360 Film

The idea

The idea presented to me was to shoot a documentary using 360 camera to capture the friendship of Luna's friends skating group. Whilst this idea is primarily hers, I do want to look into the way similar 360 films around skateboarding have been shot. I think this idea of using the 360 camera within this context will work incredibly well as it is something which you can follow within the scene. I think it's really interesting to consider the traditional documentary format whilst filming this as the interview side of the film could be something we will have to plan out in more detail. 

Research

This example I have found uses high angles and mid range angles which I do think work okay with the 360 camera but what I personally like the most about 360 is how it skews the footage. I think that by lowering the angles of the camera would make for a more interesting and dynamic shot which would also work better with the content of the film. 

This 360 film uses motion so interestingly as at first I thought that it could be quite motion sickening but some of the wider shots which are facing forwards are really lovely. I think viewing this within the VR headset would be very immersive and probably a little roller coastery. The lower angles do create a more interesting frame in my opinion.

I would like to experiment with potentially strapping the 360 camera to the end of the longboard to see how the motion changes the frame. I would also like to pitch the idea of lower angles as I think that this creates a much more dynamic frame and would show the intricacies of what the skaters are doing skill wise. I think a mid shot for the interviews and other elements of the film too will create an interesting film. 

Another thing I want to be quite cautious of is the masking of the camera itself. I have looked at some of the examples of this in these films I have looked at. 

The motion video of the skaters is interesting as they use a stick to film which doesn't make for a very pretty mask, the shadow of the camera is visible too. I suppose this doesn't really matter if that was there intention but if you're considering this within an immersive sense you want to feel like you are the camera rather than seeing the camera. 

The masking below in the other video is okay, but again the shadow is present. I would take the time to go through and mask out any trace of the camera as I want my audience to feel complete a part of the scene. 

One angle which I really liked was this one below. The frame is centered in a little dip in the skating ramp and the skaters fly over the camera. What I really love is it makes you anticipate their action and makes you feel more immersed in whats happening. It also gives a very interesting view which you wouldn't be able to see otherwise. I would like to experiment with this within our documentary. 

Interviewing

The idea of using the 360 camera to interview is interesting. I have thought a lot about how this could work out. Now, I do not like the idea of the camera showing the interviewer. How to combat this I think is simple. The interview sets the questions out before hand and the four interviewees stand in each section of the camera. Such as:

That 70s Show

They use a 360 camera rig to shoot these scenes of the group in Eric's basement. The camera simple swivels round to whoever is talking. This is how I expect the audience to act within the following of the interviews. 

Sound

Sound is important for the interviews but I also really like the sound of the skateboards on the floor. I think the best bet is to use a Zoom to record the sound and place it under the tripod for the camera and mask it out in post. 

                                                        Plan & Preproduction Documents 

Luna sent me over the storyboards, I put them into one document so they could be seen side by side to make it easier on the shoot day. 

The call sheet

 The schedule 

The Review.

As agreed we have split the load as I am busy filming in easter so the plan was for Luna to edit the footage from the skate shoot. 

On the shoot day I collected the kit and I drove us up to Reading to meet the skaters. We arrived earlier than anticipated luckily and set up the tripod and camera. The battery was on half and then completely turned off once connected to the phone through the App. 

We tried using two different kinds of power banks to charge the camera with no luck or a sign of it charging (the red light) Luna skated off into the distance to find a mains plug to charge it. 

About 3 hours later Luna came back and the camera turned on for about 30 seconds then died again. We had to leave as the skaters had been waiting around all that time. 

After speaking to Jeremiah our plan is to collect the camera either on the second week of the easter holidays and shoot something else or something related to the original idea. Or Luna and Katy go back alone to shoot and I edit. 

As I was shooting my documentary over the first half of the easter holidays I was barely on my phone. I noticed at the start of the next week that no one had been in conversation with Jeremiah or Rosie so I went in to collect the camera on Tuesday. I let my other group member know what I planned to do and tried to incorporate them in this and Katy and I went to shoot anything we could relating to the idea I had created to juxtapose the ideas of nature vs man through the element of colour. On the shoot day Katy and I struggled to connect the camera to my phone. Then whilst filming we had to reconnect the camera to the phone and app every 30 seconds as the camera would turn off. We filmed as much as we could frustratedly and sent the footage to Luna to edit. 

Overall my experience with 360 filming is disappointing technically. I love the idea of the camera and the capabilities it has but the technical difficulties which we faced were relentless and incredibly frustrating. For this, I would not use that specific camera again as it is more trouble than it is worth.