Leading on from the pre-production unit, I took my research and tests and began applying it straight away. I got to work on the storyboard and shot list immediately so that I could thoroughly plan how VET-MAN needed to be shot to convey the humour within the script as effectively as possible. I took my research, storyboard and shot list that I created in the pre-production unit and began to develop this to form the final storyboard and shot list. The materials I pulled from the pre-production unit helped to inform the style in which I decided to construct the storyboard and shot list as the style I used in the pre-production unit (based on the research I did) produced an effective storyboard that helped to visualise the film and an effective shot list which clearly detailed all the necessary shots and shot types to fulfil the narrative. I then decided to undertake more research in this unit to find out why exactly these tools are useful during the production of a project. Using this old and new research, I set about creating my storyboard and shot list so that I had a clearly detailed storyboard which helped to show how the film would be achieved visually and a clearly detailed shot list which helped to show how the film would be achieved practically through the shots used.
During the stage of producing my shot list and storyboard, I created an additional location map as a new location had been introduced to the production and I needed to work out where the natural light would be entering the scene so that I could work out how this would affect how I shot the scene and the equipment required to shoot the scene. I also performed an additional test shoot to work out how best to film inside a moving vehicle as this is something I missed in my initial testing during the pre-production unit. Performing these tasks proved to be an essential part of my role as DOP as this ensured I knew exactly how the scenes would be shot to make the shoot days run as smoothly as possible - if I had not performed these tasks, I would have to be working out the lighting and methods of filming on the shoot days themselves which would have taken up time which could have been used to capture coverage. This also ensured that I found the best way to shoot and light scenes so that the optimum result could be produced.
Throughout this stage, I also undertook more research into shooting styles of sitcoms such as The Office to see if this would inspire the use of any shots that I had not previously thought of from my research in the pre-production unit. I didn't perform much more research into TV programmes as I feel I had clearly established my shooting style and the methods I wished to use in the pre-production unit and had tested it so knew it could be achieved during the production of VET-MAN. As I had decided not to differ much from the shooting style I established in my DOP statement (as this appeared to be the most effective way in communicating the comedy within the script), I decided the only research that would enhance the production would be a little further research into shooting styles of similar production in case I hadn't considered certain shot types that would be useful in the communication of the comedy within VET-MAN.
As well as this research, I undertook further research into how to be both a DOP and editor as well as research into working in collaboration with a director. This was useful because it informed my decisions I made during the unit. Researching how the DOP and director work together allowed me to collaborate with the director more effectively during the production so that both my visual vision and his vision for the overall product as director were fulfilled through the decisions made. This research highlighted that I needed to be flexible with my ideas in order to get the best overall outcome instead of only considering my own ideas which would have resulted in a lower quality production as I wouldn't have been considering all the elements within the production (only what satisfied my desires). Researching being a DOP and editor was useful as it guided me on how to act within both the roles so that I could perform best in each. I learnt that taking on both roles has the advantage of being more involved in the production process and, therefore, knowing the footage better and caring more about which shots are used which will both enhance the quality of the product and make the production process smoother as I will be aware of which footage I captured would work best in which part of the edit (make the stage of sifting through the footage a lot more smooth). I also learnt that this could be a disadvantage as I was at risk of becoming too attached to certain clips which may not have delivered the narrative in the best way - learning this in the research allowed me to realise if this was becoming the case during the edit and make myself take a step back and become more objective to the footage.
