Sunday 14th Aug Reflection

Yesterday, Libby, Bella and I filmed a few scenes for our films at Libby's house. The session went from round 1:30pm to 7:30 at night (yes a lot of filming). It was very good because we got a lot of shots done for all 3 of our short films, and it was all in one chunk so we felt accomplished. And because each of us were all focused on what we needed to do for our own film, we had to be very independent when it came to organisation and what we needed prop, set, and costume wise.

From 1:30-4pm we filmed Libby's project. Bella, Grace (a friend outside of FTV class) and I were actors. The process was long and we encountered many problems (sun lighting creeping up because of buildings, battery pack being empty) but it was up to us to figure out on-the-spot solutions and the end result was great.

From 4-5pm we filmed Bella's project. This didn't take as long as we didn't encounter any problems at all and it went very smoothly.

From 5-6 WE TOOK A BREAK!! And ate some Bombe Alaska that was left over from Libby's birthday (was amazing)

From 6-7:30 we filmed my film woo!! This was my first time I put my vision into action. It turned out well. Below is a list of things that were successful as well as some obstacles that I encountered and how I overcame them.

Successfully completed tasks:

• My main actor, Ashley, arrived on time, with her hair and makeup completed, and her costume ready.  (reliable girl!!)
• Because I am using Libby's room as part of my set, I had to clean it and change somethings around. I feel bad for having to move a lot of her stuff around but she assured me that it was a task that needed to be done anyway so I guess we killed two birds with one stone! It went well and everything was neat and where I had liked it to be.

Obstacles:

• Previously, I had troubles finding a good china doll to use as a main prop in my film. Bella had told me she had a few but they ended up being unsuitable, but a good back up if I needed them in desperate need. I also asked around in my FTV class, most people said they didn't own any. The ones who said they would bring one in for me didn't end up doing so, therefore I had to find my own. However, Salvos and Lifeline were not open on the day that I wanted to purchase one. (arghhh) So, that Sunday night I decided that I wouldn't need to film anything that required the doll in the shot. BUT to my luck, Libby remembered that she may have a china doll in one of the boxes in her garage, and we retrieved it and it was perfect!!  It was wearing a christmas-like outfit, but I stripped off the coat and now only a dark bottle green dress remains. This is good as i am able to find an outfit for Libby that is almost identical to this.
• I had borrowed out a redhead light from the visual arts department, and so did Bella (who was also there and used hers at Libby's house). My redhead appeared to not be working, so I used Bella's instead before she went home. At the moment, I am unsure whether it was broken or if i just didn't know how to turn it on because the process is quite complicated...
• For one of my shots, I envisioned Libby's curtains blowing in the wind. The lighting on the outside being blue and dark, and the inside being orange and warm. However, my vision was way too complicated and far-fetched for me to accomplish. 
• The redhead light that I was using was very very very red and made it hard to film with the correct white balance. Also, I had the redhead light settings turned pretty low as that is what I envisioned; however, on the camera, it would make the image look grainy. I turned up the light and filmed in better quality, planning to put down the exposure when I edit it. Once I put the shots into final cut, hopefully the colours work in my favour and I won't have to reshoot.