PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: Test Shoot 1

To decide on the equipment I will be using as Director of Photography in VET-MAN, I booked out the Panasonic DVX200, JVC GY-HM850 and the Canon 7D with an 18-135 mm lens. The aim of this was to test which camera would give the best quality footage, with the most natural look and be easiest to use handheld whilst focusing, framing and following the characters and animals.

From my research, I have decided that the shooting style I wish to use is handheld, featuring some crash zooms at key moments. This suits the deadpan, macabre tone of the sit com as the zooms will be used to focus on the characters' actions and reactions. Therefore, the camera chosen will need to be light enough to shoot handheld for a considerable length of time and must be suitable for zooming, focusing and framing whilst handheld as well. VET-MAN will be shot in a single camera style but may be achieved using multiple cameras (for coverage and to ensure no action is missed as working with animals can be slightly unpredictable). This means that for consistency's sake, the Panasonic or DSLR may be the better option as there are multiple of these cameras available to use. However, if the JVC can produce similar looking footage to the Panasonic or DSLR then this may also be an option.

Panasonic DVX200

I started out by testing the Panasonic on a human subject - this was so that I could familiarise myself with the settings and which ones would produce the most natural looking result. To define natural - I wanted the footage to appear as similar to the image as seen by the human eye.

Although this camera can shoot in 4K (which is the method I would have liked to use), I was limited to shooting in FHD 1080p as the correct memory card was not in the camera case (and this memory card could not cope with shooting in 4K or UHD). This is something I will ensure won't happen in future by checking that the correct memory card has been put with the camera.

In the first part of the test shoot, I was looking for settings which would allow the sky to remain blue yet have a high enough exposure so that the subject was not dark and dull. This would then allow the best result in colour grading as I would not be using the colour grading to compensate for any lack of colour in the original footage - the grading would merely be used to enhance and define the original piece.

As well as deciding on the settings for the correct exposure, I wanted to ensure these settings were appropriate for the crash zooms I plan to do as well (i.e. the exposure remains correct on long, medium and close up shots). On top of this, I wanted to ensure that the controls on the camera were accessible enough to use to enable me to re-frame and re-focus whilst shooting handheld.

The only setting I was unable to change on the Panasonic camera was the ISO - this setting was not clear on the camera - therefore, I will perform more research into the camera to find out how to change this setting. As I couldn't find it for this test shoot, the ISO setting remained the same at 500.

Initially I tried shooting without an ND filter to see how the camera would cope in natural daylight in an outdoor setting. The ISO was set to 500, the aperture to F5.4 and the shutter speed to 1/50. As the aperture was quite wide and the shutter speed was quite slow, the image became quite washed out. The sky behind the subject appeared white instead of the natural blue as seen by the human eye, and the subject's skin appear washed out and slightly grey/blue in tone rather than the natural peach tone.

Following this, I amended the settings so that the overall image would appear darker and therefore more natural. This involved adding an ND filter of 1/4 and changing the aperture to F7.2 whilst the shutter speed remained at 1/50 and the ISO remained set at 500. This produced an almost ideal result with the sky retaining its natural blue look and the skin having a slight peach tone. However, due to the slightly darker look, the skin tone does look slightly dull - but as the rest of the image is almost ideal, this should be rectifiable in the colour grading process.

Although the ND filter 1/4 produced a good result, I wanted to see how the darker ND filter 1/16 would work. As this decreased the exposure of the image, I widened the aperture to F6.3 whilst the shutter speed remained at 1/50 and the ISO at 500. Whilst this produced a natural looking image, it was slightly too dark and made the subject and environment look darker than it appeared in actuality. This would therefore make it more difficult to colour grade to achieve a natural looking result as I would be compensating for the slight lack of exposure as well as enhancing the colours of the image.

The settings which produced the best result were ISO 500, aperture F7.6, shutter speed 1/50 with an ND filter of 1/4. This allowed for the sky to retain its light blue tone whilst exposing the subject enough so that their skin tone did not appear too dull and grey in tone. The skin is slightly less peach / pink in tone than my desired look but the correct exposure of the overall image allows for this to be adjusted in the colour grading process without affecting the other aspects of the image too much.

To also see what the camera is capable of, I decided the test out the gain settings. Whilst this was not necessary for a well lit outdoors setting, it may prove useful in darker settings with less lighting - I will test this in future test shoots. I kept the settings the same as they were for the ones that produced the best image and then just adjusted the gain. Switching the settings to medium gain washed out the sky so that it appeared white and also washed out the skin of the subject. This would make it difficult to colour grade as I would need to first correct the exposure and then go on to adjust the colour tones.

As medium gain was too brightly exposed for this setting, I knew high gain would produce an even more brightly exposed shot which is not desirable for this environment. This completely over exposed the image so that the only qualities that remained were the shadows i.e. the subject's beard and the darker trees in the background. High gain also increased the level of noise in the image (this is also true of medium gain, however, high gain increased this level further). This proves that to get the best quality image with the lowest level of noise, gain should be avoided (especially in well-lit environments where it is not necessary). I will test gain in darker settings to see whether gain is necessary for a well exposed shot or whether this can be avoided to save the quality of the image.

Overall the best settings for this well-lit outdoor environment were ISO 500, aperture F7.6, shutter speed 1/50 and using ND filter 1/4.

Following on from testing the camera on a human subject, I decided to test it on the animals we may be using as well. On top of this, I also wanted to test focusing, framing and zooming on the animals as their movements can be slightly unpredictable and I will need to get used to using the camera to follow their movements whilst keeping them well framed and in focus. 

As I tested the camera settings on the human subject first, I knew the rough settings that would work to give the desired result. However, I did still change the settings slightly to discover the optimum result. 

I started off with the settings ISO 500, aperture F7.6, shutter speed 1/50 and no ND filter. This produced a fairly accurate image when compared to how the image appeared to the human eye. The only issue with the look of this footage was the over exposure of the sky in the background which appears bright white through the trees. Whilst this is not terrible, it is not ideal.

To compensate for the bright white appearance of the sky through the trees, I added an ND filter 1/4 to decrease the level of light entering the lens. The other settings remained the same; ISO 500, aperture 7.6, shutter speed 1/50. This produced a slightly better image - the sky still appeared white and slightly overexposed but it was a lot more similar to the colour of the sky in actuality. These settings produced the best quality image with the best exposure which will allow for the best colour grading. The exposure barely needs to be modified, the colour grading will mainly focus on enhancing and defining the colour tones within the image.

To test the settings of the camera further, I decided to change the shutter speed as a faster shutter speed would reduce the motion blur but would also let less light into the sensor (so the aperture needed to be widened to compensate for the decreased exposure). Motion blur allows for the movement to look natural, but I wanted to see if a reduction of this would increase the quality of the footage whilst still retaining the natural look. The settings I used for this footage were ISO 500, aperture F7.4, shutter speed 1/60 and ND filter 1/4. This produced good quality footage and the movement of the owl looked natural, however, there was not a noticeable difference between the shutter speed 1/50 and 1/60 - and as the exposure of the footage taken with a shutter speed of 1/50 was better, I will opt for a shutter speed of 1/50. The exposure of this footage could be easily fixed in colour grading, however, I want to minimise the amount of colour grading I do so that the footage retains its natural look, therefore, shooting with a shutter speed of 1/50 would be preferred.

I then filmed a different owl so that I could get used to the movement of different animals. This owl was slightly easier to film as you could position its head to the desired position without hurting the animal (the same is true of the first owl, however, the second owl stayed in the desired position for longer). The first set of settings I used with this owl were ISO 500, aperture F7.2, shutter speed 1/60 and no ND filter. This produced a good quality image, however, the white areas of the owl's feathers appeared over exposed in some movements - this was due to the lack of ND filter - this could be corrected in the colour grading process as the overall exposure of the rest of the image was almost ideal.

I then changed the settings so that the aperture was wider and an ND filter added - these settings were; ISO 500, aperture F6.3, shutter speed 1/60 and an ND filter of 1/4. This produced a slightly darker image due to the ND filter, however, the wider aperture compensated for this a little. The wider aperture increased the depth of field of the image, the subject is in crisp focus whilst the background is completely blurred - this produced quite a cinematic yet still natural look which my desired look for this project. This image may also appear slightly darker due to being in a slightly more shaded area - I will need to consider changes in environment when deciding the settings as darker environments may call for a wider aperture / slower shutter speed / no ND filter.