Following the research and planning, it was then time for the shoot days. I used my shot list (which was informed by my storyboard) as a checklist on the shoot days to ensure I captured all necessary coverage on the shoot days - this was following the guidance of my research where I found that the shot list is the most useful tool in terms of ensuring all necessary shots were captured. Previously, I was under the impression that both the storyboard and shot list should be used on the shoot days, however, the storyboard is actually used to inform the production of the shot list - making it only necessary to bring the shot list on set (as the contains all the necessary information from the storyboard). On each shoot day, I followed my shot list which outlined which order to shoot the scenes in order to shoot them in the most efficient way possible (so that I was not constantly switching between different camera set ups which would waste valuable time). Prior to shooting, the scenes had to be set up. Our runners helped in terms of setting up the scene and helping me with lighting (on the scenes which required the lighting) following the settings I outlined at the top of the shot list where I included the different equipment and lighting conditions involved in each scenes. Whilst the scenes were being set up, the director blocked the actors and rehearsed with them. I took this opportunity to set up the camera and practice my camera movements and zooms once I had finished setting up the scenes. In terms of setting up the camera, I only had to worry about the settings I was using as I decided against using any additional equipment like tripods in order to keep the production feeling as natural and observational as possible (as this is the desired effect as outlined in my director of photography statement). To set up the camera, on each shoot day, I ensured the image stabilisation was turned on due to filming the entire production handheld (whilst I wanted a natural look, I didn't want it to feel rough and unprofessional so I wanted some level of stabilisation). I used the focus assist tool on the later shoot days as Mollie's medium closeup single in scene 8 (which was filmed on the first shoot day) appeared slightly soft so to avoid this problem on future shoot days I made sure this setting was turned on when shooting all following scenes. I also began each shoot by check that the ISO was set at 500 as this was the default ISO I used for all scenes (except the night scene) - this was important so that the other settings (aperture, shutter speed, ND filter etc) had their desired effect on the look of the shots. I also ensured that the camera was white and black balanced at the beginning of shooting each scene - as outlined in my research in the pre-production unit, this ensures the colours that are visible in the shot are true to how they appear in real life which allows for the best colour grade. These were the settings I ensured to check / change at the beginning of shooting each scene - then during each scene, I adapted settings such as the aperture, shutter speed and ND filter to ensure a good and consistent exposure throughout the production - this is outlined in my individual shoot day posts.
Once the production had been shot using my shot list and the settings I researched and tested in the pre-production unit, the footage then needed to be sequenced prior to inserting it in the edit. Whilst this did not fall under my role as my role in editing was with the fine cut and the colour grade, I sequenced the footage for a few scenes (7, 8 & 9) in order to keep the production moving before the rough cut editor took over this role. During the rough cut stage of the production, I decided to research more into my chosen colour grade to ensure I could achieve the most effective colour grade as possible - whilst my research in the pre-production unit helped me to decide which method of colour grading would enable me to produce the look I desired, my research in this unit enabled me to see how to exactly to apply the colour grade in order to achieve this look.
I then took over the fine cut edit after I had performed my research into Adobe Premiere Pro. I tightened up the production and swapped out any shots that I feel didn't communicate the narrative and comedy in the best way possible. My main job in this process was to work on the audio and colour of the project - once these had been adjusted, the quality of the project improved greatly. I adjusted the audio so that it all sounded crisp and sharp. I also worked on the sound design of the project so that all the comedy delivered in its intended way (as a lot of the comedy rests on the sound design and not just the captured sound on the shoot days themselves - e.g. the printing sound effect in scene 1, the dog hit sound effect in scene 3 etc.) I adjusted the colour so that, firstly, it appeared to have a consistent look in terms of colour temperature and exposure and that, secondly, it appeared to have a consistent grade across the project to give it the distinctive desired look.
I kept tweaking the edit all the way through the post-production process, taking on the feedback given by the rest of the group and the tutors. This has worked to enhance the product and produce the best quality production possible.
Strengths
- As I found in my research; "It is also suggested that pre-production prep should be started early, to give time to come up with ideas organically rather than rushing to brainstorm ideas which could result in a rushed product that isn't as effective as something that has had a lot of time and thought put into it." I took this on board and felt my organisation was a lot better than it has been in other units. I planned my time well which allowed for maximum time to discuss the creative elements within VET-MAN and produce the best overall result - rather than planning my time poorly and having to rush creating things like the shot list and storyboard which would have potentially resulted in less effective visual methods of conveying the narrative. Having this time also allowed for the director to review my plans for conveying the narrative of the script with plenty of time to make changes, meaning that when it came to filming on the shoot days, we were both aware of what was happening and could trust each other to perform their roles to achieve an outcome we had agreed on.
