18th November Shoot

On this shoot day we re-shot the 90s scene, filmed all the shots for both dance sequences in all eras and filmed the modern scene.

We started with 90s because we expected to get through it quite quickly since we had already done it twice:

Filming the 90s scene

Being our third 90s shoot, Jacob and Juliette already had a lot of practice with the performance so could do it well from the start, and framing was easier because we knew from last time what we wanted. It went quite smoothly and soon we could move on to the dance sequence.

With the dance sequence, there were two important things to remember to ensure that it would work:

1. Keep the camera in the exact same place and don't move it at all

2. Make sure Juliette and Jacob start in the exact same position each time

We made sure of this by making tiny pencil marks where their heels should be

This was because the dance sequences cut between the eras and we need it to flow together smoothly and continuously. 

Since we already had the 90s set up ready, we started with this era:

Even though they had practiced the dance before, on set it was more difficult at first, and it took many takes to get it right. However, in the end we had a number of successful takes from both dances. We filmed both dances consecutively to avoid having to set up for each era twice.

After this were ready to move on to the other eras:

80s

For the 70s we had needed to fix the disco floor before shooting because it had been broken on the last 70s shoot. Setting up also took quite a while because it is difficult to get the disco ball to the right height and the disco floor in the exact right position. It didn't really take much longer than expected, however.

Setting up the disco floor

When we filmed this we decided they would not perform the running man properly because if they did they would break the disco floor, so we just wouldn't use shots of this era for that part of the dance.

Setting up for 50s took quite a while because it takes time to hang up the cars without them falling down, but time lost was made up for since Jacob and Juliette had gotten progressively better as the shoot went on so by this time we could shoot near perfect takes from the start, meaning no time was wasted. 

Filming the dances for the 50s set up

Jacob and Juliette performing

For the modern set up, we only had to film the second dance because the modern era hasn't been introduced before the first dance in the video.

Filming the modern dance went smoothly and quickly because by this time they could do it perfectly

Here is the edited footage of the first dance sequence:

We decided that both this and the second dance were successful, so we would not reshoot it (which we wouldn't have had time to do anyway since it required almost a whole day) - the performers stayed in the correct positions and the camera didn't move so the different eras transition together smoothly.

When we originally planned the two dance sequences, we thought that for the second dance sequence, we would have the band in the background, but we decided against this before filming because it would be too difficult to ensure the band stayed in the same position, so it would be less likely to flow together seamlessly.

We filmed the dance for the modern era last so we could move on to filming the actual modern scene without changing the set.

Modern scene - Brandon stood in as Jacob before we filmed to run through the exact choreography

Filming the modern scene

Performing the modern scene - the left photo shows how this scene transitions into the dance sequence

Juliette and Jacob performed well, and we were happy with most of the footage, but some specific shots weren't framed very well, in particular a CU of Juliette as she turns to look at Jacob - there is too much space above her head. We decided we would reshoot this but not all of the modern scene.