Brendan's AICE Media Studies Blog

 

 

 

 

 

   W hen shooting the scenes in the car I was far more conscious of the rule of thirds. Usage of the rule of thirds is something we lacked heavily in our original film, so using it more thoughtfully now was essential to me.       Within the car scenes, I used the rule of thirds - as well as general shot framing - to visually express to the audience the relationship between Gabby and me. During the car scene, Gabby and I are acting out a fight between a girlfriend who feels unappreciated - and is questioning the loyalty of her boyfriend's loyalty - and a boyfriend who is being extremely dismissive of his girlfriend's concerns and feelings.       The way in which both of us are presented within this scene is essential to understanding not only how each character views themselves, but also how the other views them. In the shot in which I am playing the boyfriend, my character takes up about 2/3 of the entire screen essentially "dominating" ...

   After finding success with using the light for our opening scene, we decided to use it while we shot our scenes within the car as well. During our first time filming, shooting in the car did not produce the results we had intended - using just the lights within the car didn't give off enough light, causing the resulting footage to be poorly lit and grainy. The advantage of using the extra light for this scene is that it matches the orange color of light given off by the overhead lights in my car, so despite it being an extra light source, this extra light would appear to be motivated by the lights within the car.     However, after we set up the shot using the light, it was knocked over and broke as a result. Initially, we panicked but realized that the lights in the car produced enough light as is. The shots came out beautifully and everything was extremely well-lit. Setting up the shots took a few minutes since I was going to be in them as well, but once I adjus...

    Though there were to be minor changes from our original film, one of the things we wanted to remain the same is the opening scene. We began our filming for the night shooting this scene. Before we could begin filming though, I had to drag an extension chord from my garage to the side of the house in order to plug our light in. When originally shooting the scene it was very difficult to see Abby, but having an extra light source made it far easier to see her.      While Chris and Gabby were helping to adjust the brightness/direction of the light, I was ensuring we had our shot lined up. Since I would be driving my car for this scene, I pressed record, had Luise stand by the camera, and ran to my car. As the camera recorded - including myself - a total of 3 cars passed. Reviewing this footage after the scene was shot gave me the idea that we could have her appear after the first car, and disappear after mine passes.       Overall though, I ...

    Being both the cinematographer and main actor in the film presented many challenges. Firstly, figuring out how to frame shots was a challenge because I'd be in them. The way we solved this is that I'd have Luise - or someone else - stand where I thought I was going to be while I fiddled with focus, camera angle, etc. This allowed me to simply press record, go where I was supposed to be and act out my scene.     This method worked for scenes in which the camera was stationary, but if I wanted to shoot a scene with any camera movement, it would need to be a scene that I was not seen/present in. Though it did not have a major impact on our film's quality it limited the amount of diversity we had within our shots. However, I did my best to include dynamic shots where and when I could.     For example, in the shot below I was not in it. Because of this, I was able to take a panning shot showing Gabby getting out of the car and running, as well as the ghost. ...

    Despite acting within our movie is not something we are graded upon, we found that quality acting was an essential part of our film's quality. As such, I began looking for friends to act in our film as we wanted someone other than Jorge, and Mariana and Anthony were unavailable. Unfortunately, none of the couples which I asked to be part of our film were available. We then resorted to using Jorge again and Gabby's friend Chris again.     Though this is not an ideal situation we made do and took our peer's suggestions about running lines. This would allow us to not only gauge who amongst the two of them is the better actor but also to acclimate them with their lines. However, as Chris continued to run lines it became apparent to all of us - including Chris - that acting was not his strong suit. Unfortunately, Jorge was not feeling well either. With all that being said, I volunteered to play the boyfriend for our film. Jorge promptly went home and I began practicin...

    The morning of our re-shoot day I went to Best Buy to get a new tripod. We still could not find the head to my mother's tripod, and even if we could, it was far from suited for videography. I bought the Sunpak Ultra 7000 Tripod - a tripod that is far better suited for videography due to a bevy of reasons. The features which this tripod has not only makes my job as the cinematographer, but it will also provide the solution to many issues which we faced during our original shoot. Message to the group chat showing them the box after I bought the tripod.     One of the biggest issues we faced during our original shoot was shots not being level. However, this tripod possesses a level within it, so I can ensure definitively that all shots are level before they are taken. Additionally, it has a handle attached to the head allowing for smoother and more stable pans - as well as allowing for both horizontal and vertical tilt too. The tripod also reaches up to 70 inches ta...

    In our original production of the film, we had poor results when using automatic focus. The camera would attempt to refocus mid-shot not only ruining the appearance but ruining the audio as well. Doing further reading I learned that by using manual focus this issue is avoided, in addition to having more overall control of the shot. As someone who was used to using auto-focus for both videography and photography, this was an adjustment.     In order to gain experience with this new feature I went to my high school's girls' lacrosse game and took photos for them, experimenting with using manual focus. Below are some of the results: None of the players are in focus. The only thing in focus is the grass within the immediate foreground of the photo. This resembles the appearance of a soft focus shot due to the "soft," slightly out-of-focus look it has. The players in this shot are in focus. Not everything is in focus though as the referee and the remainder of the back...

