Saturday 16/2/2019 Test Shoot:

For this test shoot, we decided to block out a few more scenes. However, a decision was made by Jsson and Callum that I should not record the sound through use of the boom plugged directly into the camera. This would supposedly get in the cameraman's way though I personally didn't see it.

Instead I was asked by Callum to quickly learn how a Tascam works, something which I have had no prior knowledge of or experience with. The Tascam recorder allows the sound operator to record the sound separately from the camera with any type of microphone that is available and compatible. The sound would then have to be manually matched up with the footage during the edit.

I was very unsure of this decision, partly due to my lack of familiarity with the equipment as I felt that anything could go wrong because of this. I at least knew that the sound works perfectly when the microphone was hooked up to the camera from prior experience. Also, this recording process could prove difficult and make the editing process much more complicated and stressful, something that we would be avoiding if the sound was just recorded via microphone plugged into the camera.

I did try to assert these problems but these fell on deaf ears, despite trying to remind them that my role as sound operator and editor means that I should have the final say as to how I should record this sound. As sound is what I will be marked on, I want to make sure that I can record the sound in a way which I know works well and will make the editing process a lot less hassle.

Despite these arguments, the Tascam that we had taken out wasn't working properly and none of us had any knowledge as to how to fix it. This meant that we had to acquire some outside help from someone in another group who did have experience with the Tascam. However, they didn't arrive until the end of the day so my role for the blocking of the scenes became redundant as I was unable to use the equipment.

We left the test shoot slightly unsure of the shoot, yet still optimistic despite this. I was asked to research how to proficiently the new Tascam equipment in just one night. It might come to a point that I just use the microphone connected to the camera at the last minute because that is what I believe to be the way forward to achieve the sound that I would be happy with.