Prior to the shoot I created the shot list with the shots required to capture the scenes.
Before shooting I checked the weather forecast to see how this would affect the lighting and visual aspects of the footage so that I could prepare how best to shoot the footage and whether this would be different to my planned method of filming. The forecast showed the weather to be overcast and cloudy with an average temperature of 10ºC - this meant there was little light to bounce off of a reflector onto the actors - therefore, I decided to go without a reflector as during scene 11 the natural light diffused through the trees to produce a good naturally lit environment. This meant I could prevent using a bulky piece of kit which could potentially interfere with movements within the shot (i.e. when Tim and Luke walk away from Mollie to fly the owl - if I had decided to use a reflector, this may have interfered with this action). I also decided against using a reflector for scene 8 due to the overcast weather.
I ensured all the camera batteries were charged and the SD cards on both the Panasonic and Tascam were formatted so that I could get straight into setting up the camera with the correct settings and then proceed straight into the shooting process. I set up the camera whilst the director blocked through the scene with the actors. I then approved the shot with the director prior to beginning shooting to ensure mine and the director's visions were being fulfilled through the shot (this was a very simple process as I had already approved the shot list with the director). Some of the shots that I had planned to film needed to be slightly adapted in the shooting process as we realised these shots would not be achievable when put into practice - i.e. in my shot list I had planned which shots I would do the minor zooms on, however, it became apparent during filming that it made more sense for me to do these films when it felt appropriate (rather than sticking strictly to the shot list). I was able to make these developments as the director and actors blocked through the scene with the movements and dialogue a few times which gave me the opportunity to practice the camera shots and see which planned ones worked and which ones needed adapting.
As the ground in the woodland area for scene 11 was uneven, I had a runner spotting my movements to ensure I didn't trip and injure myself or damage the equipment. Although I hadn't planned to do any tracking shots (only stationary, zooming and panning shots) and therefore wouldn't be moving whilst filming, this was still a good precaution to take in case I lost my footing whilst moving between shots.
Scene 11
Before framing and exposing the scene, I ensured to white balance the camera by holding a white sheet of paper in front of the lens and pressing the white balance button - however, this produced a slightly warm toned image. I re-did the white balance until it produced an image closer to what could be seen by the human eye - it still didn't appear to be a perfect white balance but one that would be easily rectifiable in the post production process.
To make sure I captured all the footage required to portray the storyline I used the list I created from my shot list. However, I did not film the scene in chronological order due to the owl punch being the most complex part of the film (and therefore, the director made the decision to film direct this section of the scene first). As found in my research, it is not necessary to stick to the shot list during the production - the shot list is just a guideline for the shots to be captured. Therefore, when filming the owl punch scene, I captured more footage than I listed on my shot list to ensure there would be enough coverage to make this scene both realistic and carry a sense of urgency and panic. I made sure to capture a variety of angles for this to build up the tension and to also make the swap from using the real owl to using the fake owl as unrecognisable as possible to the audience. I decided to film all of the owl flying scenes on stationary shots due to the owl's movement being quite fast - I did attempt to film a medium panning shot of the owl flying, however, due to the owl's rapid pace I could not get a well-framed and well-focused shot of this.
The actual owl punch frame took multiple attempts to get correct as I had to ensure the fake owl was entering the frame in the same position as the real owl was flying towards Tim. Filming this frame was a matter of trial and error as it was impossible to tell where the fake owl would enter the frame until it had been thrown - however, the fact that we had tested this in a test shoot was incredibly helpful as I knew exactly how to frame up this shot in order to capture the most convincing punch (it was just a matter of throwing in the fake owl in the correct position). From the test shoot I knew I wanted quite a tight shot (whilst still capturing both Tim and Luke comfortably within the frame), therefore, I opted for a medium closeup so that Tim and Luke were well framed whilst ensuring the fake owl would be in shot for as little frames as possible. Using this medium closeup shot whilst filming in 4K will also allow me to crop this shot in the edit without losing any quality if I decide an even tighter shot is required.
