Lessons

Lesson Info

Preparing for the Shoot

The idea is today we're going to shoot something similar to benny and sam's video, but here and we're gonna do it in this sea, this spot here and also over there on the red wool that's going to be very fun so I wouldn't have my idea the mood board this is my mood board. This is referencing only photos I already had so it's not as extensive as I would have liked, but it gives you an idea. I've got some fake moustaches, I've got giant balloons, I've got confetti, which I don't know if you could tell that's confetti, but it is confetti falling on grass. I have big hearts and were going teo sit with this chair against a nice blue war and take some great shots. So yes, can I ask you a little bit more about mood boards? You and just how you where you go for inspiration, how do you develop them? What you're looking for when you're creating one? So I have an idea in my head I'll say to myself, okay, the shoot, the creator's live I I wanted to be I'm stuck in one position I know already that I ...

can only shoot this way for me that's a little bit of a hindrance and I don't like shooting with only one angle, so I'm going to add fun I mean, add motion. A lot of it is I can't get her running very far. There's not a lot I can do here. So what what motion can I get in a frame here? That's I think of the problems and then I think of this solution I'm gonna have balloons exploding. I'm goingto have confetti falling all over them. I'm gonna have them with funny moustache is in doing cool expressions. Uh, I guess I don't know if that's covering the question very well, but it really depends on the job what I need to communicate to somebody else to get that done. So I had to send all this to creative life and say, I want this center what? That and they got it started for me. So it's a combination of, like, the emotion that you're going for but so some details about what it's actually gonna look like. Well, maybe the the location would be on my boat with benny and sands we started with, uh, my delicate location inspired me hugely. It was a big part of that shoot, so I also went bought some spray paint cause I thought, yeah, that'd be fun, we that's motion and something fun to do, and I brought along my polaroid camera, so I guess it depends I I think whatever you find your inspiration, what it might be when you close your eyes and listen to music, it might be hopping on pinterest it might be, um, your own work, and if you pulled it apart and looked at it from ocean, what would you find? So people it's, uh, fairly fluid and often like a shoot I did recently for commercial? I went to the lake ation took my daughter and just played. I tried this, I tried that, and I I I put all that together put that in my pitch as a mood board, and I did win the job because I think I covered off everything. I had such a playful, fun pitch because the shots were my own, they won't stalk, and they were a really good example of what I was actually going to shoot. You do the mood, words, soul yourself, or do you allow, like the the clients or the talent of have been put into him? Like we're looking for colors and props and all that suffered just kind of like whatever strikes, so if I'm shooting for supervised one hundred percent way bounce off each other, we'll talk right relationship I love working with you because she's we've got a really good little thing that she'll say this, I'll say that I can see it, yes, I don't have to explain a lot to her, she gets it straightaway. Um, some people I have to convince them of the idea, sometimes it doesn't work, and some people want me to do something I don't want to do, and I will say, I don't think it'll work, and then we have to work that out and it's up to you, how to handle that. But unless I'm excited by the shoot, I kind of think I don't want to do it because that's a lot of hours and a lot of angles and a lot of things to be doing, but I'm at this point it's different a while ago, I would be grabbing every video job I could do, but now I'm really getting to the point where it's like, I need to feel excited, and I'm very excited about this one coming out so sorry, one more question here, okay, so when you were doing the shoot with, well, oliver shoots there's so much pre visualization that seems to go into these, that it's kind of mind blowing for us, okay, I mean, in a way, I'm kind of how did you possibly with anna's video get that shot listen your head get all those ideas ahead it seems overwhelming to me so I'm wondering if you are constantly like when you watch movies when you're walking down the street are you constantly trying to soak up different inspiration and when you do that are you taking do you take notes when you walk? You know or I think this comes down to what sue said and I was really touched by what she said about you being inspired to be creative as instead of the money thing being the thing and I think that's the difference to me one hundred percent creativity and engagement with my job is top I want to love what I too I love it one hundred percent I want to spread it I want what I put out to make people excited and delighted and fun make them laugh I want them to feel something I wanted to see that life is great and that to me is what is inspiring me to create that so everywhere ago I'm looking what's funny what's exciting what's fun, what's delightful and and so that's what I want to do that's what I see that I think that is it and I also put a lot of space for my headspace I don't watch movies I never watch tv I do which maybe I like on airplanes I always much movies but I don't get a lot of spare time if I wanted to go for inspiration, I would go to the beach, go and I would walk and I would see what I'd see and I wouldn't put the pressure of seeing on me. I would say have fun take my iphone only and and I would see what's there I would boss my kids around, make them jump in the water, I would, you know, for me, it's got to be playful and exciting and I want to feel alive, and I think that is what is inspiring those shots and all that feeding that part of myself is inspiring that side into my work. All right, that does that help? That answer was above and beyond my beautiful. So yes, thank you very much. So we have about another fifteen minutes before school break, okay, I'm gonna shoot along so amusing. So I've got in mind ten steps music so I picked two songs I don't know what's gonna work for this shoot. I have a little bit unsure how it's all gonna come together so I picked two songs