Please insert the link for your Lenny Exercise 2 here.

List the things that you learnt from this experience – this could be things that went well or not so well. 

Overall the Lenny Exercise 2 was a great learning experience as introduction to the future weeks major production. It gave the whole group a chance to experience their roles and to understand the flow of the production process. Here are some key things I learnt from the experience:

Lesson 1 – Time is the enemy

There will never be enough time and we could have easily spent all day experimenting with shots, but we only had an hour. Learning how to plan and shoot in relation to time constraints was key. Furthermore, it was interesting to see how once the group got into the process of shooting we became more confident and began to work quicker without realising.

Lesson 2 – Weather is unpredictable

It’s pretty obvious that weather is always unpredictable, but Melbourne weather is the epitome of unpredictable. The day we shot our exercise it was overcast and raining every couple of minutes. This meant we needed a designated umbrella holder to hold over the camera equipment while we shot scenes. Weather constraints is something we will need to be prepared for in our major production with the likelihood of rain present on our shooting day.

Lesson 3 – Takes, takes and more takes

Quite simply, the more takes, the more material. During the shoot we never shot a scene only once, but covered it from a variety of different angles, in multiple takes. This gave us the opportunity to decide in the edit suites, and decision is the most valuable tool in production as it can separate a good film from a great one. Therefore, when in doubt do another take.

Lesson 4 – Plan

Planning is the sword to slaying the beast of the production. In the Lenny Exercise we had decided on a location, mapped out our shots and designated our roles. However, we still wasted time at the start trying to organise ourselves on how we would approach the whole exercise. In our major production we will have to be really organised in order to get straight into shooting and not waste those precious minutes.

Lesson 5 – The other perspective

For our Lenny I acted as Sharon (noting that I also helped out acting for another Lenny production – apologies for Sharon saturation of the Lenny production market). This was probably the best experience from the whole exercise as I could understand the shoot from the perspective of the actor. It helped me fathom what our casted actors will need in terms of communication, direction and assurance from our crew in the major production. Something as simple as reassurance the actors are doing a good job can have a big impact on their confidence for ongoing shots.

Please outline some points that you took away from the Lighting Lecture. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you, perplexes you or even one you take issue with. 

The lecture raised the question, why are we lighting in the first place? It was really interesting to understand the reasonings behind lighting a part from the obvious answer of exposure. We light for continuity over the whole scene, something that may not be consistent if there is a reliance on natural light. Light also provides spatial continuity to make shots match. And lastly it provides perspective, as we need control over the image in order to superimpose aesthetics, influencing the mood and look of the film for example.

What was completely new to me was that the lecture helped me realise just how important lighting is in scenes. When we were shown the example of the kids sitting on the rocks in the Australian sun, I assumed the scene was naturally lit; to learn it was made up of constructed light was really eye opening. I’ve always thought of lighting in terms of using natural light to your advantage, but this lecture made me understand that natural light can always be manipulated to achieve better aesthetic qualities.

The one perplexing part of the lecture was understand the transition of the sun. I was a bit confused at the start but when explained that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, going north, it made me realise how important this knowledge is for our major productions; it will help create lighting continuity across scenes and plan shooting.

One of the most important points on lighting was that it’s all about relationships – the relationship between lighting and exposure, the relationship between the camera’s position and the subject – and how these are all used to create contrast.

Below list some key lighting terminology defined in the lecture:

Key light – principle light source for the scene

Fill light – light that fills that scene

Back light/Rim light – light with a rim or hard edge

Eye light – gleam light in someone’s eyes