1. Did you enjoy the main workshop shoot day? What role(s) did you take and what did you learn? What were your best bits and why?

Despite a long day of sweat and hard work, the workshop day was very informative and so much fun. Getting the role of Hayley Williams was exciting and being on set (both performing and helping) with professional staff and equipment was a new experience worth every minute.

Performing onstage

Everyone performed in groups of 4, I was grouped with Thakshana (guitarist), Mario (drummer) and Amy (bass).
Left - Mario drumming                 Centre - Thakshana rocking out         Right - Filming my CUs

Being in front of the lights (which made it quite hot to be singing and dancing under) and also in front of the camera took time for me to get used to. However with the support of our fellow classmates and expert advice from the crew (who often cheered us on loudly). I got quite comfortable on stage after shooting the first few set-ups.

                                 
I learnt that it was better to not care about how I looked on camera and best to sing with passion as well as aim to exaggerate my moves in order to get the best effect on screen. Actions such as dramatic hair whips and evil 'mean girl' glares looked best on camera when I just felt the emotion of the song and sang. Trying to remember exactly how to copy one of Hayley's moves or facial expressions just ended up with me looking more unnatural than when I just went with the flow of the song or put my own twist on a few things. This was part of the advice I'd learnt from Tasha (dance teacher) and Jasmine (co-director).

Of course there were key moves that all the band's members had to learn and some were done greatly but some set-ups took a few shots to perfect.

Helping on set

I learnt quite a lot backstage. Having my make-up done by a pro artist was great and cheering my friends who were then performing felt equally great. I also learnt what cable-bashing was and saw a portable dolly being used by the cameraman (Jack) who sat on a chair being pulled/pushed along by another fellow classmate. For a few set-ups I was in charge of the clapper board.






Here's a time lapse of the shoot day which shows how the Seward Studio was set up, the equipment we used and what roles everyone took on-stage and helped to stand in for onset.