This is the fourth time filming and the shots are not coming out right. I tried a different location a quieter place where there isn’t a lot of people walking around. I filmed at noon and it was a very sunny day so controlling the brightness was difficult. I increased the ND filter to 3 but it was still overexposed. I should have increased the ND filter more so that it will reduce the brightness intensity. I reshoot a few scenes and added new scenes such as when the main character breaks down behind a car. I recreated one of the scenes when the main character asked for directions to her questioning herself if she should approach someone. After reviewing it, the scene really did not turn out well. It was weird and it breaks the momentum of the story since you can hear the main character voice already. The scenes that was shot on this day were not ideal to be use besides, most of it being overexposed it did not have the right atmosphere to bring out the character personality.
After receiving comments from Robin for the previous shoot, I had to work around with the scenes that work well with the story and focus on filming scenes at a later timing when the sun is about to set. I pulled out the scenes from late afternoon until night time and put it together to have the feel of what the atmosphere should be like. I feel that I kind of lost my way in grasping the right atmosphere because in my head it was all about completing the scenes. I was thinking that my story would not flow correctly if I do not have that scene that I planned beforehand. I then had a mental breakdown (no kidding) because in a few hours I was going to film my very last few scenes and it was my last chance since my actor would be busy the following week. I had to cancel the scenes I had in mind and brainstormed new ones. During that few hours I psych myself on the emotion that my character is feeling so that I understood the atmosphere and emotion I need to capture. When I kept replaying the scenes that I film, I choose the best two shots which was the wide shot of her walking across and the shot where the camera follows her from the back that best portray her emotions. At this moment I did not have a structure of how the scenes will flow but instead viewing it as individual scenes. It may not tell a full story but it is part of it.
I started filming at 5pm and it was cloudy unlike the other time when it was still bright and sunny. I revisited certain locations because of how isolated and quiet this places were. However, to my dismay going back to the same location was never the same. The location was filled with people and it was not how I imagined it to be. I had to scout for new locations and possibly locations that were near to each other so that I can shoot as much scenes I can on that day. In every location I had to make sure that it is either empty or had lesser people walking. When there were too many people walking I waited for a while until the crowd moves away and then continued to film. At night when I was going to film the café scene they were too busy and lacked of staff on that day. I had to forgo that scene and jump to the very last scene where my character crosses the road and into the crowd.
Overall, filming during that time frame it was easier to control the settings and adjusting it to a darker atmosphere. Also, a lesson learnt from filming on this day was that the environment change and it may never be the same as before. I lose the opportunity of taking good shots on that day. Things change and I must learn to adapt to make new changes to my idea.
