Filming Process:
Hello! Welcome back to my series of....
Filming Action!!
In this blog I am going to be showing the actual filming events that took place on 3/17/24.
Pre-Production:
Although all this work and the blogs that I've been making have been dedicated to pre-production, I want to focus on the pre-production props and planning I did a couple of days before the actual shoot:
For the props I had planned to have and were included in parts of my storyboard, I had a vision of how I wanted them to look that was accessible for me to create. For example, for my detective board that would be drawn all over and have pictures of evidence on it, I needed to create the pictures of evidence. My vision was that as the detective was pointing to the evidence, an insert would appear of an actual clip going to what was in the picture. So, the night before I quickly set up a black blanket in the garage as a backdrop with a stool and the "piece of evidence" on the stool. I did this for three objects (that supposedly the kidnapper left behind on purpose) and not only took a video of them that would be used for the insert, but also took a picture so I could then print out and use on the detective board.
Here are the three pictures:
Here was a picture of how the board turned out and how the pictures fit onto the board:
I also had to get the folder and desk props ready. These were folders, papers, and files that would be placed on the desk to reinforce and build a chaotic and stressful tone with the messy environment. My dad also went to pick up coffee and facturas (argentinian pasteries) at Grazianos and Starbucks, which I also included on the desk even though this was a spontaneous and unplanned addition of props, but it worked! The actors even wrote their character's names on the cups to give context of who's coffee was whos. Below are pictures of some of the props brought and how they looked on the desk:
Production:
So for actually filming the film opening, I had to first play around with the equipment to see how it fully worked. This is something that being frank I should've played with and tested before because if I had done so, then I wouldn't have run into a problem I am going to discuss later. But anyhow, I brought the equipment, including a boom stick, stabilizer, and tripod, and then began filming! Below is
While filming, I noticed that something that helped me with remembering what type of shot I wanted to do following a certain line, or what type of movement I wanted the character to do on a certain line was writing certain key phrases on the script. I did have the storyboard with me, but I think going back and forth between the storyboard and script was something that was becoming time-consuming and was honestly just messing my pace up. So, I annotated my script and wrote directions on where I wanted my character to move or what I would do with the camera next to the line I wanted these certain actions to go on:
Post-production problem:
A problem I noticed after filming and watching the clips back was that some of the shots that I took with the stabilizer were a bit shaky. I think that I definitely could've used the tripod for more shots instead of doing it hand-held with the stabilizer, especially for shots where the camera isn't moving. I think if I had played around with the equipment more I would've realized this which is REALLY FRUSTRATING, but I think I may have a solution. I talked to my friend Male and she said that there is an application that could help me make the clip more smooth and stable 🙏🙏 I am a perfectionist so that is really bothering me, but in my upcoming blogs that is something I am going to be discussing and working on.
Extra picture of me filming with the stabilizer and my friend holding the boom stick 😜:
