Like with the previous shoot day, I ensured to check the weather so that I could get an idea of how this would affect the visuals. The forecast showed the weather to be 9ºC with a mixture of sun and cloud. As the sun was due to be out, I brought along the reflector as I planned to use this to bounce the natural sunlight coming from the north-east direction back onto the subjects. However, the trees were much more leafy than they were when we visited the location during the pre-production unit, therefore, direct sunlight did not shine on the location, instead, the sun diffused through the trees. This diffusion of light through the trees gave a well-lit effect to the location, therefore, I decided the reflector was not necessary for the scenes in this location. The forecast for the later part of the shoot was due to be dry with a potential shower. This shower occurred during the break we took for lunch. The weather then cleared but remained overcast looking for the rest of the daytime - this did not affect us due to the only remaining scene to be filmed after lunch being the night scene for which I had already tested the lighting to be used.
Similarly to shoot day 1, I brought my shot list to use for reference to ensure all necessary footage to make up the storyline was captured - however, I allowed myself to deviate from this and capture different / extra footage as the shot list is a guideline. I just needed to ensure that if I did capture different shots that they still made up the storyline and that there would be no gaps - to eliminate this risk I decided to capture all the planned shots and then any extra ones either I or the director wanted (instead of capturing completely different shots to the original planned ones).
Scene 7
As a relatively dialogue heavy scene, this was very simple to shoot due to the majority of the action and dialogue being captured through shot reverse shots. As with the previous shoot day, as opposed to only performing the minor zooms on the planned shots, I did them when it felt natural and appropriate in the dialogue as the humour depends on the delivery of the dialogue - so if I had only performed the zooms on the planned shots, the delivery of the dialogue may not have been as I had thought it would be and therefore the humour would have been missed. I used the time in which the director was blocking and rehearsing with the actors to work out how the actors were delivering the dialogue and, therefore, when the zooms would need to be in order to get the full effect of the humour.
To capture all the shots, we ran through the scene in the same way multiple times so that I could capture all the different angles required. Some shots (such as the medium closeup and closeup singles of Tim and Luke) required multiple takes as my zooms were occasionally mis-timed which meant the humour was not being emphasised to the full extent it could have been through the zoom.
Apart from the final shot of the scene where I pan to follow the characters walk towards the owl academy, I filmed all the shots in a stationary manner. This was due to the characters being stationary themselves for the majority of the scene - therefore, I did not want to over complicate the scene by adding unnecessary pans in an attempt to make the scene look cinematic (as slow panning and tracking shots are often using to add fluidity to a scene to make it look more cinematic) when this is not needed for the tone of the piece.
The settings I used for the scene were ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.8 and F/7.4, a shutter speed of 1/60 and an ND filter of 1/4. For the wide shot, I used an aperture of F/7.4 as I wanted more of the frame in focus (rather than using a wider aperture to gain a deep depth of field which would produce a blurred background look). This is because the characters and van are positioned further away from the camera and I wanted to reduce the risk of them appearing blurred with the background - so I eliminated this risk my choosing a narrower aperture. This aperture, as well as the ISO of 500, shutter speed of 1/60 and the ND filter of 1/4, produced a well exposed shot where the characters can be discerned from the background yet all the detail within both the background and the characters can be seen. This will allow for a good colour grade as the level of detail within the shadows, midtones and highlights means that I will not need to alter the contrast within the shot in order to make the characters stand out from the background (as the exposure means they already stand out). This means that this level of detail within the shot will be retained all the way through the colour grading process as I do not need to artificially add contrast to the footage as this was captured in the raw footage. This contrast is important to the colour grade as this will help me to achieve the natural yet cinematic look I am striving for. For Tim's closeup I used a wider aperture of F/6.8 as he appeared too dull against the background at the aperture of F/7.4. Using this wider aperture blurs the background a little which works for this shot as the characters were positioned closer to the camera so there was less difficulty keeping Tim in focus against the blurred background. I kept the shutter speed consistent with the previous shot as this will ensure the motion blur is the same. I also kept the ND filter the same due to the sun still shining through the trees and needing this to be dulled slightly to prevent overexposure. Following this shot, I used an aperture of F/7.2 as the sun was shining onto Luke's face and, therefore, the aperture needed to be narrowed to compensate for this and allow less light into the lens. However, the sun was coming in and out which means some of the shot is not in sunlight, creating a slightly dull look - although, this is not dramatically dull and can be fixed in post production and the colour grade.
