Filming Log: Candid Cabaret

First of all, how awesome are the MA Musical Theatre students? Wow. I knew they were good but their performances over the two days I filmed blew me away; occaisionally I had to lock the camera off I was laughing so hard. They're funny, engaging performers who can also smash the glassware with their belting music. I'd struggle to choose a favourite act, but special mention must go to the rendition of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" complete with crazy-eyed gyration.

But onto the filming bit. On Sunday my role was to get shots of the audience using the PD150, a cute little camera which I'm rather fond of since it's one of the first I ever used. My main job was to not disturb the audience while filming them and I think I did alright; I also used one of the tips David Liddle gave us while he was here, keeping on eye on the viewfinder and the other on the audience so I could spot when people were having interesting reactions. It's a tricky image to process but I think I got used to it by the end of the night.

As for the taxi nonsense afterwards and the exciting tale of how I got home, there's a short film in there.

The next day we had to do everything ourselves, without guidance from Ray. To be honest, I quite enjoyed it, as I got to use the bit of my head which obsessively makes lists schedules things. We all worked together well and managed to set up and do some tricksy cable hanging all in good time. We learnt some of the rules about that (for instance, I knew that cables which could be a tripping hazard need to taped down but I didn't know that the tape had to be white). The shoot itself went well, and I got to practice more on the 570, which I do need.

The taxis even worked!