Exercise One: The first filming of long grass ‘wet and wild’ (True to Form)🎥🌾

“B.O.M – Bureau of meteorology, I ask you this, does 14 degrees Celsius, partly cloudy, 40% chance of light showers also mean 11 degrees celsius, 110% chance of rainfall and 35-40mm of rainfall mean the same thing?” Michael Serpell 8.4.2017

Shot by Shot Analysis Director, Cinematographers notes 8/4/17

Filmmaker Journal Entry 8/4/17

Hello there,

I am writing from the dry confines of my holden commodore which is getting absolutely drenched by the beautiful Melbourne weather, I write on our first ever long grass experiment, I am here with Sarah McKenzie, she is helping me out with the filming of my experiment as her project based around the ‘East Meet West’ concept is related to the filming of grass and how nature combines with man made structures. We have had no real break in the pouring rain, we huddled the equipment and managed to film about 30 minutes of riveting footage. We are here in Footscray just near the Victoria University Campus near the Maribyrnong river. There we have found an ideal location to experiment with filming long golden reeds. These reeds are moving uncontrollably due to the wind, rain and water movement underneath them. This has created some really impressive effects in the movement of the reeds. We tried a few pans, tilts, and various angles and focused on how the reeds were moving and what meaning they would represent.

Also despite the rain, the sun did come through and created the most incredibly coloured sky, it was really quite beautiful. We managed to even film a rainbow having the reeds in the foreground and the rainbow out of focus in the background showing the array of colours. It was a beautiful shoot capturing colour, emotion, movement and turbulent weather conditions.

It was a successful day of filming, a warm cup of cocoa, some dry socks and and an itchy blanket are all in the forefront of the mind.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Serpell (8/4/17)

Shots that were taken during the experiment that are worth discussing in greater detail

Shot 1

(MLS, Action: Wind moves rapidly through a contrast of green and brown reeds)

• Captures colour contrast
• Capturing of grass as it moves uncontrollably as winds blusters grass from left to right
• Messy movement can exaggerate moods and emotion of rage and anxiety
• Pan tracking downwards capturing all the different shapes, sizes and movements
• Learnt how to track the movement of the reeds however the movement isn’t smooth, the reeds will be more golden in my final, this was just an experiment to see what I could capture, this shot is more focused on the movement rather than the aesthetic value of the clip.

Shot 2

(Still shot, XCU, Action: Still shot of dried out grass standing still and tall with the beautiful rainbow out of focus in the background)

• Capturing in deep focus the sharpness of the grass
• Dark grey sky juxtaposed with the colourful fading rainbow
• The contrast of beauty is evident in this clip
• The rainbow colours and fills the background as the grass captures in focus an ageing beauty
• Still shot fixed on tripod
• Movement is subtle, the grass moves ever so slightly, it is enthralling and intriguing
• This is what I want my final projects grass to look like, the colour is almost exactly what I visioned with more orange and direct sunlight on the reeds the grass would be more golden and therefore achieving my vision. The rainbow was an unplanned phenomena which occurred as the rain became lighter and the bright sunlight unexpectedly shone through briefly. It would be a dream if I had a day of sunlight, light drizzle and a beautiful rainbow like this one for my day of filming my final project but unfortunately you can’t control the weather but this shot was an example of what beauty that can be captured when you least expect it.

Shot 3

(Tilt down (tripod) captures movement of grass in MS)

• One of my favourite shots I took on the day
• The colour of the grass is near perfect to what I want on my final project shooting day
• Golden coloured grass, skinny contrast between browns and golds and the occasional fresh green grass
• Tilt down
• Movement: swaying from side to side gracefully very small confined movements almost like a small shake
• Slow paced tilt downwards
• Background filled with straight golden grass is in focus the front foreground grass is out of focus which works with the composition of the shot, it gives this effect of the more important older grass being prioritised
• I am proud of this shot, it is very cinematic, the movement is simple and emotive

 

Shot 4

(MLS, Action: captures rain falling in quick succession on an acute angle)

• Rain falling in an acute angle
• Captures the movement of the rain falling upon the reeds that is main focus of this shot is to capture the movement’
• The camera is static
• The movement of the reeds is quite abrupt, there is a green fresh reed in the foreground very close to the camera lens out of focus, it moves in many different directions throughout the shot duration.
• The effect of this is prioritise importance, the shot captures in focus the rain falling onto the reeds, therefore the single strand of green grass is deemed unimportant by me the cinematographer and instead I articulate each drop of rain as it is intriguing and graceful to watch despite the rapid movement of the reeds. It can explain the differences in speeds, the rapid unpredictable movement of the reeds compared to the consistent and steady falling of rain
• Although rain is not intended in my final project, I found it fascinating to film and it works well to compare and exaggerate the movement of the reeds/grass

The full version of the clips is available here to watch so you understand the movements I am explaining in this shot by shot analysis.

 

Michael Serpell