I planned to get the rest of the scenes that included Collette (the actress) out of the way so there was only inserts left to shoot, and I could look through and decide if there was any others I now wanted. We started with the window gazing shot which went really well, I did a few different shots from inside and outside s I could see what fit later. The lighting in the kitchen was really nice and natural, I added a light as a fill light just to add a little more light in areas. I was unsure of how I wanted to compose this shot so I did various angles. I hadn't originally planned for the shot to be a silhouette but as the light was in front of the camera it created that effect but it works well with the concept of the film and now meant I did not have to shoot a silhouette scene separately.
Then we moved on to the mirror scene, getting it positioned so Collette's face was distorted in the broken glass and not being able to see my reflection was a tricky task. It ended up being shot slightly offside as opposed to central which I had expected from previous shoots involving mirrors. For this particular scene I think the offside angle was really nice as you could see the side of Collette's face and her expression in the mirror. With this composition I then decided to do a pull focus for this shot, I thought it would look great with the focus being on the side of the face then shifting to focus on the mirror. This took a few attempts as I had to do it handheld since there was not room to set up a tripod in a suitable position for the shot. I found it difficult to hold the camera steady and pull focus at the same time. In future I would probably attempt this with a shoulder rig as it would free up my hands more.
The crying scene was the most complex, not technically but for Collette as she just had to cry on request. This I know she struggled with but she got there eventually with a little help from vapour rub, I would not usually agree to anything like that but she just did it so I had no control over the matter. The emotion in the scene was really impressive, it was not too dramatic which I am really happy about. I used two lights for this scene as I wanted to create more emotion and put a bigger emphasis on it through the way she was lit. A brighter light was used to light one side of the face and a dimmer light towards the front of the face to fill in some areas. This is my favourite scene in terms of lighting, I think the contrast been the two sides of the face is great and it went exactly how I wanted it to. The close-up shot works the best for the scene but I did shoot a few further out to cut too and from through out the film. I shot this on level/ slightly lower than Collette as I felt this would connect better with the audience.
Water reflection, in this scene Collette was looking at her reflection in the water then splashing to distort it. It was really sunny outside which made it hard to tell if the shot was in focus so I just did the best I could to focus it and hoped for the best. I chose to compose it so part of Collette was in shot but most of the shot was the water but you would still be aware of her presence, making it less confusing when she distorts her reflection. Again it had to be shot slightly offside so I didn't get my reflection in the shot, I found this harder than with the mirror as I was stood on the edge of the water trying not to get too close and fall in. This took a few takes as I contemplated what Collette should do in the scene, at first I just had her stick her hand in the water and distort her reflection but then, I thought it would make more sense if she did it quite aggressively and walked off to add to the overall effect. The scene turn out better than I thought it would and I am happy with the outcome.
All in all I am very happy with today's shoot, I scraped a could of the proposed ideas as I no longer liked one and the other was unnecessary now but it was for the better. Shooting in black and white definitely made it easier to decided on shots as I could see it as it would be in the final edit as opposed to trying to imagine what the contrast would look like. I found it easier to do things in camera and get a better image overall, when it's colour I tend to think about how the colour looks which is not relevant for a black and white film. I consider today shoot a great success, we got a lot shot and it looks great. We also had a good time doing it so that is a bonus. I am glad I did a few different angles and shots so I have more options in editing.
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