I used no additional lighting equipment to light as the scene required a dark atmosphere to compliment the sneaky behaviour of the character Tim. The only light is coming through the south east facing double doors (which do not appear in the scene) and the north west facing windows with the curtains drawn so the natural light diffuses through. This produces a dim but not too dark look. I didn't want to make the room to dark as this would potentially lead to underexposed shots where the detail within the images cannot be distinguished - therefore, I kept the curtains open on the south east facing double doors to allow for a little bit of natural light. I can them dim the footage to the desired level in the post production process. This means that all the detail will be available in the shot and the desired look will be achieved - ensuring the highest visual quality possible. From the moment Tess walks into the scene and flicks on the light switch, the scene is lit with the practical lighting which is positioned overhead in the form of two lamps. Whilst this created a slightly more orange look than desired, the lighting level is consistent, so this can be easily rectified in post-production.
As this scene involved a lot of different types of shot and a lot of complex movement, I made sure to discuss the blocking of the characters with the director and which camera positions he felt would work best with my shot list to ensure that the product makes visual sense and also conveys the narrative effectively. Whilst the director blocked the actors, I set up my shots and then checked them with the director once he was happy with the blocking. This worked well to ensure both my vision as director of photography and his vision as director were being fulfilled. One of the important things I had to keep in mind was the 180 degree rule as there was a lot of movement of the characters, including times in the scene when the characters would cross and end up on opposite sides of frame (which could confuse the audience if this movement is not clearly displayed as otherwise the characters appear to have just switched sides). I ensured to stick to the 180 degree rule by clearly displaying when the characters have switched sides (i.e. when Tim crosses behind Tess to retrieve the vet bag at the end of the scene, he switches sides of frame when talking to her. To avoid this being visually confusing to the audience, I made sure to use a wide shot to capture Tim switching positions so that it is clear to the audience why he is suddenly facing a different way when talking to Tess).
As this scene involved a lot of different types of shot and a lot of complex movement, I made sure to discuss the blocking of the characters with the director and which camera positions he felt would work best with my shot list to ensure that the product makes visual sense and also conveys the narrative effectively. Whilst the director blocked the actors, I set up my shots and then checked them with the director once he was happy with the blocking. This worked well to ensure both my vision as director of photography and his vision as director were being fulfilled. One of the important things I had to keep in mind was the 180 degree rule as there was a lot of movement of the characters, including times in the scene when the characters would cross and end up on opposite sides of frame (which could confuse the audience if this movement is not clearly displayed as otherwise the characters appear to have just switched sides). I ensured to stick to the 180 degree rule by clearly displaying when the characters have switched sides (i.e. when Tim crosses behind Tess to retrieve the vet bag at the end of the scene, he switches sides of frame when talking to her. To avoid this being visually confusing to the audience, I made sure to use a wide shot to capture Tim switching positions so that it is clear to the audience why he is suddenly facing a different way when talking to Tess).
Due to there being quite a few reflective surfaces within the location (i.e. the mirror in the cabinet, the glass in the door and the glass in the photo frames), I had to ensure that neither myself of camera or our sound assistant (with the boom pole) could be seen in these reflections as this would immediately reduce the production quality of the product. Another element I had to consider when thinking of production quality was continuity. Although a small detail, I ensured that the light switch was facing the same way when shooting each take so that the takes could be cut between if certain actions / dialogue were better in one take. As the room has dual controlled lighting and Tess uses one of the switches when entering the room, it seemed easy to reset the scene by turning the lights back off with the light switch that was closer to the crew, however, this would have meant that the light switch in shot (which Tess uses upon her arrival) would be inconsistent between shots (i.e. appearing in the on position in some shots and in the off position in other shots). To eliminate this error, when resetting the scene, I made sure to turn the lights back off with the same switch that Tess uses so that it constantly appears in the same position when its supposed to be off and it constantly appears in the opposite position when its supposed to be on.