As well as owls, there are also meerkats available for us to use in the project. As they are quite unpredictable in their movements, I really wanted to test zooming and framing whilst keeping them in focus. I feel this was quite successful as I had already determined (through the tests on the human subject and the owls) the ideal settings to use. I used an ISO of 500, aperture F7.2, shutter speed 1/60 and ND filter 1/4. The meerkat enclosure was out in the open so there was no shade to compete with - this informed my decision to use an ND filter 1/4 on this footage as the image would have been too exposed without. The slightly higher shutter speed allowed for a little motion blur which made the movement of the meerkats look natural yet sharp in quality. The aperture of this footage is quite wide which allows the meerkats to be in clear focus whilst the environment surrounding them is slightly blurred - giving the footage the desired natural cinematic look. As the exposure of this footage was correct, colour grading will be a lot more effective as I will not need to compensate for incorrect exposure - I will just be adjusting the colour tones to enhance the natural yet cinematic look.

Overall, the best settings to use with the animal subjects appeared to be ISO 500, aperture F7.6, shutter speed 1/50 and ND filter 1/4. This allowed for correct exposure whilst giving the footage the natural cinematic look.

To test how well the footage from the camera would work with the colour grading process, I decided to grade one take from the human subject tests and one take from the animal subject tests.

The original footage was well exposed with all the colours looking natural - however, to give it a slightly more cinematic look I wanted to increase the brightness slightly and bring back some warmth to the subject's skin. As shown below, the skin of the subject was slightly purple in tone, the grass a dull green tone, the sky a pale blue tone, the trees a dirty yellow and the t shirt a faint purple/blue tone. I wanted to make these colours more vivid and correct the skin to be less blue and more orange/peach.

The colour graded result has increased saturation, making the image more vivid and warm in tone. It still looks natural but has added the cinematic element I desired. The exposure has been slightly increased but still allows for the sky to retain its natural blue colour (as opposed to becoming a washed out white colour like the overexposed footage from the test). The skin has been given a peach tone and the trees / grass are less dull.

To achieve this look I used a LUT to give the cinematic element I was after. This LUT was called 'FGCineTealOrange'. The teal / orange colour scheme is similar to that used in Hollywood movies to give an instant cinematic look as the colours are almost opposite each other on the colour wheel - adding a cinematic contrast to the footage. However, as I still wanted the footage to look natural, I decreased the intensity of this LUT to 21%. I also added colour correction of my own - I added orange highlights, blue shadows and faint red mid tones - this combined helped to balance out the blue tone of the original image whilst allowing the footage to retain its natural look.

The original footage of the owl was exposed correctly so all that needed to be done in the colour grading process was adjusting the colour tones. I wanted to retain the natural green of the environment but increase the warmth in the owl's colourings to make it contrast more from the background. As shown below, the colours within the footage are all quite muted and faded, I wanted to slightly increase the saturation and add in warm colour tones to introduce contrast to the footage.

The colour graded result has a slight higher contrast and warmer colour tones - this is exactly the look I wanted to go for. The warm tones of the owl's feathers make it contrast from the muted greens of the background. The depth of field also works to this image's advantage as it makes the contrast between the owl and the background greater.

To achieve this look I used the same Orange/Teal LUT at a low intensity. This enhanced the warmth in the owl's feathers and muted the green of the background. Like with the human subject, I also added my own colour correction by adding light blue highlight, dark purple shadows and orange/red midtones. This footage still looks natural yet a little more cinematic than the original footage.

Below are some clips from the test shoot - displaying the different settings and colour grading in action whilst also showing the experiment with both crash zooming and slow zooming and trying to retain framing and focus when performing these actions on both human and animal subjects.

JVC GY-HM850

The second camera I tested was the JVC GY-HM850. This shot in 1080p so produced the same quality footage as the Panasonic DVX200.

The criteria I was looking for remained the same as with the Panasonic; it must look natural, the sky and subject should not be washed out, the camera must be easy to used when shooting handheld whilst focusing and framing the shot for zooms / crash zooms / following animal subjects.

The first thing I noticed about the JVC GY-HM850 was the weight of the camera - it was considerably heavier than the Panasonic - making it more difficult to handle. This lead to more shaky footage which wasn't as easy to focus and reframe - meaning that the Panasonic produced smoother, better quality footage.

Also, due to the viewfinder / eyepiece of the camera, it was difficult to judge when the image was in focus - this lead to a lot of the footage being in soft focus - this again is where the Panasonic has the edge - the screen of the Panasonic is a lot clearer meaning that the footage is a lot easier and quicker to focus which is necessary for following moving subjects and the zooms I plan to do.

Also, with the JVC, I couldn't find the settings for the ISO or how to turn off the auto-iris so I could only change the aperture and shutter speed. This also caused an issue when testing the ND filters as the auto-iris increased the exposure every time I added an ND filter - making the use of the ND filter pointless.

The first settings I used were aperture F5.6, shutter speed 1/50 and no ND filter - I could not find the ISO and the auto iris interfered a little. This produced a well exposed image - the sky retained its natural blue tone and the skin tone of the subject did not appear too dull (however, it did lack the warm peach tone that could be seen with the human eye). Due to the viewfinder being difficult to use, the image appears soft which affects the overall quality of the footage. This should make a good canvas for colour grading as the exposure is almost correct meaning that little manipulation needs to be done to this in the colour grading process - the main focus can go on adjusting the colour tones within the image.

I then decided to use a slightly wider aperture of F5.4 and a shutter speed of 1/50 but this time with addition of an ND filter 1/4. Despite the auto-iris, the image does appear darker - however, it is not as dark as it would have been without the interference of the auto-iris. Also, because of the auto-iris, there is some additional noise in the image as this has increased the exposure to an unnatural level to compensate for the addition of the ND filter. Overall, the exposure of this image is okay - it has produced a natural look - however, the noise in the image has lowered the quality.

Like the Panasonic, I tested this camera on both human and animal subjects. Testing the settings on the human first allowed me to figure out which would likely work best for the animals (who were more unpredictable with their movements).

The first settings I used were similar to the ones I used on the human subject; aperture F6.3, shutter speed 1/50 and no ND filter. I decided against an ND filter at first due to being in a shaded area with little interference from sunlight. This produced a well exposed image with good depth of field as a result of the wide aperture. This gave the natural cinematic look I was aiming for as the owl stands out well from the natural environment in the background. The footage is a little dull but as the exposure is correct, the colours can be made more vibrant in the colour grading process. Like the footage featuring the human subject, the focus is a little soft due to the viewfinder being difficult to use.

I then changed the settings so that the aperture was wider - with a wider aperture I added an ND filter as more light was being allowed into the lens, increasing the exposure of the footage. The settings I used for this footage was; aperture F5.4, shutter speed 1/50 and ND filter 1/4. The wider aperture used in this footage also gave a greater depth of field - increasing the cinematic nature of the footage as the owl stands out further from the blurred background. I really like the exposure of this footage - none of the lighter parts are blown out and overexposed and it doesn't appear too dull - this will make it perfect for colour grading as the only manipulation required is with the colour tones of the owl and the background.

I then tested using the ND filter with a longer aperture to see how this would affect the overall exposure of the image. The settings I used for this were; aperture F7.2, shutter speed 1/50 and ND filter 1/4. As the aperture was slightly longer for this footage, the depth of field is less and the overall exposure is slightly duller. This makes it slightly less cinematic and a little more difficult to colour grade as the exposure will need to be increased slightly before the colours can be manipulated. This footage also suffers from the same problem as the other footage shot with the JVC; the focus is a little soft.

Finally, I tested using this camera to follow the meerkats. I decided to use aperture F7.2, shutter speed 1/50 and no ND filter. In hindsight I should have used an ND filter of 1/4 as certain areas of the sand appeared overexposed in the footage. However, the rest of image is quite well exposed which means I will only have to adjust the exposure slightly in the grading process which means I can focus on enhancing the colours within the footage.

Overall, the settings which produced the best result with this camera were having an aperture of F5.4, shutter speed 1/50 and ND filter 1/4. The ND filter reduced light interference from the daylight and the wider aperture and shutter speed compensated for the lack of exposure. The wide aperture also allowed for greater depth of field, producing the desired natural cinematic look.

Like with the Panasonic, I decided to colour grade one take from the human test shoot and one take from the animal test shoot.

The original footage was quite well exposed in this footage, however, the colours appeared quite dull which was preventing me from achieving the natural cinematic look I was after. The skin tone appeared a dull purple colour, the trees a dull orange/brown colour, the sky a light turquoise colour, the grass a dull green colour and the t shirt a muted lilac colour.

The colour graded image is a lot more vibrant and saturated with colour. This makes the subject look more defined within the shot. The skin tone has been restored to a pink / peach colour and the trees, sky, t shirt and grass have been enhanced in colour. Although the footage was soft in focus, I decided against sharpening the image as this would make it look unnaturally sharp - which would oppose the natural cinematic look I am aiming for.

To achieve this look I added the Orange/Teal LUT and reduced the intensity to 26%. I then increased the exposure of the midtones and the highlights slightly and added my own colour correction - I added light blue highlights, orange mid tones and blue shadows - this produced a more enhanced version of the footage which is the closest result to the desired look.

