Hi! Today we worked on filming part of our commercial, particularly the scenes we needed to shoot on the track bleachers. We chose to film on the bleachers first instead of filming the scene in which we use an Arizona backdrop because we wanted to ensure that a sense of consistency was maintained and that the placement of the arm within said scene would be similar to the arm placement in our bleacher scenes. Essentially, this method was what we deemed to be the most efficient in order to complete as much filming as possible and have time left over to correct minor details through refilming when we return to class again. Before heading outside, we delegated jobs, and I was chosen to film the commercial itself, as well as ensure that the set was prepared for filming. Moreover, with the help of one of my fellow teammates, I quickly set up our props by positioning everything correctly and spraying the Arizona Iced Tea cans with water to make them look like they are undergoing condensation, to ensure that everything was in place. Upon reaching the bleachers themselves, we quickly realized that the positioning of the sun was making it difficult for the faces of our actresses to be seen, meaning that we needed to find a new location to film in. Moreover, the track bleachers were riddled with dirt and duct tape, which would lower the quality of our shots. Hence, we decided that it would be best to refilm our shot in the baseball field bleachers, as not only would our actresses be facing towards the sun as opposed to away from it, allowing for there to be sufficient lighting, but the bleachers also looked cleaner than the those by the track. Additionally, the baseball field bleachers also looked faded from the sun, which really drove our point about it being unbearably bright and hot outside, home.
In regards to the actual filming we conducted, I had to adopt different, sometimes uncomfortable positions (i.e. bending my back over the hard, metal bleachers to get a single continuous pan shot that took multiples tries) to ensure that we could get the perfect shot. Out of nineteen takes, we were able to complete the filming of seven of our eight scenes. Despite what one may assume from our apparent productivity, we did face a number of different setbacks, which included, but were not limited to, the fact that it got cloudy, the fact that we got held up changing because of last-minute clothing decisions, and the fact that several different loud noises, such as the sounding of a car alarm and the school bell ringing, caused us to delay some of our shots, all of which resulted in the loss of valuable time. However, as previously mentioned, we were able to film all the scenes which contained both of our actresses. I am extremely grateful for the fact that we were able to accomplish so much today because one of our actresses came into contact with an individual infected with COVID-19, which would have suspended our filming unless we got someone else from our group to stand in for her. However, because we were able to get all of our necessary shots that she was a part of out of the way, this was no longer a concern. Furthermore, I am also thankful for the fact that, unlike the past week, we did not get a single drop of rain, and that wind became one of our only major weather concerns, which we will need to deal with during our next filming session. Overall, despite some minor changes made because of the limited time we had and the need to compromise, we stayed fairly true to our storyboard and only went three seconds over our time limit, which is, of course, excluding the editing that will be required to get certain non-diegetic sounds included, allow for smoother transitions, introduce captivating special effects, and shorten the length of our clips.
Attached below is a production still taken when filming one of our scenes.
After such a busy and successful day, I feel like it is fitting to quote Porky Pig and say "That's all folks(!)" (Looney Tunes 2004).
No comments:
Post a Comment