Or biggest assignment yet was to film a promotional video for Sunnmøre Folkhøgskule's surfing course.
Our filming location was the beautifully close to nature Hoddevika, famed for its good waves and completely unpredictable weather forecast.
We started this project with the all important production planning, obviously. The process of beat sheets, time schedules and film scripts was extensive, and I think that was a big part of what helped us achieve the results we wanted.
First things first, we decided on the mood and theme of our video. The teacher we had talked to had been very specific that the school found the most important thing to show the comradeship between students who had gone from being perfect strangers to life long friends. They wanted to show that you do not in fact need to be a surf expert in order to come to the Folkehøgskule, but that the learning process and everyone wiping out a dozen times and growing together is part of what makes this such a unique opportunity and great experience.
In order to get a good idea of the place we would be shooting, we headed down to Hoddevik the week before, location checking...and my goodness was it stormy! Thankfully it wasn't quite as bad on our actual film days, but the experience we had of trying to take some test footage definitely prepared us for the worst, and when we set out for the real thing a week later, us and our cameras were sand and sea proofed to the nines!
Our filming location was the beautifully close to nature Hoddevika, famed for its good waves and completely unpredictable weather forecast.
We started this project with the all important production planning, obviously. The process of beat sheets, time schedules and film scripts was extensive, and I think that was a big part of what helped us achieve the results we wanted.
First things first, we decided on the mood and theme of our video. The teacher we had talked to had been very specific that the school found the most important thing to show the comradeship between students who had gone from being perfect strangers to life long friends. They wanted to show that you do not in fact need to be a surf expert in order to come to the Folkehøgskule, but that the learning process and everyone wiping out a dozen times and growing together is part of what makes this such a unique opportunity and great experience.
In order to get a good idea of the place we would be shooting, we headed down to Hoddevik the week before, location checking...and my goodness was it stormy! Thankfully it wasn't quite as bad on our actual film days, but the experience we had of trying to take some test footage definitely prepared us for the worst, and when we set out for the real thing a week later, us and our cameras were sand and sea proofed to the nines!
In order to develop our story line, we focused on three main characters who all had different surf experiences as well as personalities that complimented each other well. Our story started by following them down to the beach, and introducing the place where their surf experience would happen.
Because the first day was so very windy, we gathered most of the inside shots such as helping each other get ready, and also a lot of quality nose dives off of the board and into the waves. This was great, because I was in the water learning how to shoot in the waves. This was a first time experience for me. I had hoped to get some practice in the week before, but the weather was so bad I gathered you wouldn't be able to see much of anything even if I hadn't been swept to sea.
Because the first day was so very windy, we gathered most of the inside shots such as helping each other get ready, and also a lot of quality nose dives off of the board and into the waves. This was great, because I was in the water learning how to shoot in the waves. This was a first time experience for me. I had hoped to get some practice in the week before, but the weather was so bad I gathered you wouldn't be able to see much of anything even if I hadn't been swept to sea.
The weather was much friendlier on the second day. The wind died down, and the sun even made an occasional appearance, allowing for some really well lit shots of the students hanging out on the beach, having a lesson in pop ups and messing around. I was in the water with a surf board and a go pro on this day, trying to get some footage of one of our characters who was unafraid of the bigger waves and paddled out to wait for them. I think my biggest mistake was switching to the go pro after having got to grips with the Olympus waterproof camera the day before...I ended up getting very few usable shots with the GoPro for several reasons. I had to paddle back in (which is both tiring and time consuming) once because the waterproof case got all fogged up on the inside, and then realised a piece of board wax had been stuck to my lens the whole time!
I eventually paddled back out, and the battery died, and upon viewing the shots taken with it later revealed that water droplets on the casing obscured most of the shots anyway, so that venture was a bit of a flop, but live and learn! Thankfully I had gotten some good water shots the day before and the teacher had also been filming with the Olympus camera in the better weather.
I eventually paddled back out, and the battery died, and upon viewing the shots taken with it later revealed that water droplets on the casing obscured most of the shots anyway, so that venture was a bit of a flop, but live and learn! Thankfully I had gotten some good water shots the day before and the teacher had also been filming with the Olympus camera in the better weather.
Our post production process changed a few things from the original script, but kept the original mood very well. In the first screening with the school principal he was very happy with the shots and the video, but didn't think that the music fit well enough. We originally had a track with a strong drum beat, which on reflection I think would have been great for a surf film set in a tropical country, but maybe not so much for Norway.
We all set to work on music bed searching for a new soundtrack, and although the piece we chose is very different from the original drum based sound, it conveys more of a "surfing Norway" feeling, and still gets the message across.
So, here is the video!
So, here is the video!
Music: Day is gonna come by Royal Deluxe
And the Instagram version:
Music: Day is gonna come by Royal Deluxe
I have learnt a lot about media production during this assignment, from shot planning, watching all the organisational work that Khristina did as our producer, and the practical elements of shooting in the environment. I'm really pleased with the final result, I think it complies with our original plan and beat sheet really well and especially considering the challenging conditions, think that the shots which were chosen for the video are aesthetically pleasing and well assembled to tell the story of a day with Sunnmøre Folkehøgsukle at Hoddevik.