These processes and progress were written by two members in our group, First, the part is written by Maria Pop, and the second part is written by Iasmina Caramidariu. However, I do agree with the conclusion of the experiences that we all got from filming in both locations.
Timisoara
For our music video we want to create a split screen effect, portraying 2 cities in Romania - Cluj and Timisoara. As we live in Cluj we had to travel by train 7 hours to Timisoara and we stayed for 4 nights (February 13-17).
Day 1
We arrived on the 13th night and then on the 14th we walked around Timisoara in order to find locations for filming. We made a list of locations and then met up with the characters in the city center.
We then walked to the mall in order to film next to some red-lit decorative structures which went fine in the beginning but then we had to move to the other location (the graffiti street under a bridge) as it started to rain (which was surprising as we had checked the weather forcast days before and it said that it would be sunny and good weather)
We then began to film on the graffiti street and also filmed in a grocery trolley (which we found during the day when walking around looking for locations). The process of filming on this street was rewarding but slightly difficult as we had to be very cautious as cars would pass by sometimes and so safety was an important factor. People were also passing by often and there were many structures on the path on which we were filming and so when filming from behind it was difficult to get all of the characters in the shot as some were blocked by the structures. We also had to return the abandoned trolley not long after we brang it as some strangers had told us to do so. That pretty much concluded the filming for the 14th.
Day 2
On the 15th we started filming earlier and filmed in multiple locations (train station - rails and graffiti, a tunnel, next to the mall (terrace), abandoned gas station). We carried pepper spray with us the whole time as we some of the locations were a little isolated and ‘creepy’. I actually was not there for most of the filming on the 15th as I had to stay home as I had food poisoning, and so it was quite disappointing not being able to be there and give my input, but the other members in the group were very prepared and kept me posted as we never wanted to exclude anyone. However, I was there for the filming on the terrace at the mall.
Day 3
On the 16th we filmed in single location (an abandoned building). The building was a large and old infrastructure and so we had to be careful and have safety as a priority as there were many bricks, pieces of glass and other potentially dangerous objects. We made sure to mostly to film in open spaces that were safe and had good lighting. Difficulties here mostly concerned safety, mud and lighting. The lighting kept on changing and we were also filming on 2 different cameras and on one of the cameras the exposure was off (darker than the others) and so we had to make sure to change the settings in order for the clips to match in color and lighting. Filming in this location was great as it had a lot of open space and different areas in which we could film, we ended up finding a staircase which led to some rooms upstairs and we filmed there as well. We tried to film a graffiti scene in which one of the characters sprayed the word ‘SWEET’ on the walls. This wasn’t necessarily a success because initially we spelled it wrong and then had to try again on another wall and the character wrote it in lower case letters which wasn’t ideal however we wanted to try out a few different ideas. We also filmed a lip-syncing and dancing scene there. We left after a while as we were concerned that there might be homeless people sleeping around the location and we had already gotten a good amount of footage. We were able to film a really great lip-syncing scene using the fisheye lens and a stabilizer to rotate the camera and do a kind of 360 shot of the characters. This was fun to film but also a little difficult as the fisheye lens is very wide and only one of us could stand in the middle and film and so the others (including me and 2 other members in our group) had to hide behind some abandoned objects in order not to appear in the shot. After looking over the footage we did end up appearing in some shots but not very noticeably and those shots can easily be cut out.
After that we went to another graffiti filled wall, however we went there to mostly take photos for the digipak and website and didn’t really film as there were many people passing.
Afterwards we all went our separate ways and the next day we left early in the morning to head back to Cluj.
The overall process was a success. I was very happy with the amount of footage we accumulated as well as the amount of effort we all put into the project. We were determined and wanted to do the best we could and so going to Timisoara was a good idea. The people who played the characters were also very helpful and as determined as we were which proved to be important as they were always on time and did the best they could. It was also an experience to try filming for the first time in my case and even if I didn’t do most of the filming I got a sense of what it’s like, which I think is important and an improvement in my skills. We were very organized and had many locations.
Difficulties included safety, weather and things of circumstance - such as me having food poisoning. However, I consider that we did a good job and tried our best.
Cluj (kindly written by Iasmina Caramidariu)
We filmed first in Cluj in order to accommodate with the camera, to experiment the ungles and the techniques that we wanted to use, so when we arrive in Timisoara we are more experienced and focused on the process but also on the final result that we want to create.