- The style and tone is consistent with what I set out to achieve in my DOP statement. I wanted to achieve a natural yet cinematic look. I did this by shooting the production in a natural, observational manner by opting for a handheld filming style yet introducing a cinematic element through the colour and tone of the orange and teal colour grade. I related all my decisions back to my research and statement as this helped to guide what I wanted to achieve from the production. (i.e. DOP Polly Morgan highlighted the importance of considering what story I am trying to tell through the shots I used - I then kept this in mind to inform my decisions).
- The shot list helped the shoot days to run smoothly as it detailed all the necessary shots to make up the narrative which meant that there was no wasted time on the shoot days trying to figure out which shots to use. I was able to work out what was required in the shot list by drawing a detailed storyboard beforehand - this helped to visualise the story and how this would be achieved which then informed the shot list which detailed the technical and practical aspects of how the scene would be achieved. I used my shot lists on each day of the shoot so that I knew exactly what needed to be captured - the producer then checked off the shot lists each day to double check that all necessary footage had been captured. This was something I found through my research into DOP and editor Tom Baker; "Shot list is invaluable and one of the most important things. If you don't have a shot list, you forget ideas and key narrative shots to shoot."[Baker, 2019] By doing checking off the shot list during the shoot, we ensured all footage was captured and that nothing was missed - on most days I then captured additional footage on top of this to work with in the edit - this ensured that we had more than enough coverage in order to effectively portray the narrative and the comedy within it.
- I feel that the shot types / movements worked well to enhance the comedy. As stated in my DOP statement; "the use of hand-held camera as an intentional aesthetic choice developed during the cinéma vérité style of the 60’s French New Wave movement ... Since then, the technique has been used to heighten tension and give realism to countless films and television programs." [Walsh, 2012] - this works to enhance the comedy through giving a sense of realism to the production which then works to make Tim's actions look more ludicrous as the audience feel as if they are observing the character in his natural behaviour. As also mentioned in my DOP statement; "the zoom forces our attention on a particular area of the frame" [McGregor, 2017] - this worked particularly well in VET-MAN to highlight the comedy and force the audience to focus on the humour within the shot by zooming at the comedic times in the narrative. I also felt it worked well that I zoomed when felt natural, rather than when I planned to zoom as this aided the natural quality of the production as I was able to time the zoom the actors' specific delivery of the lines. I practiced these zooms whilst the director blocked and rehearsed with the actors, this gave me the opportunity to test these zooms with the delivery of the dialogue so that I could position the zooms in the optimum place.
- The use of natural lighting was effective in conveying the natural aesthetic which helped to achieve the desired look. Even when artificial lighting was required (i.e. the night scene and the pub scene due to being dull locations), I used it in a way that emulated the natural or practical lighting that would be present in these scenes. This all aided the natural visual quality of the production which helps the realism of the piece which has the desired effect of making the production seem observational which makes Tim's actions more ludicrous and comedic.
- The settings I used (as detailed in the shoot day posts) worked to produce well exposed images with fairly accurate colour temperatures which gave a good base for the colour grade. This meant minimal colour correction needed to occur to correct the footage to be true to that seen by a human eye - which is what my research suggested should be done during the colour correcting process.
- The colour correction and grading worked well to enhance the visual quality. I feel the orange and teal worked in the intended way of making the colours stand out more so that the image 'pops' more which gives it a slight cinematic quality. By applying the LUT at a low intensity, the natural visual quality is still retained whilst allowing a subtle cinematic look. This was made better by capturing the footage with the correct exposure in the first place which gave a good base for colour correction and grading. For clips where the exposure / colour temperature wasn't quite perfect, I applied colour correction first and then colour grading. This ensured that the LUT had the intended effect for the colour grade as I found in my research; "The effectiveness of LUTs is affected by the original clip that it is being applied over. A LUT cannot correct an overexposed image or an image where the colours appear unbalanced as they are only programmed to apply their preset over the existing image."
