27/4 - Filming

Today I finally started filming! I managed to get all of the scenes shot today and I’m really happy that I managed to finish it all. I ideally wanted to finish filming by the end of this week, so to have finished on Wednesday is a great feeling.

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders for now, as all I really need to focus on is editing the film. For the rest of the week I’m going to finish sorting out my blog posts, and then start editing starting next week.

Lighting:

Using the lighting ideas I had tested out and tried yesterday, I positioned the lights as shown below. I was so wrapped up in filming the shots and making sure it looked good, that I forgot to take some behind the scenes shots, but I did manage to get this on my mums phone.

Behind the scenes shot showing the position of lights

Below is a diagram showing the lighting I used that might be a bit easier to see and understand.

Diagram of the lighting used for my film.

Also drawn on the diagram (which isn't shown in the picture), is an additional light I added in front of the TV, as some of the darker scenes which relied on the TV for light weren't bright enough for my liking, so I added a basic white light in front of the screen just to help it out a bit.

Location:

The location of my film is the living room in my house, as I have shown and mentioned in my previous blog posts.

Props:

I created a list of props I would need for my film in my 23/4 blog post, which included: red coffee cups, a bowl of popcorn, red/pink flowers, wine glasses, a blanket and phone.

These props weren’t anything too extravagant and most I already had in my house, so they were easy to gather.

Costume:

As my whole project is based off of colour, and how it effects the mood of a scene, I wanted these emotions to be shown through the use of clothing as well.

So I got both of my actors to wear pink/red clothing towards the start of my film, and change into blue/grey/black clothing at the end of the film. I didn’t make them buy any new clothes, just to utilise the ones they already own.

Shot types:

As I have mentioned and drawn in my storyboards, there is only one shot type throughout the film; a wide shot of the sofa showing the couples relationship progress.

This made filming a lot easier, as I didn’t have to worry about camera movements or angles, I only had to keep the tripod steady and in the same position throughout the whole filming process.

Test shots:

When filming, I used Filmic Pro, as I wanted to film in a log profile, so I can be more flexible with my colour choices in post.

This was a bit scary, and still is, as I’m not sure how well it is going to grade when I come round to doing it.

Below shows the difference of filming on my iPhones normal camera vs Filmic Pros log setting.

Scene shot with iPhone camera

Scene shot with Filmic Pro log setting.

The difference is obvious, as the second video is a lot more washed out, but I’m hoping that when I am colouring, it will make it a lot easier.

First scene preparations:

There were a few things I tested out before I filmed, one being the starting scene, as it is the first scene I wanted it to look good.

My dad was getting ready and my mum was waiting so I asked her if we could run through the scene, and I explained my ideas for the scene to her.

This is shot on my iPhone camera by the way, which is why the colours are bright and vibrant.

Me and my mum running through the shot.

I think it turned out pretty well, apart from the fact the flowers weren’t in shot (I asked him to hold them down a bit more in the real thing), so I thought we’d run through it one more time with both of them instead.

My mum and dad running through the shot.

This was their first scene filming together so I think they were a bit nervous but they did really well. The only other bit of advice I gave them after this video ended was to make sure they introduce each other when they meet.

I think it was odd for them to pretend that they don’t know each other but they did really well. After this we went straight into the first shot.

Conclusion:

Overall, I’m really glad that I have finished filming now, and I can move on with editing next week.

I am a bit worried about the colour grading, as I’m not sure how the log footage turned out, and I don’t know whether the lighting was as good as it good have been.