STRIKER
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Pre-production
Production
Day 1 On the first day of production, I picked up the equipment and with the help of the crew we moved it upstairs to the location. While some of the crew set up the set, I set up the lights and camera ready for the first shot. Our first challenge on Day 1 of shooting was to make daytime look like night, as required by the script. We had to black out the window to darken the room and I used a very little amount of lighting for the scene to replicate a small lamp in the room. I put a light outside the room to replicate the hospital hallway light. After setting up the set, the Director and 1st AD left the set to do a table read with the actors. This gave me time to talk with the camera operator about the shots we would be performing for this scene and to plan out the camera movements. After a small issue with the sound device, we started filming which went very smoothly. We finished filming at around 19:00 so it was a long day, but with everyone committing 100% to the project, time went by fast. We packed away the equipment and I took all the SD cards to upload on my drive, the university computer and my home computer as a precautionary measure in case one system failed.
During this module, I was given the role of Cinematographer. I chose this role because it's something I'm interested in and might want to pursue in the future. During the preproduction stage, I started off making an equipment list to help the camera operator to familiarise themself with the equipment we will be using on the shooting day. I also made a shot list to help the team understand how many and what kind of shots would be needed to create the film. This really helped because it showed us that the film was going to be too long and that it was an unrealistic goal to film all the shots in just 3 shooting days. This meant the script had to be shortened so we went through the script and edited it down to half the running time. With a shorter script, I was able to add more coverage and money shots (shots that look very good but are hard to perform) to the shot list because there were now fewer scenes to focus on. I wanted to do something special for this film and decided to use a new camera grip called a Steadicam (a camera stabiliser mount that keeps the camera's motion separate and controllable from the operator). Using a Steadicam would allow me to move around a lot more with the camera and have both vertical and horizontal movement allowing me to track/follow the actors. Before booking the Steadicam, I needed 6 hours of training which I completed over 3 weeks. By planning this training well in advance, I was able to complete my training in time to use for the shooting day. A few weeks before filming I booked all the equipment to make sure we had everything our crew needed. I had learnt from other projects that equipment gets booked out fast and that if we waited too long all the equipment would be booked by other crews. Before I booked the Steadicam, I prepared a risk assessment. This allows the crew and cast to be aware of the dangers that could occur around using this new equipment. Choosing to film outside created additional challenges for us. The weather was a big factor/problem for us. We had to check the weather constantly throughout the pre-production stage. Due to the constant forecast changes, we set up a contingency plan to book out a tent to keep equipment dry if it rained and we booked the sports hall in case it started raining when we were filming outdoor football scenes.
Day 2 On Day 2 we waited until the afternoon before starting to set up so it was a bit darker outside. This helped create a night time atmosphere when filming the scene. We could not get permission to use the medical center on the Chichester campus so I set up a few lights set at 5600k colour temperature to match hospital lights. When filming we started with close-ups so the actors would not use all their energy if we started with wide shots and came into close-ups at the end of the day. At the end of the day we were ahead of schedule so I used steadicam to capture some nice tracking shots and help me practice before the last filming day where steadicam would come in handy. Day 3 Day 3 was our outside filming day. The weather looked reasonable with only one hour of light rain predicted at around lunchtime. The wind was a bit of a problem for the sound recording, but with the right equipment and small adjustments in editing we were able to make all the dialogue very clear. When it started raining, we put the equipment under the shelter and had lunch. The rain stopped shortly after lunch, so we continued filming, but the clouds had cleared and the bright sunlight became an issue which we had no way of controlling during filming. Sunlight was an issue because in every shot it changed the way the light hit the camera giving each shot a different look. Towards the end of the filming day, the wind dropped allowing the drone operator to capture some really good birds-eye establishing shots as an added bonus.
Post-Production
I started the edit as I had the footage on my personal computer. I first synced all the audio with the footage using Timecode software. This software allows you to sync visuals, light and sound. Using Timecode saved me a lot of time in post-production as I did not have to manually sync the audio for each clip. As I was the cinematographer for this project as well as the editor, I was able to plan out all the coverage I would need for the edit. This made it very easy to create a smooth rough cut and allowed me to pre-plan out the edit including where and how I would add all the exciting shots. After completing the first draft I sent it off to the Director to get feedback which helped me make changes.
