During shooting of exercise 8, we wanted to have the foyer we initially planned to use for shooting and have a light to have the effect of an indoor lighting scene using the fluorescent lights. However due to a faulty plug we moved to a new location down the hall, which I argue is a foyer in the western direction.
What I got out of shooting in this location is having make do with the equipment we had. We had no extension cable for more freedom in setting up the light so we had to make do with the limited range of what we had. We also were shooting at the shortest focal length, given not much room to zoom further out however I was happy with the shot. When shooting the exterior shot I tried out different angles and frames to see what would flow better from the previous shot. Some issues we found was the exposure and contrast of the light in the shot due to the buildings’ shadows. We would start the shot then when we pan over towards the street the shot would look over exposed. In hindsight, what would’ve diffused the situation would be to shoot with an N.D filter and increase the aperture for lesser contrast between the two settings. However as I’ve learned, it’s much easier to comment on these things rather than keep them at the forefront of your mind during filming.
Given more testing of shots and if I was more assertive in my direction I believe it would benefit these exercises. I often let other people tell me their opinion on the project at hand as I feel I’m not quite qualified to know if what is being shot is going towards the objective as I feel it gives a sense of unity within the project however being more assertive in saying ‘this is what the shot I want’ and ‘this is the lighting I need’ could also benefit my directing style. Perhaps what would benefit is using the vocabulary of film such as hard, soft, blue, red when describing lighting and being more thorough when talking about framing would also help. Though given the complications, I feel them beneficial as it gives me a reference point in how to problem solve on the fly for the future.
In post, I noticed the shot in the opposed elevator shot in A was noticeably more yellow than the blue of the two-shot of the elevator which I believe is from not switching our white balance from our previous shot. In the close up shot however I had Jacky stand much closer to the window and not even close to the opposing wall (where the elevator resides). This was because I wanted the framing with a shallower depth of field of the outside view behind him. I felt this shot was done really well combined with the exterior shot however the first shot I felt there was too much video ‘noise’ in the shot. Perhaps with a more prepared first shot this scene would look and flow more consistently.
