myself. I've had worse days since this project started though so I can't really complain.
Friday 27th November - Most of the lesson is spent capturing the footage filmed the previous day so I stayed for a while afterschool to edit this footage and find positions in the video that it would fit most effectively.
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