Pre-Prod. Test shoots

TEST SHOOTS

For this pre-production package, one of the key elements to this as i was approaching it from a D.O.P perspective, was the test shoots for this unit. I needed to try and somehow bring to life our concept through the lens of a camera. It would hopefully only need to be a short sequence as i felt it would easily be enough to convey what was intended for. Within these test shoots, lighting, framing, camera movement and colour/tone were under heavy focus, as each of those elements can either make or break a film. I knew that the lighting would be low key, with the colour palette also being quite desaturated & bleak as the themes that our concept deal with really need those specific requirements in terms of lighting and the colour/tone of our project. The framing and camera movement would be quite subtle, that of a David Fincher film, as again it fits with the aesthetic we are trying to achieve. I will go into more depth on each of these elements, and apply them to my test shoots below -    

35MM TEST ROLL - 

With creating a visual interpretation of the storyboard through the use of a 35mm roll was quite useful in the sense that it instantly gave me the desired aesthetic we were looking for within this project. This helped a lot of trying to capture that image within the title sequence & the test shoot moving image, as it gave us the dull colourisation & palette to look at & aim for. The photo's signify & convey the tone & theme of our topic quite nicely & appropriately, and thankfully with the right light from the LEDs we used, they came out well. 

SHOT ONE -

So within this first shot i've obviously played with the aperture as i wanted an extremely shallow depth of field. This was key to what i wanted out of this test shoot, as i only wanted the characters to be in focus as they're unaware of their surroundings, until..

SHOT TWO - 

The camera then moves to the left side of one of our characters, for preparation of the OS shot, it is all in one shot so there is no confusion to be made. It's still focusing on the character as she is yet, just like the audience, unaware of her surroundings. 

SHOT THREE - 

Quickly the camera's focus changes, to the mysterious car, (this obviously would be an old 1940's model, this version just a demo) we the audience & the character have our attention drawn to something which clearly has significance, but of what kind? 

SHOT FOUR - 

The next shot was key in allowing us the audience to see who the potential threat is, and we begin to feel uncomfortable, as the potential threat is right in the wing mirror. There is still a shallow depth of field as this particular shot would be a pull of focus, as it would portray the characters in a rather stranded, lost situation. 

SHOT FIVE -

Within this following shot we then get the perspective of the mysterious car, allowing us to see the isolated, potential 'victims' stood still, this is when our characters eventually calculate that his encounter is a tense, and dangerous one. I'm still using a shallow depth of field to have a 'them and us' effect, as i want them completely separate, to never really be in focus together as their worlds don't align. 

SHOT SIX -

We then jump straight to the two characters, in a two-shot, capturing their emotions & realisation of what kind of situation they have found there selves in. This shot was really just for the reaction, and to eventually lead our narrative to an end.  

SHOT SEVEN - 

This was quite a significant shot, however demonstrated better with the recorded version, as we see the two characters cross over the street, to avoid any confrontation with the mysterious car. The aperture is then changed to focus both characters/car as they're in the same shot, at the same time, it was to give them that connection within the narrative that hadn't been formed before. Even though the car is a potential threat, the characters are still unsure as to what level of danger they're in, so that's why both stay in focus on this shot. 

SHOT EIGHT - 

Again this shot is also significant in the way it hangs on, and eventually fades out on this. The implications it has are vast & knowing that the encounter was now a pretty negative one, it leaves the audience wanting to know more regarding the situation. 

MOVING IMAGE TEST SHOOT - RECORDED ON SONY A7S

Below is the test shoot, shot with a Sony A7S, 50mm f 1.8 lens. What me and Aimee both wanted out of this test shoot sequence was a real sense of how this whole hypothetical piece would actually be brought together, visually & mentally. So i chose a specific scene from the storyboard, (storyboard 8) and brought it to life. The reason i chose this specific camera was that it's lightweight, has fantastic settings and shoots in S-Log2.    

TEST SHOOT CLIP

WHY I SHOT IT THE WAY I DID & CAMERA SETTINGS

I used two types of recording modes, the first was standard format, and then the second was S-Log2, which is Sony's built in Log version for their mirrorless end camera specs. The first mode that i chose to record on was your standard recording format, this was solely for the purpose of comparing the footage to the S-Log and seeing which would be better to colour correct, (if needed be) we then realised after we digitalised the footage that we would be better off going with the S-Log footage as it really complimented the narrative & represented the themes & topics perfectly that were in the episode covered. The S-Log2 format is very resourceful & can be used for many reasons, like increasing your dynamic range, which is intensifying the shadows & the light area's and gives you a lot more to play with for post production. But also it can be used to create a tone, without it needing to be colour corrected, and this is what we went with for the test shoot.  

LIGHTING

The lighting for this piece was low key lit, we utilised the LEDs taken from university, but also bearing in mind that we'd be shooting out on location, so that would leave us with a lot of naturally lit space which resulted in the LEDs really being used to light faces, and specific objects. The lighting for this test shoot obviously gave us some insight in regards to if we were to film the real thing, as to how we would complete this out on location. It made us consider using reflectors, to be prepared for no sun/over cast weather, to know which direction the sun is facing. Test shoots are for this very reason, so we got out of it what we intended.  

COMPOSITION

The framing for this test shoot was quite straight forward and similar to your generic drama/period piece, as after some research what we found was that vodcasts can be shot this way, and that it's down to the way it's exported that makes the viewing experience nuanced. The camera was handheld throughout for this was to create a sense of panic & intensity, as that is something that would be key throughout the whole pilot episode. Also it was to grip the audience, allowing them to feel potentially what the characters are feeling, further reinforcing the immersion that we want the audience to feel. 

COLOUR/TONE

As previously stated in regards to the format of the footage it was recorded on, the colour really set the tone of the test piece. This was fortunately captured by the format, (S-Log) and we didn't really have to colour correct/manipulate it to the way we desired because it already had that desired aesthetic. We felt it fitted in with the brief of our project perfectly, as the crime & justice colour themes that we've set are in sync with the footage that S-Log gives, it made colour correcting obsolete.