- The equipment I chose in the pre-production unit stayed the same in this unit and worked well to capture the footage in the desired manner. I feel the equipment helped me to achieve the desired look - mainly as the camera had very accessible controls (in terms of changing the aperture, focal length, image stabilisation etc.) which made shooting in my chosen filming style (handheld with zooms) much smoother.
- I opted for a 16:9 aspect ratio rather than a 21:9 aspect ratio as I wanted to keep the balance between the production looking natural and looking cinematic. Because of the colour grade, I feel the production would have looked too cinematic with a 21:9 aspect ratio as this is the aspect ratio used in cinema due to shooting with anamorphic lenses, therefore the 16:9 ratio is more appropriate as it still allows a high production quality without crossing over into looking too cinematic.
Weaknesses
- On some shoot days there were creative differences on set - mainly between myself and the director. These creative differences were mainly in terms of where to shoot the scenes from as I would have the opinion of filming it from one direction whereas the director had the opinion of filming from a different angle. This was always overcome quickly through clear communication and sometimes compromising - when a compromise couldn't be reached, I shot from both of the angles so that the decision could be made in the edit when the rest of the shots would be pieced together around it (which made the decision of which shot to use easier). There were never massive disagreements over which angles to film from - the angles were pretty similar which meant I could film from both the angles and decide in the edit.
- As mentioned on the shoot day post itself, there were a lot of issues in shoot day 3. We only had our actress for Sheila for a limited amount of time (until midday) so we had to ensure we captured all our footage with her in it before this time - this meant we couldn't film the footage in the ideal order which made some of it appear quite rushed. This lead to issues such as the exposure being overexposed in some of the shots which lowered the visual production quality. As well as being rushed because of the time, the weather was proving difficult because of the sun as it cast harsh light and shadows over scene 3. These issues meant that we had to reshoot scene 4 and 6 which meant having to put more money into the budget. Although, this is not entirely negative as the reshoot images were a lot better quality and fit with the tone of the rest of the production. A lot of the production is filmed in cloudy weather / not harsh sunshine, whereas the original scene 4 footage was filmed in harsh sunlight which isn’t consistent with the rest of the scenes. Therefore, reshooting allowed for the consistency in the product to be better. Furthermore, the actor playing Tim suggested the action of blowing into the surgery glove prior to performing the surgery which added an element of humour to the scene - this action would not have been in the production if not for reshooting the scene.
- The weather on shoot was occasionally an issue. Most of the time, as I mapped each location and planned by checking the weather forecast, I knew when would be best to film certain scenes in terms of how the natural light would affect the visual look of the scene. However, on some of the days the weather was a little un-predictable due to the forecast showing as sunny and cloudy - meaning the sun would be coming in and out. This proved an issue on shot day 2 when filming scene 7, shoot day 3 when filming scene 4 and shoot day 4 when filming scene 13. When filming scene 7, although we were positioned in a shaded location, it was still apparent when the sun was in and out. As the sun was largely out, I ensured to shoot when the sun was out to make sure there was consistency between the shots. However, on Luke's medium closeup, the sun dips in for a brief moment which causes a slightly different visual look. After noticing this when I reviewed the footage, I performed a test colour grade to ensure the issue could be fixed through manipulating the exposure and colours within the shot to match the exposure and colours when the sun was out. Manipulating these settings didn't totally resolve the issue, but it made the shot look a lot more consistent with the other footage.
When filming the majority of scenes on shoot day 3, the sun was hidden behind the clouds so didn't pose an issue. However, when shooting scene 4 at around midday / just before midday, the sun was fully out which meant harsh light and shadows were cast over the characters' faces. The shots also appeared slightly overexposed which I could have solved by using a denser ND filter to bring down the exposure. However, this would not have changed the harsh shadows caused by the sun coming out. This issue was then resolved in the re-shoot day.