Following the owl punch shots, I then filmed the rest of the scene in chronological order - this made sense in ensuring all necessary shots to portray the storyline were captured. In my shot list I had planned to capture two different shots of Mollie and the owl struggling to portray the idea that the owl was out of control - however, the director requested I film more than the planned medium and closeup shot to increase the amount of coverage so that the sense of panic is really emphasised. Whilst I think this sense of panic is achievable through the medium and closeup shot, I still captured the extra footage so that we have this as an option in the edit.
For the rest of the scene I followed my list made from my shot list which enabled me to capture all the required footage. I checked with the director whether he wanted any extra shots that would help to fulfil his creative vision for the piece, however, the only extra shots required were those with Mollie holding the owl. The producer checked my shot list to ensure all the footage that I had planned to capture was captured. This collaborative process ensured that we captured all necessary (and extra) footage required to make up the scene.
The settings I used for exposing this scene were; ISO 500 due to this proving to be a good ISO in the test shoots as it captures the least grain whilst retaining a good exposure, an aperture ranging between F/6.4 and F/7.6, a shutter speed ranging between 1/50 and 1/60 and ranging between using no ND filter and an ND filter of 1/4. As laid out in my director of photography statement, I am aiming for a natural yet cinematic look for VET-MAN. Keeping the aperture between F/6.4 and F/7.6 for this scene allows for a good exposure with a fair depth of field. I did not want to capture too deep a depth of field as this would make the product look too cinematic, therefore, in this scene I ensured not to opt for an aperture beyond F/6.4 as a wider aperture than this would cause the background to become more blurred with a deeper depth of field. The widest aperture I used was an aperture of F/6.4 when shooting the closeup of the owl taking off from Mollie's arm - whilst the background of this shot is blurred, it still retains the details (i.e. the audience can still discern the trees and metal cage in the background). However, shooting at a shutter speed of 1/60 made the footage look too underexposed without manipulating it. Therefore, I decided to change the shutter speed to a slower one of 1/50 - this worked in my favour in multiple ways. This slower shutter speed allowed for more light to enter the lens, thus increasing the exposure of the shot. On top of this, this shutter speed produced a slight motion blur due to the shutter being open for longer which meant the motion captured by the camera was accurate to that which is seen by the human eye. I then decided to keep this shutter speed similar for the whole scene - I also ensured to keep the shutter speed similar for the other scene filmed today and will ensure that a similar shutter speed is used throughout the rest of the filming process to ensure continuity between shots. Due to filming in a well lit yet shaded area, I opted for an ND filter of 1/4 to prevent an overexposed image - I didn't use an ND filter on the extreme closeup of the owl as this underexposed the shot so that the details in the background could not be seen - this would have made this shot look out of place with the rest of the correctly exposed images so I decided to turn off the ND filter. This showed me that whilst I may have been using an ND filter for the rest of the shots within a scene, this can differ between shots depending on the specifics of what you're capturing (especially when changing the frame size dramatically like I did in this scene as I changed from using mainly medium and medium closeup shots to an extreme closeup shot of the owl - so this called for quite different camera settings).
Scene 8
The other scene that we shot today was scene 8.
Like with scene 11, I used my shot list as a guideline of which shots needed to be captured in order to make up the storyline of the scene. The majority of the scene was filmed in chronological order, however, I needed to film the section with the owl eating the dead chick first as this needed the supervision of the owl experts. I only had one shot at this take as there was only one dead chick we could use (the other dead chicks were in the freezer so were not ready to be used) - to make sure I captured the shot perfectly in one take I practised the camera movement on the stationary owl. This meant that I did not get practice at filming the actual action itself prior to the actual take but I performed a very similar practice shot. Due to this, I was able to capture the intended shot well in one take.
The only other shots of the scene not filmed in order were the GVs of the owl academy and the establishing shot of Tim and Luke walking into the academy - these were filmed at the end of the shoot instead. The reason behind this was because all of the other action took place in one specific area, whilst these shots were further away from this area - therefore, it made more sense to film all of the footage shot in the same area first and then move further away for these shots. This worked well to ensure the shoot ran smoothly, however, the GVs and establishing shot are noticeably darker than the other shots within the scene due to the sun setting and the location getting darker but this will be rectifiable in the edit.
