TRANSITIONS UNIT: EVALUATION

Through this Unit I have had many skills and strengths. While researching for this unit, I looked into the role of a DOP and what it can consist of so that I was aware of what sort of jobs I would need to take hold of. As well as this, I contacted current Cinematographers as research and looking into techniques that I could use, for this I was able to figure out my lighting more from Lee Thomas and his advice on creating moonlight. My preparation for this production was handled with great time management. During the planning I went through the script and having already looked into the original video, I found that the cinematography was done to set the time of day rather than the mood, from this I went through the script and used the emotions being given from the characters to give this scene more originality. As well as changing the lighting from street lights to moonlight as both a different approach on the script and also a challenge for myself as a DOP. I think I took on this challenge really well and also referred back to previous research that I had done in both University Projects and outside films as well which allowed me to figure out the best way to make moonlight on a budget. I did a lot of research into how I wanted the project to look and went out of my own way to get a different camera which would give me the look I wanted as well as work well with the lighting that I was aiming to achieve. While getting the Sony A7Rii, I was able to get the greyish look which helped the emotion that Jessica felt in the opening scenes of the script and then went for a simple lighting change rather than a complicated way by adding in a desk lamp, with a small room this helped change the lighting to something warmer which I wanted.

I feel my weakness for this Unit was my time management. Due to the stress of Studio Production and losing contributors not long after this Unit was briefed to us, my focus was 100% on the Studio Production as it was a very complex unit. I feel if my time management was better I could have done more research into this, prior to the shoot and could have allowed me to gain more knowledge as a DOP or even be a bit more experemental with the style and the tone of the production.

During the Production Stage of this project, I did lots of different tests to ensure I know exactly how I needed to set it up on the shoot day so that we wouldn't have to waste time rigging up and we could keep to the schedule. As well, I tested both the camera and the gimbal to ensure that we were getting the shots I had designed during the Pre-Production stage. However, I was very creative during this stage and thought on my feet with new shots, watching the blocking with the actors to see if there was a different way to get the shot, as I was told that I DOP is always looking through to find new ways to visually tell the story.
I worked really well alongside my Producer and Editor as as a team we came together and over came the issue we had of not having a Director. From this, we had a simple scene which didn't require a huge amount of Directing and from this, I was able to have more creative control on the look of the entire production. The mixture of camera techniques I used for the project really helped to get the feelings across in the shoot and allowed me to really experiment as a DOP.

I would say my weakness for this stage would be the schedule, I assumed we could get this entire project shot in only 1 day, which we did. However, I didn't allocate any time for Pick ups or reshoots. Although they weren't needed, it would have been wise to think ahead of this. If the worst had happened and we did require a reshoot we wouldn't have been able to achieve this. Thinking ahead of situations like this is what a DOP is meant to do and I failed on this part.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: GEORGE BURT

George Burt is another DOP which I looked into for both research and inspiration for this project. During summer, 2017, I was able to work with George Burt as a camera assistant on a short film through the It's My Shout Scheme where I was able to watch him work as a DOP on set.

George's choice of shooting is often without a 1st Camera Assistant (for pull focus) as he prefers to pull focus himself as he has been a DOP for so many years and explained that if you can do it yourself, this is one less person to have on set. With regards to his style of shooting. George explained to me that he doesn't do the 'planning work' meaning he doesn't do storyboards/mood boards/shot lists but he does go through the script and break it down with the Director.

George mostly does Feature Films, specifically Horror Films and explained that the camera only needs to move if it's relevant to what's on screen or what is happening in the story. Example: if the scene is upsetting or the path is slow, you'd want more tripod/tracking slow shots, if the scene was action based you'd want to go with more handheld footage or on a gimbal. George also talked to be about 'choosing your weapon' meaning choosing kit wisely. Although George has his own kit, he explained that depending on the project, he may go for a different camera. With some of the music videos he's done, he's gone for a DSLR as the size is better to operate and still gives the look he wants, this does all depend on what DSLR he uses though.

"The best DOP's are the ones who've made all the mistakes" This is what George explained to me. He explained that you can't learn to be a DOP from the internet or books, you can learn what is expected but you have to go out there and make the mistakes necessary to learn and improve.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: LEE THOMAS

Lee Thomas is an independent Cinematographer based in London. Lee works mostly in commercials and Short Films, also working with aerial cinematography:

I was lucky enough to work with Lee on a short film and also a music video. Lee explained to me that being a DOP requires you to have a fast knowledge of equipment and keeping up to date on all new kit coming out. Lee as a DOP is happy to plan how the production will look visually and then hire the camera operator. However, does also do self shooting. With his film work, Lee looks deeply into the script and works closely with the Directors to work between ideas and get the best visual look for the production.