    As previously mentioned, it was challenging to see the subject(s) of the shots. Though day-for-night shooting presented a unique opportunity, using external lighting sources is a more realistic and reliable solution.     Firstly, we must know the source of light within the shot - otherwise referred to as the "motivation." When lighting this outside scene, it would look unnatural for there to be a randomly colored light shining on the subject(s), so when thinking about the motivation of the light we must ensure it is indicative of what is occurring within the world of the film. For example in our opening scene when we see La Llorona standing on the side of the road, diegetic light is "motivated" by the moon, street lamps, and the car that drives by. Those light sources may exist, but they are not strong enough to adequately light the scene. As such, we must enhance the light via extra lights that mimic the color/brightness of the original light source.   ...

    Since our movie is set at night it was important we shot at night. As previously mentioned this produced a bevy of issues, primarily with lighting. However, in doing additional research on how to make nighttime shots look better I came across day-for-night shooting - a method by which you shoot during the day and edit it in a way that makes it look like it was taken at night. This method was particularly popular in older movies, where cameras could not capture quality footage at night. However, it is still used today. This scene from Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) was clearly shot using day-for-night shooting techniques due to the blue hue.      This effect is achieved by lowering the exposure on the shot, turning up the contrast, darkening the whites/highlights, and increasing the blue hue. In order to ensure day-for-night shooting works, you must ensure the sun is not visible within the shot, and minimize any surfaces which would reflect its light. By minimizi...

    After the class had viewed our preliminary rough cut, it was important that we have a meeting as a group in order to discuss what our next move would be to fix the errors within our film. We discussed what we felt was lacking during the original, as well as possible solutions. From this came the primary question; would it be better to completely re-write the story and reshoot the whole film, or would it be better to re-shoot the story with minor tweaks?       Though all of us liked the ideas for a completely new story, it did not make sense to shoot an entirely new film. I argued that if we were to finish shooting and found more errors similar to the ones we found in this film then we'd need to reshoot again - using time we would not have. However, by using the original story we would know exactly what would need to be fixed and how to do so. Thus, we all agreed to reshoot, but using the same story.     As the cinematographer some of the prima...

    After my group viewed the preliminary rough cut, we decided to show it to our class in order to get their comments. We could get a more objective viewpoint in getting their comments on our preliminary rough cut. The picture below is the list of comments and criticisms which our classmates communicated to us. Lighting:     As mentioned in my prior blog post - specifically about the internal lighting issues - using the light from the TV made it very difficult to see the actors. Despite making the TV show a completely white screen, even then it only had limited success. It was suggested by one of our peers that we use some sort of reflective material around the TV in order to enhance the brightness of the light from the TV. Characters Walking:     One of the things our teacher emphasized a lot after we created our first short films is that shooting footage of people walking is incredibly boring and unnecessary unless there is action and/or it serves the pl...

    After a relatively successful shoot, we put together our "preliminary rough cut" to see what we needed to be reworked/reshot or anything else of that nature. Following the creation of this preliminary rough cut, there was much to be desired with our film. Below is the preliminary rough cut and some of the things I - as well as the group - noticed when watching it. Preliminary rough cut Missing Scenes:     All three of the scenes shown below are in immediate succession to each other. Though there's nothing wrong sequentially, the scenes feel disconnected. Going immediately from getting out of the car (1a), to walking inside (2a), to sitting on the couch (3a) doesn't make sense - there needs to be as to be a transition from one to the next. By putting transitional shots between these shots, it would feel less choppy and unnatural. Transitional shots are an often overlooked part of the filmmaking process, and unfortunately, they were overlooked in our film as well. ...

    When filming at night the extreme darkness and lack of light made filming very challenging. Similar to how we attempted to solve the lighting issues when inside, we did our best to leverage diegetic lighting - which worked to a very limited capacity.     By using the lights from the car passing by we are able to illuminate La Llorona. The way in which the light hits her without revealing her face too much creates this very creepy effect. This is an instance in which the use of purely dietetic light works very well by providing an adequate amount of light, as well as creating a unique effect.     In the two shots above the lights inside the car were used to light the scene. Though the brightness and color of the light are consistent, it is far too dim. Additionally, the lights of the car are an orange/yellow color, which creates a very offputting look. Between the internal car lights being too dim and creating a very offputting tint in the shot, using pu...

    When planning how we'd be shooting inside it was my intention to have the characters be lit by the light of the TV. I wanted to do this specifically because seeing the changing brightness/color of the TV and hearing the audio from it shows that the characters watching TV is diegetic.      However, using the TV was an extremely unpredictable and unreliable light source. When beginning to film and turning the TV on it would randomly go black, and even when it wasn't black, it often wasn't bright enough. This dim lighting made it difficult - and even impossible at times - for the camera to see the actors when we'd record. This is demonstrated in the clip below:     In order to compensate for this poor and unreliable lighting I mirrored my phone to the TV to show a white screen. Though this constant color/brightness of light would not create the same effect as watching TV as we'd originally intended, it provided a far more reliable light source than be...

