To film this scene, I followed my shot list to ensure all necessary footage to make up the storyline was captured. As we had a lot of time for this shoot due to it being one small scene and having all day to film it, I was able to film additional / alternative footage than what was listed on my shot list (i.e. I filmed the wide shot of Tim's arrival from a couple of different angles to give options when it came to the edit). Filming additional footage for this scene was very beneficial as there is one complex sequence when Tim gets out of the van to observe the slogan which no reads 'We love large cock' - this is complex because it involves crossing the line in order to capture Tim and Luke's reaction to the slogan. To cover this slight crossing of the line, I captured Tim's movement from getting out of the van to observing the slogan from a wide shot showing the scene side on, a medium closeup shot facing Tim's original position within the van and a medium shot of Tim's position outside of the van where he observes the slogan. Filming from all of these angles means these can be cut between in the edit to show Tim's movement to the audience so that it makes visual sense as to why he's suddenly facing a different way as the audience are being shown exactly what is happening.
Like with all of the other scenes, I used the time in which the director blocked and rehearsed with the actors to set up the camera angles and practice the zooms to be used within the scene. Once the director was finished blocking the actors, I checked my planned shots with the director to make sure we were both happy with the visuals I set out. At the end of the shoot day (and all of the other shoot days) I confirmed with the producer that I captured all the shots set out in the shot list. This shows how production is a collaborative process and requires constant communication between team members in order to get the best outcome. If I had not checked the shots with the director prior to shooting, I may not have captured the best visuals to achieve both mine and his vision, I would merely be satisfying my own vision - but the director needs to have his input to ensure his vision for the project is being realised through the shots and is communicating the desired narrative. It also helps to have another person’s input on the shots because as a director of photography, my main concern is the look of the shot and not necessarily the storytelling within the shot (although the storytelling does play a part in determining which shots to use). By discussing the shots with the director, I was able to see where slight alternative shots to my planned shots would be better suited to portraying the narrative because the director could guide me on what is most important within the storytelling of the shot to capture. If I had not checked the shots with the producer at the end of the shoot, we may not have captured all necessary shots to make up the narrative. Although I feel that I am good at following my shot list and ensuring all the shots are captured, it is good to have a second set of eyes check that the shots have all been captured as to avoid having to reshoot due to an avoidable error.
I filmed this scene in chronological order, beginning with the wide shot of Tim approaching Luke and the van. The director blocked sections of the scene to shoot at a time and I shot these sections from all the different angles required to make up the storytelling within these segments of the scene. We ran through these broken down sections of the scene multiple times so that I could film them from multiple different angles, occasionally having to do multiple takes of the same angle to make sure the zooms were in exactly the correct position to emphasise the humour. The segments were pretty straight forward to film as it is mainly comprised of shot reverse shots between Tim and Luke apart from the complex movement of Tim getting out of the van and observing the slogan. Once all the segments of the exterior portion of the scene were filmed, I moved onto filming the parts of the scene that take place within the van. To film this, I cross shot each medium closeup single of the characters through the opposite open door to where they were sitting. I had to be careful not to capture too much behind the metal grate of the van as this is where the sound assistant was positioned and would, therefore, lower the production quality of the product if the sound assistant was seen in the footage. As well as these shots of the characters, I had to capture the glovebox full of drugs. As this was all listed on my shot list, this was a very easy segment of the scene to film as there were only 3 angles I needed to film and they were all straight forwards to capture. This meant doing multiple takes of these shots caused no fuss as it was simple to run through the segment until the desired shot was captured.