The rest of the scene was then filmed in order of how it appears in the story. To make the filming process as smooth as possible I filmed Mollie's medium closeup first with the minor zooms where I felt appropriate rather than where originally planned in the shot list (as I worked out where felt most natural with the delivery of the dialogue during the time in which the director blocked and rehearsed with the actors). I filmed multiple takes of this medium closeup single to ensure the zooms were in exactly the correct position in order to have the greatest effect on emphasising the humour within the dialogue. I then filmed Tim and Luke's two shot, again filming multiple takes of this to make sure the zooms emphasised the dialogue as intended. I followed this same technique with filming Luke's closeup single and Tim's closeup single. Although this was very repetitive, it allowed me to capture all the necessary footage (and extra) so that we have a lot of coverage to work with in the edit.
The settings I used for exposing this scene were; ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.3 and F/7.4, a shutter speed ranging between 1/48 and 1/50 and ranging from using no ND filter to using an ND filter of 1/4. For the shots facing into the bright sky (even though it was overcast the sky still appeared a bright white colour) I used an exposure of F/7.4 as this slightly narrower aperture (than the rest of the scene) reduced the exposure of the scene to make sure the highlights in the footage were not overexposed. I also used an ND filter of 1/4 for these shots (and all of the other shots except the closeup of the owl within its enclosure) which also helped to bring down the exposure. These settings enabled me to capture a correctly exposed image which allowed all the details within the highlights, midtones and shadows of the footage to be discerned by the audience. For the footage shot facing away from the bright sky (Mollie's medium closeup and the owl's closeup) I used slightly wider apertures of F/6.7 and F/6.4 as I did not need to worry about overexposing the sky as the sky is not visible in these shots. As the image of the owl was taken within the owl enclosure, I did not use an ND filter as this portion of the location was already sheltered slightly from the natural light so an ND filter was not necessary in order to reduce the exposure of the scene as less natural light was entering. I also used a wider aperture of F/6.3 in the later shots to compensate for the reduction in natural light as this allows more light to enter the lens and, therefore, increase the exposure of the shot. I kept the shutter speed between 1/48 and 1/50 as this is a similar shutter speed to that used in the earlier scene so continuity between the scenes is kept by keeping the same amount of motion blur between the shots. Overall, these camera settings allowed for the best exposed shots where all elements can be distinguished from one another which will allow for a better and more accurate colour grade in the edit and, therefore, increase the overall visual quality of the product.
What went well
- The owls were easy to work with, allowing me to capture all the necessary shots to make up the plot. As we had the owl experts on hand, they were able to show the actors how to properly handle the owls and how to get them to behave in the desired way. This meant the actors could control the owl in their positions which allowed me to get the camera focused up on the actors and owl where the action would be taking place (as opposed to the experts having to interfere which would making focusing up the frame in the right location a lot more difficult.)
- The owl punch looks convincing - this is important in delivering the humour within the scene. In order to make sure the punch looked convincing, I took several takes of this section of the scene with the fake owl being thrown from different angles until we had a take that matched up with the movement of the real owl. I also ensured to keep the frame size slightly wider than I ideally wanted as I did not want to miss any of the action - I can always crop in the footage in the edit due to filming in 4K but I cannot extend the frame if I had missed some of the action.
- All the footage in scene 11 is correctly exposed allowing for a good colour grade during the post production process. All of the footage in scene 8 is correctly exposed, however, some shots appear darker due to the sun setting on location. Capturing this correct exposure allows for the most scope for manipulation during the edit which will result in the best quality product as possible.
