For the interior scene, I used two aputure lights to light the actors - I tested this in this location during the pre-production unit and found that using one light on a medium setting of 60 and one light on a high setting of 80 both with an orange panel over the light to produce a warm colour temperature gave the best look. I chose these settings to emulate the light of practical lighting within pub settings which typically is dim and warm in tone. I placed the lights at varied distances from the actors - one further from the actors and one closer to the actors. This helped to diffuse the lighting so that it fits with the natural feel of the entire product - this is essential in maintaining the continuity of the sit com as all other scenes are filmed with lighting which is appropriate for the natural lighting within these locations in reality.
I used the condensed list I made from my full shot list to check I had all the necessary shots to make up the narrative of the scenes - this was essential as we found we only had a limited time in the interior pub location so it was imperative that I shot all the necessary footage so that all the action and dialogue was captured and there would be no gaps in the storyline.
When filming both scenes, I ensured to use the correct camera settings and to continually review these camera settings (and make any needed changes) to make sure the exposure remained constant throughout the scenes. This will prove useful in the post production of this product as little colour correction / manipulation to the exposure will be required before the colour grade as the shots throughout the scene already have a consistent look.
Scene 12
Prior to beginning to film the scene, we requested that the music be switched off and some of the screens to also be switched off so that these did not interfere with the shots. We decided to keep a couple of the screens switched on but muted to make the environment look as natural and appropriate as possible as a pub setting - pubs usually have screens showing different things so it made sense to keep a couple on to emulate the environment of an open and populated pub.
Myself and a runner set up the lights as outlined above - this worked to emulate natural pub lighting whilst also helping to illuminate the characters slightly better as a lot of the natural lighting came from behind them which produced slightly silhouetted images without the additional lights. This helped to keep the natural look of the product whilst brightening the actors to a more visible level which helps to visual quality.
Filming this scene took a while to set up due to having a lot of cast and background actors on set for this shoot. Whilst the director blocked everyone from the main cast to the background actors, I set up the shots required for the scene. I had to ensure to capture the required shots for the narrative and dialogue of the scene but I also had to make sure to capture other elements within these shots (i.e. Tess' entry to the scene is seen through Tim's medium closeup so for this shot I had to ensure that this shot was framed well for its main purpose of capturing Tim's dialogue but to also make sure there was enough room to see Tess enter behind him). For Tess' medium closeup I had to make sure that only the area of the pub with the background actors populating it was visible to make it seem like the whole pub was full. I also had to ensure Mark was hidden by the wooden beam as the reveal of his character takes place on a closer shot of him and Sheila. For both Tim's and Luke's medium closeups, I had to make sure that the neither the lighting equipment nor myself with the camera equipment were visible in the reflective surfaces seen behind them as this would break the natural, observational illusion of the entire product and decrease the visual quality.
The majority of the scene was simple to film due to capturing it mostly through shot reverse shots and wide two and three shots. Like with all the other shoot days, I practised my zooms whilst the actors rehearsed so that I could zoom in when felt most natural with the actors' delivery of the dialogue rather than my planned zooms as zooming when feels most natural will help the natural feel of the product whilst also emphasising the humour to the desired extent as the zooms will compliment the actors' delivery.
The most complicated part of the scene to film was the moment where Tim stands up to confront Mark thinking its Sheila. This was because several different angles were required to capture the build-up to this moment and they all needed to make visual sense as Tim ends up facing the opposite way to the way he had been facing for the rest of the scene - so this needed to be communicated through the shots so that it did not look like the 180 degree rule had been broken when in fact the character has intentionally switched positions. This meant that within the different shots used, I needed to capture Tim turning around to confront Mark so that it makes visual sense about where the characters are positioned to the audience.