The settings I used for this scene were; ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/7.4 and F/6.3, a shutter speed of 1/50 and no ND filter. I will only talk about the changes in aperture as the other settings for each shot remain constant. The shutter speed remains at a constant level of 1/50 as this ensures the motion blur between the shots is consistent which aids the visual consistency of the whole product. I opted to use no ND filter on all the shots as this scene occurs in a dimly lit interior location and I did not want the scene to appear too dark as this would lead to underexposed images where detail within areas such as the shadows would be lost which would decrease the overall visual quality of the product. Instead of dimming the scene with the ND filters, I will dim the scene in the post production process by using colour correcting techniques and the colour grade - this means the raw footage could be captured in a correctly exposed manner, ensuring all the detail within the highlights, midtones and shadows of the shots were captured, and then the desired dim effect can be achieved through post production whilst retaining the visual quality. For the first wide shot of Tim snooping around the house, I used an aperture of F/7.4 as this was a narrow enough aperture to create a slightly dim look whilst still maintaining a good exposure where no detail is lost in the shadows of the image due to underexposure. When exposing this shot, I had to consider the backlight coming from the window behind Tim (despite the curtains being closed, there is still a fair amount of light protruding through). This backlight produces a slightly darker image because Tim becomes slightly silhouetted against this light coming through the window, therefore, the aperture of F/7.4 felt appropriate to expose Tim (and the whole shot) correctly where the detail within the shot can be seen but there is still an element of darkness throughout. For the next medium closeup shot of Tim, I used a slightly wider aperture of F/6.8 due to the backlight coming from the window to prevent Tim appearing underexposed. For the closeup shots of the photo frames on the cabinet I used an aperture of F/6.3 due to this being shadowed by the curve of the cabinet. Therefore, this wider aperture allowed more light to enter the lens, making the shot appear brighter to match the brightness of the other shots. I then narrowed the aperture slightly to F/6.8 for the closeup shot of Tim's dad in the photo frame on the fireplace. I used this slightly narrower aperture due to there being no shadow on this fireplace, therefore, I did not need to compensate for a lack of light caused by shadows. This aperture keeps the consistency of the scene as the shot matches the exposure of the other shots within the scene. I then narrowed the aperture to F/7.2 when Tess enters and switches on the light as the practical lighting adds extra light to the scene. Also, neither of the characters are positioned against the window so I did not have to contend with the backlighting silhouetting the characters. As the practical lighting added light to the scene, a narrower aperture was required to allow less light into the lens to prevent overexposing any elements of the shot. I chose to use the same aperture of F/7.2 for both Tim and Tess's medium closeup shots as they were not positioned too far from each other, meaning the lighting falling on them within the location was very similar. Therefore, to keep the visuals consistent, it made sense to keep the aperture the same for these shots. I also used this aperture for the medium closeup shot of the vase being knocked off the table for the same reason of it being in a similar position within the location and, therefore, the lighting being the same which called for the same aperture. Like with all of the other shots, when considering the aperture, I always think of the details within the shot and whether these are exposed correctly so that the highlights, midtones and shadows all show the details within these areas as well as considering what type of look I am trying to achieve within the shot. My priority when exposing a shot is making sure all the details can be seen as I can always adjust the look of the shot with the colour grade in post production, but it is a lot more difficult to correct exposure in post production if certain areas are under / overexposed which would result in a product with a lower visual quality than how I actually chose to shoot the piece. I then narrowed the aperture slightly to F/7.4 for the closeup shot of the vase smashed on the floor as it fell directly under the practical overhead light, therefore, the light was shining directly onto the vase. This created a slightly brighter look on the highlights of the image (i.e. the white of the vase) than the rest of the shots which meant, in order to keep the visual consistency, I needed to narrow the aperture slightly in order to lower the exposure to the same level of the other shots. I then widened the aperture to F/6.7 for both the wide and medium closeup shot of Tim when he goes to retrieve the vet bag from the window. This aperture was required as Tim is positioned against the window, making him naturally silhouetted from the backlight. By choosing a wider aperture, more light can enter the lens which produces a slightly brighter image. This was necessary so that the detail within the darker areas of the image could be seen as a lot of the image is dark due to the backlight, therefore, if I didn't widen the aperture, a lot of the detail within the shot would have been lost as a lot of the image falls in darkness. The aperture of F/6.7 works to increase the exposure of the scene so that no detail is lost which will make the colour grading process more effective, resulting in a product with a higher visual quality.
What went well
- There was good consideration for continuity between the shots. I ensured the light switch was in the same position as Tess uses this as she enters the room. (The lights have dual controls so I had to turn off light from same switch that Tess uses to reset the scene in order to keep this element of continuity).
- The footage is all correctly exposed which will allow for the best colour grade as there will be no detail lost within the highlights, midtones or shadows of the shots. Even though the desired look of the scene is a lot darker than I shot the scene, this was the best method to shoot the scene as if I had attempted to artificially darken the scene by using a narrower aperture or ND filters, I could have ended up underexposing the scene which would have resulted in certain details being lost within the image and, therefore, would reduce the visual quality of the product.
What didn't go well
- It was difficult at times to work out if certain shots would break the 180 degree rule because of the movement of the camera. Although I had planned out the shots I needed in my shot list, I did not plan the position of the camera in relation to the actors - I simply wrote what sort of shot would be needed to capture which piece of action / dialogue. I then planned to use the director's blocking to figure out the camera positions which did work as I didn't break the 180 degree rule, however, it took slightly longer than necessary which made the shoot day feel slightly less smooth. In scenarios where I was unsure whether changing camera angle would break the 180 degree rule, I made sure to film the entire sequence from the different angles so that if a character moves, this is captured and will make visual sense to the audience if they are suddenly facing a different way to the previous shot. For example, when Tim spots the bag on the window, he crosses behind Tess and goes from being on the left of frame talking to Tess towards the right of frame to being on the right of frame talking to Tess towards the left of frame. To ensure this made visual sense to the audience, I filmed Tim performing this movement on a wider shot so that his medium closeup makes visual sense when cut to in the edit.
- The practical lighting from when Tess enters the scene gives a slightly warmer tone than ideally desired. However, as this is a consistent look (as the practical lighting remains the same throughout the rest of the scene), this will be easily rectifiable as I can reduce the colour temperature slightly in the edit.
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