The day of recording the swede (implementation) Part 1

We started to record the first cut of the scene, which I expected, wasn't the best attempt of all. I noticed the audio was very wrong and couldn't pick up the voices of the actors. In which I discover that I was capturing audio from my air pods.

 We tried again and again until we hit the best possible cut. This time with correct audio and minimal background sound. Here is the first cut of our swede we decided that was the best.

Then we started on our second cut in which we needed to put the camera right next to the ID for a extreme close up shot. In which we had our actor have the script up on his phone just in case if he forgot the lines because the camera is only shown on the ID.

I knew that time passed a lot when doing these first cuts of the scene, it has been like 1 hour already. We took a mini break and goofed off playing soccer for 15 minutes. That I kind of regret, but I had to make my clients happy in some shape or another. I knew that if we took 1 hour recording two cuts then we would need a second day, I had it planned for Sunday too just in case if we ran out of sunlight. Having to direct a certain cut just to be perfect is very hard, but luckily, we are just beginners and we didn't have to be TOO perfect. 

The day of recording the swede (planning)

The day of recording our swede came on the Saturday. My goal was to finish this swede in one or two days possible. We had planned to head out to the park at 3:00pm, once it was almost time, I grabbed all my equipment, and I headed out early at 2:40pm. I later arrived to the location we were going to record. I waited until two of the three actors arrived, both of them were Seth and Evan who were to start in the swede. They said their scripts out loud and we studied where it would be a good spot to start.

We would watch the real scene again and again to know who talks first and what action to do in that scene. I started to give practice runs on the scene in which we found the best start. The last actor arrived in which they studied the script and were ready. I made practice runs with them in order to warm up their senses of acting and speaking at a loud tone.

I practiced the pan in our first cut, then I showed my crew the ID prop we were going to use. I made sure the clothes were right, I reviewed their script and action, and we were ready to start.

Using the tripod for our swede (planning)

My goal as being the cinematographer was to learn the basics of using a tripod, that I received with the help of my teacher. The tripod comes in a black bag, with it in another bag, it comes with a phone holder which is needed for the tripod.

Looking at the tripod, I can tell that its not full size yet. So I extended it by pulling the clips down in the legs, this unlocked the leg which would extend, you could customize the height of the tripod. 

Having the tripod at its full height on all three legs, what was next? In order to put our phone in the tripod, I needed to discover how to change the height of the initial place where the phone is going. With the twist of a tool, it could go up or down based on where you want it to be. 

Next, I needed the phone holder on the tripod, so I put in my phone into the holder to then see there is a way of connecting the holder to the tripod. I connected them to later spin a cog that would make it tight.

Now the full setup of the tripod was done, the difference between holding a camera and it being on a tripod is a huge difference. I learned how to manage this tripod in order to use it for our swede.

Introduction to Blackmagic camera (research)

In order to record, I will need a camera app other than the default one that are on phones. So I managed to find one that was heavily recommended called Blackmagic Camera. When opened, it instantly came up with the frame and lots of UI included. 

By the icons below the frame is shown to be settings of how I want to change the view of the camera. The camera is default at 30 fps, but it can be changed to 60 fps max. The difference is very noticeable with the 30 fps looking like a normal camera with some choppiness, 60 fps is very smooth and looks like its a faster camera to use. I would rather use 30 fps instead of 60 fps to not make the recording too smooth which would look very trippy. It also provides filters itself, I wouldn't need to use filters in our scene but making it more visually appealing and better can be changed by using a filter. It also tells the changing WB which means white balance, the number keeps on changing in which it can tell me how much white light is being shown.

I took some pictures with the camera to test its overall quality and it impresses me how much other settings there are in a camera that aren't in the base camera app. I learned the overall basics of the camera and now it was time to use it for capturing our scene.

Shot list for production proposal (planning)

 The shot list is needed in order to know what shots are needed and what happens in them. In order to know what we need to describe the shots, we have to know what shot angle and size is being used.

Therefore, the first shot of the scene shows to be a medium shot because not all the body of the characters are being shown. The angle of the shot is angled with the level of the eyes of the characters, one might be higher but still provides the leveled angle shown. Then later in the second shot, the camera will pan over to the other actor that will make his way to the two. It stays at a medium shot and doesn't change angle. 

The third shot results in the extreme close up shot of the ID, the phone will need to be very close to the ID while the actors will talk in the background. Hopefully my phone can capture this ID close, I will see what camera I will need to use in order to capture all this perfectly. In the end, there are many shots that we will need to do in order to combine this into one scene. Cuts will be very important in order to refresh our actors minds about the script and actions needed. 