During my research, I spoke to Lee about lighting and how he might go about filming moonlight and Lee referred me to his short film "Cropped". Lee explained that the lighting for this was done on a massive scale but this can be shortened to something which I needed. He explained that a 'Jem Ball' would be the ideal way to go about, this is a large diffused light which goes on a stand and can go high up over head. Lee explained that with Moonlight you want one focused light as your key which will give you the needed shadows for the effect and then add in lights as needed to fill or bring out detail. Lee did explain though that you only really need one powerful light but if this isn't possible then you can do it with multiple, it's just all about getting the correct shadows which you would get at night with the moon. Below is his short film 'Cropped':

TRANSITIONS UNIT: SHOOT DAY

Our shoot day was all due to start after 5pm. So when getting ready I double checked the kit, balanced out the DJI Ronin and went through the set to ensure everything was set up ready for the shoot. Victoria had organised a schedule for this shoot day to ensure everything ran to schedule.

We had already blocked through how the scene would work during the day, however this was without actors so we had an allotted time (1 hour) to block through the scene with the actors and make sure it flowed properly and that the actors understood everything.

Title sequence

When planning out the schedule, my crew and I discussed something which we hadn't considered... We haven't thought of a title sequence for this scene. Although this isn't needed. We did say this could be ideal practice and something good for the edit. Looking at the original title sequence for Jessica Jones:

The original title sequence really plays with the colour scheme of the show and also uses graphic novel style art to show that this is from a comic book while also showing aspects of Jessica Jones's character such as the streets she walks down, the buildings she'll often spy into for clients, etc. The title sequence does a lot to tell us who this character is. 

For our title sequence, we agreed that we wanted to have something which revealed our character but only Jessica as it's only her and Malcolm, Malcolm isn't the main character and the programmes title is the main characters name. Jessica is known for breaking into places and spying on people, so we decided to use this as the title sequence. The idea was to have it in 4 simple shots. Jessica walking, the shot focusing on her feet. Jessica walking past the camera, focusing on her leather jacket, then a following shot from behind Jessica leading up to the house and finally a shot from the front where she takes a photo with her camera and then her face is revealed. Slowly revealing the character and then finally showing us Jessica right at the end.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: TEST SHOOT

Today, we went to the location and did a test shoot with all the lighting, kit and a stand in (Victoria) for the shoot day. Although I had a clear idea for what sort of lighting I wanted, I wanted to make sure I knew exactly where everything would be set up, prior to filming so that set up could be nice and quick.

Lighting Tests

The main aim for this test was to get the moonlight style of lighting correct. For this I knew I needed a key light as my main light to give that shadow coming in to give off the effect of Moonlight. With this, I used the The Yongnuo YN216 Pro LED as my main light as it was the smallest but most powerful, so it gave a strong light which caused that contrast on the actors face. Playing this outside the house shining through one of the side windows so it got the contrast on the face. Victoria also had net curtains up on the windows which brought a slight amount of diffusion to the lights which worked really well and helped to keep the focus on the scene and not what was going on outside the window. Once that was done I added in a Photography -45W Day light soft box light to fill the room with light but not so much that it looked unnatural. With this, I got the effect of moonlight coming in through the window which is what I wanted, I did have to fiddle around with the brightness of the lights and only have 3 out of 5 bulbs turned on with the soft box so it looked more natural.

TRANSITIONS UNIT: SET RIG

With the shoot day getting closer, I've arranged a test shoot day with my crew so I can get the lighting sorted and also where I will be shooting but before that... we need to change the set.

In the scene, it's intended that Jessica has trashed her flat. So with this in mind, we moved out one of the sofas and also put another sofa up against the wall, looking like Jessica has thrown the sofa. We also added in a desk with files and pens to make it look like she's been working. We then on to throw letters and coins on the floor to make it look more of a mess. We then dressed up the last sofa to look more like a bed:

Once doing this, we also added in some 'Ash' we made from flour and then added in some smashed china to make it look like a smashed urn.

Once we'd done this. We needed something for Jessica to sign off, which we decided to be something related to Killgrave, so we got some newspaper cut outs and photos together and made it look like Jessica has been hunting down Killgrave as reference to the original series.