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ON SET PRODUCTION: Critique of Process and Final Work, Calculated Affection and One More Day
ROLES: Director of Photography on Calculated Affection and Lighting Technician on One More Day
CRITIQUE OF PROCESS:
For Calculated Affection, my role was Director of Photography. From early discussions with the director and producer, it was clear that they wanted the reality sequences to feel grounded and the dream sequences to feel more stylized and floaty. Because of this, I decided to shoot the reality sequences on a tripod and to shoot the dream sequence handheld. For the lighting, I decided to utilise the lighting of the set to light the reality sequences, and enhance them a bit with the Kino Celeb to light the general scene a bit brighter, and a Dido to fill in the actors faces a bit more. For the dream sequences, I cut all the lights on the set and only used the Celeb, two Didos, a reflector and a couple black flags to create a much more dramatic and stylised style of lighting. It became clear early on that the reality scenes were going to be boring compared to the dream sequence, as they are just two people sitting next to each other at a table. When discussing the story with the director he said “there's a lot of push and pull between the characters, with their wants and desires”. This got me thinking and I decided to use a dolly. This way there could be a little more movement in the scene to feel a bit more engaging and represent the push and pull between Leo and Gracie.
For One More Day, my role was Lighting Technician. I worked with the Director and DOP from very early on into production. I also had the added bonus of the location recce being very early on in production, which gave me lots of time to think about the lighting plan. Despite this, I had a lot of issues with the set. We were filming in a real bunker, and so the room we were filming in was quite tight with low roofs. This meant that I could not safely set up the Celeb light I intended to use. As well as this, the room had bright overhead fluorescent lights that couldn't be turned off, that I intended to black out with gaffer tape. However, after discussing the location with my lecturer they suggested using the overhead lights. So, I decided to black out one of the lights and partly black out and skirt the other to use it as an overhead key. When i tested this on the set-up day, I was really happy with how this looked however it wasn't doing quite enough. I worked with set design to work in candles so that I could justify using fill lights. For the fill, I used the Didos. These added a nice warm contrast compared to the cold overhead and also allowed me to show more of the actors' faces, and emotions. I was quite happy with how this ended up looking on set as it showed a good amount of the set and location without over-exposing or distracting from the actors.
CRITIQUE OF FINAL WORK:
In my opinion, Calculated Affection does not meet what I had hoped for it. To be fair, the version that I watched has not been completed so I am discussing the version I saw. The use of the dolly did not work the way that I had hoped. It was intended to add movement to the scene to stop it from being boring but I feel it is a little too jarring. However, part of this is also due to its place in the timeline. The film starts on the dolly shot, when I had hoped it would be used between scenes to add a bit of movement and energy to the slower part of the scripts. The handheld stuff I thought looked good, but the choice to show it back to back, rather than intercut with the handheld reactions like I originally thought it was going to be, made it look worse than it potentially could have. I am a little disheartened by the choice of coverage. We shot extensive coverage, including certain lines with a low angle to add a sinister overtone, and different set ups to highlight the characters movements a bit more, and not alot of this was used. I think, in hindsight, I would have liked stronger input into the edit of this film. All of my opinions and ideas were passed onto the director, but not used unfortunately. I do not think it is all bad though, one thing I am very happy with is the lighting in this film. Using the practical lights of the set and fixing certain parts of it with didos and bounces works quite well. I also am quite happy with how the dream sequence looks. I feel it is stylized and different enough to create a difference between the dream sequences and reality.
In my opinion, the lighting for One More Day ended up looking quite good. I was personally happy with the final result. I was concerned during pre-production about how filming in a bunker with no natural light would look, but I think the lighting is quite strong. The use of overhead fill light illuminates enough of the background to not make the efforts of set design redundant. It also illuminates enough of the actors for the audience to tell what is going on but doesn’t over expose them. I also thought that the key lights (The Didos) did a good job at filling in the actors' faces in a way that was visually pleasing but not too distracting. I do feel that maybe the Didos were a bit too warm. The contrast they caused was nice but I think they were too warm and made the overall scene a lot warmer when it was meant to appear like a cold bunker. I also feel that the coverage of the candles was not on screen for long enough. We only see them for a brief moment in a very cluttered wide shot then never again and I feel that this can cause the warm light on the actors faces to seem confusing.
LINKS:
Calculated Affection: https://youtu.be/sB6Gf2dKAZI?si=kJQYy40BQWH05nse
One More Day: https://vimeo.com/891562593
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ON SET PRODUCTION: Calculated Affection, Shot List and Script Coverage
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On-SET PRODUCTION: One More Day, Lighting Plan for Robert Coverage
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On-Set Production, One More Day, Lighting Plan for Ben Coverage
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On-Set Production, One More Day, Master shot Lighting Plan
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On-Set Production - Production Meeting 06/11
Meeting for ‘Headline’ which is one of my Secondary roles, Second AC and Lighting Technician. Discussed logistics and timings of the shoot which is later this week.
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On Set Production, One More Day Test Shoot Draft Lighting Plan
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On Set Production: Calculated Affection Rehearsal Draft Floor Plan
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On Set Production: Calculated Affection Filmed Rehearsal Shot List
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FILM WORKSHOP - One More Day, Test Shoot.
The test shoot/filmed rehearsal allowed me as a Writer to hear the script read out and blocked on a set. This gave me insight into how the words I have written sound in real life and allowed me to revise the script and change any lines that I felt sounded awkward or off.
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On set Production: One More Day, Test Shoot
One of my secondary roles for On Set Production is Lighting Technician on One More Day. Going into the test shoot I had not been given much information about lighting or a lighting plan, so I created a lighting set up using the Kino Celeb, the Dedolight kit, a reflector and a make-shift black flag.
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On Set Production - Headline, Test Shoot
We did a test shoot for the project Manhunt (Now called Headline), which is one of my secondary roles. I was second AC and Lighting Assistant.
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ON SET PRODUCTION - VISUAL REFERENCES FOR PRIMARY DOP ROLE, Calculated Affection
I was told that the film should have a warm feel, with use of practical lamps. The dream sequences should be a lot more dramatic with a spot light on the character. I have compiled a selection of frames from films to act as a early reference for the film and its cinematography.
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23/10/23 - Film Workshop & On-Set Production, Headline
Met with HODs of Manhunt (Now called Headline) to discuss our test shoot on Thursday 26th
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17/10/23 - On-Set Production, Calculated Affection
Met with director to discuss the film I am DOP on.
Discussed what they wanted in regards to visuals. They want quite a warm static film intercut with stylised dream sequences. I intend to use handheld shots for the dream sequence. For the rest, I am torn between shooting it on sticks or shooting it partly on a dolly.
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