The Crossing- Shoot Day 1

Casey and I were pretty nervous about today and neither of us slept very well. I knew Casey had done impecible planning though so wasn't worried. Just nervous, being camera op and having done so badly with Supersede I felt pressure and worried knowing I was responsible for how this looks. However, our shot list was very helpful and we actually found that we didn't need to do as many shots as we planned.

When everyone started arriving it was a bit scary because there were a lot of people but once we started it went very smoothly.

The kids were fantastic and did all the right things so we didn't have to do loads of takes. Sharon and Colin were fab as well and we got everything done so quickly.

The characters all gelled really well.

It was very sunny when we went to shoot the days outdoors scenes which was difficult with light/ shade and exposure but also very pretty. The main issue was our shadows which made a couple of shots impossible. And I was having difficulty seeing the monitor in the blaring sun. However, Casey looked through everything (as we finished super early we thought we had better look through the footage before letting everyone leave so Hennie made everyone tea and we had a break) and she was happy with it all!

Hennie and Maddie were there to help which was so great. It is much easier having someone around to do sound and Hennie was able to see the monitor at times and was an excellent continuity supervisor seeing things that I didn't.

Doing these projects really enlightens you to the need of role specific crew members because it really does make everything much easier.

Once we knew we had everything we sent the kids home and shot the bedroom scene with Colin and Sharon. We didn't have everything we needed for other scenes so it was the only logical scene to do with our extra time.

We finished 3 hours early and these scenes were the most complicated so we might not need the three days with Colin and Sharon, and it's good to know that we at least won't run out of time.


Overall, a fantastic days shooting and I can't wait to see everything come together.

Supersede- Shot List- Wides

NOTE: Hold all pans for 10 secs at beginning and end so they can also be used as stationary shots.


1- Pan from R- L Start facing out to industrial estate and road, end on alottment gate

2- Shot from along the road, facing the gate

3- Wide view of alottment through the gate

4- Pan R-L Start facing gate end on Teresa's plot

5- Pan L-R Start facing back of plots from the path end on Allison/ Brian plots

6- Pan L-R Start on path facing entrance, end on Doug's plot.

7- Get Fig RIG. Walking track with each contributor from entrance to their plot.

8- Tilt. Start sky. End wide allotments looking down path framed symmetrically by plots.

9- Wide from top of front car park overlooking plots (if it's high enough) Or get to highest plot from that corner. Should be a decent angle if my brain is correct.

10- Try and get a wide actuality shot of each contributor working on their plot.

Supersede feedback review and Documentary Reading

So my contributor is late today. As in still not here at 4pm. So I went to the library and did some reading.

Will and I have have had some constructively negative feedback on Supersede which does not surprise me. I knew the sound was awful despite our best efforts and I was waiting to find out if we had gotten enough coverage. So Will and I are now planning a re-shoot which we hope will be on the week of the 19th (as that's the earliest we can film) which isn't ideal as it's the 3rd from last week but hopefully it will be ok. I picked up a book in the library called Documentary Production- A Guide for Media Students by Eearle Kochberg and flipped to the chapter on Documentary Cinematography and read this:


"Students of documentary production often approach their subjects with the opposite view of production [referring to the planning and pre-production that goes into fiction films]. They assume that the documentary director has little control and simply responds to the scene that unfolds before the camera. This attitude invariably results in mediocrity for many reasons. Shots are ill-conceived, scenes do not edit well, lighting is poor, sound is poor, and the audiences perceive the work as mediocre. Mediocrity becomes a barrier between the audience and the content, and the director's vision, intent, and window on a truth become obscured. Planning is essential in order to avoid mediocrity. Planing can occur on many levels and to many degrees. Not all situations can be anticipated and planned; however, the more forethought and planning one puts into a project, the more likely the outcome will be engaging and compelling. Even naturalistic, observational documentaries benefit from planning."