When shooting scene 13, the sun kept going in and out which meant a level of inconsistency in the shots for this scene. I realised this as we were shooting. We began shooting with the sun out (and filmed the wide shot and Tess' medium closeup in this time), however, the sun became hidden more often than it was out so I made the decision to reshoot the initial shots filmed in the sun and filmed the rest with the sun hidden behind the cloud. This ensured consistency was retained through this scene. Although I ensured the exposure was correct when the sun was out (which meant the image was technically and visually sound), I preferred the visual look of the shots when the sun was hidden as the light is softer with less harsh shadows being cast on the characters. This makes for a smoother feeling image which, in turn, benefits the overall visual quality of the production. Furthermore, the majority of the production is shot in shaded areas or cloudy conditions, making it more consistent to film this scene in a cloudy condition.
- For the majority of the scenes, due to the days being organised well and all the members of the crew being prepared for their roles, I was able to get a lot of good coverage. However, one scene that I feel I could have captured more coverage for was scene 12. The reason I could not capture more coverage for scene 12 was that we only had access to the interior pub location for a limited amount of time - we were unaware of this which meant we could have worked at a faster pace in order to allow us to capture the additional coverage which would have been useful in the edit. This was not a massive issue as I captured all the necessary footage to make up the narrative - however, it would have been beneficial to capture additional footage to allow more options in the edit. This was an organisational and time management issue - if I had known about the time constraints, I would have paced the shoot better so that there was time to get both the necessary footage and additional coverage.
- There were sound difficulties throughout the production - this affects the visuals as the audience may be distracted from good visuals by bad audio. This is mainly evident in scenes 7 and 9 in the car park at the owl academy as the sound of the river is quite distracting from what the characters are saying. Our actor who played Tim also spoke some of the lines quite quietly in comparison to the volume at which the actor who played Luke delivered his lines which made fixing the audio difficult as it would be hard to bring up just one of the characters without affecting the background noise etc. i.e. in the last scene, Tim's line "We're so close, I can taste it" is very quiet but this could not be brought up any further without affecting the quality of the sound and, therefore, decreasing the overall production value - this meant I had to leave it being quite quiet in order to save the quality. I feel the sound inconsistencies between some of the scenes may be due to the fact that we had multiple different sound recordists who would have had slight different receptions of the audio and judged the levels slightly differently to each other - leading to the levels between scenes being different.
- The audio was difficult to correct in the edit - I had to do it twice over as the sound still didn't sound as crisp and clear as I wanted it after the first time of correcting the audio. I then experimented with different audio tools until I found the right combination to give the best sound result possible - the most useful tool turned out to be the deHummer tool as this reduced a lot of the background noise without having the overly reduce the background noise through the noise reduction tool (which often results in echoey sounding audio). I managed to even out the audio levels in scene 7 and 9 because I couldn't effectively get rid of background noise so I had to find the next best option which was to even out the levels so that there were no dips and rises in the audio. When I began correcting the audio and applied noise reduction techniques to these clips, the audio dipped and rose around the characters' speech which made the background noise even more distracting - by evening out the audio, this distraction has been reduced. I had to cut a couple of lines at end because the audio quality brought the overall quality down. For the sound of Tim's dialogue "we need scalpels and forceps, not dirty needles and hot knives", the sound recordist was positioned inside the van to avoid being seen by the camera, however, this resulted in quieter muffled audio which couldn't be rescued - so we had to make the decision to cut the lines so that the quality was not decreased but these comedic lines would be missing or to have the comedy but sacrifice the quality. After discussing the options with the director, removing the lines seemed to be the better option as this dialogue isn't integral to the narrative or comedy of the scene, whereas, the quality was greatly reduced by the muffled audio if the lines were left in so it seemed to be the better option to remove them.
