Church Shoot Day

Early on in the shoot day for the church scene, I realised we had to change our approach quite quickly. As I explained in my last post, I had originally planned a shot where the whole church is covered in projections, using masking. Unfortunately, this shot was not possible as the projector did not have enough lumens to deal with the size of the chapel and the amount of light coming in from the stained glass. The same also happened with the mirrors that I had previously tested. While many of the shots I had planned ended up just not being possible, we did end up getting some shots that I really think will work well for the final cut. I have had two cameramen on every on location shoot day, one who has been filming a more narrative approach, with more technical shots of the actors acting out the scene itself, while my other cameraman has been focusing on getting the more experimental shots and B roll, capturing what is interesting in the moment. So far this has actually turned out very well, as I have a good mix of narrative elements to keep the story moving, but also the shots that will make the more impressionistic elements of the film shine
through rather than just having straightforward shots of the characters. 

Since the projectors did  not work on a larger scale, we instead decided to have fun just projecting them on the actors, using stranger and darker parts of the church. For the entirety of this project I have been using a refraction, kaleidoscope, and blur lens, and what I've found with having both cameramen is something that I originally struggled with upon first having these lenses, which is the tendency to overuse them. Specifically, having the kaleidoscope lens creates beautiful images, but once anyone on the crew has had the ability to use it, it then becomes difficult not to use it for almost everything, since it's an effect that just makes any shot automatically more interesting. Looking over the footage from the church this became very obvious, and I've now implemented a rule that each camera only gets access to the lens filter for a few minutes each. As much as I love the effect that we get from it, overlying on this to create interest is not something I'd like to make a habit for the rest of the shoot, and in the live edit I don't want to rely on these shots when stuck either. 

Since my original plan didn't go as well as hoped, I think it will push me to use the footage and location in a way that will be further from a linear narrative. I will also be using our reshoot day to film more closeups of projections and use the mirrors in the flat, to be intercut with the scene itself.