- Due to filming in 4K, any footage that I feel needs to be on a tighter shot when it comes to the edit can be cropped without losing any quality. This is something I found through my research in the pre-production unit - whilst most screens do not display 4K footage at its full capacity (instead showing the footage in full HD 1080p), filming in 4K is still a good idea as it allows for more manipulation due to the higher resolution and it future proofs the project - the project can always be downsized from 4K but the opposite cannot be done.
What didn't go well
- In some shots it is not apparent what take it says on the clapper board, making it difficult to sync the visual and audio footage in the edit. This isn't so much an issue with the footage as all the shots are correctly exposed and capture all the action and dialogue - however, it will make the edit slightly longer as it will take more time to figure out which piece of audio goes with which video clip and it will also take longer to sync it properly as the clapper part of the board is cut out of shot.
- The colour temperature of the footage appears quite orange despite being white balanced correctly. This is not a huge issue as I can cool the colour temperature in the edit - and once colour graded, this footage will match in perfectly with the rest of the production. As all the footage is correctly exposed, all the colour can be easily manipulated as all the details of the footage can be seen in the highlights, midtones and shadows - therefore, meaning no quality will be lost with the colour manipulation.
- The focus on Mollie's medium closeup shot is slightly soft in focus, however, when shooting I did not think this would be an issue as I filmed multiple good takes on Mollie's medium closeup. Although, now that I have reviewed the footage, there is movement from the owl in the cage behind Mollie in the other takes which distract the audience from her dialogue, making the slightly softly focused take the preferable take. This is not a huge issue as this scene is made up of multiple camera angles so I can ensure to use this angle the least in the edit, however, it would have been even better if the shot was properly focused. To make sure this doesn't happen in future, I will use the focus assist tool which outlines the elements of the footage in focus in red which will ensure I can tell whether the shot is in focus or not.
- The sun was setting as I was filming the establishing shot of Tim and Luke walking towards the enclosures and the GVs of the owls for scene 8 which means these shots looking slightly darker and less saturated than the rest of the footage for the scene - this, however, is not an issue as this can be rectified in the post production process in order to make the colours of this footage match those in the rest of the footage. I have shown below how the footage can be graded in order to make sure it looks in place with the rest of the footage.
Before shooting I checked the weather forecast to see how this would affect the lighting and visual aspects of the footage so that I could prepare how best to shoot the footage and whether this would be different to my planned method of filming. The forecast showed the weather to be overcast and cloudy with an average temperature of 10ºC - this meant there was little light to bounce off of a reflector onto the actors - therefore, I decided to go without a reflector as during scene 11 the natural light diffused through the trees to produce a good naturally lit environment. This meant I could prevent using a bulky piece of kit which could potentially interfere with movements within the shot (i.e. when Tim and Luke walk away from Mollie to fly the owl - if I had decided to use a reflector, this may have interfered with this action). I also decided against using a reflector for scene 8 due to the overcast weather.
I ensured all the camera batteries were charged and the SD cards on both the Panasonic and Tascam were formatted so that I could get straight into setting up the camera with the correct settings and then proceed straight into the shooting process. I set up the camera whilst the director blocked through the scene with the actors. I then approved the shot with the director prior to beginning shooting to ensure mine and the director's visions were being fulfilled through the shot (this was a very simple process as I had already approved the shot list with the director). Some of the shots that I had planned to film needed to be slightly adapted in the shooting process as we realised these shots would not be achievable when put into practice - i.e. in my shot list I had planned which shots I would do the minor zooms on, however, it became apparent during filming that it made more sense for me to do these films when it felt appropriate (rather than sticking strictly to the shot list). I was able to make these developments as the director and actors blocked through the scene with the movements and dialogue a few times which gave me the opportunity to practice the camera shots and see which planned ones worked and which ones needed adapting.
As the ground in the woodland area for scene 11 was uneven, I had a runner spotting my movements to ensure I didn't trip and injure myself or damage the equipment. Although I hadn't planned to do any tracking shots (only stationary, zooming and panning shots) and therefore wouldn't be moving whilst filming, this was still a good precaution to take in case I lost my footing whilst moving between shots.