Scene 9
As another relatively dialogue heavy scene, I followed a similar technique to filming this scene as I did with scene 7. I started by filming the wide shot of the two characters before moving on to the medium closeups of each of them. Like with scene 7, filming these shots took a few takes in order to get the zooms in the correct places as I wanted to zoom where felt most natural in the dialogue and the action.
All of the shots of this scene were filmed relatively stationary - I only panned with the movement of the characters. Like scene 7, this technique was used in order to retain the natural feel of the production by eliminating unnecessary moving shots.
The settings I used for the scene were ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.4 and F/7.3, a shutter speed of 1/60 and an ND filter of 1/4. For the medium two shot of the two characters, I used an aperture of F/7.3. This was due to this producing the right exposure when combined with the shutter speed 1/60 and ND filter 1/4. As this shot looked more exposed than the medium closeup single shots (due to the framing), I used a narrower aperture than I did for these closer shots. For Luke's medium closeup, I kept the shutter speed and ND filter the same but changed to a wider aperture of F/6.7. I chose this aperture due to this shot looking slightly darker than the two shot but not as dull as Tim's medium closeup. For Tim's medium closeup I used an aperture of F/6.4 which was the widest aperture of the scene due to this shot appearing less bright than the two shot and Luke's medium closeup. These apertures allow for a natural yet cinematic look due to the colours appearing accurate to what could be seen with the human eye whilst blurring out the background slightly so the detail still remains yet the focus is shifted onto the characters. These settings allowed for correctly exposed images which will allow for more scope for manipulation during the post production and colour grading process.
Scene 10
Similarly to shoot day 1, I brought my shot list to use for reference to ensure all necessary footage to make up the storyline was captured - however, I allowed myself to deviate from this and capture different / extra footage as the shot list is a guideline. I just needed to ensure that if I did capture different shots that they still made up the storyline and that there would be no gaps - to eliminate this risk I decided to capture all the planned shots and then any extra ones either I or the director wanted (instead of capturing completely different shots to the original planned ones).
Scene 7
As a relatively dialogue heavy scene, this was very simple to shoot due to the majority of the action and dialogue being captured through shot reverse shots. As with the previous shoot day, as opposed to only performing the minor zooms on the planned shots, I did them when it felt natural and appropriate in the dialogue as the humour depends on the delivery of the dialogue - so if I had only performed the zooms on the planned shots, the delivery of the dialogue may not have been as I had thought it would be and therefore the humour would have been missed. I used the time in which the director was blocking and rehearsing with the actors to work out how the actors were delivering the dialogue and, therefore, when the zooms would need to be in order to get the full effect of the humour.
To capture all the shots, we ran through the scene in the same way multiple times so that I could capture all the different angles required. Some shots (such as the medium closeup and closeup singles of Tim and Luke) required multiple takes as my zooms were occasionally mis-timed which meant the humour was not being emphasised to the full extent it could have been through the zoom.
Apart from the final shot of the scene where I pan to follow the characters walk towards the owl academy, I filmed all the shots in a stationary manner. This was due to the characters being stationary themselves for the majority of the scene - therefore, I did not want to over complicate the scene by adding unnecessary pans in an attempt to make the scene look cinematic (as slow panning and tracking shots are often using to add fluidity to a scene to make it look more cinematic) when this is not needed for the tone of the piece.
