Studio Seven
One basic knowledge:
Kino Flo Diva Lite—the fluorescent light for filmmaking. Some fluorescent lights used by people in old days are not suitable for filming because they create a constant flashing. It is due to the physics behind how fluorescent lights work. Now, the flashing frequency of fluorescent lights used for films is adjusted to a special one so that the flashing isn’t visible on the screen.
Exercise three and five
Purpose
For exercise three and five, we were required to film three short scenes with specific instruction attached to them.
Exercise three aims to test our abilities to create two different scenes in the same location which we could’ve encountered in real life. The challenge here is how to do this. I think we can achieve this by manipulating the light, the camera movement/direction, the props, and the frame size. Basically, we can do the scenes with two completely different camera language. For scene three, we can use one long take of Emmaline and Martin in mid-shot and light them with a warm light, filming directly from the front. We can also use two shots—add one close-up of Emmaline. The background can be the white wall. Then, for scene five, we can either use a long take, tracking/panning from a mid shot to close-ups, or, do it with one establishing shot and two over-the-shoulder shots. The background now in the shot can show a depth of space to distinguish it from scene three. And the scene should be lit in blue. This is just one speculation of how could we have done the scenes to overcome the challenge.
In exercise five, we are to film one scene outdoors. The challenge for this exercise is to film Mullins’ MCU in a different location to match with the wide shot with Sophie and him in it. This is another example of real-life challenge. The key here is to keep the lighting situation constant and of course, the costume and the background. Light is incredibly hard to control when one wishes to achieve something like this. We had better keep Mullins’ background clean in order to achieve this. As for the light, we need to analyze the light both on Mullins and around him while comparing the result to the wide shot after filming each take.
The common purposes of the exercises are practicing lighting and teamwork. As we have learned so far, the light can be tricky to manipulate. The task we are given here—to film in locations which can be too dark or too bright—tests our knowledge of film light and filmmaking in general.
Reflection
The serious problem of our finished work is that we did not follow the instructions. Robin couldn’t have put more emphasis on “READ THE SCRIPT” during the critique of our works. This, I think, is both a failure in teamwork and in having any professional ethics. If anyone of us has mentioned to carefully read the script and the instructions, this would’ve have happened. All of us was overconfident about this exercise and ended up by completely failing at it. Also, it is a basic expectation from us since we are media students who should know how to do this properly.
Exercise three-Scene three: There are three cuts and three shots in this scene which is completely unnecessary. It seems like that director does not know what he wants to put emphasize on. The close-up of putting down the pen could’ve been deleted. What’s more, this scene can be done in one shot and we should’ve have shown the windows. What is good about this scene is only that the lighting is good and soft even though the overexposed window can be distracting. (Yet, the close-up of the pen is overexposed.)
Exercise three-Scene five: First, this scene looks like that it is shot in the same location as scene three. Second, to film this scene with two shots is OK, but to use two cuts is not necessary. And last, the lighting here is again good achieved by putting one light (with blue gel) in front of the actors.
Exercise Five: In this scene, we used one reflector to light the characters who were a bit in the shade (as you can see from Lance’s glasses). I think Matthew is not lit very naturally as the light makes him stands out from the background. Also, you can see the boom mic in the shot!! [There’s nothing more to reflect on this one anymore since it does not fit the requirement at all. ]
