I took my Canon 550D, 50mm 1.8 and my 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lenses, as well as a tripod, track and dolly system and finally 3 800w redheads. From my testing I understood that within Finchers films, a lot of the time, the scene is lit rather than the characters, taking advantage of any natural light that may be present at the time as well as any artificial lighting that is also present in the scene (however this may be setup as the cinematographer would of positioned any light source in shot to suit his/her liking). With this in consideration I asked Dave (my actor, and also the home owner) to turn on as many lights as possible whilst on set.
I began shooting the kitchen scenes first, and because I started mid afternoon the lighting was perfect. I didn't need to utilize any other form of light other than what was on location, which enabled me to concentrate on the framing and content within each shot. This worked well, with the natural light complimenting the artificial light from the lamps and lights in the kitchen, creating natural shadows which in turn looked similar to the contrasted imagery that Cronenweth and Khondji create in Finchers films. Sticking to the conclusions drawn from my testing, I continued to shoot with the 50mm 1.8 lens, utilising a frame rate of 25fps, an ISO of 400 and an f stop of around 1.8 to 2.2.
The shot I am most proud of. Taking advantage of only natural light and artificial light available on location.
I then moved on into the living room, where I planned to shoot the majority of the project due to it's look and feel. There were many points of light in this room, including four large windows that let in a lot of natural light, two large floor lamps and a smaller table lamp to create artificial lighting around the room, as well as a large, open plan log burning fireplace to would also act as a light source. On top of that there were also controllable dimming lights that I used on the lowest setting to bounce light onto the walls. From first setup of the camera I was certain that I would not need to use any Redheads that I originally bought with me, but i noticed that when my actor sat or stood in frame, he was lacking that distinguishable shadow that is cast on one side of the faces that most if not all of the characters in Finchers films seem to have. so, to combat this, I set up a Redhead in the furthermost corner to generate that required effect.
Living room shot, showing contrast and shadow on actors face
I began shooting the kitchen scenes first, and because I started mid afternoon the lighting was perfect. I didn't need to utilize any other form of light other than what was on location, which enabled me to concentrate on the framing and content within each shot. This worked well, with the natural light complimenting the artificial light from the lamps and lights in the kitchen, creating natural shadows which in turn looked similar to the contrasted imagery that Cronenweth and Khondji create in Finchers films. Sticking to the conclusions drawn from my testing, I continued to shoot with the 50mm 1.8 lens, utilising a frame rate of 25fps, an ISO of 400 and an f stop of around 1.8 to 2.2.
The shot I am most proud of. Taking advantage of only natural light and artificial light available on location.I then moved on into the living room, where I planned to shoot the majority of the project due to it's look and feel. There were many points of light in this room, including four large windows that let in a lot of natural light, two large floor lamps and a smaller table lamp to create artificial lighting around the room, as well as a large, open plan log burning fireplace to would also act as a light source. On top of that there were also controllable dimming lights that I used on the lowest setting to bounce light onto the walls. From first setup of the camera I was certain that I would not need to use any Redheads that I originally bought with me, but i noticed that when my actor sat or stood in frame, he was lacking that distinguishable shadow that is cast on one side of the faces that most if not all of the characters in Finchers films seem to have. so, to combat this, I set up a Redhead in the furthermost corner to generate that required effect.
Living room shot, showing contrast and shadow on actors face
The above floor plan shows where I positioned the Redhead, as well as what natural light was protruding through any windows and any artificial lighting that was already present on location. This setup allowed me to achieve the contrasted/shadowed, dark look that I required, and worked perfectly even when I moved the camera and actor to change the framing of the shots.
The opening and closing shot to the 'main content' of the film, was achieved by using a track and dolly system. I chose to track into the room as a 'welcoming' metaphor, as if the audience was being invited into the room to view the actions that unfold within. This was the same for the closing shot, but instead I chose to track out, as if the audience were leaving the room. I then cut to a mid of my actor, framed straight on, with him being positioned in the central third of the frame. Every shot was recorded by setting the camera up on a tripod, as Finchers films are constantly framed correctly, with most if not all shots being shot on a tripod, rather than handheld.
I then imported all my files into Final Cut Pro, and began to feel a little better about what I had shot as a rough cut formed. Tomorrow I will grade my footage so that the style matches that of Finchers films.
(Please note, the images were added after the post was published, and after the grading had been applied)
The opening and closing shot to the 'main content' of the film, was achieved by using a track and dolly system. I chose to track into the room as a 'welcoming' metaphor, as if the audience was being invited into the room to view the actions that unfold within. This was the same for the closing shot, but instead I chose to track out, as if the audience were leaving the room. I then cut to a mid of my actor, framed straight on, with him being positioned in the central third of the frame. Every shot was recorded by setting the camera up on a tripod, as Finchers films are constantly framed correctly, with most if not all shots being shot on a tripod, rather than handheld.
I then imported all my files into Final Cut Pro, and began to feel a little better about what I had shot as a rough cut formed. Tomorrow I will grade my footage so that the style matches that of Finchers films.
(Please note, the images were added after the post was published, and after the grading had been applied)