The settings I used for this scene were; ISO 500, an aperture ranging between F/7.6 and F/6.3, a shutter speed of 1/50 and an ND filter ranging between no ND filter and an ND filter of 1/4. I will only talk about the change in apertures and ND filters as the ISO and shutter speed remain constant between the shots. The ISO of 500 allows for a good exposure whilst ensuring there is as little noise in the image as possible. The shutter speed remains set at 1/50 throughout the scene to ensure the motion blur is constant between the shots to allow for this visual consistency between the shots and between the rest of the product as a similar shutter speed has been used throughout the rest of the production. I began by using an aperture of F/7.4 for the wide panning shot of Tim approaching the van and Luke. I used this in conjunction with an ND filter of 1/4 as the bright sunlight created a naturally bright filming atmosphere. This aperture when combined with this ND filter helps to bring down the brightness of the bright sky and other highlights within the image (i.e. the white van in the background) which helps to maintain a correctly exposed image where all the detail within the shot can be seen instead of it appearing overexposed. I retained this aperture until Tim climbed into the side of the van. I then widened the aperture slightly to F/7.3 (and kept the ND filter at 1/4) as Tim becomes slightly shaded by the side of the van blocking the light from the south east facing direction. By widening the aperture slightly, more light is allowed to enter the lens which makes the image appear brighter - this allows for the detail within the image not to be lost by underexposure. I widened the exposure again to F/7.2 (and kept the ND filter at 1/4) for Luke's medium closeup. This again was with the reason of exposing the image correctly so that all the detail within the image is retained - this makes it easier for the colour grade to be applied as I will not have to compensate for incorrect exposure. I then narrowed the exposure to F/7.4 for Tim and Luke's medium two shot. The reason for this was to let less light into the lens as the characters are positioned against the bright sky which appeared overexposed at the wider aperture. I then widened the aperture again to F/7.2 (and again kept the ND filter at 1/4) as there is less sky apparent in the image and less elements to overexpose. This exposure allows for all the details within the highlights, midtones and shadows of the image to be distinguished. Within the van, I narrowed the aperture to F/7.4 and removed the ND filter for Luke's medium closeup single shot. The removal of the ND filter brightens the image by allowing more light into the lens - this shot required more light to enter the lens due to taking place within the van which is more shadowed from the south east light. I used a similar aperture of F/7.6 and no ND filter for Tim's medium closeup single shot. I chose to narrow the aperture as there was slightly more natural light entering through the window so I was at risk of overexposing the window within the shot. The narrower aperture reduced the exposure slightly to ensure that no elements appeared overexposed. For the closeup shot of the drugs in the glovebox, I used a wider aperture of F/6.3 as there was less natural light shining onto this area of the van. Therefore, the wider aperture allowed more light to enter the lens and brighten the look of the shot which allowed for all the detail within the shot to be seen. The final shot I captured was the long panning shot of the van driving off the drive and down the road. For this I chose an aperture of F/7.2 and an ND filter of 1/4 as this was shot outside with the natural light rom the south east shining on the location. Without the ND filter, the image appeared overexposed with detail being lost in the bright sky and the white of the van. Therefore, these settings were necessary to retain the detail within the image to allow for a better colour grade in the post production process. Using these settings allowed me to capture the best quality visuals possible.
What went well
- The bright sunlight did not interfere with the look of the shots too much. As the light was coming from the south east direction (and I had planned for this) it meant that we could shoot in a position where the sun wouldn't directly be shining on the actors and causing harsh light and shadows whilst also making sure the sun wouldn't be directly behind them which would cause a silhouetted look. This planning allowed me to shoot the best looking visuals where the shots were correctly exposed without any harsh lighting conditions (which is always possible when shooting in natural sunlight).
- Due to my detailed shot list, I knew exactly what needed to be captured which allowed for a smooth shoot day as I could tick off the shots I captured as I shot them. This meant that all necessary footage to make up the narrative was captured.
- All the images were correctly exposed which will make the colour grading process a lot more effective as I will not need to adjust the exposure and colours within the image prior to applying the colour grade which will allow for the best quality product in terms of the visuals involved.
What didn’t go well
- For the interior section of the scene, the van needed to be moved back slightly due to access being needed to the garden gate. This means that what can be seen through the windows of the van is slightly different to what would be seen if the van was still in the original place. However, as the van wasn't moved a great distance, this is unnoticeable to the audience who are unaware that the van has moved at all.
- In a couple of the interior van shots, the sound assistant with the boom pole can be seen slightly in the shot. However, this can be cropped out due to filming in 4K resolution. This was part of the reason I chose to film in 4K - it allows for more scope during the editing process. As I have always intended to export the project in 1080p full HD, by filming in 4K I have more scope for errors such as this as I can crop the image without losing any quality.
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