While I don't think Will and I slipped up in such extreme measures, alot of our mistakes are brought up in this and I am ashamed that as third year students we allowed this to happen. However, Will and I have never encountered such problems with sound and have always managed to produce decent sound so we of course thought we could manage it, especially as only one of us was operating a camera and the other was free to operate sound. I don't know how much planning we could have done to record better sound apart from to have assigned a sound recordist to give us more breathing room. We had already thought about it and had made the decision prior to filming to use the radio mic on the Canon so it's in sync with the footage and the direction on the sony as extra back up sound which would need to be synced. I'm not sure how much more we could have done but we will definitely rope in a sound recordist for our re-shoot.


I think our greatest slip up was we didn't know the contributors prior to shooting. We had met them once. And viewed the area once. This meant while we did have a vague shot list, we were kind of responding to the scene that unfolded. Though we did set up the interviews we weren't sure what they were going to say so we shot the interview and then got shots of things they mentioned to cut to. We didn't get much actuality and what I hadn't even considered was more wides!


Anyway, we are in the process of re-shoot planning and while lack of time is a disadvantage I think we are at a couple of advantages also.
We know the location.
We know our contributors and what they will say (unless Will is planning new questions)
Dylan has seen what is needed to make it cut better.
And we have a week and a bit to get our contributors in line.


I know Will is planning to shoot some wides on tuesday without me (as I am on Casey's shoot) so I have been thinking about shots and will storyboard and shot list them for him.

POV Shooting 2

Day 2:

Because I had already experimented and decided to reshoot I did a little extra prep for the next day.

Dark Voyeur had been my favourite from the previous day and I felt that it was really clear in my mind what I wanted to do. So I created a shot list.
______________________________________________________

Dark Voyeur
Get up from cupboard view
Long, mid, close face and close hand.

Get up from behind curtain
Mid, Long

Feet from under bed.

Go to bathroom from door crack

Brush teeth from door crack and shower curtain
Long, Mid, Close

Get dressed from behind curtain
Long, Mid

Get dressed from on top cupboard
Long, mid, close

Get dressed from behind cupboard door
Long, mid, close

Make tea, Breakfast
From behind door
From on top cupboards
From inside a cupboard?
From behind something

Eat breakfast
Through shelving
From door
From behind cupboard door
Through curtain
Long, Mid, close

Get closer as she goes to leave.

See leaving from shelving

Creep up as opens door.

__________________________________________________

Today I was armed with extra camera knowledge. I also did a refresh read of lighting basics. Most of which wasn't very feasible in this location but it was good to refresh my memory.

I keep shooting really dark. I like it and on the monitor I think it looks good. Luckily my talent (Christianna Grant Phillips) is eager to see the footage and an extra pair of eyes has worked wonders. She looked at something I had shot and said "isn't that too dark?" And I said um... well lets shoot lighter and see what it's like. And it looked so much better. I can't break the habit of shooting dark though. Christianna is creative and has really been an asset helping me when my mind has gone blank, I am glad she agreed to help me out. She also takes direction really well and has been able to act naturally in front of the camera.

We used the Go Pro cam also. I put it on Christianna's forearm and then her forehead.
Below are some stills from the day.

Reshooting Dark Voyeur, this time with a back light kind of.

And a couple shots from Voyeur

Some Go Pro stills.

POV: Shooting

Day1: My first shoot day was tuesday.
I had picked up the kit on Monday and tried out the lights and checked batteries etc so I could make the most of the first day.

Once my talent was ready I went to turn on one of the lights to get started and it flickered but didn't turn on! I tried another plug and the same thing happened. I tried another light and the same thing happened. I tried them in another room and it happened again! They had worked the day before so I was baffled. I looked through the instructions which didn't help and then tried again. Gave the light a wiggle and it turned on. Thank God. There seems to be loose wiring or something inside because it keeps happening but only when they are moved or adjusted.

So the first day was very experimental. I got the bedroom and bathroom sections of Voyeur, Dark Voyeur and Shadow done.

