First filming day:

Our first proper filming day took place on Tuesday the 5th of November.

We had pre planned our visit to our preferred location at Donnington Hall, Derbyshire. This gave us chance to gather all equipment that we needed. We were forced to source our equipment that we were going to use from friends and also local business that we tried to get in touch with. We managed to locate a microphone stand, and the actual microphone from the facilities of the college itself. But the other equipment we had to find ourselves and it proved to be slightly more challenging. After several negotiations and discussions we managed to rent a couple of very large professional speakers from a local audio business based in a nearby village called Broughton Astley. To link in with the talk of audio we also managed to get hold of small amplifier, we thought this would be good to have just for the visual benefit they would give the band setup.  Also we eventually managed to gain a keyboard along with the stand for the shooting of the video, we were thinking about using a set of drums but we went against the idea and therefore used the keyboard instead. One of our other friends had a guitar available to use for the video, this proved to be the one of the most focal instruments of the video. All of this meant we did gather all of the equipment we needed to make the band setup look professional  but also slightly unique . We tried to gain this uniqueness for the band through using the keyboard instead of a standard set of drums which tends to be used in 9/10 music videos you will see. We collectively believed that the uniqueness of the band setup would help to create a more interesting video that hopefully people will want to watch.

After we had collected all of the band equipment we needed, we had to work out how we were going to transport all of the equipment to the location itself. Also Donnington hall is actually quite a distance away from where myself and Kane Johnson both live. This meant that we had to take a day off from college to ensure that we had enough time to transport all of the equipment and ourselves to the location and back, meanwhile filming also. As both of us actually drive and have transport vehicles we managed to get to the location with little problem at all. In the early morning on the 5th of November we started to load the equipment into the two cars. We equally balanced the equipment and therefore the weight in both of the cars so we could spend as little time unloading the equipment as possible and in turn have maximum time to actually film the video.

After heading up the M1 Northbound to the Nottingham region. We reached our destination after travelling for around about thirty five to forty minutes. Unloading and setting up the gear we had to use properly in the way we wanted took another twenty to thirty minutes due to the fact that we wanted to make sure this was very accurate and correct to ensure that it looked as good as possible.
After we had the setup looking how we wanted it too, we then ran through the storyboard to ensure that we were all reading from the same script as the saying goes. This consisted of trying to picture what the shots would look like with the band setup in front of us.

After the preplanning for the video was all completed. We had already decided that we were going use a verse by verse method, by this I mean we filmed each verse separately  from a long shot camera position. Also we filmed the whole song in the main  reception first and then went onto shoot in the different rooms of the hall. We found during our shoot that the main reception was going to be the main setting due to the fact that it was the most unique and interesting, we also felt it boasted individuality, this therefore we believed would help our video to achieve its originality element.
After filming the whole video in the reception and the alternate rooms such as the Library and the main dining room. We collectively decided to take several close ups of our artists on a white background. We did this to highlight the characteristics of each of our band members, especially our Lead singer Bradley Dunkley.

During the filming of the music video we came across some unexpected problems with the technology we were using. A prominent example of this was our camera which is that of a Canon 500D which is known to be a very good camera with excellent pixel quality. Although the camera has a great reputation we had many troubles with the memory inside the camera and also the quick depression of the battery level. This therefore delayed us during the filming, this forced us to wait for the camera to charge back up to full working level again. With having to wait came with a problem of deteriorating light in the main reception due to the fact that the windows were our only proper source of pure natural light.

After filming for a period of six to eight ours, we decided to wrap the filming up for the day. At this current time it was close to eight'o clock. Therefore we decided to load the rest of the equipment up into the two vehicles and set off home.

After a stressful but productive day of filming I believe we learnt a great deal about the challenges
that need to be tackled whilst trying to film a music video of this kind. We took a valuable experience
out of our day filming which we will take on board to help us film again on another day in a better and more professional manor as possible. Overall we came out with some really special camera shots and a very good starting base to now build upon.

There would be a couple of things that I think collectively we would like to do different next time we film and that would be of ensure that the technology is reliable as possible but more important ensure that our lighting is consistent throughout the video.

Overall very happy with the first day of filming.