The settings I used for the scene were ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.8 and F/7.4, a shutter speed of 1/60 and an ND filter of 1/4. For the wide shot, I used an aperture of F/7.4 as I wanted more of the frame in focus (rather than using a wider aperture to gain a deep depth of field which would produce a blurred background look). This is because the characters and van are positioned further away from the camera and I wanted to reduce the risk of them appearing blurred with the background - so I eliminated this risk my choosing a narrower aperture. This aperture, as well as the ISO of 500, shutter speed of 1/60 and the ND filter of 1/4, produced a well exposed shot where the characters can be discerned from the background yet all the detail within both the background and the characters can be seen. This will allow for a good colour grade as the level of detail within the shadows, midtones and highlights means that I will not need to alter the contrast within the shot in order to make the characters stand out from the background (as the exposure means they already stand out). This means that this level of detail within the shot will be retained all the way through the colour grading process as I do not need to artificially add contrast to the footage as this was captured in the raw footage. This contrast is important to the colour grade as this will help me to achieve the natural yet cinematic look I am striving for. For Tim's closeup I used a wider aperture of F/6.8 as he appeared too dull against the background at the aperture of F/7.4. Using this wider aperture blurs the background a little which works for this shot as the characters were positioned closer to the camera so there was less difficulty keeping Tim in focus against the blurred background. I kept the shutter speed consistent with the previous shot as this will ensure the motion blur is the same. I also kept the ND filter the same due to the sun still shining through the trees and needing this to be dulled slightly to prevent overexposure. Following this shot, I used an aperture of F/7.2 as the sun was shining onto Luke's face and, therefore, the aperture needed to be narrowed to compensate for this and allow less light into the lens. However, the sun was coming in and out which means some of the shot is not in sunlight, creating a slightly dull look - although, this is not dramatically dull and can be fixed in post production and the colour grade.
Scene 9
As another relatively dialogue heavy scene, I followed a similar technique to filming this scene as I did with scene 7. I started by filming the wide shot of the two characters before moving on to the medium closeups of each of them. Like with scene 7, filming these shots took a few takes in order to get the zooms in the correct places as I wanted to zoom where felt most natural in the dialogue and the action.
All of the shots of this scene were filmed relatively stationary - I only panned with the movement of the characters. Like scene 7, this technique was used in order to retain the natural feel of the production by eliminating unnecessary moving shots.
The settings I used for the scene were ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.4 and F/7.3, a shutter speed of 1/60 and an ND filter of 1/4. For the medium two shot of the two characters, I used an aperture of F/7.3. This was due to this producing the right exposure when combined with the shutter speed 1/60 and ND filter 1/4. As this shot looked more exposed than the medium closeup single shots (due to the framing), I used a narrower aperture than I did for these closer shots. For Luke's medium closeup, I kept the shutter speed and ND filter the same but changed to a wider aperture of F/6.7. I chose this aperture due to this shot looking slightly darker than the two shot but not as dull as Tim's medium closeup. For Tim's medium closeup I used an aperture of F/6.4 which was the widest aperture of the scene due to this shot appearing less bright than the two shot and Luke's medium closeup. These apertures allow for a natural yet cinematic look due to the colours appearing accurate to what could be seen with the human eye whilst blurring out the background slightly so the detail still remains yet the focus is shifted onto the characters. These settings allowed for correctly exposed images which will allow for more scope for manipulation during the post production and colour grading process.
Scene 10
As a contrast to the other scenes filmed this day, this scene was entirely action based with no dialogue - this meant a wider variety of shots were required to capture all the action happening in the scene as the portrayal of the plot is entirely dependent on the actions being shown.
To capture these shots I decided to rely more on my shot list than I did for the other scenes as I had to ensure all the action was being captured in the best way to convey what exactly is happening in each part of the scene as there is no dialogue to guide the audience.
As we had a large amount of time between filming scene 7 and 9 and filming scene 10, there was a lot of time for the director to work with the actors to block out the action within the scene. Due to having this large amount of time, I was able to discuss with the director exactly where each shot would be filmed from for each piece of action - whereas previously, due to having less time, I have set up shots and approved them with the director just before filming them as the director had already approved the shot list. Going through the scene step by step allowed for the director to request further shots that I hadn't originally thought of in the shot list - allowing me to capture more coverage to experiment with in the edit, rather being restricted to solely the shots I saw as necessary to make up the scene. Blocking this scene out in the day also allowed me to map out where I would be moving with the camera and lighting equipment whilst it was still light to reduce the risk of me tripping when filming in the dark and potentially damaging the equipment or injuring myself. This was also similar for the actors - they were able to see where they would need to be moving about in the light to reduce the risk of them tripping in the dark.
