STUDIO SHOOT | evaluation


Our group met up quite a lot to discuss plot and managed to narrow it down to one idea to present to anne and rosie. The presentation was helpful, and we got good feedback which encouraged us to re-evaluate the plot and make it more concise, fixing the overly complex plot and themes that would have been difficult to all fit into the film articulately.
I worked with the script team and we met in the canteen. I feel like we would all agree there were too many people working on the script and the meeting was a bit tense. I think a lot of the group were stressed about getting everything done in time for the shoot. I mentioned that I thought the plot needed to more directly reference that it was a flashback rather than her just appearing which made her seem as if a ghost. I feel people took that as criticism, but I was just trying to point it out and ask how that was going to be shown.
The studio shoot gave a good insight to what it is like to work as a team in studio roles. During some of the studio shoot I felt I wasn’t in the best place mentally and didn’t feel I could be open about this, however I did research to create an atmosphere appropriate to the narrative and script.
As well as this I was confused about my role as a director of photography and i didn't have a lot of control over the shots. I felt like what was the point of me doing shots, etc, if producers, etc, could just disagree and do other things. I think the communication as a group was bad and that I found it difficult to think of who I needed to tell what and who I needed to ask about different things and also i wasn’t told everything and didn’t always know changes or what was happening, etc.
We had a meeting in the library and figured Cecily and I were going to work on the shots, I was going to add my lighting layout to what Cecily had done and then she was going to add the rest, however Cecily and I then decided that I was going to do it as I was DOP, which I was happy to do.
During group A’s pre-light, as a group, we went through the storyboard, which ended up being really production as we managed to clarify all the shots and make any alterations.
The pre-light went okay but I feel it didn’t go as smoothly as planned.
I wrote a list of some things we should test before the shoot like different lighting/frames as well as try the vertigo shot to see if we could even do it but a lot we didn’t manage to do.
I think a lot of my original intentions with the lighting got a bit lost, which I would’ve liked to discuss with Chloe and Alex to brighten up the scene but also keep the colour and plot in line. Eventually, I think I dropped away a bit during the pre-light as I felt quite exhausted from trying to get my input over all the people on set.
The shoot itself was a long stretch however we managed to work to our schedule. The first day was the longest as we added shots to do that day due to the other actor not being able to be there the next day, so I felt pretty exhausted, however I felt we all worked well together and the day went smoothly. I also worked with the camera team and we got good shots and made adjustments when necessary – like with the change of a lens if it didn’t work as well we originally expected. The second day went quickly. We managed to accomplish a tracking shot with the camera held by Cecily. I think this is a good example of how well we could all work as a team as we had to pay attention to shadows and lights as to not get them in the shot.
Overall, I found the studio shoot useful as we learnt about the roles in a professional setting and I learnt a lot about cinematography. I never realised how much it links to set design as the aesthetic of a frame also includes what’s in the frame and how the colours contrast and work together in relation to the plot. The videos I watched on lighting and cinematography in other films helped a bunch as I was able to visualise where we could go with our own film.
I think I worked well in the group and we came out with good footage.

I wrote another blog post of the process and development of the lighting:

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