- A couple of production elements that let the project down that, in turn, affected my visuals were; the vet bag not being entirely convincing as a vet bag and the fact that Tim gets changed out of his vet costume. These were things that couldn't be changed as we would have had to reshoot the entire production which wouldn't have been achievable with our budget or our scheduling. Simon pointed out during the feedback that this is something that lets the production down as it would have been more comical to see Tim remaining in his blood stained scrubs throughout the rest of the film - it also would have helped to consistently visually establish his desire to be a vet throughout the production. The only reason a less convincing vet bag was used was that the original bag that was ordered for the production didn't arrive in time for the first shoot day - so we had to use the backup bag which was less ideal and as this is a vital prop which is constant through all the scenes, the bag could not be swapped.
What I learnt
- I learnt a lot about collaborating with others - through my research I found that I would need to be flexible with my ideas in order to get the best overall result. This meant I had to listen to other people's ideas and take on board their suggestions to improve the quality of the production. I mainly learnt about the director / DOP relationship - it was a hard balance to find as we both had ideas about how the narrative would be achieved creatively. However, this balance was found through clear and consistent communication which began from the beginning of the project and persisted throughout. The way this relationship worked was by me analysing the breaking down the script given to me, creating a storyboard and shot list based on how I thought the narrative could be best achieved visually in order to correspond with the desired outcome - I then presented these ideas to the director to approve before going into the shoot. The director was able to constantly suggest new ideas throughout the process and we would discuss them to see if they would be appropriate to the production - these new ideas were suggested on shoot days and edit days and I had to be flexible and willing to deviate from my original ideas to incorporate these suggestions in order to make the production as good as possible.
- I learnt a lot about fixing sound. As I had to fix the sound issues twice over, I gained a lot of experience in using Adobe Audition and learnt which tools helped to produce the best sound. The process that I found produced the best audio results was; capture the noise print, reduce the background noise slightly so that some of the static was removed (but not so much that the audio became echoey), apply the speech volume leveller and then apply the deHummer (and then amplified if necessary). Sound is something I have not given enough focus to in the past but I found that poor quality audio really distracted from the visuals which, in turn, reduced the quality of the visuals and the effectiveness of the comedy being delivered through the visuals.
- I also learnt how to rework scenes to work in unexpected scenarios. Although everything was stringently planned, the shoot days don't always go to plan. Scene 10 (the night scene) turned out very differently to how I planned to shoot it due to having to work in the motion sensor lights to the narrative as there was no way to turn them off. As we realised this before nightfall, we were able to block through the scene in the daylight and see how working in the lights would practically and visually work. This gave us time to work out alternate camera angles and shots to the ones I had planned for due to having to change the narrative slightly to work around these lights. This involved thinking on my feet and communicating effectively with the rest of the team so that the best result could be reached. Personally, I think scene 10 has worked out better than the original plan - this goes to show that sometimes the best shots are the ones you have most freedom with and are most flexible with - I worked closely with the director to ensure all the necessary coverage was captured for the new format of scene 10. This is one drawback of having to think on your feet - you have no shot list which means no checklist, so having another production member thinking of how the narrative was being made up through the shots was very useful.
What I could develop
- Even though I was flexible with my ideas, I did find myself being protective over some of the footage I wanted to capture despite the director requesting alternative footage to be captured. For example, this occurred in scene 11 when the director requested I film more footage of the owl flying towards Tim so that this could be cut between in the edit. I felt this was unnecessary as I felt the planned shots conveyed the narrative perfectly - to avoid this being an issue, I filmed the additional footage as well as the footage I wanted to capture which worked for the best as we were both left satisfied. However, this whole situation caused unnecessary tension on the shoot day as my initial dispute with filming the additional footage was un-called for as my research showed me I needed to be flexible with all elements of production. In future, I should just film the additional footage as the director has a reason behind wanting the footage which could help to improve the overall quality of the production.
