On Saturday of week 10 we shot the majority of our footage. This consisted mainly of scenes of Jaime, our main character, and Monika, his romantic interest, secluded from the party. As well as some general party scenes where Jaime is isolated. We’re now in the edit process and planning for our shoot with just Jaime on Thursday, where we will shoot the preliminary scenes of Jaime prior to the party. Maybe also some scenes to cut in with the footage that we didn’t get on Saturday, such as Jaime in the bathroom alone, and things that can be edited in to seem like it was shot at the party. This will be easy as we didn’t use the bathroom as a setting at the party and Jaime will be the sole character, so he can wear the same costume.
I was really quite happy with how the shoot went, I’ve never been to, or been a part of a proper shoot before and it was quite fun for me to play around with shots, settings and scenes. We didn’t plan out everything minute by minute, so we had a lot of creative freedom to work with. One thing I would do differently next time I work in a group to make a film, and with general group assignments, would be to define specific roles for each group member prior to the shoot. We had laid out an understanding that everyone would contribute to the scenes, and there were no real limitations to what we could each input, but I felt that it was hard to decide whose creative direction was what we would go with when everyone had input, and especially when there were extras/actors there needing to be directed. I think it caused a bit of delay in shooting, but we got there in the end and we all agreed upon the footage that was shot. It just would’ve been smoother and easier for our extras/guests to conceptualise the scenes if we had had a more clear cut direction.
Additionally, I think the Didos were not the right lighting for our setting, as there were tight spaces, minimal power points and we were mobile with the camera. I felt that it would’ve been easier to use LED light panels to create a more general and even light effect, rather than the direct light that the Didos provided. However, I did like the high contrasts that the Dido provided in some scenes, so maybe it would’ve been better to have both light sources. I’m not too sure about these things and lack experience with equipment, but I just feel that it would’ve been better to have consistent lighting set up around the house, and that would’ve been easier with more light sources.
No real qualms with the process, I had a lot of fun and feel like I learnt a lot. I’m looking forward to our shoot on Thursday, I will try to implement, or more so understand our roles going into the shoot. Although, I think because it’s just one actor it’ll be fine to all contribute, it was just hard/awkward in a setting with multiple others and a lack of direction.
LIVE, LAugh LOVE🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸
Visual Parallels
When choosing these frames, the cinematography of these scenes and even the performances, we followed our intuition and understanding of general human interactions, but in the edit I can see how synonymous these shots are of most coming-of-age romance films or even more generally student films. I feel it’s a big cliche but nonetheless I like how these shots came out, I think they feel sweet and authentic.
Bibliography
Anderson P (director) (2021) Licorice Pizza [motion picture], Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Focus Features, Bron Creative and Ghoulardi Film Company, United States.
Crowe C (director) (2000) Almost Famous [motion picture], Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, United States.