For this scene, I needed to use lighting equipment due to the environment being very dark. I tested the lighting in the pre-production unit which allowed me to set up the lights exactly as I required them to produce a well exposed night shot. To light the scene, I used two aputure LED lights on a medium brightness setting of 60 for the majority of the scene (I brightened them to 80 for wider shots as the lights had to be positioned further away from the characters). When I tested the lighting, I used lights which had an in-built colour setting, however, the lights I used for the shoot had different coloured panels to use to change the colour temperature instead. Therefore, I chose the orange panel as this was most similar to the settings I tested. I chose a warmer colour temperature as the aim of this lighting was to emulate natural street lighting which tends to have a warmer tone. As mentioned, for wider shots I positioned the lights further away from the characters so that they would not be in shot - I also had to be careful that the lights weren't showing in any of the reflective surfaces of the scene (i.e. the sign behind them on the wall and the Kent owl academy sign). On closer shots, I moved the lights closer to the characters to produce a better lit shot (I also reduced the brightness back to 60 when on the closer shots to prevent harsh shadows which would make the lighting look unnatural).
We learnt on the week of shooting that there were actually motion sensor lights fitted above the path which would mean they would interfere with the shot. We had to make the decision as to work them into the shot or to work around them so that the scene remains entirely in darkness. We chose to work them into the shot as this could add to the humour of the piece. I had to plan how this would affect the camera settings I was planning to use - as these lights would change which ISO I would use as if I chose an ISO too high, then the scene would appear correctly exposed in the dark but over exposed when the lights turn on. I chose an ISO of 8000 as this produced a natural dark looking shot during the dark portions of the scene but would not overexpose the sections where the motion sensor lights activate.
The camera settings I used for the scene were ISO 8000, aperture F/4.8, shutter speed 1/50 and no ND filter. These settings produced an exposure that appeared naturally dark for the portion of the scene taking place in darkness whilst retaining this naturally dark tone for the portion of the scene taking place with the motion activated lights. Using a wide aperture allowed me to capture images where the exposure looked accurate and natural for the time of day - some areas appear very dark, however, if I increased the ISO further of chose a slower shutter speed, the visual quality of the footage would be affected by grain. I would have also been at risk of producing an image that looked artificially too bright for the time of day this scene takes place - therefore, using the settings I used worked best to produce an accurate representation of the environment in which the characters are. These settings also enabled me to film in both the complete darkness and the small amount of light produced by the motion sensor lights which allowed for continuity through the scene. However, the scene does look very dark compared to the other scenes that have been shot so far - I will look to correct this in the edit by brighten the highlights and midtones of the footage slightly. I will not brighten the shadows as this will cause the pure black and the detail within this darkness to be lost - I will focus on brightening the scene slightly but ensuring I maintain the natural darkness to prevent the product from looking artificial.
As we had a large amount of time between filming scene 7 and 9 and filming scene 10, there was a lot of time for the director to work with the actors to block out the action within the scene. Due to having this large amount of time, I was able to discuss with the director exactly where each shot would be filmed from for each piece of action - whereas previously, due to having less time, I have set up shots and approved them with the director just before filming them as the director had already approved the shot list. Going through the scene step by step allowed for the director to request further shots that I hadn't originally thought of in the shot list - allowing me to capture more coverage to experiment with in the edit, rather being restricted to solely the shots I saw as necessary to make up the scene. Blocking this scene out in the day also allowed me to map out where I would be moving with the camera and lighting equipment whilst it was still light to reduce the risk of me tripping when filming in the dark and potentially damaging the equipment or injuring myself. This was also similar for the actors - they were able to see where they would need to be moving about in the light to reduce the risk of them tripping in the dark.
For this scene, I needed to use lighting equipment due to the environment being very dark. I tested the lighting in the pre-production unit which allowed me to set up the lights exactly as I required them to produce a well exposed night shot. To light the scene, I used two aputure LED lights on a medium brightness setting of 60 for the majority of the scene (I brightened them to 80 for wider shots as the lights had to be positioned further away from the characters). When I tested the lighting, I used lights which had an in-built colour setting, however, the lights I used for the shoot had different coloured panels to use to change the colour temperature instead. Therefore, I chose the orange panel as this was most similar to the settings I tested. I chose a warmer colour temperature as the aim of this lighting was to emulate natural street lighting which tends to have a warmer tone. As mentioned, for wider shots I positioned the lights further away from the characters so that they would not be in shot - I also had to be careful that the lights weren't showing in any of the reflective surfaces of the scene (i.e. the sign behind them on the wall and the Kent owl academy sign). On closer shots, I moved the lights closer to the characters to produce a better lit shot (I also reduced the brightness back to 60 when on the closer shots to prevent harsh shadows which would make the lighting look unnatural).
