The maps of the locations help to show where the sun rises and sets in relation to the location and, therefore, which area of the location will receive the most natural light. Naturally well-lit spaces are south facing due to the way the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this allows for a lot of natural light and reduces the need for artificial lighting. North facing spaces are naturally less well-lit (or receive light for a smaller period of the day), making it more probable that artificial lighting will be needed to supplement the natural light. North facing interior locations are more likely to be easier to control the lighting as, with less natural light, the natural lighting changes less - meaning the lighting within the environment could be made up of entirely artificial lights and therefore be easier to manage.
It is also important for me to understand the amount of daylight available in the day so that I can work with the producer and director to schedule which scenes need to be filmed when as the lighting conditions will affect the look of the production.
The proposed filming dates are 6th February 2019, 7th February 2019 and 18th February 2019- 22nd February 2019. The daylight times for these dates are:
6th February 2019 - Sunrise: 07:27 - Sunset: 16:56 - Daylight Time: 09:29 hours
7th February 2019 - Sunrise: 07:26 - Sunset: 16:58 - Daylight Time: 09:32 hours
18th February 2019 - Sunrise: 07:06 - Sunset: 17:18 - Daylight Time: 10:12 hours
19th February 2019 - Sunrise: 07:04 - Sunset: 17:20 - Daylight Time: 10:16 hours
20th February 2019 - Sunrise: 07:02 - Sunset: 17:21 - Daylight Time: 10:19 hours
21st February 2019 - Sunrise: 07:00 - Sunset: 17:23 - Daylight Time: 10:23 hours
22nd February 2019 - Sunrise: 06:58 - Sunset: 17:25 - Daylight Time: 10:27 hours
These times were found on timeanddate.com - looking specifically at the Maidstone area.
https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/maidstone?month=2&year=2019
Tess' House
Tess' house is west-north-west facing meaning that the front of the house receives the least natural light. The majority of the action in this location takes place in the living room which is naturally lit well from the south-east facing double doors at the back of the room. As the action takes place towards the west of the room, it may be necessary to add some artificial light as there is another light source at this end of the room (which may cause the character to become silhouetted as it will be behind where the characters are positioned).
I will need to test this with different light sources and reflectors as it may prove difficult for me to introduce artificial means of lighting to the production due to the handheld nature of the camera and the constant movements and zooms (the lighting will need to be easily transportable around the set).
Due to the position of the location, the best time to film will be from morning to mid afternoon. This means the majority of the light will be coming in from the double doors facing south-east, lighting the characters well. Filming here should finish before the light comes directly through the west facing window as this will create harsh silhouettes.
Van Pick-up
The alley / road / driveway where Tim meets Luke to pick up the van is south facing. Tim will approach the driveway from the west, and therefore, this scene will likely be shot facing towards the north / west direction. So, like Tess' house, I did consider using some artificial light to supplement the natural light to ensure the characters are well-lit - but due to this being an exterior location, the natural light should be sufficient (as natural exterior lighting has proved to work well to give the desired look with the Panasonic DVX200 through the test shoots).
In the upcoming test shoot, I will test using a reflector in an outdoor environment to see if this improves the visual quality of the image whilst still retaining a natural look.
The filming here can take place during any point of the daylight times as the lighting is not obscured, meaning no harsh shadows should be cast on the van or the characters. The best time to film would be around midday to reduce the risk of any shadows interfering (but as just stated, shadows shouldn't be a major issue due to the exposed nature of the environment).
Sheila's House
Sheila's house is also north-west facing meaning the front of the house (the area which will be used for filming) will receive the least natural light. As we will mainly be using the exterior of the house, the lighting should be sufficient to film the scene and it is likely that artificial lights will not aid the look of the shot whilst also preventing the fast paced camera movements and zooms.
Therefore, again I will experiment using reflectors in an exterior location to bounce the light onto the subject. I will position the test subject facing different directions to see how bouncing the light back works with the light source coming from different directions.
The best time to film this scene would be morning to mid afternoon (before the sun begins to set) as this will prevent too harsh light shining onto the doorway during this.
The road outside Sheila's house is also used for the scene. Again, artificial lights would potentially interfere with the camera movements and shots, however, a runner with a reflector would be able to bounce light back into the scene effectively without interfering with the shot.
Owl Sanctuary
At the owl sanctuary we will be filming along the pathway and in the woods behind the buildings and owl enclosures. The pathway is quite naturally well-lit due to light being able to access the location from all directions, however, as the majority of the light will come from the north-west direction, there will be less time in which the pathway is in direct sunlight - this may actually be beneficial for the shoot as too direct sunlight could overexpose the image and create harsh shadows.
This scene has been adapted to occur in the evening, therefore, this will need to be artificially lit - I will be testing the aperture kit for night shoots in the test shoot.
As this location will also be used in daylight, as previously stated, I will test using a reflector in an exterior location to reflect light back at the subjects to see if this provides a better lit image whilst still retaining the natural look.
I will also test the difference between using a reflector and an LED light in a shaded area as we are using a wooded area behind the owl enclosures and buildings to shoot in. In previous test shoots, this location has proved to be well-lit enough to produce a good quality, true to life image - however, I will test whether using a reflector would enhance this further.
Due to the wooded area being completely covered in shade, I do not need to map out where the shade will fall as this will be the entire area.
The Pub
As this scene takes place in the evening, I will need to artificially light this location (both the interior of the pub and the carpark). The sun will either be setting or will have set when it comes to film this scene - therefore, if there is any natural light it will be coming from the west. This light will be a little obscured before it reaches the car park by houses and trees - this means there will be little natural light. In the car park there will be practical light in the form of street lighting and my aim is to supplement this the LED lights and a reflector. I will test this in an exterior location at night with street lights to see how the best quality (yet still natural) image will be attained.
The interior of the pub is quite poorly-lit as it is a small, old style pub. As this scene will take place during the evening, there will be little natural light coming through the windows - therefore, without artificial lighting, I would just be relying on the practical lights within the pub. I will be testing using LED lights in the pub.
Mapping out the locations has enabled me to figure out how the sun affects the settings and how I will need to compensate for this by considering; when the scene will be filmed to work best with the sun position, whether artificial lighting is needed to supplement / replace natural light, whether a reflector would be best for natural light in that scene and whether its possible to solely rely on natural light for certain locations.
This will all be tested in the next test shoot.
I've tried to get a student DP to do this testing every year for a major project - you are the first! well done!
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