Summary
During the production process, I was in charge of recording the shots from the phone and controlling the lighting.
Camera Evidence
Preparation – prepared for shooting by setting up the location within a well lit room, and choosing the best i-Phone for filming with the highest quality.
Camera movement in storyboard showing the transition and zoom into the papers to the cut to the diploma and zooming out.
Different angles for shooting shots of her working, close up shot of her face to show her stressed.
More shot design – close up of her at graduation to show her joy of graduation. Contrasts with the close up from before showing her anxiety.
Shot Choice Justification
Decided to incorporate tracking shots, close-ups, and zoom shots. The tracking shots helped indicate repetition adding the feeling of repetition throughout the days. I chose to use the zoom shot in order to help add to the transition of her working to the diploma with the graduation. Lastly, the close-up emphasized the anxiety that the character was feeling.
Lighting Design
The dark hallway in the back with illumination on her face helps create a more dramatic mood within the film. It also helps add to the genre of Drama by creating a more dramatic lighting through the use of intense lighting.
The lighting during the graduation scene helps add to the atmosphere as it has more warm tones giving a sense of joy and ease within the audience.
Consultation with Editor
Editor and I worked together to decide on the lighting change for the flash-forward to graduation to help represent the futuristic feel of the film.
Alternative Shots
We filmed multiple shots of Alice on her third day with multiple papers. The different shots included different ways of her spreading out her assignments to help represent the overload of work and stress she was dealing with. We ended up choosing the shot of her spreading the papers out instead of the shot of her setting them down because by spreading the paper out, the work load appears more overwhelming.
Camera Work and Lighting Evaluation
I feel as though my camera work was very effective and my best work was the tracking shot and zoom shot. I also feel as though the lighting with the beginning scenes was a good illuminate and the graduation scene appeared as though it was stage lights.
Influences from Films
Kenny Ortega – High School Musical 3, inspiration for the graduation scene
Hoyte van Hoytema – Dunkirk, tracking shot
Demien Shazelle – Magnolia, use of the pan shot
What I Learned and Problems I Solved
We experienced issues with props which set us behind on our production schedule. This helped our team plan and realize we need to communicate about props needed so that we wouldn’t fall more behind. We also lost clips during production and realized that some shots didn’t flow together nicely. Therefore, I also learned to work with the editor on making sure all shots flow nicely together allowing us more time in post-production so that we aren’t rushed. In this production, I had to rush multiple shots to help transition the cuts more smoothly, when instead, I could have had better communication with the editor on what shots additional shots were needed.