The original footage of the owl was well exposed with a good depth of field. This means it needs little manipulation in terms of the exposure of the footage. My aim for the colour grading of this image was to enhance the colours of the owl to further the contrast between it and the background. In the original footage, the colours within the owl's feathers are muted grey and muted brown whilst the background appears dark green in colour. 

The graded image is more enhanced than the original, whilst retaining the natural look. The colours in the background remain virtually the same just a little more vivid. The colours of the owl are a lot more defined - there is a lot more contrast between the colours of the feathers (the feathers have a much more vibrant brown/orange tone) - there is also a lot more contrast between the owl and the background. The owl is vibrant in colour whilst the background remains muted in colour. 

This was achieved by adding an Orange/Teal LUT at a low intensity and adding colour corrections of my own. I added orange midtones, faint blue shadows and light orange highlights. This combination of colour correction / grading brings out the vibrant browns / oranges in the owl's feathers. This produces the desired natural cinematic look.

Below are some clips from the test shoot - displaying the different settings and colour grading in action whilst also showing the experiment with both crash zooming and slow zooming and trying to retain framing and focus when performing these actions on both human and animal subjects.

Canon 7D

The third camera I used in the test shoot was a DSLR - the Canon 7D. I also booked out a fig-rig to use with the DSLR to make the footage more stable (due to the handheld shooting style). However, this turned out to be difficult to use whilst framing, focusing when doing zooms / crash zooms.

The Canon 7D shoots in 1080p HD which is not as high quality as what the Panasonic is capable of but is the same quality as the settings we used for the test shoot - putting all of the cameras on the same level to be judged.

Like with the Panasonic DVX200 and the JVC GY-HM850 the criteria I was looking for was; a natural look, not too washed out or too dark, stable and easy to use whilst framing / zooming / following subjects shooting handheld and allowed good scope for colour grading without decreasing the quality of the footage.

The first thing I noticed about the DSLR was that it was a lot less stable than the JVC and the Panasonic (the Panasonic being the most stable out of all three) as it is a lot smaller and can not be mounted on the shoulder (without additional equipment) like the Panasonic and JVC. However, it was arguably the best at crash zooming as the zooming and framing ring are very accessible and easy to adjust whilst shooting handheld.

I also noticed that even though I white balanced the camera (like I did with the Panasonic and JVC) the camera produced very warm toned footage - whereas the other cameras produced footage which leant towards the cooler tones. This may have been my fault as DoP rather than a fault with the camera - I may have white balanced the camera incorrectly, however, this mistake has shown me that I can get a better white balance result from the Panasonic or JVC - making these preferable to use.

It should also be noted that the DSLR does not have in-built ND filters like the JVC and Panasonic, making this a lot more time consuming to adjust (as physical ND filters need to be added to the lens). This means that I cannot quickly knock down the exposure of the footage which may be necessary in our project as I will be filming animals as well as people (which means I may need to capture a lot of unpredictable action - reducing the amount of time I have to apply ND filters).

The first settings I used were ISO 400, aperture F6.3 and shutter speed 1/60 - this produced quite a dark image, however, we were contending with the sun going down so this was not helping the test shoot. To increase the exposure I used an ISO of 400, however, I didn't want to set it too high as this would cause noise in the image. The wide aperture allowed for a good depth of field which distinguished the subject from the background - aiding the natural cinematic look. In hindsight I could have used a slighter higher ISO and a slightly slower shutter speed to increase the exposure of the image. The exposure can be increased in the post production process, however, this reduces the quality of the image and decreases the amount of manipulation I can do with the colour grading without decreasing the quality further. As the image is quite dark, the shadows and definition of the subject's beard get lost, an increased exposure would make these details more defined.

I then reduced the ISO to 250, kept the aperture at F6.3 and the shutter speed at 1/60.  The aim of this was to see whether a lower ISO would reduce the noise in the image and therefore increase the quality of it - however, as the image was so dark, the footage looked lower in quality as definition in the shadows of the image was lost. The sun had almost set at this point which also explains the darker image so to compensate for this I should have increased the ISO and lengthened the aperture. These settings did depict what was seen by the human eye as the environment was getting darker. I could increase the exposure in post production, although, as with the last image, this would decrease the overall quality of the image as that raw data is not there to perform a lot of manipulation which would reduce the amount I could colour grade the image.

When testing the camera on the animals, the sun was not setting which means that this footage can be compared on an equal level with the Panasonic and JVC. First of all, I used the settings ISO 250, aperture F9.0 and a shutter speed of 1/80. The low ISO means that the overall image is quite dark, however, due to this there is little noise within the image. To compensate for the low ISO, I used a fairly wide aperture of F9.0 which gives a fair depth of field - this works to distinguish the owl from the background. The shutter speed could have been slightly slower to allow a little more light into the lens and increase the exposure slightly as certain dark areas of the owl's feathers appear under exposed. This could be rectified in post production as the image is only slightly underexposed and therefore shouldn't decrease the quality of the image too much - this will then allow for me to define the colours of the owl's feathers with the colour grade.

To increase the exposure of the image, I opted for a slower shutter speed but kept the other settings the same. This gave me the settings; ISO 250, aperture F9.0 and a shutter speed 1/60. This slight difference in shutter speed produced a better exposed image - the owl looks more defined against the background and the darker areas of the feathers do not appear to be under exposed. This should allow me to get a good result in the colour grade as the exposure is correct, I just need to manipulate the colours to make the owl's feathers more vivid.

As an alternative way of increasing the exposure of the image, I decided to widen the aperture and return the shutter speed to the slightly faster setting. This gave me the settings; ISO 250, aperture F6.3 and a shutter speed of 1/80. The exposure of this image is better than the first but not quite as good as the second. The low ISO has allowed for no noise in the image and the wider aperture has compensated for the darkness by allowing more light into the lens. The wider aperture has also increased the depth of field which is apparent when you compare the second test shot and the third test shot. This greater depth of field adds an extra cinematic quality to the image, but I think it is important to find the balance between a cinematic look and a well exposed image - this is where the second take has the upper hand. Despite the slightly darker look than the second take, the exposure of this image is almost correct with no areas being under of over exposed. The colouring of the owl looks natural which was the aim of the test shoot.

As a final way of testing the exposure I increased the ISO 640, left the aperture at F6.3 and opted for a faster shutter speed of 1/250. This faster shutter speed meant that less light would be entering the lens and therefore would produce an image with a lower exposure. Due to this, I chose a higher ISO - however, this added a little noise to the image. Choosing a faster shutter speed would also reduce the motion blur within the image, although, as owls are quite slow moving when resting, this factor isn't the most important to consider. Therefore, it would be better to choose a lower ISO and a slower shutter speed if the animals I film are stationary (but if the animals are flying then the faster shutter speed may be the preferred option as these settings still produced a good quality, well exposed shot with minimal noise).

Overall, the settings ISO 250, aperture F9.0 and shutter speed 1/60 produced the best exposed shot (when filming in a well lit, outdoor environment when the sun is not setting). This produced an image that was well exposed with no noise and a fairly deep depth of field - giving it a natural yet cinematic look.

As with the other cameras, I graded one take from the human subject tests and one take from the animal subject tests.

The exposure of this original footage was quite dark and dull (yet was in line with what was seen through the human eye). The result of this low exposure is a dull skin tone on the human subject, dark shadows in the trees and the beard of the subject which don't allow for the detail in these to be seen, and a mid blue sky tone. The overall image looks quite grey in tone.

The colour graded image looks a lot more defined and vibrant. I increased the exposure, allowing for the details within the shadows of the image to be seen. This increased exposure has affected the quality of the image slightly and therefore a little noise can be seen within the image. The colour of the skin tone has improved and the colour of the sky is a brighter blue colour but has not become washed out. To increased the exposure, I mainly focusing on increasing the midones and shadows of the image to avoid washing out the highlights (the sky and t shirt) of the image.

To achieve this look I used the Orange/Teal LUT at an intensity of 19% to add a slight cinematic look whilst adding a warm tone to the human skin and a blue / green tone to the background. I also performed some specific colour correction by adding orange midtones, light blue highlights and dark blue shadows. This produced a natural, better exposed image.

The original footage of the owl was quite well exposed but all the colours appeared quite muted. The colour of the owl's feathers range from muted grey to muted brown, whilst the background is a dull dark grey and green colour. I will make the colours more vibrant and increase the exposure slightly to make the owl contrast more from the background and make use of the deep depth of field. 

The colour graded footage has a much more vibrant feel, drawing the owl out from getting lost in the background. The colours in the owls feathers have a much more warm orange / brown tone - enhancing its natural colours. The background has remained virtually the same which was my intention so that the owl would just stand out more. I increased the exposure as well as this aided my enhancement of the colours.

