REFLECTION 12 – MY DINNER WITH…

The film my group is making is based around a dinner setting, so it’s already going to have a lot of elements involving food and framing. Sitting at a table can be boring, we’ve all seen it on screen multiple times now, and know all the ways to shoot a particular atmosphere. But I want to know if there is anyway we can reinvent the way we film a dinner conversation at a table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUZv6bn7Hwg

The lighting in the above scene from Inglorious Bastards is a favourite of mine, and after discussing with Robin, he agrees that it would add another night element within the scene to have a similar set-up. Having one main source of light which would keep the scene centered and the lighting focused would allow us to do a lot of interesting things with the intimate nature of the dinner we are shooting.

There is also the question of how we can shoot food in an interesting way, instead of having it glossed over, the script draws attention to the food, and so the camera needs to convey that as well. Showing people eating the food itself alone is never enough, if the subject of conversation is about how different the food is to the previous meals they’ve shared.

Time is also something we need to be aware of when shooting this dinner scene. How should we convey that they’ve actually eaten some of their meal, without having to show an image of a clock. Is it possible for me to just shoot the entire meal being eaten in real time, or would continuity be too hard to keep that up. Will the actors simply just fake the entire scene, never actually eating anything on their plates, or can we have enough food set aside to justify actual on-screen eating. Also, do we actually cook the food, or do we buy it pre-made. Will it look as good on camera as we hope it would. I think Hannah and Jess plan on cooking the food themselves, so that means we require a lot of prep time and need to bump-in at least an hour earlier than expected. But these are concerns for the Producer to focus on, my job as Cinematographer I need to focus on what angles and shots I should have established in my head.

I’ve been to the location now, and Hannah’s apartment is a small space, but simple in set-up. I really like the idea of playing with negative space and side profiles. By establishing a wide profile shot, and going in tighter on these characters individually, it’s something creatively that will separate us from the film My Dinner with Andre, and keep the audience at a distance, observing the interactions between these two people. Keeping my angles to medium side profiles of the characters, and angled mid-shots it could help us distinguish ourselves from other films dedicated around a dinner table, but I know that we still also have to have those safety shots from Over the shoulder of characters and close up as well. It’s just deciding now which shots are more valuable to our film, and what should take priority on the day when shooting.