So I turned up one morning at work to discover the building was being used as a location for a film. I thought this would be a great opportunity to see how real film sets operate and compare it how my group and I have shot out teaser trailer. As we filmed with zero budget and no experience, we had to think creatively about ways to overcome problems.

This is the equipment used for a “track” shot. It allows the camera to move forwards and backwards smoothly. As we didn’t have this equipment, we had to come up with our own solution.

We placed our camera on a small trolley we found to use as a make-shift dolly in order to attempt a Hitchcock zoom. As though we have decided this footage will not feature in the trailer as it is not smooth enough, we were proud of our ability to find alternatives.

A major problem we had on our shoot was lighting. As we obviously didn’t have this equipment, we had to wait until it was dark out side and use the light in the room. We also used “night vision” mode on the camera.

I was lucky enough to be asked to be an extra in the film. I noticed the amount of detail put into the background action as, although you could only see my back, I was given props, makeup and costume. At the end of the shot they took my photo in order to preserve continuity if they need to shoot again. This would have been a good technique for my group to use as I think our teaser is quite badly affected by costume continuity errors.