To achieve this look, like all the other colour graded images I used the Orange/Teal LUT at an intensity of 22% - this gives the image a slight cinematic look whilst remaining natural looking. The whites of the owl's feathers have gone from a dark grey to a light grey colour whilst the orange and brown colours have gone from a dark orange / brown to a light / medium orange / brown colour. I also added my own colour correction by adding dark blue / purple shadows, light blue highlights and orange midtones - this ensured the image remained balanced in colour whilst drawing out the oranges and browns in the owl's feathers.

Below are some clips from the test shoot - displaying the different settings and colour grading in action whilst also showing the experiment with both crash zooming and slow zooming and trying to retain framing and focus when performing these actions on both human and animal subjects.

The Panasonic produced the best quality footage, was easiest to handle whilst shooting handheld and focusing / framing / following subjects, and gave the most scope for colour grading. Even though I did not shoot in 4K due to an issue with memory cards, the FHD 1080p quality was still superior to the quality of the footage from the other cameras. This camera also had the most accurate white balance of all three cameras - when white balanced, the camera reflected the colours that could be seen by the human eye (but with a slightly cooler tone which was easily rectifiable in colour grading).  I will therefore be using this camera in future test shoots and for the project - this means I will be conducting further research into the camera so that I know the settings inside out which will enable me to make the best use out of the camera and produce the best quality work.

The JVC produced good quality footage but was heavy to hold which made it difficult to handle. The weight of the camera meant that focusing and framing the scenes was a lot more unstable than desired  meaning that the overall quality of the footage was affected negatively. Also, the viewfinder was difficult to use, meaning that a lot of the footage was soft in focus - a problem I did not experience with either the Panasonic or DSLR. Another negative point to using this camera was that the auto-iris setting was not clearly displayed meaning that this interfered with the exposure whilst testing the ND filters (i.e. every time I added an ND filter, the auto-iris would increased the exposure of the shot). Even though this would be an easy solve if I did more research into the camera, the Panasonic produced better quality, more stable footage and had controls which were more accessible.

The most obvious problem with using the DSLR was that it was too shaky and there was not enough scope for colour grading without reducing the quality of the footage. Another issue was that the white balance did not appear to be accurate to what could be seen with the human eye - resulting in warm toned footage being produced. Also, the LCD screen of the DSLR was set to quite a high setting - making the image look brighter on the screen. As a result, the footage I was producing turned out darker than it appeared on the screen. If I were to use this camera in future, I would set the brightness of the camera's LCD screen to match what I could see with my eyes. However, a plus side to this camera was its ease of use - the focus ring and zoom ring were very accessible whilst shooting handheld - if the footage had turned out more stable, then this may have been a good choice of camera - but as the Panasonic produced better quality images, was more stable and also had accessible controls, this was the clear choice.

PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: Polly Morgan - Director of Photography - Research

As a young female myself, I decided to do some research into young female directors of photography to see how their personal style is developing and what key traits are present across their works. I also decided to contact them for additional information and advice.

The first director of photography I decided to research was Polly Morgan.

Firstly, I decided to look at some of the works in which she was in charge of the cinematography.

Polly performed the cinematography for 11 episodes of American Horror Story's series Asylum. As a horror series with dark themes, it was important for the cinematography to reflect this through the lighting, exposure, framing, colours, mise en scene etc used.

In this scene, Polly creates a slight disorientating feeling as the nun drinks (presumably alcohol) by pulling the character in and out of focus - shifting the focus between the background and the character. Low light levels are used as a theme throughout the programme to embody the dark nature of the series, but in cases such as this scene, the low light really aids to the disillusion and confusion, making the cinematography more effective in conveying this mood to the audience. As this is also a close up shot, it draws the audience in - this combined with the shifting of focus and the low light helps the audience to experience the same disorientated, unbalanced feeling the character is experiencing.

Working with the set design team, Polly has framed this scene to look very stark, empty and harsh. This look is achieved by minimal objects within the space and framing the scene so that these objects are spaced out - leaving a considerable amount of empty space - adding to the harsh look. The light from the windows also hits the spaces left by the objects, highlighting the emptiness. The low light helps to enhance this light as it contrasts to the dark space surrounding it. The scene, like the scene before, has a very desaturated look - as if the colour has been drained out of it - this enhances the sinister atmosphere within the series. The long shot also helps to isolate the characters within the frame, again adding to the empty, stark nature of the scene.

This scene is filmed on a dutch angle, offsetting the balance. This gives the scene an unsettling feel as this is an unnatural way to view a piece of action for the audience. The unsettling angle of this helps to enhance the disturbing theme of the piece - showing how shot sizes and angles work to evoke certain emotions. The low level of overall light combined with the small bit of light coming from back of the scene creates a backlight, silhouetting the characters in the frame. This adds a sense of anonymity to the characters, furthering the unsettling feeling for the audience as they are unaware of exactly who these characters are. As with the other scenes, the colour grading of this scene is very desaturated, enhancing the silhouette nature of the characters. Although, instead of the black and shadows of the scene merely appearing black, they have been given a dark green tint adding to the eerie feel of the scene. This green tint also helps to suggest that this scene is supposed to be in colour (as opposed to black and white - which may appear to be the case if the shadows of the scene did appear pitch black). The dutch angle, combined with the long shot type helps to emphasise the height of the character on the right, adding to the eerie, unnatural feel of the scene.

Below shows some of the colours used within scenes of this production. The colours used within scenes varies depending what the scene is depicting, however, the scene below displays many of the colours generally used within the production. Typically, the scenes consist of neutral colours (i.e. the dark olive green, neutral sand colour and very dark green) which make up the setting and environment of the scenes. Other colours such as the light piercing blue and dark blue are introduced as features of the scene - they are made more defined and enhanced by the neutral colours making up the environment - therefore these colours stand out and draw the audience's eye to these pops of sharp colour. The colours used for the setting are all very neutral and muted - this helps drain the colour from the scene to make it appear desaturated - the desaturated nature of the scene both helps to make it look sinister and eerie as well as helping draw the audience's eye to the colours that are introduced in the scene. The colours used within this scene are cool in tone - so whilst they draw the audience's attention, they are in keeping with the desaturated, sinister look of the scene.

In the following scene, the character is first shown through a mesh screen - this adds intrigue to the scene as the audience is unaware of what they are seeing at first. The obscuring nature of the screen makes it difficult to work out the character behind it, keeping the audience in suspense. Once she opens the door, the character is revealed. A further unsettling detail of this scene is that the character appears to be walking towards the audience by walking towards the camera, looking into the lens. This puts the audience on edge as they feel as if they are the victim within the scene. As well as this, the shadows cast on the characters face (coming from the harsh light from the left of the frame) creates a harsh, sinister look on the characters face - conveying this mood to the audience. The medium close up nature of this shot also means that the audience are not receiving a lot of information about the scene - they can only see the character in the centre of the frame surrounded by an empty environment - this means they are focused on the character and what she appears to be doing (walking slowly towards the camera - before murdering another character) - due to this lack of information provided by the shot type, the audience are kept in suspense to what is about to happen. As with the other scenes, muted colours are used (with the same green tint which is apparent in a number of scenes). These colours, as well as the costume of the character, hint that this event took place in the past as these aspects give the footage an aged look and therefore depict a different era. (1940s / 50s?) The set design (the mesh screen) also helps to suggest the time period as this style door is only used in past scenes (there are no doors this style in the 'current' time period of the production).

Overall, the cinematography style of American Horror Story: Asylum is made out to look eerie and sinister to reflect the theme of the production. This is done by playing with the focus, dutch angles, desaturated green tinted colour grading and harsh lighting to throw the audience into a sense of disillusion. The production is given an overall low exposure to give a dark look (which again reflects the theme of the show). The cinematography is also dependent on other aspects of production in order to give the desired look - i.e. the cinematographer must work with set design and costume to make sure the shot types / colour scheme both compliment and are complimented by these aspects.

As well as performing the cinematography for American Horror Story: Asylum, Polly Morgan was director of photography for 2 episodes of Call The Midwife.

Call The Midwife is set in the 1950s / 60s and therefore it is important for the cinematography to reflect this (as well as evoking the emotions portrayed within the episodes). As a family drama, Call The Midwife has a much brighter tone than American Horror Story, this is evident through Polly's cinematography techniques.

The composure of this medium closeup shot puts the nun at the centre of attention for the audience. This is done by using a great depth of field to blur the background and shift the focus entirely onto the nun. Like with many scenes of Call The Midwife, the shot is given a warm tone - this helps to give the scene a vintage feel (through the uses of browns for the shadows and oranges in the highlights / midtones) and display the time period of 1950s / 60s in which the drama is set.

