Introduction
After a tiring and long 9 hour shoot days in one stressful week, we have now officially finished filming for DownStage. It's safe to say that Kate and I are overly pleased with not just the footage we got, but generally happy with how the whole process went. Despite us facing a numerous amount of changes and problems, we both agreed that we dealt with our problems and the whole process in a professional manor - ranging from providing our crew and cast hot meals on each shoot date to adding in new shots for a scene to make it flow better.
How did the Locations Work?
Despite already viewing both of our locations and allocating camera test shoots, there was still a slight worry and nerve that we couldn't quite get what we aimed and planned to get for a shot. However, we were both overly pleased with our locations.
The Flat
The narrowness and lack of space within the flat in a way worked to an advantage - in the scene where Chantelle confronts Maddie, the lack of space brings the characters closer together, making it seem much more tense and uncomfortable for the characters to be involved in. In my opinion, the flat worked effectively to help boost the realism and truth of our production - as this is my flat, and myself and Jordan (whose flat the party is based in) are of a similar age and have similar characteristics, it immediately boosted the realism as the flat was almost already dressed and set to what you would expect Jordan's flat to be like. Nonetheless, we still had to dress the flat to make it seem more of a party - this included buying flashing fairly lights, buntin, party poppers, alcohol bottles, and so on.
Although I've mentioned how having a small flat worked to an advantage, it more than certainly proved more difficult in terms of gearing up for shots. As you can see in the image below, it proved difficult to set up for Alex's interview in terms of lighting positioning - and this room was much larger than the kitchen and hallway! Additionally, due to this lack of space, we were spending more time on setting up shots which led to us having to rush to film the last remaining shots. However, this is what we expected - hence why we scheduled in the Sunday as a shoot date swell, in case we didn't get everything filmed for on the Saturday. Nonetheless, as I've said we are both pleased with this location - it felt realistic, it looked like a party, and at the end of the day helped to raise the tension for when we needed it in the kitchen scene between Chantelle and Maddie.
 |
| We were reasonably tight on room... |
School Location
As this was our prime location where the majority of our scenes was located at, this was quite clearly an important location to choose. However we were both overwhelmed with our choice as this too worked out near enough perfectly. The school stage was more than enough space to enable our set-up to commence and the car park for John and Chantelle's scenes were reasonably quiet and lacked the chance of any pedestrians to interfere in.
It was an added bonus that we also had access to the school stage's lights and even have a light operator on set which we used to a full advantage for Chantelle's audition - Kate and I met the light operator who even programmed the lights to match to Chantelle's audition song which when looking back at the footage helped to make Chantelle's audition seem serious as well as funny.
And if this wasn't already a bonus, we were also given permission to use the kitchen facilities, enabling us to provide our cast and crew hot lunches for each shoot date - ranging from freshly cooked jacket potatoes to spaghetti bolognese.
However, we did face one minor problem. For the scene where Chantelle bribes John, the room was near enough empty and quite small, which unfortunately created a tinny sound. We attempted to tackle the problem by opening windows and doors to help remove the echo, however we were also faced with an uncontrollable machinery noise which too couldn't be tackled and was out of our reach.
Another problem we faced was the size of the lighting room. Although only a minor problem, it proved difficult to set-up for an interview within the lighting room without having the glare of our lights reflecting on the glass behind our interviewee, as well as the room being a bit too cramped to have a sound and camera operator, as well as a director. Nonetheless, these problems didn't prove too problematic and were both easily overcome, which I've explained below.
 |
| Taken for one of Jordan (Seth)'s interviews |
What were the key problems we faced?
Now of course, every shoot faces some problems. Below are the main problems which we faced and how they were tackled:Quadcopter (Phantom Drone) Crash
As mentioned in my DoP requirements, I was planning on using a quadcopter to get some establishing shots of inside and outside of the school, which will be as a cutaway in-between scenes. So I got in contact with our photographer, Andrew Poile (Poile Photography) as I knew that he had his own quadcopter. Nonetheless, he came down for one of our shoot dates and begun filming an establishing shots within the school hall, before unfortunately, the quadcopter had a signal interruption, causing it to crash down onto the floor.
Despite explaining to Andrew what we wanted for our establishing shots and outlining a risk assessment for these shots to commence, the problem we faced was completely uncontrollable, in which Andrew understood and agreed that it couldn't of been fixed. This now meant we were unable to gain the shots we wanted which although would've helped us to gain some effective establishing shots, doesn't mean that it is a severe problem. Therefore, we decided to gain some establishing shots using just a camera and a tripod, in which we got:
- A Pull focus of a piano next to the stage, in which the focus changed between Giles and Alex
standing on the stage to a sign saying not to touch the piano.
- A pull focus of a stack of chairs to the left hand side of the stage, which then revealed part of the
hall and the stage once the focus had been pulled.
- A shot inside the lighting room
- A zoom out to show the school stage.
Echoing/Buzzing Sound in Changing room for Chantelle & John's bribing scene
As previously mentioned, one of the problems of the school location was that we were unable to film the Chantelle bribing John scene in the changing room due to the echo in the room, and the noise of a machine (a heater). This at first was a struggle as we needed a room which had two parallel doors on both ends: one to enable the camera to peak and film their conversation, and the other for the Janitor to also spy on the conversation.
