For this project I had a vision of how I was going to capture an bring to life this narrative, I wanted a consistent and creatively stimulating aesthetic, which would reinforce the general themes the narrative holds. From reading the script and looking at the storyboard already made, I knew there were changes that needed to be made (in relation to the storyboard/camerawork). I felt this project would of suited more of a handheld approach, and sitcoms that sprung to my mind after reading it were programmes like People Just Do Nothing, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. PJDN isn't worlds away from our own concept, in the sense that the series is about a group of guys who run their own pirate radio show, in comparison to ours, a group of guys completing weekly podcasts, demonstrating clear parallels of wanting gratification from their listeners/subscribers, being shown by tuning in or following their movements. So with these series in mind, I thought it'd be best to shoot handheld, however it was out of my control ultimately as Will wanted the majority of it to be on tripod, which he backed up as he wanted to emulate the aesthetic of The Mighty Boosh, which is primarily static shots, as he felt it suited the tone of our piece more appropriately.
LIGHTING
With the lighting I wanted to create a natural yet surreal surrounding for the characters within their location. I wanted it to feel authentic by making sure everywhere had enough lighting so you could see the shadows within the shot. I felt by bringing out the shadows more you get a sense of that reality shining through. I was trying at points throughout the first scenes to emulate the lighting used within People Just Do Nothing, I know it's a mockumentary stylised narrative, but I felt with the dim, low lit, naturalistic and urban aesthetic it utilises, it could be translated into our project, and slightly adjusted to fit the tone of our piece. As there are elements within our project that match the ones of PJDN, so I tried to use minimum LED lights but also watching to make sure the light is as balanced as it can be, to provide a well thought out lighting set up.
METHODOLOGY FOR LIGHTING
Bedroom scenes -
To create the lighting set up in here I used two LED lights, one aimed at the wall to bounce the light all around the room and the other was next to the camera, shining on the subject matter. I had a slightly orange filter added to the one shone at the wall to give it a surreal tint to the piece. I knew this would come in handy come the edit.
Dining room scenes -
These were simiarlly lit to the bedroom scenes as even though these locations were different, they had the same context. They were locations that the characters used to keep the dialogue going, nothing else, there was no conflict within these locations so for that reason the lighting didn't need to change.
Hallucination scene - Danny
For Danny's kitchen hallucination, I made sure to wash out all the natural colours and make it as orange/yellow as possible, this would be the colour for all of the hallucinations as these specific colours represent a contrast of moods. I blasted through a tungsten into the window to land on the kitchen side and Danny to achieve this.
Hallunication scene - Sam
This specific scene as stated above was lit with one LED, that had a slight orange filter on it. I know that you obviously can't see these colours come through the camera LCD because I was shooting in Log format, but I used the filter regardless because I knew once it came to the edit the colour would shine through.
Hallucination scene - Ralph
This scene wasn't lit by artificial light as it was out on location. What we used was a reflector and we had one LED light next to his face for when we did the close up singles of Ralph. The strength of the LED was quite weak as it didn't need to be strong since we had the sun blasting over.
Penguin scene -
I wanted this scene to be lit with the tungsten beaming in again from outside like Danny's hallucination so we set up the tungsten outside and shone it through the back door. I also set up two LED lights at either side of the camera in the master shot. When off the master and doing handheld point of view shots I would sit the LEDs behind me in the direction I was holding the camera to light up any of the subject matter I was filming. The filter was on and the strength was to a medium, the kelvin was also around 3500 - 4000 mark.
Raid scene -
I tried to make this as vivid as possible so I had one LED at the back of the kitchen, lighting up the walk way to the bathroom, then two LEDs behind the kitchen table which would be pointed up towards the ceiling. The filters would be on throughout the scene recording.
WHY
Bedroom scenes -
The reason why I had one LED light up at the ceiling was so that it filled the room to give it an overall natural look which I thought would help achieve the aesthetic we were trying to achieve. I made sure it had the filter on to give it that surreal tone that would adhere to our shows concept and themes. The lights on the subject matter was to just keep them correctly exposed or else we would have quite a grainy, unclean image which isn't what we wanted from this scene.
Dining room scenes-
Similarly to the bedroom scenes, in terms of lighting, we had two LEDs facing upwards with the filters on, to keep that consistency flowing throughout. This obviously supporting our narratives themes so we made sure to keep this up. The lights would fill the room with this lovely specific tint which hopefully in the edit, came through once the colour grade was applied.
Hallucination scene - Danny
The reason why I put the tungsten outside to blast through the window was to achieve the effect of a studio lit kitchen, as this scene was meant to be a hallucination of him being a tv presenter on a kitchen show. The two LEDs were used to keep the consistency flowing throughout and maintain our visual aesthetic of the surreal.
