Lighting

As is often the case in film-making, lighting was the most important part of the on-location filming process. For most of the shots, we only filmed at around 3:00 on overcast days. This meant we had diffused light and this, coupled with a flat recorded image, gave the greatest latitude to manipulate lighting in post-production. The two exceptions to this were the sunset shots and the scary hut shots. For the sunset shot, we had to wait for a clear evening where direct low-angle warm light could be sourced from the sun.

For the hut scene, we wished to create a full-moon look. Needless to say, natural full moons are not as bright as filmic ones, so we relied on an artificial LED light panel coming into the window of the hut at an angle. This not only meant we didn’t have to worry about intermittent clouds, but also that the camera would not have to work so hard to detect faint natural moonlight: minimising video noise.