    Prior to filming, I had done no reading/researching on using a camera - especially the Nikon D750 - to film something. As such, settings were a guessing game and I left them almost entirely how they were when the camera is used for photography. This was particularly problematic when it came to the lens focus, as it was left on automatic rather than manual. I was unaware of this setting's importance though.     As shown in the two shots above, the auto-focus ruined the appearance and sound. During the shot, the focus keeps changing. If I would've turned on manual focus, I could've ensured prior to shooting that what needed to be in focus was in focus. Additionally, using auto-focus made a multitude of shots completely unusable - including the two shown above. This means a ton of wasted time and a re-shoot is inevitable. I should've put auto-focus on and spent more time prior to taking a shot ensuring the subject is in focus.

    For filming, we would be using my mother's Nikon D750 camera, with her Manfrotto tripod. Not thinking ahead, I had not done any equipment checks. Due to this lack of checking ahead of time, I did not learn the tripod was missing the head until it was time to film. This meant that there was no way for the camera to attach to the tripod.      Adapting to our circumstances though, I did my best to use the tripod in its current condition. Despite lacking a head, it still had the base of the head which I could rest the bottom of the camera on when filming. I would however still need to maintain a firm, two-hand grip and wear the neck strap to ensure it remained as stable/level as possible. (L) The first scene we tried filming - before Luise and Gabby switched - where I can be seen holding the camera on top of the tripod. (R) A later scene where I film a tracking shot of Jorge walking from the couch into and around the kitchen.     Though this adaptation...

    In order to create the proper La Llorona appearance as I had envisioned, it would require the dress Abby had shown me as well as heavy amounts of makeup. What we did not realize though is how much time it would take in order to apply all the necessary makeup.  Our plan was to begin shooting by 9 PM, but with all the time it took applying the makeup, etc. we did not even begin until 10:30 PM. Gabby applying the fake blood I had made to Abby's face in order to look like tears.     We had now depicted La Llorona as we planned - white dress, dark eyes/lips, bloody tears, etc. Despite this extremely well-done depiction, our late start had a number of adverse side effects and consequences once filming began. All members of the cast and crew had extremely long days leading up to filming, so starting even later affected everyone's ability to stay awake, focus, etc.     Though our depiction of La Llorona was extremely well done, we should've planned better ...

    The day we were set to begin filming Gabby texted our group that the couple who was supposed to play the couple would no longer be able to be in our film because our filming time was too late - we were set to begin at 9 once Gabby got off of work. In order to adapt to this unforeseen situation though Gabby contacted 2 of her male friends who she thought would be willing to be in the film, and they agreed. Unfortunately, no one could think of/find a girl willing to act, so we decided it'd be best for Luise to play the girlfriend.     While all of this transpired I was out of the house and hadn't yet had the opportunity to create the new script that we'd be using. Since changing the story slightly and removing certain things it was necessary we change the script as well in order to account for the additional time we'd now have to use on character/plot development, A couple of hours before people began arriving I wrote the revised script, and once Gabby arrived I ha...

     It was suggested by our peer that we watch the introduction of M. Night Shyamalan's  Split  (2016) in order to have a better idea of how a story, its characters, and its setting are established - especially within a horror film or thriller film. By watching this clip I learned more about how to properly pace the story, how impactful elements of cinematography can be within the clip, and what makes a clip truly feel like an introduction.      Rather than forcing appearances of, or interactions with the antagonist, the opening of Split focuses more on introducing the characters (and their connections), the setting, the story, etc. Almost the entire opening sequence is spent establishing the characters especially. Most of this character development is done via dialogue and actions. This is something I aim to emulate because we lacked adequate character development/establishment in our original plan. The first minute and a half of the ...

    Ahead of our first day of filming a peer made a comment to us based on our project proposal. Despite liking what we had submitted in terms of story/content, they felt our proposed sequence belonged toward the middle of a film. They pointed out that there was no substantive establishment and/or development of the setting/characters. In reflecting upon our peer's comments, our group understood and agreed with what they had to say.      We believed that one of the easiest ways to fix this issue was to reduce the interactions which our main character, Anthony, has with La Llorona in the opening sequence. Rather than having any meaningful establishment of characters or the setting, we spent far too much time forcing interactions or appearances of La Llorona. La Llorona had 6 individual appearances in our original plan for the story - many of which would take up a significant portion of time. As a consequence of these appearances, we'd need far more time in order ...

    One of the largest obstacles which my group faced when going into the filming stage of our first production was that we lacked a solid plan, especially when it came to what we were going to shoot. Though we had a storyboard, lacking a shot list caused a lot of avoidable issues when it came time for production. Our film had repetitive shots which looked lazy and boring. Additionally, it was missing entire shots, which caused it to look incomplete and confusing at times.     Having this shot list allows us to have that aforementioned "definitive list" to go by, thus ensuring no shots are missing. A well-thought-out shot list is a key to effectively shooting our film - confusion is limited and time doing last-second planning is minimized. As with creating the storyboard though, creating the shot list caused a shift in my mentality. Creating the storyboard I thought about how the shot would be filmed, but even then I thought of it more in broad snapshots. Alternative...