Before the filming date we set the locations and where to check them and to get permission from owners and directors to let us film there ( for instance at the supermarket, at a bowling place).
We also created a group on Instagram with all the characters in order to communicate more efficiently and to present them the outfits, the locations and to tell them the program. We also created an Instagram group only with our team. Below you can see some organizational insights:
(Some of the conversations are in Romanian but briefly translated the conversation is referring to setting up a time to meet for filming - 'Tomorrow at 17:30 and Saturday at 11:00?')
And then everyone saying whether or not they can make it - 'I think so' & 'I can't on Saturday'
And then one of the members says that the ones who can't make it on specific dates should say so, so that we can find a suitable day and time for everyone. We then settled on Saturday at 12:00 if it's ok.
Then some inspiration for outfits and more organising.
Day 1- 7February
We met at 18:00 with the characters for the first location which was a passage like a tunnel full of graffiti and lights. This was more like an introductory meeting where all the characters get to know each other and we filmed them hanging out, talking, socialising. It was like an introduction also to us as we had the chance to learn how to work with the models and give them all sorts of indications and instructions. We had to get used to the fisheye lens and the phone stabilizer, as we decided that we will film from two different cameras and from the phone. Also, in this location we filmed a lot of low and high angles as well as tilt and pan movements. We decided to use this location mainly for album photos as it was reproducing the perfect style for our music video. We spent approximately three hours here, taking photos and experimenting filming, effects, different angles and different camera settings ( we had to adjust the camera exposure often as it was a place with a dark light).
It was a really great start, of course, this evening was full of emotions and doubts as it was the first time filming for the project. One of the challenges was that we didn't know exactly how to give the instructions to the models ( for instance their position, the actions that they had to made, their posture) as we didn’t want to sound bossy as we wanted to create a friendly and open atmosphere so they can act as natural as possible. Another challenge was that at the beginning the models were not acting very natural and it could be easily seen on the camera, so we decided that this day was mostly for adjusting for the characters. This experience gave us more ideas and courage to experiment and try different things with the camera and the models and be more bold and unconventional.
Day 2- 8 February
We allocate this day for filming from 11:00 to 19:00. This was a more challenging day with a lot of obstacles, that in the end, we managed to solve. The biggest unplanned issue that we had, was that two of the main characters announced us that they couldn't come anymore to film, at the time that we were all waiting for them and another main character was five hours late, so this slowed down the process and scared us a bit. We didn’t think to have a character as a spere so, we took this experience as a lesson for the filming in Timisoara. But, we had to adapt and to film with the models that we had available. We had three main locations, at the beginning we filmed at Sora ( a supermarket from Cluj ). We already talked with the director and he gave us consent to film in that hour interval. At the supermarket we filmed a lot of footage especially with the characters taking groceries, throwing them etc. We filmed here with two different cameras so we had to be carefull with the light settings and to adjust their exposure in order to look the same. After this we filmed at the second location, at the billiard place. Here we had to pay for the entrance, but we covered it also for the models as they were doing us a big favour by helping us and being willing to enter in the character skin and to adapt. At this location we filmed the models playing billiard. The main effect that we tried here was lip syncing, when the characters were staying on the billiard table or meanwhile they were playing. Here, we tried a very low angle, (I was laying on the ground, filming) in order to reflect the superiority and status of the models, a conventional angle and effect in hip-hop, rap music videos. We also captioned footage with the fish eye lense.
Also at the third location, at the bridge, we filmed lip syncing. Lip syncing was a great challenge as the models were a bit shy at the beginning and we had to make a lot of scenes till they did it perfectly. They had to exaggerate a bit in order to be visible on the camera and to match the words exactly with the lyrics.
The models were quite excited about the process as well as us. It was a new experience, we had a lot of fun, but it was also tiring and consuming. A challenge was organising and mobilising so many people, especially in Timisoara as we had to organise all the models for 3 full days. Also the decision of what characters we should ask to participate was a difficult one as they had to match with the style and to be available for us for free.
After the filming we send the photos to the characters and they are excited for the final piece of work.
The overall process was very helpful, in Cluj and Timisoara we also managed to take many good photos that we'll be able to use for the digipak, which is very exciting.
Comments