We learnt on the week of shooting that there were actually motion sensor lights fitted above the path which would mean they would interfere with the shot. We had to make the decision as to work them into the shot or to work around them so that the scene remains entirely in darkness. We chose to work them into the shot as this could add to the humour of the piece. I had to plan how this would affect the camera settings I was planning to use - as these lights would change which ISO I would use as if I chose an ISO too high, then the scene would appear correctly exposed in the dark but over exposed when the lights turn on. I chose an ISO of 8000 as this produced a natural dark looking shot during the dark portions of the scene but would not overexpose the sections where the motion sensor lights activate.
The camera settings I used for the scene were ISO 8000, aperture F/4.8, shutter speed 1/50 and no ND filter. These settings produced an exposure that appeared naturally dark for the portion of the scene taking place in darkness whilst retaining this naturally dark tone for the portion of the scene taking place with the motion activated lights. Using a wide aperture allowed me to capture images where the exposure looked accurate and natural for the time of day - some areas appear very dark, however, if I increased the ISO further of chose a slower shutter speed, the visual quality of the footage would be affected by grain. I would have also been at risk of producing an image that looked artificially too bright for the time of day this scene takes place - therefore, using the settings I used worked best to produce an accurate representation of the environment in which the characters are. These settings also enabled me to film in both the complete darkness and the small amount of light produced by the motion sensor lights which allowed for continuity through the scene. However, the scene does look very dark compared to the other scenes that have been shot so far - I will look to correct this in the edit by brighten the highlights and midtones of the footage slightly. I will not brighten the shadows as this will cause the pure black and the detail within this darkness to be lost - I will focus on brightening the scene slightly but ensuring I maintain the natural darkness to prevent the product from looking artificial.
What went well
- The overall exposure for scene 7 is natural and accurate to that which could be seen with the human eye. This means that the colour grade will be a lot more effective in achieving the natural cinematic look as all the details within the shadows, midtones and highlights will be retained, meaning the high visual quality of the product is not negatively affected.
- The selected apertures for all the scenes work to produce a slightly blurred background (on the medium closeup and closeup shots) which aid the natural yet cinematic look. This deep depth of field brings the characters, their actions and their dialogue into focus which allow them to be the main focus for the audience - allowing the comedy within the piece to be conveyed.
- Due to having to wait for darkness to fall to film the night scene, there was time to block through each shot precisely prior to shooting whilst there was still daylight - this made the filming process much smoother when it was dark as the actors knew exactly what they were doing and I knew exactly what shots I needed to capture. This also aided the safety of the shoot as we were able to map out exactly where the actors and crew would be moving whilst this was more visible than at night, reducing the risk of injuries to people or damage to equipment.
What didn't go well
- In scene 7, due to the sun coming in and out, some of the footage is slightly duller than the rest depending on whether the sun was out or in. This difference can be noticed in Tim and Luke's medium closeup single shots where Tim's medium closeup is well-lit and well exposed and Luke's medium closeup has less light coming through from the sun but is still well exposed. This can be rectified in the colour grading where I will ensure these shots match up in terms of exposure and colour.
- The shoot for scene 10 ended up being slightly more complicated than originally thought as we had to work in the motion sensor lights as there was no way of turning these off. This meant I had to choose the correct exposure so that the characters are exposed well enough during the dark portions of the scene but not over exposed when the motion sensor lights switch on. However, I managed to find good settings that worked in both lighting conditions so this did not present a huge issue.
- Due to not using the clapper board for scene 10 as there was no dialogue, it will be difficult to sync up the audio and the visual. Whilst there is no dialogue, there is still the sound of footsteps and general ambience that will need to be matched up to the visuals. Although this is not impossible without the clapper board, it is a lot more difficult than it needs to be.
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