Major Project - Re-Shooting The Diary Room Sequence Part 1
Taking On Board Simon's Feedback & Re-Shooting Our Diary Room Sequence
When we spoke with Simon earlier this week, it was made clear that there were some issues with the footage we'd gotten from the initial Diary Room sequence shoot. The main thing being lighting and mise-en-scene. It wasn't clear to Simon that the white prop alongside Alex during this sequence was in-fact a racing car, therefore we knew immediately that we should go back to the drawing board and re-approach the sequence with additional lighting and a much higher focus on the way the scene is set up as far as the background lighting and mise-en-scene is concerned.
Today was a much smoother shoot day in comparison the previous one, fortunately Connor was kind enough to come back with us to help us out once again despite the fact that he was present for the initial shoot, so we were able to implore a 4 camera set-up. The Sony AX53 was setup on a W.S. (Wide Shot) with Alex C.O.F. (Center of Frame), the FZ330 on a C.U. (Close Up) of Alex's face, the Lumix G7 on a M.S. (Mid-Shot) with Alex L.O.F. (Left of Frame) and finally the university's Panasonic DVX200 mounted to the track and dolly in the same manner as the previous attempt of this shoot. Due to the limited space we had in the garage to operate from, the Sony and G7 cameras would eventually have their frame crossed my the track and dolly as it moved further and further along the track, so it was important that we had as many cameras set-up as possible as it ensured that George would have an alternative shot to cut to when the track and dolly obscured some of the other shots.
Fortunately the issue that I had the last time with ensuring the rig didn't get caught on the track resulting in disruption of movement wasn't as bad this time round, given that we had set the track up vertically today facing towards a different direction than we did a couple weeks ago. We asked the same 4 questions that we did the first time, however this time round we brought in several pictures of Alex and his family growing up, along with an old Karting trophy of his and his first helmet. These pieces of memorabilia were there to serve as a reminder to both Alex and the viewer that this Motorsport in general has been a passion of Alex's for most of his life, and further grounded his motivations for wanting to do what he's doing in 'DreamChaser'.
As for lighting during this re-shoot we didn't want to cut corners given that this was one of the key points of feedback during the session with Simon so we brought in several lights courtesy of the university, as well as George's own set of personal lights that we were able to use in the background of the shots in order to illuminate the garage workshop area seen in the distance during this sequence. We had the larger, round university light mounted on a standing tripod pointing directly towards Alex, this acted as our main light source, alongside another key light to the right of that to act as a spotlight on Alex, darkening the background ever so slightly - without obscuring it completely. Since we had the blue single-seater that Alex took out on Brands Hatch last month as a background prop, we wanted to ensure that it was lit appropriately so the viewer would know exactly what it is upon seeing it in the shot, this was achieved by using smaller lights mounted to guerrilla tripods and tied round pieces of equipment out of frame, but pointing towards the front of the car.
We're really happy with the result as well as the quality of the footage after having reviewed it - we think that this is a key example of where taking on board our lecturer's feedback has served to improve the overall quality of our piece and being able to invest that additional time into the project was incredibly useful, and overall worthwhile.
When we spoke with Simon earlier this week, it was made clear that there were some issues with the footage we'd gotten from the initial Diary Room sequence shoot. The main thing being lighting and mise-en-scene. It wasn't clear to Simon that the white prop alongside Alex during this sequence was in-fact a racing car, therefore we knew immediately that we should go back to the drawing board and re-approach the sequence with additional lighting and a much higher focus on the way the scene is set up as far as the background lighting and mise-en-scene is concerned.
Today was a much smoother shoot day in comparison the previous one, fortunately Connor was kind enough to come back with us to help us out once again despite the fact that he was present for the initial shoot, so we were able to implore a 4 camera set-up. The Sony AX53 was setup on a W.S. (Wide Shot) with Alex C.O.F. (Center of Frame), the FZ330 on a C.U. (Close Up) of Alex's face, the Lumix G7 on a M.S. (Mid-Shot) with Alex L.O.F. (Left of Frame) and finally the university's Panasonic DVX200 mounted to the track and dolly in the same manner as the previous attempt of this shoot. Due to the limited space we had in the garage to operate from, the Sony and G7 cameras would eventually have their frame crossed my the track and dolly as it moved further and further along the track, so it was important that we had as many cameras set-up as possible as it ensured that George would have an alternative shot to cut to when the track and dolly obscured some of the other shots.
Fortunately the issue that I had the last time with ensuring the rig didn't get caught on the track resulting in disruption of movement wasn't as bad this time round, given that we had set the track up vertically today facing towards a different direction than we did a couple weeks ago. We asked the same 4 questions that we did the first time, however this time round we brought in several pictures of Alex and his family growing up, along with an old Karting trophy of his and his first helmet. These pieces of memorabilia were there to serve as a reminder to both Alex and the viewer that this Motorsport in general has been a passion of Alex's for most of his life, and further grounded his motivations for wanting to do what he's doing in 'DreamChaser'.
As for lighting during this re-shoot we didn't want to cut corners given that this was one of the key points of feedback during the session with Simon so we brought in several lights courtesy of the university, as well as George's own set of personal lights that we were able to use in the background of the shots in order to illuminate the garage workshop area seen in the distance during this sequence. We had the larger, round university light mounted on a standing tripod pointing directly towards Alex, this acted as our main light source, alongside another key light to the right of that to act as a spotlight on Alex, darkening the background ever so slightly - without obscuring it completely. Since we had the blue single-seater that Alex took out on Brands Hatch last month as a background prop, we wanted to ensure that it was lit appropriately so the viewer would know exactly what it is upon seeing it in the shot, this was achieved by using smaller lights mounted to guerrilla tripods and tied round pieces of equipment out of frame, but pointing towards the front of the car.
We're really happy with the result as well as the quality of the footage after having reviewed it - we think that this is a key example of where taking on board our lecturer's feedback has served to improve the overall quality of our piece and being able to invest that additional time into the project was incredibly useful, and overall worthwhile.
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