~ Yarra Valley Shoot ~

Enchanted path.mp4

Crossroads: thick, dark, wooded forestry to your left, bright, illuminated, enchanting path to your right.

Dilemma: where do you go? Which path should you take? I, the filmmaker chooses “por que no los dos!” (I knew my Spanish would come in handy at some point).

(00:00:01-00:00:11) I chose to play around with exposure in this particular exercise. If you notice, hard light illuminates the enchanted path on the right, thus bathing the wooded forestry in contrasting darkness to the left. I like this particular scene because it gives off an abstract meaning of finality on one side, and an unknown adventure on the other. Choose wisely, says a Morgan Freeman voice over.

The implications of this chosen exposure is highlighted even more on (00:00:12-end) in the sample.

With an addition of J.J. Abrams’ style lens flare, I make my way towards the crossroads. When I focused on the left forest side, light filters in and reveals that the forest is not as scary as it actually looks when given a bit of light. Of course, the crunching sound of feet could very well say otherwise, but visually, the audience can feel somewhat relieved.

As I pan to focus on the enchanted path on the right, however, the forest is again bathed in darkness but the path is dazzlingly radiated. As I reflect upon this particular exercise, I come to several conclusions in using movement and exposure.

Firstly, if I had been following a subject from behind, exposure plays an important part in the outcome of choice. Would the subject follow a path of darkness or would the subject follow a path of light?

We filmed using natural light on quite a sunny day. If I balanced the wide-shot by lighting the forest side, the shot would be interpreted completely differently.