The settings I used were ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/6.4 and F/5.6, a shutter speed of 1/48 and no ND filter. The reason the settings don't vary as much as the other scenes I have shot is because I used controlled lighting in this environment whilst most of the other scenes relied entirely on the natural light which then affected the exposure of the shots. For the two shot of Tim and Luke, I used an aperture of F/6.4 so that the characters were appropriately lit but the window behind Tim and the light coming through it did not appear over exposed. I then had to ensure the medium closeups of the two characters matched the exposure of this wider shot which meant slightly different apertures were required. I used an ever so slightly wider aperture of F/6.3 for Tim's medium closeup as the window behind him makes up a larger portion of the shot than with the wider shot, making Tim appear slightly darker, therefore, calling for a slightly brighter exposure. I used an even wider aperture of F/5.7 for Luke's medium closeup to make up for the dim appearance of the shot - this is only slightly wider than the aperture used for Tim's medium closeup but is called for due to the lower level of lighting where Luke is sat. I then used a similar aperture of F/5.8 for Tess' medium closeup due to the level of light shining on her being a similar level to that of Luke's medium closeup. I then used an aperture of F/5.6 for Tim's closeup as this appeared to be the naturally lowest lit shot so the exposure needed to compensate for this so that it matched with the exposure level of the other shots within the scene. I then used an aperture of F/5.8 for the two shot of Sheila and Mark as this was the widest aperture I could use for this length of shot (as the widest aperture you can use changes with the zoom used within the shot) - ideally I would have used a slightly wider aperture to increase the exposure of the shot further, however, this can be fixed in post-production by artificially increasing the brightness which I will do by increasing the level of the highlights and midtones of the shots. Even though this shot is slightly dark and underexposed, it is in-keeping with the natural nature of the product as this is a more shadowed area of the pub which would naturally be darker. I used the same shutter speed of 1/48 throughout the scene to keep the motion blur throughout the scene consistent - furthermore, due to the consistent lighting, I did not need to change too many settings as the light levels did not vary greatly. I also used no ND filter due to the location already being dim so I did not need an ND filter to decrease the exposure.
Scene 13
Shooting the outdoor scene in the car park was simple in terms of the shots required for the narrative (wide three shot, two shot of Tim and Luke and then medium closeup singles of each character), however, the weather made capturing all of these shots a bit tricky. As there was a mixture of sun and cloud, I had to make the choice about whether shoot the scene with the sun shining or wait for the cloud to cover it. I started shooting in the sun as this appeared to be the condition that presented itself for longer periods of time, however, once I began filming, the sun disappeared behind the clouds. I then made the choice to film in the more shaded conditions as it was uncertain when the sun would appear again and the light was slowly fading so it seemed more sensible to film the shot filmed in the sun again but in the shade followed by filming the rest of the scene in the shade.
This worked out better visually as the lack of sun meant there was no harsh light or shadows being cast on the characters faces. Whereas, when I shot in the sun, this overexposed the highlights within the image which meant some of the detail within this area was lost.
Filming the scene all in one lighting condition also helps to keep the sense of continuity throughout the scene as any dramatic lighting changes would immediately disrupt this. We had to watch out for movement of cars in the background as if any of these changed position between a wide shot and a medium closeup shot, that would affect the continuity of the scene. This only happened once where a car arrived in a spot just behind the van, but the director dealt with this and ask them if they could park in a different space - this meant the continuity of the scene was kept, allowing the product to flow effectively.
Although mainly filmed from stood on a flat surface (so there was little to trip over and damage the equipment), there were a couple of kerbs and edges to watch out for - so I had a runner spot for me to ensure I didn't trip and injure myself or damage the equipment.
To capture all the necessary shots to make up the narrative of this scene, I made sure to follow my simplified list made from my full shot list. This gave me a good reference of what sort of coverage I needed which will make the edit a lot smoother as there will be all the coverage (and more) which will mean we won't need to hold on certain clips for longer than necessary if we were missing a clip as I captured the whole scene through all the different angles so can be inserted where required. As with the other scenes, I practiced my zooms when the actors were rehearsing to make sure these zooms were at exactly the correct moment to emphasise the humour.
