Second filming day:27/04/12

Today we went down to the Showroom kitchen for the second day of filming. The day went very smoothly and to plan (almost!) We started more or less on time and this time we didn't have a faulty camera (we checked before we left the stores). However we were missing the cable that attaches the rifle microphone to the camera. When we realised this Ross went back to the stores to get a cable. In the mean time myself and Nisha filmed the first video of the day 'making icecream'. We decided we could film this without sound and could just use background music. This worked well for Lisa (the chef in the video) because she was camera shy and didn't want to talk on camera). By the time we shot this video and se up for the next Ross was back with the cable and we could continue with the shoot properly.

Throughout the shoot we filmed preperation, cooking and serving of a whole chicken, lamb breast and seabreem, the prep and cooking of a steak and the making of puff pastry (one we needed to reshoot from the previous week).

As well as shooting these different dishes, we also shot the different chefs. Simon made it clear to us int he beginning that he didnt want the videos to be all about him, but more about the food and the entire kitchen team. Therefore we have videos featuring Simon, Damion, Lisa, John and 'Rockstar' John (a nickname given to him by the chefs not us!)

We decided that we would not reshoot anymore of the footage from the first shooting day because we already had enough footage for 7 videos, which is plenty for what we need to do.

The day went really well and we all enjoyed filming (and eating!)

Second filming day: 26/04/12

Tomorrow we are shooting the rest of the footage for the cooking videos and reshooting the unusuable footage from last week. Once this is done we will have a week to edit all of the footage. I am confident that we will get all of the editing done as it is simple editing and myself and Nisha are competent editors.

Filmnig Day 2: 20/04/12

Unfortunately I received a text from Simon this morning to say that he would be unable to film today as a family member had passed away the night before. We are going to rearrange the last shooting day next week when he is available. This is obviously more difficult for us and will mean we will need to work really fast to edit all of the videos and finish the project but some things cannot be helped and this is a good experience for real life work in the industry.

Filming Day 1: 19/04/12

Today we did our first filming day with Simon. We filmed with him from 1.30 to 4. We collected our equipment from stores and met him at the Showroom cafe bar. We filmed the steak, the salmon, the pastry, the batter and a white wine sauce for the salmon. the filming went well and he even came up with some more ideas for the next shooting day.
When we captured the footage after the shoot, we saw that one of the cameras, the one we used for all of the close ups was faulty and had recorded everything way too dark. We therefore decided that we would need to reshoot the close ups, which was a pain! Thankfully all of the audio was recorded to the wide shot camera, so Simon will only need to quickly redo everything without having to commentate on what he is doing or play to the camera which should mean it is much quicker to do.

We are looking forward to the next shoot which is tomorrow at 11am.

Planning for filming: 13/04/12

I received an email from Simon Ayres with a list of what things he wanted to shoot in the videos. These include:

• cooking the perfect steak
• cooking salmon with silicone paper
• making puff pastry
• making batter
• making a hollandaise sauce
• making ice cream
• the herb garden

Having this list means that when we start filming we will all know what we're doing.

Filming update: 05/04/12

While in the process of planning our film shoot and working on other areas of the project it occurred to myself that we would not be able to use any equipment from the university stores for our shoot if we did it in w/c 2/04 as the stores are closed for the easter holidays. At first we thought we could still do the shoot using just one camera and tripod which are mine. However we then realised we needed a way to record sound, as my DSLR, although records in full HD, is not an excellent sound recorder and filming in a kitchen would be noisy enough to start with!
We realised that if we went ahead and did the shoot without the proper equipment, the videos would not be professional and would be a disappointment to us and the client. We therefore decided to push the shoot back until the w/c 16/04 when the university stores open again. This isn't ideal for us because we wanted to use the Easter holidays to edit the films, but we will still have plenty of time to do the editing, which is simple cutting and should not take too long.

Meanwhile we are making sure that all other areas of the project (the ident, montage layout and marketing material) are completed over the break, so that we just have to focus on the shoot when we return to classes.

Lighting test and Presentation: 30/03/12

Yesterday we revisited the Showroom kitchen to do the lighting test. We took a camera down to see if we would need any additional lighting equipment for the shoot. Luckily the lighting in the kitchen was pretty good so we thought we could shoot without lighting equipment, which can only be a good thing in a small hectic kitchen.

Today we had to present our idea and progress of our project so far. We had a meeting earlier in the week to go through the powerpoint and decide who was going to speak about which aspects of the project and to make sure all group members knew what the presentation was going to be about specifically.
The presentation went well, we covered all areas of the project and there were only one or two questions at the end. I think the presentation was fluid and we all spoke articulately and enthusiastically.

We haven't received feedback or a grade yet but hopefully we will have done well.