Scene 11
Before framing and exposing the scene, I ensured to white balance the camera by holding a white sheet of paper in front of the lens and pressing the white balance button - however, this produced a slightly warm toned image. I re-did the white balance until it produced an image closer to what could be seen by the human eye - it still didn't appear to be a perfect white balance but one that would be easily rectifiable in the post production process.
To make sure I captured all the footage required to portray the storyline I used the list I created from my shot list. However, I did not film the scene in chronological order due to the owl punch being the most complex part of the film (and therefore, the director made the decision to film direct this section of the scene first). As found in my research, it is not necessary to stick to the shot list during the production - the shot list is just a guideline for the shots to be captured. Therefore, when filming the owl punch scene, I captured more footage than I listed on my shot list to ensure there would be enough coverage to make this scene both realistic and carry a sense of urgency and panic. I made sure to capture a variety of angles for this to build up the tension and to also make the swap from using the real owl to using the fake owl as unrecognisable as possible to the audience. I decided to film all of the owl flying scenes on stationary shots due to the owl's movement being quite fast - I did attempt to film a medium panning shot of the owl flying, however, due to the owl's rapid pace I could not get a well-framed and well-focused shot of this.
The actual owl punch frame took multiple attempts to get correct as I had to ensure the fake owl was entering the frame in the same position as the real owl was flying towards Tim. Filming this frame was a matter of trial and error as it was impossible to tell where the fake owl would enter the frame until it had been thrown - however, the fact that we had tested this in a test shoot was incredibly helpful as I knew exactly how to frame up this shot in order to capture the most convincing punch (it was just a matter of throwing in the fake owl in the correct position). From the test shoot I knew I wanted quite a tight shot (whilst still capturing both Tim and Luke comfortably within the frame), therefore, I opted for a medium closeup so that Tim and Luke were well framed whilst ensuring the fake owl would be in shot for as little frames as possible. Using this medium closeup shot whilst filming in 4K will also allow me to crop this shot in the edit without losing any quality if I decide an even tighter shot is required.
Following the owl punch shots, I then filmed the rest of the scene in chronological order - this made sense in ensuring all necessary shots to portray the storyline were captured. In my shot list I had planned to capture two different shots of Mollie and the owl struggling to portray the idea that the owl was out of control - however, the director requested I film more than the planned medium and closeup shot to increase the amount of coverage so that the sense of panic is really emphasised. Whilst I think this sense of panic is achievable through the medium and closeup shot, I still captured the extra footage so that we have this as an option in the edit.
For the rest of the scene I followed my list made from my shot list which enabled me to capture all the required footage. I checked with the director whether he wanted any extra shots that would help to fulfil his creative vision for the piece, however, the only extra shots required were those with Mollie holding the owl. The producer checked my shot list to ensure all the footage that I had planned to capture was captured. This collaborative process ensured that we captured all necessary (and extra) footage required to make up the scene.
The settings I used for exposing this scene were; ISO 500 due to this proving to be a good ISO in the test shoots as it captures the least grain whilst retaining a good exposure, an aperture ranging between F/6.4 and F/7.6, a shutter speed ranging between 1/50 and 1/60 and ranging between using no ND filter and an ND filter of 1/4. As laid out in my director of photography statement, I am aiming for a natural yet cinematic look for VET-MAN. Keeping the aperture between F/6.4 and F/7.6 for this scene allows for a good exposure with a fair depth of field. I did not want to capture too deep a depth of field as this would make the product look too cinematic, therefore, in this scene I ensured not to opt for an aperture beyond F/6.4 as a wider aperture than this would cause the background to become more blurred with a deeper depth of field. The widest aperture I used was an aperture of F/6.4 when shooting the closeup of the owl taking off from Mollie's arm - whilst the background of this shot is blurred, it still retains the details (i.e. the audience can still discern the trees and metal cage in the background). However, shooting at a shutter speed of 1/60 made the footage look too underexposed without manipulating it. Therefore, I decided to change the shutter speed to a slower one of 1/50 - this worked in my favour in multiple ways. This slower shutter speed allowed for more light to enter the lens, thus increasing the exposure of the shot. On top of this, this shutter speed produced a slight motion blur due to the shutter being open for longer which meant the motion captured by the camera was accurate to that which is seen by the human eye. I then decided to keep this shutter speed similar for the whole scene - I also ensured to keep the shutter speed similar for the other scene filmed today and will ensure that a similar shutter speed is used throughout the rest of the filming process to ensure continuity between shots. Due to filming in a well lit yet shaded area, I opted for an ND filter of 1/4 to prevent an overexposed image - I didn't use an ND filter on the extreme closeup of the owl as this underexposed the shot so that the details in the background could not be seen - this would have made this shot look out of place with the rest of the correctly exposed images so I decided to turn off the ND filter. This showed me that whilst I may have been using an ND filter for the rest of the shots within a scene, this can differ between shots depending on the specifics of what you're capturing (especially when changing the frame size dramatically like I did in this scene as I changed from using mainly medium and medium closeup shots to an extreme closeup shot of the owl - so this called for quite different camera settings).
