Studying Media: A Cinematographer's Blog

We successful completed majority of our film on our second given filming day! After testing on the 29th and revisions made to the shot list and overall plot, we knew exactly how we were going to execute our film. Everything went according to plan! The cast did a wonderful job and we got everything done! The shots we got were absolutely beautiful as well. Though everyone was nervous because of the rain, the lighting ended up being perfect for the vibe we wanted for our film. These two shots have to be my favorite!! The angles, the lighting!! Everything worked out perfectly, and my director was a big help. Of course we have more to record:  we still have to record the first scene (which will be easy) - we don't need the other actors for that one. I'm very satisfied with our performance so far, but worried about the amount we have to cut out and how we're going to make it all make sense. Everything is looking up!

Yesterday, November 29th, was our first day of filming!  Getting the perfect shot proved to be difficult, and we soon realized we would have to shorten our film significantly if we were to finish it. Figuring out the tripod and how the director and I wanted to frame particular shots was very challenging. Also, the cast wasn't up to speed in terms of the plot of the story, so getting them to cooperate was also an issue. The director and I caught the cast up on the plot, and plan to do a quick overview before filming tomorrow. Other than that, we all had the general vision for our film and an idea of how we wanted to execute it. After fixing minor details today and yesterday, we're going to have a blast filming tomorrow again tomorrow! :) As I mentioned already, changes were made to our shot list and the length of our story. The director and I came to the realization that the visions we had for our story were vastly different, so we had to work together to find a middle ground th...