Major Project Unit: Post-production

Last week I just went through some footage, to explore what looks would suit. Filming is one part, but the next is correction, and through my experience in photoshop, you can do so much to an image to completely enhance it or change the mood. Below are just some quick corrections to demonstrate this. The main things I usually alter are the levels and curves; in fcpx it's similar but instead you can change the saturation, exposure and colour. Fcpx also has many preset looks to use. 

In my past research, there are paid for ready-made 'looks' which you can just place over your footage instead of creating the looks yourself. Such as RedGiant software, i.e Magic Bullet Looks.

Another site I've come across in the past is CineGrain, which gives the look of film. As well as offering the popular flash frame look.

A lot of people create their own looks and effects and sell them or have them free to download, such as creating Top Gear style, so people can just put the look onto their footage without correcting and building the effect themselves.

A version of this which most people now use is Instagram. A photo-sharing tool for smart phones, where users can take and photo and instantly put effects onto their images, mainly in a polaroid style. 

Major Project Unit: Production

Lauren and I filmed this week and have now taken down the set. Our last shooting day is tomorrow, where we film the field scenes. Then we should have just enough time to edit, as that will be the longest part, especially as this is one of our longer projects. I feel like all the planning has paid off so far. 

My shot list is below, which helped in simplifying the scenes and breaking them down. And also, breaking down what shots to get. Even with this planning, I still made notes on the day, as things change and you sometimes find that you capture something that you didn't think you would. I found that I had to think very quickly, and be adaptable, especially during the improv scenes where the actors were free to go where they like. What helped me, was the ability to expose, focus and frame the shot quickly (especially when changing lenses and with actors moving unpredictably). Most of the scenes were blocked out, so I knew what I was doing and what movements were needed. Some shots were better than others, which may make it tough to edit as there's quite a few good moments that we shot. 

The last scenes we shot, will be in black and white. Hopefully they'll come out well. The lights were adjusted so we change to a more high key look. But there's a still an amount of work needed to be done in post. I'm also meeting with the composer and sound supervisor for this piece, some ideas have been shown, but I'm going to give them some more direction so the soundtrack moves along as we edit the film. 

Major Project Unit: Production

We had a rehearsal Thursday with our cast to just go through the script and block out the whole film. In the background I was adjusting lights and trying out different camera angles and frames. It does take a long time to get the lighting right, so a day to just adjust them whilst looking at where the actors are in each scene was really useful.

I've read a couple of books on lighting and found some things very useful. A lot of the problems they talk about, are things which I have had experience with, and they help on how to solve them and look at how light works. Such as, when the light source is closer, the stronger the light will be and the harsher the shadow. Light is also about pointing something out in the frame, as they eye is drawn to the light. So in this way, I quite like how the window light falls on the poppies in the corner of the room, as they're significant to the couple relationship. 

I'm always making sure the exposure is correct, I have the strong light coming from the window, then another spot, so these both interchange between becoming the key and the backlight depending on where I shoot from. I also have a few fill lights at about 50% of the key. And this gives the footage quite a natural look without being under or over-exposed. 

Here are some screenshots from the rehearsal days shooting, without any correction. In the film, as it goes along the colours will change, so the footage will become less saturated before becoming full black and white:

Through the window

Lauren directing...

Under the sheets