Camera & Filming 

• Stabilisation - used a spirit level for a camera
• Battery - charged extras
• Focus - took laptop with me to check footage
• Lack of an assistant - check list
• Interview lasting too long - shot in questions and kept track of how long each clip was
• Responding to questions so it didn't look like I was asking - Interviewee including question in their answer
• Question/answer length - Ask more closed questions rather than open ones

Premier Pro & Technical 

• I have been having problems with Premier Pro to the point I uninstalled the software and reinstalled it.
• Not responding
• So many updates
• One of my problems was I wanted to screen record for evidence for my video but I did not know how to do it. So I watched a video on YouTube of how to. Its a  lot easier than I originally thought. 
• How to change the speed/duration - again I watched a video and it was easier than I thought
• How to videos - I begun watching other videos in my next up to help expand my knowledge of Premier Pro.

COVID-19

Where to begin. This project especially mine would have benefited so much from a non COVID environment.

COVID meant:

1. I couldn't film the baker or get behind the scenes 
2. Lack of camera angles due to space, no more than one person in at a time and there were customers
3. Customers had to wear masks so you cant see there true face
4. Wouldn't go to University - no equipment
5. Lack of socialisation

Weather

As always with the weather in the UK, it can not always be trusted. Not just that sometimes its just something that cannot be worked around but worked through. I did have to cancel two shoots with Rosy due to the weather. COVID meant the shoot had to be outside unfortunately. 

My final shoot with Rosy also brought issues because of the fog and mist. It was very low and all around us. When looking through my live view and view finder i just couldn't tell if she was in focus or not. This was because the mist haze made her look out of focus. So in the end we did three shot and each time I slightly changed the zoom ring. 

Audio & Inanimate Objects 

COVID-19 meant that I was not going into University. So I could not take out any equipment. I then decided that i needed a mic so had a look online and bought the best I could afford. This meant downgrading from a Rhode Mic to a Veksun, Which was okay but I did find that it affected the sound quality. However it was still better than my camera mic alone.

I did have a few problems with the mic adaptor, It kept falling out of the camera, it was loose. I am wondering if that was what was affecting my sound quality. I am also very forgetful and kept forgetting to turn the mic itself on. This lead to a check list to help me and make sure I was not forgetting anything.

I managed to get my shot of Kieran behind the scenes but unfortunately it had to be on the day the Bakery was closed - Wednesday, due to COVID regulations. I only had one shot to shoot Kieran due to it coming up to Christmas which meant his hours were being extended and his family had to self isolate for a few weeks, this meant he had to do everything for them including his mums extra hours at the bakery. This meant he didn't have any free time. So it was stressful to get it right. On my camera it looked completely in focus however when I got home he just wasn't. 

This meant I had to ask Kieran again, Luckily he managed to spare an hour and I was able to go again the next Wednesday. This time I took my laptop with me so that I could check that the footage was indeed in focus and then I knew I would not have be having any issues.

When filming I also had to be aware of any sound that I was making, for example, I breath fairly loudly so I made sure I was a few steps away from the camera. I also left time for me to walk away before the interviewee counted to five before starting. Then I knew exactly when the interviewee had started in post-production.

Other sounds I had to be weary of were: phones, watches, ambient sounds. This meant sometimes i had to reshoot, not because the interview went wrong but because of NAT sound.

People 

Due to filming up my local high street it could become quite busy at times. Usually I would wish that people would not walk in front of the camera, however, this was not my problem during this shoot. Locals seem to be actively avoiding my camera! I was trying to film as if I wasn't there and capture people going about their business. This became somewhat of an issue until the schools were out for the day. I was then able to get some decent footage. I think because at that point there were just so many people I began to blend in, therefore I was less noticeable and people just carried on as normal.

Space & Depth of Field to work with

Walkers the Bakers is a very small local bakery. There is not ample space to move around to film with. With social distancing rules this made it even harder because of the space size. This meant that I could not do half the shots that I wanted to do.

Originally I wanted to go behind the scenes and film the baker. I want to make a five shot challenge type short film. Getting close ups of food being made, hands, machinery turned on etc. However this was not possible. Instead i managed to balance my camera on a box of crisps and manage to get a slightly off balanced shot from inside the shop. 

My sweet spot for filming outside the bakery was in the middle of the road which made it hard to get long shots because of cars. During my one shoot I did manage to stand in one of the empty car spaces behind my car. This gave me a better depth of field however I was not able to stay there very long. 

Unfortunately I couldn't get many angles due to my surrounding space and my lens. But I was able to get different angles - left, right, in front.

Lighting