PRE-PRODUCTION • Lighting | Research & Development

-


British Sitcoms traditionally use high key lighting on a grid, attached to the ceiling, lighting from above. This is the typical style used by sitcoms that are filmed in a studio and are set based. This ensures maximum room on the floor for characters to move around and for the cameras to have as much room more movement as possible.  
Sitcom Lighting on a Grid

During our test shoot, I took out the Rotolight as this was a new piece of equipment I hadn't used yet and wanted to have a better understanding of. This light allowed for the colour temperature to be changed which is very useful for me as we're trying to create a natural lighting look. This means that I can change the lighting temperature to 5600K which is the daylight colour temperature to make the artificial lighting match with the natural lighting from the windows we will be using. 

 As written in the Young & Famous pre-production book, In the test shoot for scene 9 from script draft 1, I used the artificial lighting to see if it would benefit us and if there were any extra things that I would need to consider. The first thing that I noticed was the bright hotspot on the sofa in the shot. To reduce this, I used a diffuser which helped to disperse the light and make it appear more subtle. This reduced the hot spot but still allowed for enough light to brighten the left side of the shot. 


I also decided to do a lighting test in the kitchen as this is another of our main locations and out of all the rooms we were using had the smallest window. I first tried the scene with just the natural lighting from the window. This worked better than I imagined it would and was enough to light the whole room without the need for artificial lighting. In order to add more of the warm colour and tone wanted for the show, I decided to use the under cabinet lighting in the kitchen to add some tungsten lighting to the scene, giving off a soft orange glow. 

By using the natural lighting and the in-house kitchen lighting, this gives the scene a softer tone as it supposed to be one of the more comedic scenes and fits the tone of the scene. This also brings some more advantages in that if we film at a similar time of day and if the weather is similar then there won't be a need for any artificial lighting, giving the cameras more floor room and availability to move around as this room is one of the smaller ones which produces the challenge to fitting in the cameras and whether we use 2 and in that case what shots would be the best to capture. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Writing a Script

-
Image
*A screenplay only tells us what we can see and hear*  Important things to consider are  Title page - which should contain the name of the story, the writers name, draft date and contact details which are important if you are handing out your script to people. Scene headings - the scene heading should state whether it is to take place inside or outside using INT. or EXT. It should also contain the location, e.g. BEDROOM, HOUSE and time of day - DAY/NIGHT Action -  The action under the scene heading should contain enough detail so that the reader can picture the location or action but concise enough that it is just a long paragraph of description, it should also be written in the present tense.  Characters - when introducing a new character, their name should be written in capital letters so that the reader knows they are a new characters. If the character is not in the scene but can be heart or are a voice over, then (V/O) or (O/S) should be used.  Dialog
Read more

Scott and Bailey - TV Drama

-
Image
Scott and Bailey is a British crime drama focusing on the lives of two female detectives. DC Rachel Bailey and DC Janet Scott are not only work colleagues but close friends, a main part of the story is their relationship and the problems they have.  In each episode, there are 3 to 4 different story lines, the main one being based in the police station, centred on a crime and the others about the personal lives of the main characters. For my script, I would like to do something similar, I want to have the main story line revolve around a major case they have given, and then the personal lives of my two main characters, Shane and Annie.  The characters have many flaws that are pointed out in multiple episodes. For my character Shane, I want his flaws to be quite relatable. Through his dialogue and mannerisms, I want to reveal to the audience that he is wary of new people and finds it hard to trust them and that he is also emotionally immature and afraid of commitment b
Read more

PRE-PRODUCTION • Director of Photography | Research

-
Image
I chose to be the director of photography (DOP) because I feel the over the course of the last two years my camera and lighting skills have increased greatly and I wanted to focus of those skills more in my final year. To fully immerse myself into being a DOP, it is important that I researched deeply into the role and what it would include. Being a Director of photography "includes creating the visual identity, or look of the film/ tv programme, they work with the Director, camera crew and lighting department to achieve this and they manage all aspects of filming, from ordering and overseeing equipment to reviewing footage." (Creative Skillset, 2017) My main tasks will include creating the overall look of Young & Famous and putting into play the vision of the director. I will be focussing the camera and lighting aspects of the role and make the technical decisions as well as some creative ones. Framing: for this, I will work closely with the dir
Read more