Scene 8
The other scene that we shot today was scene 8.
Like with scene 11, I used my shot list as a guideline of which shots needed to be captured in order to make up the storyline of the scene. The majority of the scene was filmed in chronological order, however, I needed to film the section with the owl eating the dead chick first as this needed the supervision of the owl experts. I only had one shot at this take as there was only one dead chick we could use (the other dead chicks were in the freezer so were not ready to be used) - to make sure I captured the shot perfectly in one take I practised the camera movement on the stationary owl. This meant that I did not get practice at filming the actual action itself prior to the actual take but I performed a very similar practice shot. Due to this, I was able to capture the intended shot well in one take.
The only other shots of the scene not filmed in order were the GVs of the owl academy and the establishing shot of Tim and Luke walking into the academy - these were filmed at the end of the shoot instead. The reason behind this was because all of the other action took place in one specific area, whilst these shots were further away from this area - therefore, it made more sense to film all of the footage shot in the same area first and then move further away for these shots. This worked well to ensure the shoot ran smoothly, however, the GVs and establishing shot are noticeably darker than the other shots within the scene due to the sun setting and the location getting darker but this will be rectifiable in the edit.
The rest of the scene was then filmed in order of how it appears in the story. To make the filming process as smooth as possible I filmed Mollie's medium closeup first with the minor zooms where I felt appropriate rather than where originally planned in the shot list (as I worked out where felt most natural with the delivery of the dialogue during the time in which the director blocked and rehearsed with the actors). I filmed multiple takes of this medium closeup single to ensure the zooms were in exactly the correct position in order to have the greatest effect on emphasising the humour within the dialogue. I then filmed Tim and Luke's two shot, again filming multiple takes of this to make sure the zooms emphasised the dialogue as intended. I followed this same technique with filming Luke's closeup single and Tim's closeup single. Although this was very repetitive, it allowed me to capture all the necessary footage (and extra) so that we have a lot of coverage to work with in the edit.
The settings I used for exposing this scene were; ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.3 and F/7.4, a shutter speed ranging between 1/48 and 1/50 and ranging from using no ND filter to using an ND filter of 1/4. For the shots facing into the bright sky (even though it was overcast the sky still appeared a bright white colour) I used an exposure of F/7.4 as this slightly narrower aperture (than the rest of the scene) reduced the exposure of the scene to make sure the highlights in the footage were not overexposed. I also used an ND filter of 1/4 for these shots (and all of the other shots except the closeup of the owl within its enclosure) which also helped to bring down the exposure. These settings enabled me to capture a correctly exposed image which allowed all the details within the highlights, midtones and shadows of the footage to be discerned by the audience. For the footage shot facing away from the bright sky (Mollie's medium closeup and the owl's closeup) I used slightly wider apertures of F/6.7 and F/6.4 as I did not need to worry about overexposing the sky as the sky is not visible in these shots. As the image of the owl was taken within the owl enclosure, I did not use an ND filter as this portion of the location was already sheltered slightly from the natural light so an ND filter was not necessary in order to reduce the exposure of the scene as less natural light was entering. I also used a wider aperture of F/6.3 in the later shots to compensate for the reduction in natural light as this allows more light to enter the lens and, therefore, increase the exposure of the shot. I kept the shutter speed between 1/48 and 1/50 as this is a similar shutter speed to that used in the earlier scene so continuity between the scenes is kept by keeping the same amount of motion blur between the shots. Overall, these camera settings allowed for the best exposed shots where all elements can be distinguished from one another which will allow for a better and more accurate colour grade in the edit and, therefore, increase the overall visual quality of the product.