When I reviewed the footage though there was banding and it was grainy. I asked Dylan what he thought and he had some very useful basic information.

He told me that the ISO should go up in multiples of 160 and for indoors you should be around 320 - 480 max. Less for outdoors.
There's also the aperture to consider which is what determines how much natural light is let in, the more natural light the less grain which is caused by the camera putting light in digitally.
For night time and dark shoots you preferably need a lense of around 2.8 to shoot without grain. Once I found the aperture on the 7D I discovered the minimum it could do was 4.0 which Dylan said should be ok as long as it's well lit. When shooting though I found this number changed depending on how much light was in the scene and sometimes it could go down to 3.5 and sometimes wouldn't go any lower than 5.0.

After looking at the footage aswell I found I wasn't particularly happy with it all and it was darker than I had thought it would be. So I decided it all needed re-doing.

Some stills from Day 1

Dark

Dark

Shadow Play

Dark Voyeur

FMP: Planning my project

After reviewing the footage of Supersede and completing our shoot it was time to get planning for my own project and getting things in order for The Crossing.

The planning process for my project was long and difficult. I have really struggled devising a shot list for this shoot and have only really been able to visualize how I want things to look and certain angles to try. So I noted some ideas for each film.


Voyeur:
Coloured tint? Yellow?
Handheld shooting. As seen in Breaking Bad.
Moving shots


Dark Voyeur:
Chiaroscuro
In cupboards
Obscured
Smooth


Shadow:
Chiaroscuro


POV
Blurred? Vignette for sleepiness?
Face shots
Head Cam
Arm cam


Object POV.
Fish eye?



To prepare for the shoot I spent a lot of time on production design and completely transformed my flat. I removed a day bed from the living room and a chest of drawers from the bed room. I also removed all clutter and rearranged an large IKEA bookshelf, removing anything that didn't look good and arranging a selection of books and ornaments.

It took a long time and all our belongings are now in the study which is a mess! The most difficult thing has been maintaining this tidiness between shoot days but I have managed. I did my best with the kitchen but most I could do is keep it clean and the counters clear of debris.

I also ordered a selection of 10 light gels to experiment with. They had colours to select from but no pics of what the colours were so I ended up with a lot of very deep colours.

I made my own reflector by wrapping foil round a chopping board which has a handle.

It took me a while to ask someone to be in my film as I didn't feel ready for cast but I forced myself to get it done and my friend from work agreed to help.

FMP: Director/ Cinematographer research STEVEN SODERBERGH

When talking with Simon he suggested I try and find an example of a director who also DOP's the same film or vice versa. I have not found many. I have found that a lot of the larger directors are credited as DOP for their contributions to Cinema 6 along with most of the other roles but not much else.

However I did find one who seems to do both roles on a lot of his films. Steven Soderbergh. He is credited as Cinematographer under the name Peter Andrews. The films he has taken both roles on are:

Magic Mike 2012
Haywire 2011
Contagion 2011
The informant 2009
The girlfriend Experience 2009
Che: Part One and Two 2008
Ocean's Thirteen 2007
The Good German 2006
Building No.7 (short) 2006
Bubble 2005/I
Ocean's Twelve 2004
Eros (segment "Equilibrium") 2004
K Street (TV Series) 2003
Solaris 2002
Full Frontal 2002
Ocean's Eleven 2001
Traffic 2000
Schizopolis (uncredited) 1996

The book 'Screencraft- Directing' by Mike Goodridge (RotoVision SA) 2002 has an interview with Steven Soderbergh in it.

Schizopolis seemed to have triggered his move into taking on both roles. This was an "intensly personal no-budget experiment"(pg 65).

