TRANSITIONS UNIT: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY STATEMENT

Lighting
Through my adaptation of Jessica Jones. I want the lighting to flow with the mood of the scene. After discussing with Cinematographer, George Burt, about his Feature Film 'Redwood' and how he wanted the lighting to set the tone for the film and add to the horror and fear, I knew I needed this effect. After viewing the original clip, the lighting is a mixture of warm street light flooding through the windows and doorways, not filling the room but giving us light enough to see the emotions of the characters. The lighting here doesn't flow with the emotions and more sets the time of day for the scene, being a night. The lighting never really changes apart from the light coming off Jessica's laptop at the end of the scene:

I wanted the lighting to follow with the mood of the script. Such as George Burt discussed as in Redwood, the lighting sets the mood and fear of the film. Lee Thomas also discussed how his choice of lighting for his short film 'Cropped' also works with the tone of the film. When it starts and everyone is in the car, we're in a nice bright and sunny field, everyone is happy and getting on with the day. When things start to turn odd and the aliens are seen and scare the characters, the lighting has gone dark and and added more mystery to the scene as well as shown the change of tone for the characters. Although, Lee explains that you would expect to see Aliens at night as it's a classic tradition for Si-Fi films but he also wanted the tone to be consistent with the mood of the characters.
From this, I've chosen to have the lighting as moonlight flooding through the windows, as to work with the mood that Jessica is feeling. Her brothers ashes are smashed on the floor, her flat has been smashed up (all be it by her) and she currently feels broken.
The idea of the moonlight is to give that feeling of her wanting to be hidden. Little colour in the scene to bring out the sadness that she feels and the trails of light through the window and onto the floor of the broken urn, representing her broken state but also helping to establish the time of day (night time). Later, adding in the tungsten to bring out colour to the scene as the mood has changed and Jessica has gotten her confidence back. With this, I wanted a lighting change to represent this and bring that confidence to life. As we would finally see full detail in her face. With this and her change of mood it brings up the scene more.



Location
With the choice of the location. I worked closely with my Producer Victoria to chose the location that we not only had access to, but also would benefit the scene as well. Originally, we were going to use the basement in my student house as it's got low light, small space and looks like a rather cheap and not very well kept room. The other option was the living room over at Victoria's house. Through the location recce I found that the living room had more to offer me in regards to the space and ways I could use the space.

The room is small but with 3 large windows all next to each other, allowing me to flood in plenty of light, where as the basement over at my house did not. The living room also has a small mantel piece where we could have the urn smashed which visually would make more sense as both rooms have carpet flooring and that wouldn't always result in something smashing if dropped. The room is a decent size as well to shoot and also make look like a small studio flat.

Outside is the street which is long and also plenty of street light at night so lighting won't be an issue here. As well the street is quiet during night time which helps with the filming as we won't have cars going past and distracting the shot.

Shooting & Kit

With choosing how I would film this project, I knew I would need to look into a new camera to use. Since I want the scene all set at night, I required a camera which could hold up in dark conditions. The original was filmed on a Red Dragon Cinematic camera but due to budget we obviously could go for a piece of kit like that. However, I also wanted to give a different sort of look. From this I've looked at the Sony A7 range after speaking to Lee Thomas and George Burt, both recommending this line of DSLR cameras. This camera also gives the grey and cold look which I wanted to get from researching into the style of Cinematography that Philippe Rousselot gives with his films such as Sherlock Holmes and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which was the nitty and gritty sort of look with a very grey and dull look, allowing the dialogue and the camera movement to work with the actions of the scene as well.

Through choosing the Sony ASR ii, I knew I wanted good lens's which allowed the camera to take in the colour information and a large amount of light so that the grade could have far more information in post production. But also, I needed a standard lens which wouldn't take away detail from the background and then a knew I wanted a prime for the close up shots and the pull focus. This is why I've chosen the 50mm 1.4 f Prime Lens by Canon and the Tamron 24mm-70mm 2.8 f.

For the choice of moving the camera. I want the camera to tell the emotions of the scene. At the beginning we have a broken and upset Jessica and with this I want very stable shots, steady and smooth or locked off to fit with the tone of the acting and the lighting. This is why the DJI Ronin was the right choice as it allows me to get much more stable shots which also look more cinematic and will work better for the opening scene. Whereas the second half of my script I want to go to the shoulder mount and have much quicker movement, not so much handheld but a but more movement which I won't get from a stabiliser.

All of this together I feel will capture the mood and tone of the script and changes this project from the original.