Blog 14. The filming

So after all of that, I move onto the filming part itself. I decided that I would film up in Scotland for my dissertation. It is very close to home and to the heart for me and I thought it would be perfect. The concept allows me to film plenty scenic shots and I found them all up north. I decided I would leave for Scotland of Sunday 22nd March with my mum to help me drive the way. We stopped off with family and I filmed up and around there, but we continued up from West Kilbride to the Falls of Glomach, Glencoe, Glenfinnan, Fort William, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Eilean Donan Castle, Dornie, Skye Bridge and a few other places. Here, I managed to film some beautiful scenery. 

We had to try and find accommodation last minute after each day of filming as we couldn't plan where we would end up after each day as we were driving it all and couldn't take into account how long exactly it would all take, if we were to include traffic, weather and time spent on location. Each day was exhausting but I managed to get a lot of filming done. 

Issues with filming:

1. I hired out equipment from University which was a complete disgrace. I was handed equipment that was years and years old that was incapable of being pieced together and made to work - even though I was told otherwise! 

2. Half the equipment I was given was missing pieces and so i found out once i got up into Scotland that the equipment was unusable - all due to previous students not returning the equipment in the state they picked it up from!

3. I couldn't hire out the tripod I wanted to because a lecturer had taken it out that day without prebooking it and had just taken it for a lecture even though I had booked it 8 days prior to the day I picked it up with.

4. The black magic camera was difficult to attach to any other equipment they had given me because once again I was handed random pieces of equipment that should have been attached but weren't ! 

5. As a result, I had to swap from the Black Magic Camera to the Canon 6D - this made life a little easier! This meant I was filming in the right colour grade and didn't have to edit it all in post, it also meant that the battery life would last longer and that the Canon 6D could attach to the slider and fig rig, unlike the black magic.

I felt I couldn't have planned much more for the trip because I expected the equipment to be handed to me in a state where I could at least use it. As a result I feel the film quality wasn't as good as it could have been.