Palindrome filming: behind the scenes
Added 2020-02-02 17:24:23 +0000 UTCI had a lot of interest in how I made the video about the 02/02/2020 palindrome day. And yes, the Matt on the left of frame is flipped. I filmed it twice on the same side of the sofa.
The truth is: I only had one morning to film it and that included going to pick up the paper, markers, clipboard etc from the shops. I was in Seattle to do a show at 2pm and needed to leave the hotel by 1pm to get there in time to set up. So, leaving enough time to edit and upload, I really only had time for one take.
So here is the complete and unedited take. I wasn't even thinking about releasing this, but because I talk out loud when I'm trying to not forget things, I actually explain much of what I'm doing! I have a few false starts as you'll see, but the bulk of it was all done at once.
I had a laptop behind the tripod so I could record the first half and play it back without needing to touch the main camera. However it stopped recording right before the end of the first half! I didn't notice until I was filming the second half.
I quickly decided to re-film just the end bit. But I realised I would not be able to put the lamp back exactly where it was. My solution was to be playing with it at the start of the new bit so nobody would notice it had jumped around slightly. That's movie magic for you!
When I was replaying video on my laptop I've put it in the corner of the screen so you can see and hear what I could.
I wish I had longer to practise this and get it much better. You can see a bunch of missed cues etc. But not bad for a first take! I also didn't have time to change the camera to manual exposure which would have made the background look much more consistent.
Anyway, thanks for all of your support! I hop you enjoyed this unexpected bit of behind the scenes footage.