and that's not me thiss one is this one, I think my baby when we use, but I don't know for sure till I'm in the edit and and I want to show that example off how I picked too that I'm thinking might work because I do that a lot and in fact I used to do five that I thought my way and now I'm getting better at shortening quicker know that so we've got music to work with now we have a location, we're here this is our location will be a few changes, okay? Storyboarding and storytelling I have a whole stack of shots in mind I'm so excited about this chute and last night I was up till three a m writing my shot list and then sending it to andrew to make storyboards which he was thrilled about might just like to say thank you so much, darling, and I'm sorry um so this is some of the ideas in a storyboard now the storyboards for your benefit I wouldn't do that for me any more, but it's a great way to communicate with other people if if I was doing this job for I don't know not supervise, but someone like her and they wanted to see that was definitely going to deliver I would do them a storybook because that makes them realize that I've got it covered. I know what I'm doing and I think that's really good when you're starting at really communicate really effectively with people you're doing jobs for they want to know that you're going to give them something really good and I want constant reassurance so we're going to do mustache faces we're going to play with some confetti I want them to kick around and I've got okay, the balloons a bigger than I thought they would be, but I've worked around it and I read um duggal that we're gonna have so much fun I can't wait to do that uh I'm gonna have confetti raining on them while they're snuggled together close you know, uh sitting on the couch that catches a little bit bigger than it is, but we'll work around that too and holding hand shots this one here it looks kind of strange that is that is we're gonna have some fun with some powder paint I've done a show before with pat of pain in it looks fantastic so I'm excited about trying that too, so let's go to the short list I'm not gonna read this out we don't have time but it's very when I when I do the shoot, I'll leave it on the screen for you guys to see I'm taking off and going through it so it's there and you'll see think up no it's not that it's their sorry uh things like uh from below string up to balloon in hand holding it does that make any sense to anyone else? I know what I'm doing it's um uh the cameras here the hand is here in the balloons above so that's just an example that shooting we're about to do that next segment and we won't be calling an editing till the third segment now this is back to our thirty day filming project this is up on I think it's up on our blog's uh it's on suz bark it's on suz book and it should be on my blood too great beautiful uh and so you can take on this project and here's the things that you need to do steps take camera with you everywhere I don't even put it in the camera bag getting off I've got insurance for the camera and I think the time it takes me to take it out of the case stops me from taking it out of the case film any moments that inspired will make you smile film something every day make a play experiment get comfortable you shall try, try and try again till you get a shot you love do not leave the thing you're shooting to you love something that you're shooting go through the footage and take out only the best moments you don't need all the other moments and no one needs to know that you had all the bad moments no, but he normally knows but I've now told everyone edit them to music explored and upload to u v m e o ut we can't antagonise onto don't facebook so that's the project and anyone who wants joining supervises doing one and we're gonna blow the top five that we love should there be a total time for the real yes at the top must be under two minutes long if it is I can read after two minutes I don't want to see it and I will stop playing I'll go on look at someone else's so as an example I would like to do a quick still life kind of example before we break okay yeah that's fine that's fine. Good idea. Yep so I like is that supposed to be april over that march april fifteenth business oh my goodness ignore that it's a march fifteenth march fifteenth sorry, good catch hope that's right soo on our blog's anyway yes. Any of the questions were good? We have so many questions going already this morning which is great um quick question about props from a li be photography who's in ohio who says after you have decided your your storyboard and you have there are props involved is that some of that you go out and source or do you ever talk to our clients about them bringing in their own props or how does that work? Yeah definitely uh I just say I'm shooting a family put video portrait or uh I will talk through what do you want to do who will you tell me about yourself what do you love to do? We love rowing boats on the lake um every saturday morning okay? We're going running backs that's what we're doing um tell me how did you guys meet often do that even if it doesn't tell me anything I can use it gives me something to talk about what I see them and I'm like uh thank you so much for sharing that story that was so funny or no it's a connecting thing anyway uh but I have some amazing clients I had this chute here thes guys hired me to do an engagement shoot and it was so fun I sat down with him for the meeting they also hired me for the wedding and I said let's do it guys interest doing something really fun now please don't do anything normal with us I don't want anything normal and I had this idea in my head for probably six months I wanted this huge bear heads I'd see and I was like who is gonna let me shoot an engagement sitting with their faces not in it and surprisingly people do and they bought those heads they also I sent them a mood board I said the's heads and there were four different types pick their heads you want and also send him a red dress and a blue suit and I said that's what I want and they did. They weren't on board at all, and it would have been a lot of money, those heads. I'm not cheap, so I actually bought them off a tte, the end of the shoot. Cause I was like, I need these more like, what are we gonna do with them? I have them it's, okay? My kids and I have been playing with the medicines, er, s o props of, uh, pop play with the personality of who you're working with, and also just ideas. I get mixed up, mix it up.