Call sheet for production proposal (planning)

 In order for the production to happen with everything in plan, we were going to need a call sheet for the actors and other stuff. 

It all starts where we are sure to record, in Cypress Park where there is a decent setting and a building that would be perfect to include. All filming would be happening there, and no other location is needed. Filming dates would include the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend at the park. In those days the park gets slightly filled up on those days based on experience. The recording would mostly be during midday in order for us to capture that natural lighting.

 Now, we need our actors, from a different school I got three friends of mine to join in acting, I asked them if they were interested into volunteering into being in my swede.

I saw that our costumes for the scene will have to be causal clothing and backpacks. The only prop we need is the driver license. The equipment that I will bring to record is a tripod, my phone, and a microphone in order to make audio better. It will be a simple day of recording with no food or given gifts. I learned that there is actual a meaning to where we record and who acts, I tried to not choose people that would fool off too much, but to focus on this film.

Storyboard in the Proposal (planning)

I started to draw the exact shot that is above for the storyboard. I included the background with the people behind Evan. I tried to make the face look at the license with him having a backpack. I also tried to recreate the background of the shot with the bush with the orange brick walls behind. I most importantly had to have Evan holding the driver license that is the main topic of the scene.

After making this scuffed piece, I made the background orange corresponding to the orange building, I made green scribbles to make the green bush with the person looking the other way like in the shot. I really tried to make the patterns of the bricks, I combined the complete black bricks with the white outlined ones to make it different, clearly this idea didn't work as a way to make a detailed background but it still works for the setting. I made where Evan is looking at the I.D with the pupils of his eyes with his mouth open indicating that he is currently speaking to Fogell. I really tried to make the backpack of Evan but it turned out to not look like so much of a backpack. In the end, I learned the specific details that are shown in these shots that bring variety.

Production Proposal (research)

 

Me and my groupmate agreed on doing this proposal on word document. We started off by researching the production proposal needed in order for us to get a green light, which makes us start our filming. Being director, I focused on what we needed to discuss and what to apply. The proposal needed a storyboard, shot list, sound design statement, call sheet, and a recce report.

 Using the already made shot list we had, we choose which shots were the most important for the storyboard which needed 6 detailed shots from the scene. Therefore, I studied the shots in order to remember what angle and shot type is needed to capture the characters perfectly because I'm also the cinematographer. The shot list has stayed the same, but I separated it into 3 different parts in order to go by parts and not confuse ourselves. 

The sound design statement started by researching the whole entire script of the scene with the characters names included. Music to be made in the scene will have to be a simple music making app that fits well with the exact one in the scene. We saw that the scene didn't have sound effects at all, so we skipped it. 

The actor planning started with who would be the best similar person to play that character, someone who looks like the one of the three characters and has somewhat the same attitude. We came up with three people that can possibly play for the three characters in the scene, I know to not choose a person that can't handle scripts and acting good.

 

The days would have to be a weekend in order for people to not be the busiest, we saw that Saturday and Sunday would be a good day for the start of filming. The recce report tells us where we are going to film, we researched that the best place we can film is in a park. A park is a simple working setting that would still work beside a school campus.

(Research) for our swede

                                                                    Scene we are doing

The shot draft is described above. It is the rough draft of what we envision every shot and cut will have to be for filming.

One of the scenes props will have to be this license.

Our three character in the scene.

 In order to get an idea of what we need to shoot, we need to gather all different shots in order to know what shots we need and what they have in it. I researched the iconic scene on Youtube that is 2 minutes and 26 seconds long of a scene. I started to draw a quick brief draft of the shot being shown. I put the upcoming cast's names on the belonging characters with what shot type it is. 

The scene also showed certain clothes and props needed to represent the setting and context of the scene. I then put arrows that follows the next shot that sometimes cycles the same shot. I also added instructions on what cut happens in between shots and what action happens to proceed the shots. I saw that we start with a handheld then later go into a stationary shot when they are talking in the scene. We also saw aspects of mise en scene that used frontality to empower a character.

In the end, the shots are all ordered by the shot list with arrows pointing to the next shot, after studying all the details I will have to maximize the most I can with the scene, as my job as director, its my job to provide quality and upmost fun for our group. Taking role as a cinematographer will challenge me to take the exact positions and angles in order for it to look like the same.