Soderbergh names a documentary film-maker Michael McCallum as a sort of mentor for his. "He had definitive ideas about standards of quality and artistic integrity which have so much to do with how I work on set today. I learned from him that there's a way to get what you want without diminishing people." (pg 65)

"I assume that the audience are me and that if I follow my guy about what I like to see, then I'll be OK. You need to temper that with the fact that I have only made three films (Sex, Lies and Videotape, Erin Brockovich and Traffic) that have made a return on their investment!" (pg67)

"When I started, I used to do a lot of rehearsal with actors and now I hardly do any at all. The first four films are really hard for me to watch these days. They're so controlled and formal in their aesthetic in a way that I really reject now." (pg 67)

"The time to risk failure is when you're at your peak." (pg67)
--- In reference to Kafka and The Underneath ---
"The ones that don't work are often more important because you know why something doesn't work and you often don't know why something does." (pg 67)

"I sat on the set of that film [The Underneath], wondering whether I wanted to continue directing. That's how adrift I was. But towards the end of the shoot, I'd come up with a plan: to buy some second-hand gear and make a movie for nothing. While were in post, I started writing and collecting this equipment and getting 'Schizopolis' off the ground" pg 67

"It was like my second first film. It was designed to cleanse my palette, and has informed everything that has come since" pg 67

---- On directing actors ----
"If you saw me on set, you'd think I didn't really direct that much. I feel that my job is to create this series of funnels in descending order that lead actors to a place where they're going to give the performance that's best for the movie. It's like a series of hoops you're making sure they go through, which they're not entirely aware of because they are lined with velvet. Very quietly I am leading them to this place where I want them to end up. That works through having contact with the actors before we start shooting. Now all I do is just talk and get everyone out for a couple of dinners, and we end up talking about everything but the movie. At this point, I'm trying to find out how they want to be related to. So when we get to shoot, it's less about control and more about controlled sponaneity." pg 67

--- On set atmosphere ----
"There is a very positive atmosphere on my sets. People don't lose focus. It's very low-key and efficient. I know Michael Douglas liked it because we moved so fast. He spent most of his days acting, that's what actors like to do" pg67 + 70

---- On being a DOP And Director ----
"I think I will continue to D.P. my films. After Traffic, it will be really hard to go back. It would be like inserting someone into your place. I enjoy doing it and we move more quickly, but principally it gives me this feeling of intimacy, not only with the actors but also the film". Pg70

"For some directors, that's neither possible nor appropriate. I'm not saying everybody should do it, but it reached a point for me where I had to. It was a lengthy process over many years, starting with the fact that I shot my own short films."pg 70

"I've always watched my cinematographers very closely, and I was frustrated occasionally by the fact that their idea of what was enough was never in sync with mine. That said, as satisfying as I find it to shoot as well, I was unprepared for how relentless it is. You can not leave the set for 60 seconds. I'd underestimated the calue of saying to Ed Lachman or somebody, 'how long?'. And he'd say 15 minutes, and I'd go off and clear my head." pg 70


---- On keeping notes onset, knowing the script, film making and editing ----
"[On keeping notebooks on set] The notebooks are just notes, ideas- remember this, don't forget that- checklists asking myself certain questions when I'm blocking a scene, etc. I keep them because I'm not going to get to do the scene again and I might forget things. When I'ms shooting, I also read the script at least once a week, maybe twice, in full. I don't know how many times I've shot a scene and then come to realise that what I thought the scene was about in context was not really. Shooting a movie is like trying to build a house of cards on the deck of a speeding boat. You just can't keep it all on line all the time, and you need moments where you back off and remember the movie that you were thinking about six months ago. When I'm editing, I take a tape of the film home and watch it beginning to end two or three times a week and force myself to sit through it. That way, you get sick of it and you get very ruthless about losing scenes. You know that, when you reach a scene that you're dreading sitting through again, it needs to be dealt with. There's a reason that you're dreading it. You become your worst audience."Pg 73.


Soderbergh says he goes for a "run and gun" aesthetic. In Traffic he had to undo his Director's eye (always looking for good framing and symmetry) as he didn't want anything to be perfectly framed. He likes things to be close to life.