So right now the blog hates me... it won't let me copy and paste what I wrote. It has never done this before. So for now, until I can figure out the formatting, here is my blog...
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The last two film shoots have been a learning experience for me. Because of conflicts of schedules and other circumstances out of our control I was the sole cinematographer, sound artist, interviewer and whatever other roles we play, i.e. I was completely on my own. In many ways this was a great experience, but it was also quite stressful. I felt like a fish out of water, or maybe a shell in this case. :)
The first shoot took me to the Natural History Museum in LA. Louis works at the museum every Wednesday night researching the shells in the museum's collection. Because of unseen circumstances, and lots of stress, I got to the museum later than I intended, but Louis was the ever wonderful and patient star of our film. We started off by filming him entering the museum, signing in, taking the elevator and showing me the "exclusive" shell level of the museum. (You have to have a key to get up there... yes I know you're jealous...) Once to the shell floor Louis showed me the collection. Most of it was locked behind cabinets and in drawers, but he was able to open a few. I filmed him showing me around, opening and closing drawers, and any shot that might be interesting for Jessica. I was kind of bummed that more shells weren't laying out, because the footage was kind of boring visually. After seeing Louis' territory, he took me to the lab where he was photographing microshells. The camera looked like a microscope, but it took digital photos that were directly imputed into a computer. Very neat. I took close up, long shots and anything I could think of. The funniest part was probably when I had Louis say, "Hi, my name is Louis Sheldon and I'm a conchologist." Over and over again in many tones and voices. The hardest part of the whole film shoot was the lighting. I had to white balance again and again because each room had its own form and color of lighting. Also, I can kind of feel how Ryan felt after the shell shop, because I handheld the camera for the whole time (over 2 hours) and my arm is quite tired!! Jessica said that they were pretty good shots, but we will see how they turn out in the film :) I was overall pretty happy with this experience and had fun once the stress of filming on my own faded.
The second film shoot was at his house with his parents. I had no idea how to capture the purpose of this shoot. The goal was to film Louis interacting with his parents, but when I attempted this it was so stilted and unnatural. He and his dad talked in the garage for awhile and then the three of them talked on the couch. I should have had them talk about shells, but I didn't... they just talked. So none of it ended up being useful footage. The color and lighting was also off. Thankfully the parents were patient and said if we need something else we can come back. We most likely won't use this footage, but I chalked it up to learning. What I learned: 1 - Have a better plan and creative ideas for your shots 2 - Know how to work the color and lighting settings on your camera.
All and all I have loved having the freedom to practice filming on my own and explore my creative side. I have liked a fair amount of the footage that I have viewed. I am still kind of shaky, but I think I have learned a lot. Unfortunately, since I was the only person at this shoot I do not have pictures to impress you with, so once again, we will just leave you with the beauty of a shell :) - Rachel
1 comment:
So right now the blog hates me... it won't let me copy and paste what I wrote. It has never done this before. So for now, until I can figure out the formatting, here is my blog...
---
The last two film shoots have been a learning experience for me. Because of conflicts of schedules and other circumstances out of our control I was the sole cinematographer, sound artist, interviewer and whatever other roles we play, i.e. I was completely on my own. In many ways this was a great experience, but it was also quite stressful. I felt like a fish out of water, or maybe a shell in this case. :)
The first shoot took me to the Natural History Museum in LA. Louis works at the museum every Wednesday night researching the shells in the museum's collection. Because of unseen circumstances, and lots of stress, I got to the museum later than I intended, but Louis was the ever wonderful and patient star of our film. We started off by filming him entering the museum, signing in, taking the elevator and showing me the "exclusive" shell level of the museum. (You have to have a key to get up there... yes I know you're jealous...) Once to the shell floor Louis showed me the collection. Most of it was locked behind cabinets and in drawers, but he was able to open a few. I filmed him showing me around, opening and closing drawers, and any shot that might be interesting for Jessica. I was kind of bummed that more shells weren't laying out, because the footage was kind of boring visually. After seeing Louis' territory, he took me to the lab where he was photographing microshells. The camera looked like a microscope, but it took digital photos that were directly imputed into a computer. Very neat. I took close up, long shots and anything I could think of. The funniest part was probably when I had Louis say, "Hi, my name is Louis Sheldon and I'm a conchologist." Over and over again in many tones and voices. The hardest part of the whole film shoot was the lighting. I had to white balance again and again because each room had its own form and color of lighting. Also, I can kind of feel how Ryan felt after the shell shop, because I handheld the camera for the whole time (over 2 hours) and my arm is quite tired!! Jessica said that they were pretty good shots, but we will see how they turn out in the film :) I was overall pretty happy with this experience and had fun once the stress of filming on my own faded.
The second film shoot was at his house with his parents. I had no idea how to capture the purpose of this shoot. The goal was to film Louis interacting with his parents, but when I attempted this it was so stilted and unnatural. He and his dad talked in the garage for awhile and then the three of them talked on the couch. I should have had them talk about shells, but I didn't... they just talked. So none of it ended up being useful footage. The color and lighting was also off. Thankfully the parents were patient and said if we need something else we can come back. We most likely won't use this footage, but I chalked it up to learning. What I learned: 1 - Have a better plan and creative ideas for your shots 2 - Know how to work the color and lighting settings on your camera.
All and all I have loved having the freedom to practice filming on my own and explore my creative side. I have liked a fair amount of the footage that I have viewed. I am still kind of shaky, but I think I have learned a lot. Unfortunately, since I was the only person at this shoot I do not have pictures to impress you with, so once again, we will just leave you with the beauty of a shell :)
- Rachel
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