Film3 Website Post
Research
I researched the way to capture a person’s emotion, personality and environment through close up shots and tight framing. AND I got an actor to play myself.
Statement
In my research of capturing emotion, personality and environment on camera, I ask my good friend Phoebe to be my actor, who is playing me in the film. It turns out it is not just a film about me but also about her somehow. In my research, I shot six different ordinary events in daily life. As I said in my proposal, I will emphasize on the actions more than the big picture, it is about capturing details.
My camera coverage are quite limited, they are mostly close up shots with tight framing. During shooting, all I was thinking is to find good, interesting and unique camera angles. For the camera movement, I used a lot of hand held which is more convenient for me to shoot from any angles I want. Hand held is good for motion picture, however when it comes to still image shots, hand held is not a good optional for me. It causes too much shaky which should not be there when it is a still image shot.
Few things about lighting I ran into when shooting. Firstly, always remember to do white balance before shooting. Once you did the white balance, do not take camera out of the place, otherwise you need to do white balance again. Secondly, get the exposure right using the zebra pattern. Thirdly, basic rule of three-point lighting (when you trying to use a DEDO KIT).
The most important one in mise-en-scene, setting. What I shot is a girl’s daily life, the environment around her is very important to express her emotions and personality. Even though my framings are tight, I always try to show some images of the apartment in the background. To enhance the environment and to create the atmosphere, I create some sound track like water boiling in the kitchen, washing machine running in distance, the sound from television and radio, the sound of mumbling and whistling, etc. To make a strong connection between the character and the environment, I made another montage scene of apartment.
Also I learned a lot about cutting and editing. When the lighting and color of the original footages are not right or good enough, a color corrector and grade are always needed. The timing of cutting is significant. For example, the time of cutting in the purse one is perfect, there is no unnecessary actions at all, it is neat and clear. Sometimes we need to cut back and forth to make it more visual for audience like the getting dressed one.
I reflect upon every shooting exercise deeply, here are the links to the reflections.
Representative Practical Work
Screener