Week 8 – Camera Movement

When Luke, Alam and I were discussing the shot list, we realised that we overlooked the types of camera shots and movements we wanted. Pre-production has kept us so busy with casting, location scouting and scripts that we forgot about the basics for production. We agreed that the majority of the camera movements should be dealt with a professional tripod; it fits with the drama tone, the strict conversation between our two characters and it emphasises their ‘trapped’ feelings when they first meet. Reading Paul Hardy’s ‘Filming on a Microbudget’ has helped me with all types of camera knowledge and I will share this with the group.

The group debated about the use of a handheld camera movement for some scenes. I am for this idea, specifically for the scenes where our groom character leaves the room and speaks to someone on his mobile phone. This sets up the disruption, a state of panic that synchs with the characters emotions and it engages the audience as they want to find out what he is up to. It also shows a juxtaposition of our two characters, where one is panicking through a handheld shot and the other is quiet and still in a default camera shot. I don’t know if the group wants to use a dolly track but I think it’ll be a nice addition for when the dialogue between our characters is smooth and makes the audience feel comfortable. As mentioned, we want our shots with less movement as possible but perhaps one or two exceptions can be made.  I personally would like to use a jib for one scene, where it tilts up to the balcony revealing our characters having a smoke. This isn’t necessary and we might not even have access to using the exteriors as we might distract the public. The jib might not be big enough as our location is on the second floor which is high up.

Camera tricks can be used for some of our scenes; our group have devised a Plan B for the smoking scene – we are not sure of our location with the balcony as of yet – instead of having them smoking on set, we can show an extreme close up of the cigarette lighter in a different location. The lighter adds to the connection between our two characters and so that is another bonus. I have always dealt with the cheating technique as not everything has to be done in the planned location. Take a look at this blooper video for my MV that I made in 2006; the character comes towards my house and is about to be drenched by a bucket of water. Due to public distractions we couldn’t film the drench scene in that location, so we moved to my friends house where it was more secure (a cul de sac). You will notice that the background has changed, but due to the pace of the edit, it is hardly recognizable.

Blooper take:

2:20 in the Final edit;

Whatever shots and movements we have planned, we have to practice them as a group, shoot video storyboards and compose them well for the final piece.