As a recently new member to BMM, I was confronted early with a strange concept- the 'Pop up Movie'. Being told that we were going to do our first 'Pop up' on the weekend coming, I was left wondering what that meant. It was pretty clear that it was something to do with making movies, so I put my hand up to attend.
Three of us turned up, armed with our camera gear and enthusiasm to head off to Redland Bay Museum. It turns out there was a tapestry display there by the local tapestry club and we were going to film it.
The club were expecting us, as we had spoken to them before hand about coming out to film and they were very excited to be involved. We decided to throw in some interviews and the museum director was a willing commentator on the quality of the works presented.
We needed to consider lighting and sound as the museum inside was quite dark. We used a hand-held LED and a camera mount mic. The sound came out well, but the lighting was a challenge as the glass in front of the tapestries was reflecting the light.
Finally, we swapped footage and created our own edit of the shoot. It was an interesting and enjoyable exercise in which we created 3 distinctly different products for the benefit of the tapestry club.
All 3 movies were shown at the following BMM meeting and members had a chance to review the films and vote on a favourite. So, our 'Pop up movie' became a learning experience for all.
Subsequently, we have had a chance for a second 'Pop up movie'. This time we decided to a drone based movie. We travelled to Carindale drone park and all had a go at flying my DJI Spark drone. We took my shotgun mic and boom pole as well as our cameras and tripods. We decided to go with a documentary about flying drones.
Again, we had an enjoyable day out with a movie making focus; and product we needed to edit. Again, we shared footage and offered the club 3 different versions and approaches to the same footage.
So what is a 'Pop up movie'? I take it to mean a movie where an opportunity to film comes up and you take it. Or, you create an opportunity to film. However, this is a less planned, more casual approach to film making. The benefits of taking this casual, opportunistic approach is that you are keeping the passion alive for movie making, you are building your skills; and you are building up networks and friendships within the club.
Serious movie productions with scripts, a full crew and a cast will always be a part of movie making and our club. But they take a lot of planning and time and consequently do not occur frequently. Pop ups provide an opportunity to film on a more frequent basis and to continue building your movie making skills and confidence.
