NEW BLOG SERIES
I was recently asked to shoot three short films for friends of mine who are currently in film school. I am always honored when any director asks me to be their DP, but for these set of thesis films, I am especially honored because of the passion, drive, and deeply personal stories that these filmmakers are trying to tell. In this new blog series, I will discuss my process, decisions, the troubleshooting on set, and the lessons learned from each of these films.
THE FILM – DEEP WOUNDS
In THIS article we will be discussing the first film, Andrew Marvin’s DEEP WOUNDS. This film is a short drama about a rocky mother/daughter relationship and realizing your faults after it’s too late. Here is the official synopsis – “DEEP WOUNDS is a mother/daughter drama set against the backdrop of a town besieged by a serial killer. The film follows Elizabeth through the course of one day where she makes a personal choice that brings her into intense conflict with her mother, Linda.” The film features local Portland talent, Gwyn LaRee, Ethan France, and playing the lead character of Elizabeth is Emma Welch.
In my initial talks with Andrew I asked him about his tone notes, the look he was hoping to achieve, and any films that inspired him that fell in line with his own film. I take all of this information along with the script and begin preparations. The director will then make up a preliminary shot list with the film they see in their head and then I will try to go over that list with them if possible. Some times schedules do not work out and so we have to send things back and forth, but I will generally look for any redundancies and try to make the shot list as concise as possible without losing coverage. I will also augment the list with any camera movement I feel will help the story or the characters. I will also make up the suggested gear list and give this to the director and producer or whom ever else may need this information. I’m usually pretty extensive with the gear list and try to plan for any contingency I can.
After I’ve looked over tone notes, watched the suggested films or scenes from those films, and read the script a few times, I’m ready to begin drawing out my over head diagrams. This technique is something I’ve only recently made a habit of doing and I cannot express how much it helps me on the day. Before I started drawing up diagrams, I would have a very broad sense of how I wanted to light a scene. I wouldn’t take certain things into consideration and would end up doing a different setup for almost every camera position, thus slowing the pace on set WAY down. It frustrated me to no end because I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I couldn’t stand the idea of production waiting on me because of my “process”.
NOW, I feel so much more confident when I walk on set, simply from utilizing this diagram process. The application I actually use is called Shot Designer. Some of you may have heard of or have even used this application yourself. If you haven’t, I highly suggest you give this method a chance. It can not only help you be more prepared, but can really teach you something about how you see light and help you analyze your lighting decisions. Shot Designer is a free application but with restrictions, such as not having the ability to save and/or share your overhead designs. I’ve found a little workaround for this issue. A simple screen shot of your designed scene works wonders. You can also pay for it, which will then open up the full benefits of the application – I’m thinking about doing this myself soon – and you’ll be able to share, save, archive, and be afforded a multitude of other tools to use for your designs.
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