Shooting once again in the basement, we discussed our initial ideas for blocking and shots, to which we came to a consensus that the scene would be shot entirely in close-ups so as to keep the mystery and also avoid using other lighting. Using just the desk lamp as a key light, I sat down with a laptop for the first part of the scene.
The most complicated part of the scene is the transition from the reporter scene into the basement. Our plan was to have the screen pause and then seamlessly track outwards from a laptop screen to reveal the new setting. Because we had not yet selected the best take from the reporter scene, nor finalised the news overlay that would be placed over the shot, we had to put a green screen on the laptop with plans to overlay and motion track it later. However, this caused many more problems in post-production.
Using a slider which was levelled and symmetrical to the laptop screen, we tracked outwards, zooming out from the screen. As a second shot OTS shot we introduced the interrogator who is watching the screen. Despite voicing my concerns about the motion tracking with the green screen, this shot was done handheld and not on a tripod, which again made things very difficult.
With the other shots of the interrogator, we wanted to find the balance between indicating his presence but not revealing his age/identity. The low-key lighting helped this somewhat, but as my face was still very visible Victor tried some closer shots panning around the side of my head, which worked well. Moving to the next part of the scene, I stepped up and walked past the camera with my cloak, creating a visual transition to ease the edit.
For the next part of the scene, we retained the low-key lighting provided by the desk-lamp as the villain looks through a box full of documents. We moved the lamp down so that it was level to the box, casting a shadow across the documents and over my hands which added to the menace. We used ECUs of my hands going through the folder to keep the tension, with an extremely shallow DOF which exaggerated the visual depth of the box. It also allowed us to guide the attention of the viewer straight to the correct document as it is pulled out, giving it a sense of importance.
For the final shots of the scene, we used a low angle shot of the villain with his hood covering his face to create a powerful and intimidating character, and then used a CU of the document, of which we will digitally zoom and cross-fade into the next scene as indicated in the script.
After reviewing our process and coming to production with a methodical and efficient approach, I feel the second week of filming has been much more successful than the first. We now understand and value being as thorough as possible with preparation and planning documents, but also having a contingency plan for getting the minimum coverage to effectively tell the scene. Planning ahead in terms of pre-lighting scenes, setting up equipment and blocking scenes before shoot days has also been very productive, and I will be sure to continue these practices on later projects.
That said, a large contribution to the slow-down in production has been poor preparation by the cinematographer and the director, and there is no excuse for not viewing or contributing to the development of the shot lists.
Now moving into post-production, I immediately made a list of extra sound recordings I need for the edit - including atmos for various locations, extra dialogue such as the TV news reporter and the mum and villain arguing, and a number of spot FX such as door slamming and light switches. Whilst these are being sourced by the sound recordist and the rest of the group, I will start on assembling a rough cut of the entire film.
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