Nada Mudawi --Weekly Log

Weekly Log-1


This week I attended the Creative Sparkworks film course, where we were given the task to go out and film someone else's film. As part of the crew my job was to unpack all cameras + tripods, lights and lens's. The location was an old warehouse owned by the famous Freddie Notes & The Rudies. We chose to film in this location because it was perfect for the plot. As our character is going to be a homeless teenager we needed somewhere that was rough / sleazy looking. This location had an old back space behind the warehouse where it was easy to show the sleaziness. Freddie's old warehouse was not used for a long time which made it look even more suitable for our junkie character.

 

Here I am holding the black magic camera, filming Prince who is playing the role of a homeless teenager, who has reached this stage due to difficulties at home and getting kicked out of school. He is sitting on the ground, showing us that he is homeless and has nowhere to go. I chose to use a high angled shot as it is effective in showing place or value. For instance he will look quite vulnerable if the camera is above him, the angle of the camera helps to establish authority, us as the audience feel superior to Prince. The lens I used was a fixed lens , and the size was 85mm which gives me a really tight shot, this was good in order to capture his face more clearly- getting all emotions and feelings in his eyes.


Again I am shooting a similar shot, and the angle of the camera hasn't changed much. This time I am using a steadicam because I wanted to get as many shots of the same scene, in order to make it easier during the editing stage, where I can be flexible with what shots I choose to use. The steadicam was a very easy going to use, I felt more comfortable using it, rather than the black magic  which was more stiff and required a lot more energy.



Another scene which we filmed was of a coffin, where Prince had lost his mum after she was diagnosed with cancer. I set the lights up the lights so that the coffin is lit correctly, not only did I have to consider the correct light dim/level , but also the barn doors on the lights had to be straightened well , the tripod had to be the right height so that I was able to get the lights to point downwards.


We also filmed Prince, walking outside, leaving supposedly his home. For this scene we had to turn off all the overhead lights , to make the room completely dark. We then set up the lights to the right dimness, our actor was sitting in the corner of the room, and was getting abused by his brother.  I was assigned to the steadicam , which I was satisfied with because I feel much more better using it in terms of positioning it correctly to get the best shots. I reckon I got some really successful shots, making sure that I stack to what the actor wanted, whether that be angles or shot types.

Overall this week, I have learnt to shoot a film, referring to storyboards and scripts and checking for the right lens and focus. Also, making sure that the light is set up properly and isn't making any shadows of actors. The cameras are in the right mode and they are sitting firmly on the tripod. The last thing I would say was most important was packing up the equipment back in their bags. This is because the equipment is worth a fortune and so there can not be any lens caps or camera's left lying around.