What went well
- The owls were easy to work with, allowing me to capture all the necessary shots to make up the plot. As we had the owl experts on hand, they were able to show the actors how to properly handle the owls and how to get them to behave in the desired way. This meant the actors could control the owl in their positions which allowed me to get the camera focused up on the actors and owl where the action would be taking place (as opposed to the experts having to interfere which would making focusing up the frame in the right location a lot more difficult.)
- The owl punch looks convincing - this is important in delivering the humour within the scene. In order to make sure the punch looked convincing, I took several takes of this section of the scene with the fake owl being thrown from different angles until we had a take that matched up with the movement of the real owl. I also ensured to keep the frame size slightly wider than I ideally wanted as I did not want to miss any of the action - I can always crop in the footage in the edit due to filming in 4K but I cannot extend the frame if I had missed some of the action.
- All the footage in scene 11 is correctly exposed allowing for a good colour grade during the post production process. All of the footage in scene 8 is correctly exposed, however, some shots appear darker due to the sun setting on location. Capturing this correct exposure allows for the most scope for manipulation during the edit which will result in the best quality product as possible.
- Due to filming in 4K, any footage that I feel needs to be on a tighter shot when it comes to the edit can be cropped without losing any quality. This is something I found through my research in the pre-production unit - whilst most screens do not display 4K footage at its full capacity (instead showing the footage in full HD 1080p), filming in 4K is still a good idea as it allows for more manipulation due to the higher resolution and it future proofs the project - the project can always be downsized from 4K but the opposite cannot be done.
What didn't go well
- In some shots it is not apparent what take it says on the clapper board, making it difficult to sync the visual and audio footage in the edit. This isn't so much an issue with the footage as all the shots are correctly exposed and capture all the action and dialogue - however, it will make the edit slightly longer as it will take more time to figure out which piece of audio goes with which video clip and it will also take longer to sync it properly as the clapper part of the board is cut out of shot.
- The colour temperature of the footage appears quite orange despite being white balanced correctly. This is not a huge issue as I can cool the colour temperature in the edit - and once colour graded, this footage will match in perfectly with the rest of the production. As all the footage is correctly exposed, all the colour can be easily manipulated as all the details of the footage can be seen in the highlights, midtones and shadows - therefore, meaning no quality will be lost with the colour manipulation.
- The focus on Mollie's medium closeup shot is slightly soft in focus, however, when shooting I did not think this would be an issue as I filmed multiple good takes on Mollie's medium closeup. Although, now that I have reviewed the footage, there is movement from the owl in the cage behind Mollie in the other takes which distract the audience from her dialogue, making the slightly softly focused take the preferable take. This is not a huge issue as this scene is made up of multiple camera angles so I can ensure to use this angle the least in the edit, however, it would have been even better if the shot was properly focused. To make sure this doesn't happen in future, I will use the focus assist tool which outlines the elements of the footage in focus in red which will ensure I can tell whether the shot is in focus or not.
- The sun was setting as I was filming the establishing shot of Tim and Luke walking towards the enclosures and the GVs of the owls for scene 8 which means these shots looking slightly darker and less saturated than the rest of the footage for the scene - this, however, is not an issue as this can be rectified in the post production process in order to make the colours of this footage match those in the rest of the footage. I have shown below how the footage can be graded in order to make sure it looks in place with the rest of the footage.
No comments:
Post a Comment