The settings I used for this scene were; ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/7.2 and F/7.8, a shutter speed of 1/50 and an ND filter ranging between no ND filter and ND filter 1/16. For the shot filmed in the sunny condition, I chose an aperture of F/7.8 and an ND filter of 1/4. If I had continued to shoot in the sun, I would have opted for a more dense ND filter of 1/16 as the highlights within the image appear slightly overexposed, losing the detail within these areas (e.g. Tess' face, the side of Luke's head and the van). I thought the aperture of F/7.8 would have worked well to bring down the exposure of the shot but this still appeared to produce this slightly overexposed image. I wouldn't have narrowed the aperture as if this is narrowed further than F/10, it produces a slightly blurred image due to diffraction. I could have increased the shutter speed, however, the rest of the product is shot with a similar shutter speed to keep the motion blur within shots constant, so increasing the shutter speed may work to reduce the exposure but it would create a different motion blur which would affect the continuity of the product. Once I had decided to shoot in the shade rather than wait for the sunny condition to reappear, I changed the aperture for the wide shot to F/7.2 whilst keeping all of the other settings the same. I chose a slightly wider aperture as the more shaded condition produced a slightly darker image due to the light diffusing through the clouds as opposed to shining directly on the scene. This aperture, when combined with the other settings, produced a well exposed image with no parts of it appearing under or over exposed so all the detail within the shot is retained. For Tess' medium closeup shot, I kept the settings the same as this appeared to be the correct exposure for this closer shot as well. The white of the van, the sky and Tess' face (which are the main highlights within the shot) do not appear overexposed yet the shadows within the image do not appear under exposed, producing a well exposed image. For the two shot of Tim and Luke, I narrowed the exposure to F/7.4 to esnure the highlights within this image did not overexpose. I then widened the exposure back to F/7.2 for both Tim's and Luke's medium closeup singles as the natural light was fading further which meant these shots called for a slightly wider exposure to brighten the image slightly. I did not want to remove the ND filter of 1/4 as this would have brightened the image too far which would have meant these shots would not have been consistent with the look of the other shots within the scene. For Luke's closeup single in the van, I used a narrower aperture of F/7.4 but removed the ND filter. This was necessary as the filming inside the van meant that some of the sunlight was blocked, making the conditions naturally a little darker. Removing the ND filter brightened the image slightly too far for Luke's closeup so I decided to narrow the aperture slightly to reduce the amount of light entering the lens, thus darkening the image. For Tim's closeup, the aperture of F/7.2 (with no ND filter) worked well to expose him correctly which allowed for all the detail within the scene (and in Tim's makeup) to be captured. For the establishing shot of the pub, I used an aperture of F/7.4 and an ND filter of 1/16 as the sky behind the pub appeared very bright and overexposed. Therefore, this more dense ND filter was required to bring down the exposure of the sky (whilst making sure the pub itself did not become underexposed). As with the majority of the other scenes within the product, I used an ISO of 500 as this produced a well exposed image with little grain - I decided to keep this element consistent for every scene (apart from the night scene where it was necessary to increase the ISO so that the characters would be visible in the darker conditions) as this will mean that the level of grain in each shot will be consistent which will help with the visual continuity of the product.
What went well
- For a complex scene (scene 12) with a lot of cast involved, it ran quite smoothly which allowed me to capture all the necessary footage to make up the narrative of the scene. As there were a lot of background actors, there was a higher possibility of something going wrong within the shot (i.e. someone looking directly into the camera which would break the natural, observational feel of the production) but as everyone was well directed, this problem did not occur.
- The lighting within the pub scene was particularly effective in emulating the natural pub environment. I felt the aputure lights worked incredibly well with the orange panel over the LEDs to give a warm light like those found in most pub establishments. This really aided the natural look to make the look of the scene consistent with the other scenes filmed.
What didn't go well
- Something we were all unaware of was that we only had the pub location until around 11 O'Clock, which is when customers would start to arrive. We only found this out when the landlord asked if we could only film one more shot as we needed to be wrapping up. This added an element of time pressure as there were still a few more shots to film in this time. I had already filmed the scene up until Tim goes to confront Mark (thinking its Sheila) but I still needed to film the wide shot and medium closeup shot of Mark when the landlord asked us to wrap up. I managed to film these shots quickly as I knew exactly what we needed and the director had already blocked the actor - so we were able to get away with quickly filming these additional takes. However, due to this time limit, there was no time to get extra shots which could be used for more coverage of the scene. This is not a massive issue as I managed to capture all the shots to make up the narrative of the scene, but it would have been more ideal if I was able to capture a few more shots so that we could experiment with them in the edit.
- The weather whilst filming scene 13 presented a little bit of an issue as the sun kept disappearing behind the cloud and I had already opted to film in the sun and had begun shooting in this condition. However, as the sun refused to reappear quickly, I decided to switch to shooting in the more shaded condition which meant reshooting the shot that had already been filmed in the sun so that the element of continuity was present between the shots. The sun did reappear a few times whilst attempting to film in the more shaded condition, which meant filming had to be paused until the sun disappeared again which made the shoot slightly longer than strictly necessary. I did attempt to use the reflector to block out the sun but this created a harsh shadow on the scene, so the best option appeared to be waiting for the sun to disappear behind the cloud again before continuing to film. This ended up working well and I managed to capture all the necessary footage in the shaded condition.
- In the footage, the red in Tim's makeup seems slightly exaggerated for someone who has only been punched which makes it appear slightly unnatural. I will attempt to resolve this in the post-production process by decreasing the saturation around that area slightly (but ensuring that I don't decrease the saturation too much so that these shots look washed out when compared to the rest of the product). I will then also adjust the colours and apply the colour grade with the aim of softening and blending the red into the shot more seamlessly.
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