- I could have also used Davinci Resolve when colour grading the production as this allows for more accurate and specific colour manipulation. Unfortunately, the colour grading session with Nathan Caws was scheduled a little too late in the time table to be able to become proficient in the use of the software which would enable the better colour grade. If there was more time after this session, I would have taken it upon myself to conduct more research into the software and practice using it so that I could effectively perform colour manipulation and colour grading on the production. However, as I had to make do with the time we had, I used the tools available on Premiere Pro to the best of my ability. Having the session with Nathan Caws was still handy as he pointed out areas of the colour correction and grade that could be improved - I could then apply some of the techniques he showed on Davinci Resolve in a similar way on Premiere Pro (i.e. adjusting the highlights). So whilst the session was very useful and helped to improve the product, I feel the product could have been improved further had there been more time to learn and use Davinci Resolve.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am very happy with the production of VET-MAN. My preparation before the shoot days enabled the shoot days to run smoother, which enabled me to capture a good amount of coverage that could be used to convey the narrative. This then aided the edit process as I captured the necessary footage and, in most scenes, additional footage that wasn't listed in the shot list that could be inserted in the edit to convey the narrative of the script (and the visual narrative of the storyboard). I feel that I fulfilled my plan I set out in my DOP statement as the production has all the qualities I set out to achieve. My main goal was to achieve a natural yet cinematic look for the product which conveyed the comedy of the narrative effectively. The handheld filming style with the minor and crash zooms helped to create a natural and observational tone which emphasised the comedy at key moments whilst the colour tone I opted for helped to achieve the cinematic element of the production.
I feel I worked well with the group and the product is a result of constant communication and collaboration. We listened to each other well and took on the feedback of each other which led to us producing an effective product which satisfied all members of the team. I also took on feedback from tutors which enabled me to enhance the production and improve areas that needed improvement - this was all possible through being flexible with the ideas and changing things I may have liked to benefit the overall production quality and portrayal of the narrative.
Throughout the entire unit, I kept in mind my previous research and advice from the DOPs I contacted in the pre-production unit. DOP Polly Morgan highlighted; "all choices come in response to the STORY. What are you trying to say? How are you trying to make the viewer feel? How can you use the tools available to you to achieve that?" - keeping this in mind made sure I kept evaluating the methods I was using to make sure they were most appropriate and, therefore, most effective for the production of VET-MAN.
What are you trying to say ? - Through the cinematography, I was trying to communicate the comedy of the piece by emphasising specific actions and reactions of the characters. Tim is supposed to have a high view of himself which is communicated through his facial expressions and lack of awareness of the risks of his actions - this is emphasised by the zooms which highlight these moments to the audience and make them focus on this. Luke is supposed to be naive and confused which again is shown through his actions / reactions and emphasised through the camera techniques / zooms.
How are you trying to make the viewer feel? How can you use the tools available to you to achieve that?- I am trying to evoke humour within the audience as the piece is a sitcom. I mainly utilised the zoom tool on the Panasonic to highlight the key comedic moments in order to emphasise the comedy within the production. I also wanted the audience to appreciate the visuals of the piece by making them appear more cinematic - I did this by adding an orange and teal LUT which is commonly used in Hollywood cinema to make the colours stand out.
Through doing this, I feel I managed to achieve high quality visuals within the production that conveyed the desired natural, observational yet cinematic feel.
Sources:
Baker, Tom (2019) [Interview by email, 30th January 2019]
What I could develop
- Even though I was flexible with my ideas, I did find myself being protective over some of the footage I wanted to capture despite the director requesting alternative footage to be captured. For example, this occurred in scene 11 when the director requested I film more footage of the owl flying towards Tim so that this could be cut between in the edit. I felt this was unnecessary as I felt the planned shots conveyed the narrative perfectly - to avoid this being an issue, I filmed the additional footage as well as the footage I wanted to capture which worked for the best as we were both left satisfied. However, this whole situation caused unnecessary tension on the shoot day as my initial dispute with filming the additional footage was un-called for as my research showed me I needed to be flexible with all elements of production. In future, I should just film the additional footage as the director has a reason behind wanting the footage which could help to improve the overall quality of the production.
