I noticed that it took Harrison a long time to set his equipment up so I will need to allow for this when planning out the timings for the shoots. This shoot had been delayed to a week later because Harrison had a last minute trip to London so we agreed that he would look over my project proposal on the weekend so we could get a lot done; however when I asked him what he thought we should do in the session he replied "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it". This seriously concerned me as I thought he would be a lot more proactive and organised than this, especially as I am paying him a fair wage. I will make sure I send him reminders if we agreed to look things up and I will make sure we agree exactly what we are going to do in each test shoot to make sure we are as productive as possible.
Below shows three clips edited together to display the test shoot.
(Mercer, 2017).
We first tested out the slow motion camera settings to decide which speed would be most appropriate. We decided to shoot at 120fps when we wanted it extremely slow to focus on the powder paint, and then 60fps for the majority of the other slow motion clips as it is slow enough to exaggerate the movement but not so slow that you loose the effect of the model's movement. I was happy with the high quality and attention to detail achieved with the slow motion footage; however Harrison said I would have to adjust the footage in post production to speed it up as he couldn't do that on his camera. This didn't concern me as speeding up the footage doesn't cause any quality to be lost, as opposed to if I wanted to slow the footage down.
I was concerned using powder paint in the studio as in my previous test shoot, even though we laid blankets on the floor, we got it all over the floor and so spent ages tidying it up afterwards. I think this is because I under estimated how far the powder paint would travel! I therefore made sure I brought plenty of blankets and hired a bigger studio so that I could cover the entire floor and not worry about getting it on the studio. This worked perfectly as we didn't get any powder paint on the studio; however I still felt restricted because we couldn't shoot at certain angles incase the powder paint got on the walls. I was already considering doing the powder paint scenes outside and this definitely swayed me because I would have so much more freedom to play with the powder paint without worrying about the surroundings. Shooting outside would also allow Harrison to shoot the model from all angles as he will be able to move around her without the restrictions of the studio backdrop or surrounding walls.
I had assumed Harrison and I would do many test shoots on location and for different scenes; however when I asked him if he wanted to do these he said he didn't feel like we needed to. This concerned me and slightly disappointed me as I feel so passionate about getting this fashion film right. I understand that Harrison is a third year and has his own course to worry about, but I thought as I was paying him, he would be more eager to help. I expressed my concern with him and he finally agreed to do some more test shoots so I will book those in where I feel necessary and preferably when I have the styling ready.
My main concern with the footage was how it looked slightly unsaturated. The footage in every shot looks slightly grey and so the colours from the powder paint don't show up as vibrantly as I had hoped. I am not sure why this happened as the colours showed up true to colour in my proposal test shoot. It could be that the exposure of the camera was too low or the lighting was too dark. I will message Harrison to ask if this can be fixed as I want the vibrancy of the powder paint to expressive the ultimate escape and it won't be as effective if the colours look dull.
When Harrison experimented with filming with the camera on his shoulder it became clear that I needed to choreograph something for the dancer. It was difficult for Harrison to anticipate where the model was going to move, making it difficult for him to follow her arms and keep her body in frame. The model we tested with was not the dancer I will be using as she is located in London; however it was still vital to make me realise how important pre-planning the movement of the camera and dancer will be in capturing a successful, expressive outcome.
We started off using a very basic lighting set up which lit up the model evenly, but then discussed using a more abstract set up that used shadows to emphasise the movement. We decided on keeping the background black for a mysterious element and then lit the model from both sides, with a fill light in the centre. Adding this abstract light on the model emphasised her movement by allowing harsh shadows when the lighting on either side was blocked by movement. If only one light light was used on one side this blocking of light would make the subject extremely dark and lose detail, but the second light still allows the harsh shadows but still gives light to the opposing side. We agreed that I would look at interesting lighting set ups for each scene from photography or video to accentuate the portrayed emotion.
The light material of the model's top flowed freely as the model moved, allowing the slow motion footage to capture the detail of the rippling fabric. This movement in the material enhanced the model's dance as it had a slight delay, ensuring constant movement even when the dancer stops. This highlighted to me the importance of material used in styling as if it is too tight, it will create a more rigid effect than is the material is more relaxed. I have chosen a netted skirt made from soft faux leather so I think that will flow well if incorporated into the dance, complementing the dancer's movement. I also think the feathers on the shoulder pads will add a different type of movement as they will be quickly thrown into position as the dancer moves, with the slow motion enhancing this quick rippling effect. This is something that will have to be experimented with before the final shoot to test each fabric.
We experimented with keeping the camera in a stationary position for wide shots and closeups which we agreed would be effective shots to run constantly throughout, almost like a base layer; however I preferred when Harrison held the camera on his shoulder as it allowed more movement and I felt it complemented the dancer's movement more. I like how the camera can get close to the dancer's body as it creates an ambiguous effect by only focusing on the flowing fabric or hitting of the powder paint. I want to start the dancer's scene with lots of abstract closeups of the dancer's shapes, but without revealing her identity of that there even is a dancer to allow the viewer time to interpret the scene without revealing the content so obviously. I think the stationary camera can look rigid and too set up, whereas I like that, when hand held, the camera can follow the dancer's movement to enhance the dancer's choreography.
I have included some clips from the test shoot so I can easily refer back to them and to justify my thoughts. I found this test shoot extremely helpful and it has motivated me to continue to organise and plan my shoot to its best potential!
References:
MERCER, L., 2017. Powder Paint Test [viewed 22nd February 2017]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GR2dYPydwU&spfreload=5
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