Like with American Horror Story, Polly would have needed to work with the set and costume design team to ensure all aspects of production coordinated to produce the best / most accurate result. Through this collaboration, the mise en scene of this scene helps to depict the time period of the drama. The colour of the walls help to depict that of a hospital / nursery whilst the blinds and cribs help to suggest the 1950s/60s time period. The warm light coming through the windows (and just the warm lighting of the set) aid the vintage feel of the programme, once again helping to set this drama in the past. This long shot positions the couple at a lower place than the doctor - connoting the vulnerable circumstance they are in - this shows how camera framing is much more than just how the image looks, it is also used to convey the mood and emotion of the piece.

The blocking and framing of this medium shot places the couple an awkward distance from each other - showing the uncomfortable / awkward / sad nature of the scene. The low level of light in this scene casts shadows over the characters faces, helping convey the atmosphere of sadness. The colour grading of this scene is much less saturated and warm toned than the majority of the scenes within the programme. Instead of the warm orange and brown tones, the picture has a cool green tone (with dark greens making up the shadows of the picture and light grey / blue tones making up the highlights of the picture). This, like the lighting and blocking, helps to create a sombre atmosphere.

Generally, the colours used within the scenes are very warm toned in colour which adds to the vintage feel of the programme. As shown by the colour grading in this scene; the highlights used are a pale cream / yellow tone, the midtones a mid peach / orange tone and the shadows a darker orange / brown tone - all together, this creates warmth within the scenes. The lighting within the scene is also very bright, illuminating all the characters well and ridding them of any harsh shadows on their faces - this creates a natural look whilst also connoting an essence of joy and happiness. The backlight in this scene works especially well as it works to illuminate the droplets of water coming from the watering can - this gives the scene a very idyllic look which when combined with the activities shown within the scene (children playing), portrays a very stereotypically 'perfect' image. This is very appropriate to the genre of the programme as a family drama as these are usually light hearted in tone and feature generally happy stories.

Overall, the cinematography within Call The Midwife is constructed to portray an idyllic representation of the 1950s / 60s time period in which it is set. The warm colour tones within the colour grading help to give the programme a vintage feel which helps to set it in the past. The warmth also bring an underlying positive tone to the programme - no matter what hardships the characters face, the message in the end always ends up being positive. This is all very appropriate to the family drama genre as, generally speaking, these focus on positive storylines where everything ends up 'happily ever after'. That being said, there are scenes which do depict emotions other than joy and happiness and this is reflected in the shot types and colour choices. When characters are troubled with difficult situations or sadness, the colour grading takes on a much cooler tone and instead of brightly exposed scenes, harsh shadows are used to create darkness within the frame.

Analysing both American Horror Story and Call The Midwife has shown me that all the elements which make up the cinematography of a scene are used in conjunction to portray different time periods, status of characters, times of day, moods, emotions, etc. The choice of cinematography entirely depends on the story and what you are trying to make the audience feel through the various techniques being used. I will use this in my decisions for the cinematography of VET-MAN - I will consider what is unfolding in the plot of the piece and which emotions should be evoked in the audience to correspond with the action occurring - this will inform what shot types should be used, how the characters will be framed, what lighting / exposure is needed for this shot and which settings should be used to create this, and which colours should be used and enhanced. All of these aspects combined will help to slot VET-MAN into its dark comedy genre and help to enhance the story being told so that it elicits the desired response from the audience.

Finally, to see what further information Polly could provide and what advice she could offer, I decided to get in contact with a set list of questions:

1. How would you describe your personal cinematography style?

Cinematic Naturalism

2. How did this style evolve?

I studied Art History and I always responded to the work that I could relate to. Works that felt real to me. I feel that authentic imagery is more powerful than a heavily stylised approach.

3. Do you have a favourite piece of kit to use that helps you achieve this style? How did you discover this piece of kit?

No. Tools are just paintbrushes to help create the work. It doesn't really matter to me what equipment I have - its what you do with it!

4. What do you get ready during the pre production of a project? In your opinion, what's the most important part of pre production?

I just want to establish a strong relationship with my director. We need to get to know each other and I need to talk their language before we can go into production. A smooth production is all about communication.

5. How would you describe your use of colour grading? Would you say colours are used to enhance the visual quality of the piece of to enhance mood/emotion or to establish your personal style? (or a mixture of all three?)

Everything always comes from the STORY you are telling. In pre production, you collaborate with the director, designer and costume designer to create the palette for the production. Colour grading only ever balances the imagery. Colour choices are made very early on in production and yes, they help to tell the story in a specific way.

6. What do you like to play around with most: lighting, colours, framing or depth of field? (or other?) And why?

As I mentioned before, all choices come in response to the STORY. What are you trying to say? How are you trying to make the viewer feel? How can you use the tools available to you to achieve that?
It might be all of the above depending on the project? Or it might be a black and white project so it will only be three?
(That being said, varying depth of field constantly can be distracting. DPs usually choose a stop for a given production and keep it consistent through the photography.)

7. What would your top advice be for an aspiring director of photography?

Volunteer on productions as a PA or whatever role you can get. Don't be too picky. Get out on as many sets as you can and ask questions so you can learn as much as you can. It is not an easy path so be prepared for a lot of ups and downs. You might have to work a 2nd job to support yourself in the beginning as people want to hire people with experience and you need to figure out a way to get that!

8. Would you say being a young female has hindered you at all in your career or do you feel this hasn't had an impact?

Yes. At the beginning of my career I think it was harder for women. However, that is changing and now, it isn't a negative factor. Regardless of how hard it was however, it is all about getting out there and doing it. If someone says no, then go ask someone else. Its hard for everyone at the end of the day and you need to be tenacious and hard working.
You have to be 100% sure this is the career path you want to pursue and then give it everything you have got!


From my research into the pieces Polly has worked on and the information / advice she has given me, I have learnt:

- The style in which the production is shot largely relies on the story you are trying to tell. I will concentrate on the message behind the production and what we are trying to convey to the audience. As our production is a dark comedy, we are attempting to convey a sense of satirical humour - nothing too on-the-nose. As this is the case, I will not be shooting the production as a typical comedy (with bright saturated colours), I will be shooting the production as if it were a cinematic drama but with handheld, natural camerawork. The pictures will be of good quality with enhanced natural looking colours (not too over saturated and vibrant like typical comedies) and a fair depth of field in which the background is slightly blurred. This will ensure that the audience's focus is on the deadpan delivery and the humour within the dialogue - fitting with the cinematic yet dark comedy genre.

- The two examples of Polly's work I chose were very different from each other and the cinematography reflects this. For AHS, Polly created a very dark atmosphere through her cinematography, whereas, in Call The Midwife, a much brighter, idyllic atmosphere was created. This shows that whilst personal style is important, it is much more important to adapt the cinematography to the theme of the production for the most effective result and to depict themes intended. This shows that I need to focus on the themes within the story of our production and base my cinematography decisions on this.

- Keep the depth of field the same / relatively similar throughout shooting to prevent this distracting the audience from the action within the frame. Test to find the best aperture and keep the camera on the same stop throughout production - this will keep a sense of continuity in the film. I will use this information when analysing the 1st test shoot and will keep it in mind for the second test shoot where I will choose one set aperture and stick with it (and test it on different length shots to ensure it works for all of them). Choosing a wider aperture will add a greater depth of field, therefore the subject within the frame will be in focus whilst the background will be blurred, whereas, a longer aperture will give a deeper depth of field, making more of the shot in focus (from the subject to the background). I will need to consider this in future test shoots and decided whether I want a wide or long aperture (or somewhere in between which allows the subject(s) to be the focus of the frame whilst the background / setting is slightly blurred).

- Polly highlighted how 'tools are just paintbrushes' and that 'it's what you do with it' that matters. This supports my plan to conduct in depth test shoots to decide on my equipment - no equipment is necessarily the 'best' but it needs to be appropriate for what I plan to do with it. This means I will test all the cameras to first of all discover their settings and which settings create the desired look. I will then test to see if the cameras can perform the functions I plan to use in VET-MAN (e.g. everything being handheld and crash zooms). Whichever camera produces the best picture and has the ease of use to perform the necessary functions will be the best choice for our production.

- The production is a collaborative process - I will need to work with my director to work out how he wishes to block the scene and what this means for my camera positions. I will then storyboard and shot list this and run it by the director to ensure our visions correlate. I will also need to work with the producer (and director) to decide on the set design, costume and props as these aspects will both affect the story and the look of the production. I will need to ensure that the mise en scene compliments the colour palette of the production - this is something I will need to come up with soon to ensure this informs all decisions regarding the mise en scene - this will also mean that I can perform my upcoming test shoots with this colour scheme in mind so that this can be tested to make sure it gives the look I am intending (a cinematic, dark yet natural look).

PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: Presentation One

The aim of this first presentation was to present our initial ideas to Simon and the class and to get the project green-lit into production. I presented my ideas for the cinematography of the piece and how I planned to research and execute this.



The feedback I received from this pitch was:

- It is important as DOP to get a clear idea of the tone of the piece and to establish this throughout. I will conduct more research into the desired tone I wish to deliver VET-MAN in.

- The camera tests need to be really detailed.

- I need to produce a detailed Director Of Photography statement to outline my intentions and reasons for these intentions for the production of VET-MAN.

- I need to research cinematography and DOPs.

PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: Brooklyn Nine Nine - Research

Brooklyn Nine Nine is another television series which has cinematography similar to the style I am aiming for with VET-MAN.

Brooklyn Nine Nine was created by Michael Schur and Dan Goor and falls into the crime comedy genre. The Director of Photography in charge of Brooklyn Nine Nine is Giovani Lampassi.

Lampassi opts for a handheld single camera style which is similar to that used in The Thick Of It, however, the camerawork is a lot more polished and structured in Brooklyn Nine Nine. This gives the audience less of a natural informal feel (as if they are watching real life) and more of a structured processed feel (as if they are watching a production). This is because TTOI and Brooklyn Nine Nine fall into different sub-genres of comedy; TTOI satirises the political workings of the government whilst Brooklyn Nine Nine is an overt 'laugh out loud' comedy. Both use a single camera set up which gives each programme a natural feel - it is the more polished nature of Brooklyn Nine Nine (through the use of artificial lighting, more enhanced colour grading and more structured framing) that makes it feel less natural and observational than TTOI. 

Brooklyn Nine Nine also uses quirky incidental music between scenes, usually when changing locations (i.e. from the precinct to a crime scene) - this adds to the structured feel of the show as the production relies on these aspects to keep the light hearted tone.

In order to analyse the cinematography in more depth, I decided to look into Episode 17 from Season 5 and its iconic opening scene. 

This scene has received a lot of attention for its comedy value - therefore I thought I would look into what makes it stand out - most of the comedy comes from the writing and directing of the scene, however, the camerawork really compliments this and heightens the comedy.

The scene opens and closes on the same long shot of the lineup. This establishes where the scene takes place and also what event is occurring within the scene. The lighting is all very natural yet enhanced with cool tones. It is important for the lighting to accurately depict that of a police precinct but also to illuminate the characters enough for a well polished production. The lighting on the detective and witness is quite dark with two in set lights behind them and then light faintly from the front. The use of lighting behind them as well as in front of them makes the rest of the room appear dark - depicting how this setting really appears in actuality. It also ensures that the characters are the ones grabbing the audience's attention. The lighting for the police lineup is a lot harsher and whiter - again, accurately depicting what this situation would be like in real life (just more enhanced). The lineup is lit by a harsh cool toned white light (from in front and slightly above the characters), creating a harsh shadow behind them and signifying the severity of this situation. The colour grading of the shots of both the lineup and the detective and witness is quite natural with an underlying cool tone. The cool tone helps to suggest the police environment as this is typically seen as quite a cold, serious environment (and blue tones help to connote this). 

Shot reverse shot is used during conversations with slight zooms being used when anything of weight is said to add gravity to the seen. This shot reverse shot technique is used to just communicate the conversation between the characters, this shows that sometimes standard camera techniques need to be used to move along the narrative of a programme.

Like The Thick Of It, Brooklyn Nine Nine uses zooms to emphasise certain aspects. In this case, faced with the preposterous idea of singing 'I Want It That Way' to determine who the murderer is (as this is the only information the witness has), the characters all look very confused. To heighten this expression of confusion, the camera zooms in from a mid shot of two of the characters to a close up of the character singing.

The two shot of the detective and the witness adds comedy to the situation (the detective is obviously enjoying the serious procedure more than he should be, whilst the witness stays serious). When the witness realises that number 5 was the one to kill her brother, instead of zooming into her face, it cuts to a close up of the witnesses face in horror / shock / disgust. This gives a more immediate effect as she suddenly realises that number 5 was the killer.

The rest of the episode follows similar camera techniques - maintaining the more structured handheld technique all the way through. The camerawork follows a format - wide handheld shots are used to establish the location (usually accompanied by quirky incidental music to uplift the tone of the show), mid shots are used during conversations between characters, closer shot reverse shots are also used during conversations between characters, zooms are used to add weight and emphasis to the dialogue of the characters, zooms are also used as reveals, and the handheld camera is also used for tracking and panning shots to follow characters during moving scenes. The same techniques can be observed in each episode, showing that the show follows a structured format and also establishes a personal style by doing this.

Brooklyn Nine Nine seems to be a lot more structured in its approach than TTOI. Brooklyn Nine Nine opts for more standard, formal camera techniques during conversations (shot reverse shots) and sticks to using one technique all the way through this conversation, whereas, TTOI switches between using techniques such as shot reverse shot and panning between characters during conversations, creating a more informal, unstructured feel. As previously stated, for the audience, watching Brooklyn Nine Nine feels more like watching a structured comedy programme (formatted to evoke humour in the audience) whilst TTOI relies on the audience understanding the satire within the programme. In this sense, TTOI could be seen to be targeted towards a more intellectual active audience, whilst Brooklyn Nine Nine is more appropriate to a wider audience as the humour is more on the surface. This is where I will need to consider the target audience of VET-MAN and how this will impact my camera choices. Whilst the target audience is more determined by the writing and directing of the piece, the camera choices help to compliment this and help to make the tone and style of the show more explicit to the audience.

As mentioned before, wide shots are used to establish the location of the scenes. For the exterior shot of the fictional 99th precinct, the exterior of the actual 78th precinct is used, whilst the inside of the precinct is a purpose built set. This reinforces the idea that the exterior and interior shots of a location do not necessarily have to be the same place in real life. Using the exterior shot of the 78th precinct works effectively to show the show is set in a police precinct, the interior shots continue this idea as the set design reflects that of a police office environment (with desks in the middle of the office for the detectives, a holding area for detainees, break room, evidence room and separate office rooms for superior police positions). The mise en scene (formed from a combination of the set design, costume, props, lighting, colour gradin etc) works to accurately portray a police environment, making the setting of the show believable. The same technique is used for exterior shot of other locations - wide shots are used to establish the location of the scenes. The sound design also compliments the cinematography - especially considering the consistent changing of locations. Non diegetic quirky, upbeat (sometimes tense) background music is occasionally used when changing scenes to help keep the show upbeat as a comedy (it would be easy for this show to become more of a drama than a comedy if the tone isn't kept lighthearted). Diegetic sound effects are also added to scenes within the police office (e.g. elevator bells, phone calls, alarms etc.) to make the setting more believable as a police department office environment. The same is used for other locations e.g. in the restaurant scene there are diegetic sounds of cutlery clinking and background chatter, which combined with the visuals of the scene, establishes the restaurant location.

Whilst I have already mentioned how zooms are used to emphasise emotions within dialogue, they are also used to reveal further action within scenes and therefore make these situations more humorous. In the scene below, the sergeant walks into the captain's office to find him and a detective doing yoga - however, this is not immediately apparent when the sergeant walks into the office. Due to using a mid shot as the sergeant walks into the room, the captain and detective doing yoga are out of sight to the audience. The camera only zooms out once the sergeant notices what is happening, making it seem that the audience and the sergeant are experiencing this revelation together, making the humour of the scene more immediate. Following this, standard camera techniques are used during their subsequent conversation (shot reverse shots), showing that the technique of using zooms as reveals can be woven seamlessly into the production.

The colour grading of Brooklyn Nine Nine follows the same technique as a lot of police themed programmes - natural yet cool toned. As shown by the colour tones of the characters skin, this is very natural and authentic to how their skin tones would be observed in real life - a slight peach tone. However, due to the police tone of the programme, there is an underlying cool tone which reflects slightly on the characters' skin tone resulting in a slight cool pink / peach tone. This cool tone continues through to the colours on the wall and the costumes of the characters - whilst this is more due to the set design and wardrobe, these cool colours are enhanced by the colour grading, drawing these cool blues to the audience's attention. The cool colours are apparent in the highlight tones of the scenes as well - this is shown through the window in the room - what would naturally be a whiter colour appears light blue / grey due to the cool colour grading.

What I have learned from this research:

Handheld camera doesn't have to be informal by nature - Brooklyn Nine Nine manages to maintain a very polished and structured look despite all scenes being shot handheld. This is due to the other elements of production being more processed - i.e. artificial lighting is used, colour grading is used more to enhance the colours, the framing of the shots appears to be more constructed etc.