Hallunication scene - Sam
I used the stated approach for this scene for the same reason I had in the previous hallucinations. However I only used one LED on this scene as it only needed one because of the space of the location. The filter was used to create and reinforce the sense of surrealism with being in the characters mind.
Hallucination scene - Ralph
The reason for using such little artificial light within this scene was simple, it was down to the fact that we were out on location and used as more natural light as possible. the LED was used only on the close ups to ensure we have the correct exposure on Ralph's face throughout the scene. The reflector was also used to try and dull down the sun on Ralph's face as at points his face was too exposed.
Penguin scene -
The approach for this was due to this scene being extremely trippy and that's why I wanted the orange tint to really come to life within this piece. This tint accentuates the narratives themes and enhances the audiences experience by using this specific tool to bring to life the surreal elements of this situation.
Raid scene -
With this scene the lighting was set up to indicate the reality of the situation. This is when things start to actually become real, and less of the surreal lighting set up begins to show. This was purposeful as I didn't want to try and present this scene as a surreal moment, more over I wanted this scene to look as authentic and real as possible, because it was and is happening legitimately to our characters. This totally juxtaposes to the penguin scene as that's meant to still be surreal as it's the characters hallucination still.
COMPOSITION & CAMERA MOVEMENT
I tried to frame every shot in the bedrooms and dining rooms in the same way as these scenes are quite monotonous and straight forward, this was also to juxtapose on how I would frame the hallucination scenes and the raid scene. I wanted to use alternative angles when it was justified, not just because I felt the urge to, there needed to be valid reasons. The hallucination scenes and raid scene had to be the pivotal points at which we implement the very trippy angles such as tracking shots and point of view shots to really get into the minds of our characters.
METHODOLOGY FOR COMPOSITION AND CAMERA MOVEMENT
Bedroom scenes -
These particular scenes were shot in your generic sitcom way, getting establishing shots, singles and two shots and point of view shots to indicate who the main protagonists are. I used a tracking shot to pull us through the feet, portraying each individuals personality traits by using just this one shot. This is an effective way of telling a story, so that you don't have to explain to the audience who these characters are and what their backgrounds are.
Dining room scenes-
These scenes had to be shot in a similar way of the bedroom scenes as these were the building blocks to the big finale at the end, that beign the raid scene. I'd make sure to shoot the master shot, on a tripod including all of the main protagonists. Then after that I'd get all the singles and two shots I'd need for more coverage. Then i'd shoot close up and extreme close up shots of the surroundings of the characters, this was done to help Aimee out with the edit. This was a mixture handheld movement and being placed on a tripod.
Hallucination scene - Danny
I made sure to get the master shot covered first, this was the wide shot of the sequence. Then following on from that i'd get a medium close up, close up then extreme close ups of the knife hitting the egg and the egg being scooped out of the pan. This was all done on a tripod, static.
Hallunication scene - Sam
This scene was shot all handheld, I made sure to get the scene from the top just shooting the medium shots first, then from the top to gather the close ups and then to shoot all the extreme close ups. I used point of view shots for this specific scene also, acting as Sam and the monster. I did both for when it came to the edit Aimee had a lot of footage to play around with.
Hallucination scene - Ralph
I shot this with a lot of establishing shots, I also gathered over the shoulder shots, single medium shots, medium close ups and close ups/extreme close up shots. This scene was shot all on a tripod. I did also shoot some point of view shots from the perspective of the plants for this sequence.
Penguin scene -
I followed my shotlist for this specific scene as it was extremely complicated, I made sure to get absolutely every shot covered as if not we may of missed something pivotal to the narrative. I shot all of the scene from the top for the master shot, then reset for the close ups and medium shots. This scene was filled with point of view shots from all three of the main protagonists. Also having some perspective shots from Graham. This scene was a 50/50 mix of handheld and tripod shot, but i'd say I tried to squeeze in a few more handheld shots because it just felt natural to.
Raid scene -
I shot this mainly handheld, making sure to follow the shotlist we had on set as again this was a very complex sequence to follow. I made sure to record all of the medium/long shots first, then get the close up shots, following the characters reactions with it. Then I got the point of view shots, then getting singles of all of the reenactment team storming the house. I made sure the GoPro's got footage of the running up towards the house from behind, and another shot of one of them coming down the stairs in the house.
WHY
Bedroom scenes -
The reasoning behind these decisions were simple, it's because these specific scenes were to be build up to the situations that would arise later on, I wanted to juxtapose each of the scenes and enhance the audiences viewing experience with the change from static tripod to handheld, allowing for a more immersive watch. I made sure to also follow the shotlist and gather all of the footage to help out Aimee once it got to the edit, I know how helpful it is to have too many shots rather than too little
Dining room scenes -
I'll echo what I just stated before, as to justify my creative decisions for the camera work on this scene. I made sure this scene got all the coverage needed in a pragmatic approach, i.e using the static master and singles and two shots to maintain the calmness of the project before it is to descend into chaos later on in the narrative. I want to build up to this through my use of camera work. So that is why I shot this sequence quite generic, as well as obviously following the shotlist and storyboard created by Will and myself.
