Production Blog - Lights, Camera, Action

What’s up! Filming has officially made a wrap. I mentioned in my previous blog how I was worried about the filming of the last scenes on the beach. I’m happy to report that those scenes have been filmed successfully! 

Janiah had coordinated some mutual friends to meet at the beach for this scene. Everyone arrived on time and the group of individuals got along very well. As I am the designated director and camera operator I stayed behind the group to get candid shots. Everyone was enjoying the moment which made my job of filming easier. 

First I filmed the group walking onto the beach in a medium long shot. Then a tilt upwards and downwards was filmed of the group sharing a dozen boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts on the beach picnic. After this, we transitioned to the shoreline. I got a couple of different shots establishing the scene, tracking shots, and some wider shots. It was nice filming with a larger group because everyone had great creative input into the music video. In addition 5 of the 7 people there are or have taken media studies so they understood the process Janiah and I were currently in. Their help with constructing picture-esque scenes helped me a lot. Lastly, I got a video of a tilt upward as the group relaxed on the picnic blanket. Throughout the process, I wasn’t short of filming additional unposed videos. 

I enjoyed this filming process because it reminded me of the reason I picked this song. I wanted to show how teenagers are simple beings: we just want to have fun. The whole process was making me tense and made me forget this tidbit about life. I got very serious about filming which is good in some cases but in this case, the casual demeanor should be kept in the approach to filming to make it the most authentic. I loved getting to catch up with some school friends and also meeting new people.  

Despite the fun I had filming these shots, I am happy to say the filming process has officially marked its end. Onto the final edits!

Photos from filming including the main character (Janiah) and background characters (Jessica, Kylie, Tantou, Gianna, & Mariana)