As also shown by my research into Alan Partridge, zooms are very effective in acting as reveals. This keeps the audience anticipating the entire event occurring in the scene and therefore makes the reveal more effective in evoking humour as it comes as a shock to the audience. Brooklyn Nine Nine has done this effectively in multiple scenes (e.g. showing the sergeant walking into the room before zooming out to reveal the captain and a detective doing yoga) and has the desired effect of making this unexpected scene more humorous to the audience. I am aiming to use a similar technique in VET-MAN by beginning certain scenes on a close up shot before zooming out to reveal the vet doing something preposterous.

A common technique used in both Brooklyn Nine Nine and TTOI is using the handheld camera to zoom in from a mid shot to a close up shot of a character's face to emphasise either the dialogue or the emotion of the character. This is another technique I wish to use in VET-MAN as this is effective in both adding weight to what the character is saying or making their expression more accentuated.

As Brooklyn Nine Nine shows, it is possible to have natural colour grading yet enhanced to connote certain things about the tone and genre of the show. The skin tones and colours of the environments (both interior and exterior) are very natural looking, adhering to what is seen naturally by the human eye - yet there is an underlying cool tone and many parts of the set are dressed in blue to connote the theme of police and crime. I wish to do something similar with VET-MAN - I want everything to look very natural to suggest to the audience that this is authentic natural behaviour, but I will enhance the colours to look slightly more cinematic and introduce some cool tones to suggest the medical theme of the programme. (Although these cool tones will only be slight as VET-MAN is more about the character himself rather than focusing on being a vet, therefore the colour grading will reflect this by maintaining mainly natural to what is seen by the human eye).

Brooklyn Nine Nine also reinforces the importance of establishing the location to the audience, especially when there are multiple locations involved. Wide shots are used to establish exterior locations whilst long shots are used to establish interior locations. Often when cutting from one interior location to another, Brooklyn Nine Nine will use the same type of long shot to begin and end a scene to make it feel like it has come full circle and is complete. This is something I will consider when forming the storyboard and shot list for VET-MAN.

Brooklyn Nine Nine occasionally uses short pieces of music between scenes to maintain an upbeat atmosphere, however, this does make the show feel more structured and less natural and reflective of real life. This shows that as we are aiming for a more natural, observational feel for VET-MAN, music should be avoided between scenes as this would immediately make it feel more structured. Although, I will keep this idea in mind for when it comes to the edit as adding incidental music immediately lifts the mood and tone if we find that some of the scenes in VET-MAN haven't played out as intended or require an extra boost of energy.

PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: Jamie Cairney - Directory of Photography - Research

To accompany my research into The Thick Of It, I decided to get in contact with the DoP, Jamie Cairney, to gain more of an insight into the production of it.

I approached Jamie with a list of questions and received the following answers:

1. How did you decide on the style in which The Thick Of It was shot? Was this mainly through discussion with the director or did you push your own ideas forward?

As with everything I shoot, the style was a joint decision between myself and the director; in this case, Armando Iannucci. I'm a big believer in the story should always lead the shooting style and I approach every project with a blank canvas..

In our initial conversations, Armando was keen to explore a shooting style that would reflect the frenzied, petty and high stakes world of politics. Neither of us wanted the camera to be static or too 'controlled', so the first decision was to keep everything handheld. Armando wanted to take things further and we explored visual styles which ignored convention. We watched the film 'Festen' and a fly on the wall documentary which followed Tony Blair and Alister Cameron in their early days of power: 'The News From No.10'. I also re-watched some of the early work of Barry Ackroyd BSC whose work was big influence on me when I was in my teens.

It was from these references that we devised a hybrid 'dogme' and fly on the wall style which we employed for the 1st three episodes of the show:

1. We didn't formally 'block' or rehearse the scenes or give actors marks.

2. The actors would regularly improvise dialogue and ignore continuity, so no two takes were the same.

3. We used two cameras 99% of the time. The other operator and I would follow the action trying NOT to anticipate what was going to happen, so it would feel more spontaneous. We also over accentuated the 'handheld' feel by being less precise with our camera operation and steadiness.

4. Lighting would always feel 'found' and real as opposed to perfect.

5. The editor would cut just the sound to make the story work and then added shots that worked (I believe this approach was abandoned in later series).


2. How did you decide on which equipment to use?

Over the course of the 3 series technology was beginning to change, however, the show reached it's last episode before modern digital systems like Red or Alexa (and 35mm zoom lenses) were affordable or lightweight enough.

The 1st three episodes we shot on the Sony DSR570 in standard defintion. The reason for this choice was because the CCD sensors this camera had were more sensitive than others available at the time. In addition to this, cameras were smaller and lighter than Digital Betacam (the ubiquitous format at the time) but used the same B4 mount zoom lenses for 2/3" inch sensors (note we always used zoom lenses).

In testing, I really liked the images from the 570 and I found that increasing the gain (essentially increasing ISO) gave the images a 16mm feel, a bit like Kodak 7219. So we shot the whole first series with 6db of gain. We also used a polariser a lot to help with shiny foreheads caused by toplight.

The second series was shot in HD using the Sony HDW750 HDCam camera.

The third series was shot using PMW800 XDCam cameras.

If we were still shooting now, I would have certainly switched to Amira, using the Super 16 setting of this camera.


3. How was the production lit? It appears to have such a natural look but was lighting equipment required to create this look?

I tried to use natural light and adapted practical light where possible. On the first series, this was a problem as we shot in winter, so we had to light some scenes night for day. However we only had lights outside the windows, we barely ever used any lights on the floor of the sets. I used a 4kw HMI Aurosoft, through a 1/2 grid cloth a lot in these situations, for speed.

If we did need to use lights on set, we would rig them above. The reasons for this were so we didn't get in the way of the actors and also, so we could point the cameras anywhere, anytime.

4. What were the main aspects you considered during preproduction?

My main concern was to achieve the style we had agreed upon for the show and maintain it across the series. From a more technical point of view, as always I had to consider the organisation of lighting and camera crews and equipment across the shoot.

In all locations, my gaffer and I would devise a scheme to change or add practicals and if necessary rig film lights. This would all be done in advance so there was no lighting time on set.


5. What would your main advice be to someone hoping to achieve a similar handheld style?

Firstly, ensure this style is right for the story you are telling. Once you have decided, stick to your guns! I got quite a lot of flak from some bitter older DoPs who felt I should have shot the show like a traditional comedy. But I stood firm and I don't regret any choices we made. Actually I have been asked many many times to shoot other projects using this style. I've always turned them down.

Secondly, from a technical standpoint you are in a much better position than I was when we shot 'The Thick of It'. The CCD cameras we were using had very little dynamic range, maybe 2-3 stops, so exposing naturally lit situations was regularly a problem, especially balancing hot windows. The modern CMOS cameras are far superior not just in dynamic range but also colour depth and the ability to shoot raw. I do wish we'd had these cameras back then!

From this research I have learnt:

- It can be good to not anticipate the action within a scene, this can aid the natural and observational camerawork and add to this sense of realism. A slight bit of unsteadiness can help the scene to feel spontaneous and natural (which is the desired outcome for the production of VET-MAN).

- Jamie mentioned increasing the gain in order to give the production a 16mm feel, suggesting that the visible effects of increasing gain (e.g. increased noise within the shot) are not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, they can contribute to the look of a production. This again gives The Thick Of It a realistic and natural feel which adds to the fly on the wall / observatory style. This shows that all decisions relate back to the intended style. This means that all my cinematography decisions within VET-MAN need to relate back to the realistic style I am aiming for. 

- Not every production needs to be artificially lit - the lighting needs to be appropriate for the production and the desired look so if this needs to be achieved through natural and practical lighting then this can be done. Lighting equipment can also get in the way if shooting in a spontaneous and realistic way such as shown in The Thick Of It, therefore, natural lighting may not only be an aesthetic choice but also a practical choice. 

- When testing lighting I should attempt to find ways to make it mimic natural / practical lighting like Jamie did in The Thick Of It so that the realistic quality of VET-MAN is maintained. 

PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT: The Thick Of It - Research

The Thick Of It (TTOI) is a satirical British comedy focusing on activities within the British government.

The cinematographer for the majority of the episodes throughout the four series was Jamie Cairney.

Cairney's cinematography gives the programme an unmistakable style - using handheld camera to follow the characters and in shot crash zooms to enhance the actions within the scene.