- I could have also used Davinci Resolve when colour grading the production as this allows for more accurate and specific colour manipulation. Unfortunately, the colour grading session with Nathan Caws was scheduled a little too late in the time table to be able to become proficient in the use of the software which would enable the better colour grade. If there was more time after this session, I would have taken it upon myself to conduct more research into the software and practice using it so that I could effectively perform colour manipulation and colour grading on the production. However, as I had to make do with the time we had, I used the tools available on Premiere Pro to the best of my ability. Having the session with Nathan Caws was still handy as he pointed out areas of the colour correction and grade that could be improved - I could then apply some of the techniques he showed on Davinci Resolve in a similar way on Premiere Pro (i.e. adjusting the highlights). So whilst the session was very useful and helped to improve the product, I feel the product could have been improved further had there been more time to learn and use Davinci Resolve.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am very happy with the production of VET-MAN. My preparation before the shoot days enabled the shoot days to run smoother, which enabled me to capture a good amount of coverage that could be used to convey the narrative. This then aided the edit process as I captured the necessary footage and, in most scenes, additional footage that wasn't listed in the shot list that could be inserted in the edit to convey the narrative of the script (and the visual narrative of the storyboard). I feel that I fulfilled my plan I set out in my DOP statement as the production has all the qualities I set out to achieve. My main goal was to achieve a natural yet cinematic look for the product which conveyed the comedy of the narrative effectively. The handheld filming style with the minor and crash zooms helped to create a natural and observational tone which emphasised the comedy at key moments whilst the colour tone I opted for helped to achieve the cinematic element of the production.
I feel I worked well with the group and the product is a result of constant communication and collaboration. We listened to each other well and took on the feedback of each other which led to us producing an effective product which satisfied all members of the team. I also took on feedback from tutors which enabled me to enhance the production and improve areas that needed improvement - this was all possible through being flexible with the ideas and changing things I may have liked to benefit the overall production quality and portrayal of the narrative.
Throughout the entire unit, I kept in mind my previous research and advice from the DOPs I contacted in the pre-production unit. DOP Polly Morgan highlighted; "all choices come in response to the STORY. What are you trying to say? How are you trying to make the viewer feel? How can you use the tools available to you to achieve that?" - keeping this in mind made sure I kept evaluating the methods I was using to make sure they were most appropriate and, therefore, most effective for the production of VET-MAN.
What are you trying to say ? - Through the cinematography, I was trying to communicate the comedy of the piece by emphasising specific actions and reactions of the characters. Tim is supposed to have a high view of himself which is communicated through his facial expressions and lack of awareness of the risks of his actions - this is emphasised by the zooms which highlight these moments to the audience and make them focus on this. Luke is supposed to be naive and confused which again is shown through his actions / reactions and emphasised through the camera techniques / zooms.
How are you trying to make the viewer feel? How can you use the tools available to you to achieve that?- I am trying to evoke humour within the audience as the piece is a sitcom. I mainly utilised the zoom tool on the Panasonic to highlight the key comedic moments in order to emphasise the comedy within the production. I also wanted the audience to appreciate the visuals of the piece by making them appear more cinematic - I did this by adding an orange and teal LUT which is commonly used in Hollywood cinema to make the colours stand out.
Through doing this, I feel I managed to achieve high quality visuals within the production that conveyed the desired natural, observational yet cinematic feel.
Sources:
Baker, Tom (2019) [Interview by email, 30th January 2019]
McGregor, L (2017) 'The Death and Rebirth of the Zoom' At: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/zoom-in-filmmaking/
Walsh, R (2012) '6 Reasons to go Handheld' At: https://www.videomaker.com/article/c15/15956-6-reasons-to-go-hand-held