Hallucination scene - Danny
I approached this scene and filmed it the way I did because this specific hallucination was meant to be set in a TV studio. Danny was meant to be a cook presenter on his own TV show, so it made sense to have very crisp and symmetrical framed shots, as this is how a cooking show would be presented. I basically tried to emulate what a live cooking show would look at for this scene, by using the tripod a lot throughout and getting close ups of the food, and extreme close ups of the cooking processes.
Hallunication scene - Sam
The justification behind the usage of shots within Sam's hallucination are simple, as this scene is a hallucination with two halves, the first being him waking up in bed happy, then the next half of him opening the door and being taken by the monster, I thought it'd be perfect to use handheld to allow the audience to truly feel like they're in the scene with the character. That's why with the use of handheld you're able to allow the audience to immerse themselves within the scene and feel what the character is feeling. Additionally the reason why I chose to use the point of view angle within this scene is that I felt it highlighted best the fear within Sam's face, and also once again allows the audience to understand the emotions that Sam is going through. It's quite a evocative angle that shares not just Sam's emotion but also the psychological state of him and also the monster, as we the audience see from the monsters perspective which is the first time we see from this perspective.
Hallucination scene - Ralph
The reasoning that warrants the approach I took to this particular scene in terms of the shots I got and how I framed them is quite straight forward. I wanted to immediately let the audience know that Ralph was the sunflower by using the hilarious establishing shot first, which we see this gigantic human in a stupid outfit. It added to the humour within this sequence, heightening it and allowing the audience to engage with it on another level. I then cut between the close ups as the conversations intensified as this is amble build up to the monster coming into shot again. I wanted to use perspective shots again for this scene as I felt they brought out the comedic values to this scene even more than normal over the shoulder shots would.
Penguin scene -
I made sure that this scene was shot pretty much all handheld aside from the master shot as I felt it really needed to be handheld as it's such a wild and intense scene. The audience needed to the know and feel the intensity of this scene and I felt the only way that this could be achieved would be to utilise the handheld technique and so I did. As well as this, my justification for the point of view shots from all of the main protagonists throughout this sequence was to once again share with the audience the kind of fragile state of mind the characters had at this stage of the narrative. These point of view shots are utilised in lots of comedies, especially Peep Show, which is where the inspiration came from to use this specific shot throughout, as you enter the mind of the character you're seeing through, and therefore you begin to get a sense of what they might be feeling, which really adds to the authenticity of the piece.
Raid scene -
Finally the justification behind this scenes stylised shooting was down to the fact that I wanted it to be as intense as possible so I wanted to use a vast amount of camera angles to really evoke that response from the audience. To create the intenisity, a great technique that I utilised a lot was the handheld movement, so even though the framing and sharpness was off, it gives you that sense of reality and allows the audience to be as immersive as possible in contrast to using still static shots on a tripod. That's why I wanted to steer clear of the tripod within this scene.
SETTINGS
I just wanted to further articulate on my reason of recording in Log format on the Panasonic DVX200. I believed that using the log format would bring more depth to the image and also the end product of our production. In video, log recording uses a logarithmic function curve to preserve a higher quantity of dynamic range and tonality from the image sensor. Log recording takes the dynamic range of the source image and redistributes it across the log curve. This is different than how the dynamic range and tonality of an image are normally recorded. As a result, a log recording will look flat, with little colour, when played back on a normal monitor. Appearances are deceiving; log footage actually holds greater detail within the image’s dynamic range. This does not mean that the footage is uncompressed or RAW. It means that the footage will need a post-production process to bring out the dynamic range and vibrancy of the colour in the image. So because of how the log format would increase our visual dynamic range and give us more manipulation come to the edit, I thought it would be extremely useful as I know once I start to colour grade i'll have a greater chance of creating a colour palette which would best suit and lift our piece to where it needs to be. I would have more creative control in that sense as i'll be able to use more of the image as it's been saved by using the log format. It will be more achievable to create a desired aesthetic with this way of recording as it's creating a blank slate, but obviously I had to make sure that the exposure and white balance was right throughout, which I did for most parts.
SUMMARY
To conclude, I believe that my justifications to all my creative decisions in relation to my cinematography for this piece have been outlined appropriately. I feel that I captured what I set out to capture and created an aesthetic which suited the narratives core themes and tones, which was the main target. I hope that everyone enjoys the piece as much as I enjoyed the filming of it. But I can safely say that i'm glad this experience has finally reached it's end and having seen the fine cut now, it has came to a beautiful conclusion.
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