As Rebecca Front (Minister for Social Affairs, Nicola Murray MP in TTOI) notes; "There's an unmistakable house-style, which is in no small measure created by the extraordinary work of Jamie Cairney and his team of guerilla camera operators. They nip in and out of rooms, hide in corners and frequently run full pelt to catch a particular moment. It's impressive to behold, and what makes it more impressive is that you frequently don't behold it. They seem to be invisible. Like Jeeves, they shimmer in and out of rooms, only very occasionally crashing into a filing cabinet. The upshot of this is that when you're doing a scene, you really feel as though you and the other actors are alone in the room. This meant that scenes, particularly with Peter Capaldi, had an intensity that I hadn't expected. I never quite knew where emotionally we would end up. This is what acting should be like; it's as close as TV ever gets to live theatre, because Armando never allows the mechanics of making a programme to get in the way. And all of that informs what you see on screen. The pace of the jokes, the pressure of the situations all stem from that sense that Armando and the crew create of this being real and now and ghastly and funny and true. " [1]

From Rebecca's insight into the production of the show, it is clear that this handheld style is intended to make the action unfolding on screen appear natural and authentic. The style of cinematography makes the audience feel as if they are observing the action as it unfolds - they are being placed in the moment - making all the comedy seem more immediate and therefore allowing it to have its full desired effect. This has also given me some tips into how I should shoot VET-MAN. The fly-on-the-wall / observational handheld camera style almost gives the show a documentary style - it feels as if they audience is watching events that could very much be real - this style is achieved by the camera almost being invisible. When shooting VET-MAN, I should make every attempt to go unnoticed by the actors - allowing them to deliver a very natural and real performance which lets the intensity of the situations take full effect - the camerawork will then be used to supplement the actions and emotions being displayed (i.e. by using crash zooms at key moments to emphasise certain parts).

I decided to look in-depth at the first episode of TTOI to see how Cairney establishes his style from the start. I thought it was a good idea to look at the first episode as this is where series tend to define their style.

Immediately, the handheld camera style is used to follow the character out of the car positioned in front of the social affairs building. This long shot serves to both introduce the character the audience are following and establishes the location of the events. Cairney uses a couple of different angles to show the character getting out of the car - this handheld, jumpy style establishes the informality of the camera style and introduces the theme of authenticity. This also allows the audience to identify who the character is as the camera switches from a shot of the back of the character, to a shot of the side of the character. Following this, a close up shot of the characters face is shown as he walks into the building - reinforcing to the audience that this is a relevant character in the episode and that we will be following him in the following scenes.

Cairney would have had to work with the director to block this scene. Armando Iannuci would have needed to direct for the police characters to stand in those certain positions so that they could be captured, as well as the sign of the building and the character getting out of the car, within Cairney's frame as all of these elements combined help to set the location and theme of the programme. Collaboration with the director is important so that you know which characters need to be positioned where so that it makes sense to both the narrative and the framing of the shot. The blocking of a scene needs to work so that the audience can follow the narrative and so that all the necessary information can be captured within the shot.

One of the defining features of Cairney's cinematography in TTOI is the use of crash zooms. As demonstrated below, often Cairney zooms from a mid shot of a character to a close up shot - this puts the emphasis on this character and their facial expressions. This, therefore, highlights this to the audience and brings this to their attention. The same technique is also used when there are multiple characters within the shot - however, instead of purely being used emphasise expressions, the zooms are also used to focus on which character is talking and also the reactions of the other characters. These crash zooms add to the informal camera style as these zooms take place in shot. Cairney also combines this with jump cuts which jump from mid shots to close up shots as well - this creates a sense of unpredictability which helps create the sense of authenticity - in real life you don't know how things will unfold and the same is true of Cairney's camera style. This handheld, informal camera style helps to suggest that the audience are just observing natural behaviour - it creates a fly-on-the-wall style which makes it feel like the cameras are just capturing real life.

Cairney uses a variety of different shot types - ranging from extreme close ups to wide shots. This long shot is used to once again establish location of the production - but this time establishing the interior location. This scene gets quite heated and intense between the characters and the camera work reflects this. Cairney switches from long shots which establish the setting to mid and close up shots of the characters as they argue. Occasionally Cairney crosses the line but because of the sporadic nature of the camerawork, this doesn't affect how the audience reads the situation - the narrative still makes sense. Cairney also pulls back out into these long shots so any confusion in the close up camerawork is quickly rectified as these long shots help to display where the characters are during the heat of the argument. The slight crossing of the line also helps add to the natural nature of the camerawork - it feels more immediate as it seems that the cameras are just trying to capture all the action without analysing the rules of cinematography too much (although, obviously this crossing the line is intentional to add to the intensity of the situation, it is not a mistake).

In VET-MAN I will not be crossing the line as I feel if it is not pulled off successfully, it can just look like a mistake in the production. To ensure no crossing of the line occurs, I will shot list and storyboard the script so that the camera movements are already pre-determined. I will then be relying on the handheld nature of the camera and the crash zooms to make VET-MAN seem more informal and observational in style.

The colour grading of TTOI is all kept very natural which is consistent with the natural handled camera style. The skin tone of the characters is consistent with what would be seen by the human eye - it is a warm peach tone. The walls within the office spaces are given a cream / grey colour to reflect the dull political office environment. Other colours apparent in many scenes are dark dull blues, browns and greys - colours which are naturally seen in business / office environments. The natural colours and dull colours of the office space give TTOI and authentic feel - like the camerawork, it makes the audience feel as if they are observing natural / authentic action and behaviour. This helps to establish the programme as a satirical comedy as opposed to a 'laugh out loud' comedy as it appears to be portraying real life (with comedy coming through the events and dialogue) with a hint of satire being used to poke fun at the political parties and government.

Within scenes in vehicles, Cairney still maintains the handheld style whereas other shows would typically use a fixed camera in such scenarios. The camerawork changes between using jump cuts and zooms to focus on character talking. When zooms are used, the camera zooms in and out to show when the attention should be on that character and then when this attention is no longer required. This shows how this handheld style can be used on any shot type (i.e. this is a 3 shot but the same technique has also been successfully used on single shots of characters, 2-shots and also medium / long shots where multiple characters are present). Like in the exterior and interior scenes of the department of social affairs, natural lighting is still being used - there doesn't appear to be any addition of artificial light which, like the other scenes, makes the action more immediate and natural as it feels more authentic to the viewer.

Continuing with the natural feel of the programme, this late night office scene appears to be solely lit by the overhead lighting - creating a dark green / orange tone. This is representative of real-life working environments where the lighting appears the same, making the scene look authentic and real. During the conversation between the characters, like with the rest of the scenes, a mixture of the signature handheld zooms following the character speaking and jump cuts between medium and close-up shots are used. This successfully continues the informal nature of the cinematography, achieving the effect of the action appearing normal and natural to the audience.

As well as the cinematography being used to make the scenes seem authentic and natural, Cairney would have had to work with the set design team to ensure this was as effective as possible. This would have involved dressing the set with office equipment to ensure the office environment was accurately depicted. It would then have been Cairney's job to ensure the necessary features of this set were captured in order to successfully portray the office environment. I will need to work with both the director and producer in VET-MAN to ensure that the set is dressed correctly and that the blocking of the actors allows the necessary information from the environment to be captured through the camerawork.

What I have learned through this research:

Filming handheld is very effective when attempting to portray natural and authentic behaviour. It gives the production a sense of being observational and almost fly-on-the-wall in style. This is something I want to achieve with VET-MAN as this and TTOI are in the same satirical sub-genre of comedy. TTOI shows that it is important to commit to this type of camerawork and to make sure it is consistent all the way through - this means using handheld even when it doesn't seem to be the obvious choice (e.g. for scenes in vehicles).

TTOI also shows that handheld camera doesn't just have to be used when following characters through different locations. It can be used for shot types which are typically filmed on a stationary tripod (e.g. shot reverse shots of characters during conversations). In these scenarios, TTOI uses a mixture of panning to transition between the characters and hard cuts in shot reverse shot style - the camera work is chosen on what feels most appropriate to that conversation (e.g. heated conversations feature more shot reverse shots, whilst other conversations lean towards the panning technique).

TTOI shows how colour grading helps to set the tone of a programme. Cinematic colour grading immediately makes a production look more formal as it looks more processed and polished. TTOI used very natural colour grading to maintain natural colours within the environment. This helps the suggestion that this is a natural environment featuring natural behaviour from the characters which is complimented by the informal nature of the camerawork.

Collaboration between the other departments of a production is key in order to ensure all necessary information and elements are captured in the frame. The director of photography must work with the set design team to ensure the set is depicted in the way it is intended and that it works with the camera to portray all the necessary information about the environment. The DoP must also be aware of the director's blocking to ensure the planned shot types capture all intended actions.

TTOI doesn't use any soundtrack or laughtrack, this keeps with the natural, observational style of the programme - making it appear to depict real life. Using either background music or laughtrack would immediately signal to the audience that they are not just observing natural behaviour and that this is a structured programme. Whilst the programme is indeed structured and planned, it does not come across this way to the audience. I would like to achieve the same result with VET-MAN, there will be no soundtrack or laughtrack as this may detract from the natural, observational style of shooting.

Sources:

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2009/10/rebecca-front-on-being-in-the-thick-of-it.shtml