This week we filmed our scene again but this time with lights and a slight variation in location due to the usual issues in acquiring permission to film. Having reviewed our footage from the test shoot, we decided what lights we would bring and which shots to keep and which shots to cut. Having these discussions beforehand made it somewhat easier to manage the obstacles we came across while shooting, such as having to change locations again for the car scene, however we may have also benefitted from taking this a step further, for example, creating a shot list or planning where the lights would be placed ahead of time.

The shots outside Magic Mountain Saloon were fairly similar to the shots we took the previous week. We didn’t really need to introduce any more lights as the red pouring out from Magic Mountain is overwhelming, and as the main shot is a tracking shot which the actors walk through meaning that the way the light falls on them is constantly changing. There a number of differences in these shots however, such as the fact that we were using a different camera and lenses, meaning the look of the shots are slightly different. Darcey did well as our camera operator working with unfamiliar equipment, as she had trouble to get one of the lenses to focus and the other lens was quite heavy and made it difficult to balance on the steady-cam.

We ended up shooting on the street after our attempts to secure a car park location fell through. While this wasn’t our original plan and a very last minute change, I think this shots have come out fairly well. The black background has allowed us to make the exact location of the car in relation to the restaurant somewhat ambiguous, with the only indicator that they’re still nearby being the red light which placed on the camera left side of the car. I particularly like the way it spills onto Ella’s face, although it means Taylor’s face is still quite dark in this shot.

When we switched to the over-the shoulder shot of Taylor, his face becomes a lot more visible when he turns to face Ella. We did have to cheat the light a little by moving it closer to the car, so you could see all of his face while still matching the previous shot.

I think this is my favourite shot of the night, even though it might have been one of the more difficult. I think the shallow depth of field works best here, as you can see Taylor’s face out of focus on the right side of the frame, while the focus is quite sharp on Ella. The reason it was so difficult to capture was because no matter where we placed the red light, it gave a reflection in Ella’s eyes when she faced forward that made her look slightly demonic, which wasn’t really the look we were going for.

I’m really impressed with how well our group worked together. There were times where it was difficult for us all to contribute, but this more due to the fact that we only had the tiny camera screen which we couldn’t quite all fit around at once rather than it being an issue about the group dynamic. Most of well, I think we did really to produce our shots to the level we did while standing out in the cold for the number of hours we did.