1) Did you enjoy the main workshop shoot day? What roles did you take and what did you learn?

I thought the main workshop day was a fantastic and valuable experience that will stay with me. I thoroughly enjoyed it for the following reasons:

• Despite it being a 12 hour day, there was an exciting atmosphere throughout. Everyone was happy and positive, which helped everybody to get through the day. If felt like a big team!
• I was able to work with professionals and produce something of high standard, which was a great opportunity to get some experience and advice. I may have some future contacts.
• It was my first experience of working on a studio set up.
• I got treated as a VIP - my make-up and hair was done for me, and it was nice to see the rock-star transformation. It was also surprisingly relaxing.
• I am more used to being behind the camera and so it made a pleasant change to perform. It was great fun, especially as we were all cheering for each other and dancing to other groups performances. 

Here is a behind the scenes video demonstrating how fun the day was:

My role as drummer 

My Roles

• I was the drummer of Band 2. I loved the role. I play the drums, so in a way, it was nothing new. However, the main task was to perform, which was something I had to work on. Moreover, I was not used to people watching me when I drum. I have learned that there is much more to the role than drumming to the song. In particular, the facial expressions are important, which I hopefully improved over the course of the 5 days. I also also realised that the number of people watching (the production crew, the open day visitors etc) was an advantage as it gave me an adrenaline rush. I wanted people to enjoy watching me and so I wanted to perform well. Finally, drumming for so long due to doing several shots and takes actually helped me get into character! I was really tired which helped me achieve that intense look! 



Me practicing pushing the dolly

• I helped to push the director of photography, Jack on the dolly. I had practiced this throughout rehearsal week, so I was more confident in what I was doing. Jack was clear and said whether we needed to go faster/slower and how close to the end to go to. It was interesting seeing how the footage turned out too. I also helped to set up the dolly. It was big responsibility as I needed to make sure to slow down at the edges or it could have spoiled a shot. Physical strength was required and so I learned that it was not a job for people with back and knee problems.

• I helped to talk to parents and children who were visiting for the open day. I also encouraged the young children to dance!



Guests for the open day

• I also used the clapper board. This was fairly simple as I had done it in previous media projects, although it still required organisation for me to be attentive. It was interesting doing it on a set though and experiencing the role that a second assistant camera would have.



Myself, Shayam and Alistair in our roles for the shoot 

• I did some cable bashing, a term I had not previously heard. It was sometimes difficult as I had to make sure that the wire did not get in the way of the dolly pusher or anyone standing around. It was essential to do this correctly or something could happen to the camera. 
• I made sure that I found out some information about the professionals whom I was working with. Essentially I wanted to learn things from them, get some advice and potentially network. I found out that Dom studied English and Film at university and that Mackensie was working on the new King Arthur film. It was particularly interesting to speak to Mackensie (the make up artist) as it was a previously unknown area of the industry to me. I learned about camera lenses and their differences from Jack e.g. the ones with larger maximum apertures ( the ones with lower numbers) are capable of gathering more light. 

Myself and Iggy in our roles for the shoot