Exposure is not your friend on set, I learnt that the hard way.

So this was our (Tessa, Belinda, Astley, John and I, featuring Alyssa and Leslie’s) second attempt at the now infamous “Lenny 4” script, feat the box. Before we went on set, we sat down and decided what we wanted to change in this shoot compared to the previous one. Quality of quantity in regards to shots was a unanimous decision that was reached, as well as wanting to be more conscious of shot and story continuity, with characters entering and exiting frame in a way that would make sense when in the editing booths.

Shooting went well overall. We cut down on the number of shots on average we had for a scene, sticking closer to the script and important aspects, such as getting a close up of the box in scene 2 with Sharon. A big issue/worry we had while on set was the exposure, and whether the shots would look overexposed in Premiere. While I think this is a fault with me rather than the equipment, I feel like I really struggle to get a clear idea of what shots are truly going to look like from the camera viewfinder or screen. My eyes see everything with a tint of blur and compression, which means I really don’t get a clear sense of what the shot looks like until I get to see it up on a monitor, especially with exposure.

While I know a bit about the zebra lines, and last class really did help with that, specifically where you want the exposure lines, this is all still a learning process for me. We played around with a bunch of the camera’s settings on the day, adjusting the aperture and flicking between ND filters, but I personally couldn’t get a feel for the shot, I just had to trust it.

When it came down to the edit, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My biggest fear was the shot I open my edit with. I love the framing and how Lenny stumbles down the stairs, but the amount of light that comes down through the windows behind him really made me nervous. You could barely see a lot of Lenny, and it looked super overexposed. After a bit of colour correction over the top of the B&W filter, I was able to have Lenny clearly visible whilst not being insanely dark.

Exposure is one of those things I am bound both crack and never crack, I just gotta trust my eyes, maybe get some glasses too.