Nonetheless, after walking around the school we realised that this could be filmed in a hallway next to the school stage - the hallway had a door next to where we planned to have Chantelle and John to stand, which then on the other side had a curtain leading to the school stage, in which the cameraman would peak around the curtain to spy on. This worked out quite effectively as when Chantelle drags John to talk to him, the two characters walk past this, as if they were originally walking towards the changing room. Therefore, this location was completely quiet and lacked any echo, proving to be better than the changing room.
 |
| Chantelle preparing for one of her final interviews |
Hints to Jordan's sexuality not seeming clear enough
As Kate and I decided to lead clues that question Jordan's sexuality, we wanted to show this during our party scene for when Chantelle does karaoke - the plan was that he becomes aroused and shows much more interest in Chris Brown on the Karaoke video, hinting to the audience that Jordan may not show interest into Chantelle because he could be homosexual.
Nonetheless, on the day, this proved quite difficult to capture, as it was hard and awkward to position the camera so that we see a shot of the TV showing Chris Brown and Jordan in the same shot. The main problem with this is actually capturing the emotion - it proved difficult to get Seth to seem aroused when he's only looking at a television during Chantelle's karaoke session. We tried to film it so we switch from Chantelle to show Jordan not looking at her but instead focusing on the TV, however Chantelle was standing virtually next to (and infront of) the TV, thus making it hard to show what Jordan's looking at.
Nonetheless, Kate and I will try to edit around this to see whether we can make this work. If not, we may have to cut this idea out if our audience cannot work out what we're trying to accomplish.
Microphone Juttering/Beeping
Once watching all of the footage back, Kate and I noticed that a couple of scenes were experiencing some problems with sound - a juttering/bashing sound can be heard which we assume to be a boom pole being knocked, causing the sound to be recorded. As well as this, a couple of interviews have a feint high frequency sound which we assume to be a signal interference or potentially something to do with the camera battery being low (as the Sony camera beeps when the battery is running low).
These are only minor problems however it may be difficult to remove the sound without interfering with the sound we are aiming to record. Nonetheless, I know a tool on Premier that helps to remove any high frequency sound, so I will attempt to remove this during post-production. As for the bashing sounds caused by the boom poles, I will research what is the best way to remove this sound without dampening on the audio quality.
Lack of Time for Party Scene
Additionally, filming the party scene seemed more of a push, however this was expected. Despite the location being tight and small which helps to add to the tension within some scenes, it proved a nightmare for setting up for each scenes. For example, it was very time-consuming setting up the interviews within the bedroom due to there being minimal space to set up the camera and lighting equipment, as shown in the image as discussed before.
This led to us having to rush the last couple of final scenes. However, looking back at the footage, I feel that we just about managed to capture enough - perhaps some footage of our actors playing drinking games or 'partying' would've been helpful to use for cutaways for Alex's interviews, however the footage from the karaoke and beer pong scenes should be enough to cover.
Differential between the two cameras
Although very minor, and possibly even minor enough just for myself to notice, it appeared that there is a slight differential in terms of visuals between the two cameras. This is only apparent for a couple of scenes, however it seems that the cameras differ in terms of lighting and slightly in colouring - the secondary camera's white balance was slightly yellow and in some places seemed a bit too over exposed.
Despite these problems being able to be edited during post-production, there is still the chance that this difference may be noted - it can be difficult to match something when the picture has been over-exposed. However, once again this is only minor and occurs in a couple of scenes, meaning this problem should easily be able to be solved.
What was changed during Production?
As you can see, we faced several minor and major problems. Nonetheless, some ideas were also generated on the spot in an attempt to improve the story. For example:
The 'Credit' Scene
As we had only recently included Jordan to wear a Peter Pan costume, Kate and I thought it would be effective for us to create a 'credit' scene. This scene will show where Jordan got his costume - His director, Giles, can be seen walking up to Jordan's car at the end of a day and sliding his costume through his window, saying how he'll look the part if he wears it. This gives our audience something to look at whilst our credits are underway.
Enhancing the Finale with Chantelle and John
As you are aware, we learn from the script that Chantelle chases the cameras in anger as she finds out that she is no longer Wendy. However, we've deiced to dramatize this - as part of her improvisation, Chantelle took of one of her shoes and throttled John with it, screaming 'YOU PROMISED ME!'. Totally unpredicted, Kate and I decided to go with this, before shouting cut after her shoe is up against John's neck. Despite being extremely funny to watch, this helps to add to the Mockumentary style, as it is genuine actuality due to you being able to hear Kate shout cut, as if something serious was about to happen. Therefore, this will be included in our edit and helps to dramatise the climax of the narrative.
Other minor changes such as actors walking into shot were also changed, however these are the only two major additions that we're added.
Conclusion
All in all, Kate and I were overly happy with our production dates. It proved that all of the organisation and preparation we have done finally paid off - rehearsals proved to be a huge advantage during production dates as it enabled our cast to know each other better which is vital for what we're doing as we are highly reliant on character relationships.
Additionally, this has been a huge boost for my future in terms of a DoP - this experience provides me with a new approach for preparation on shoot dates that will, help to save time during the days. For example, I will now likely create lighting set-ups so we know roughly what the set-up will be, without having to think whats best on the spot.
0 comments:
Post a Comment