Slow Motion test shots

 The iPhone 6 is actually better for filming slow motion than a DSLR or any of the professional cameras I have available to use.  It can film at 240fps, meaning the footage can be slowed down to 10% and still be good quality and not jerky.  The DSLR cameras I have available can only film at 60fps, meaning that when the footage is slowed down, it's more jittery; not fluid, which is how I want it to look
These are just test shots which will be used in my draft.  The aim of this was to practise filming in slow motion.  I also wanted to try different techniques of shattering the porcelain to get the most dramatic effect.  I found that thin, hollow things shatter more dramatically than thicker porcelain.
I found that the more lights you use the better.  When I only had on the white lights, there was a flickering effect when we played back the slo-mo preview on the iPhone.  Turning on the red lights as well reduced the flickering.

 

This is how I want to frame the footage when filming for the real product.  When filming the test shots, I stood quite far away from the shattering.  This was to lessen hazardous risks such as shattered porcelain flying at me.  It did mean, however, that there was quite a lot of 'dead space' in the frame, which would have been better filled with the shattering ornament.  Next time, I'll film from behind a clear perspex screen or something like that, so that I can film closer to the subject without any risk of injury.
I may also shoot from different angles and distances with different cameras to capture the best parts of the shatter effect.  For this I will have to borrow another iPhone or two.  I may also try throwing things at the ornaments, or shooting them with a BB gun, as opposed to just dropping them, as I think this might create a more dramatic effect like in the video posted above.  However, I will aim to shatter the ornament from the bottom so that more of it cracks.