Post 13: Advanced Production Skills Workshop 3

In this workshop, we were shown a powerpoint about 'source' and 'colour'.
In this we were to point out the differences between artificial light and natural light, and blue filters and an 85 filter.

We were shown two picture from the film 'Forrest Gump'.

In this picture, we came to the conclusion that the light was far too harsh, that it elliminated any shadows. This is how we can tell it was artificial light.

Then we were shown this picture and compared it with the other. In this, we can tell that it is natural lighting. We can see the horse in the background, which has strong sunlight on it's back, so we thought that maybe a diffusion was used over the frame, so the people in the foreground weren't too flooded with sunlight.

We were then shown a picture of Harry Potter,

As shown, the artificial lights above are the main source of light in the shot. But there is a man holding white card next to the actors. This is so the light is also bounced onto their faces, so shadows aren't created on their face, which would block out the actors face and facial expressions.

this makes the shot 'consistent with the source in the setting'.

We were then told how light creates an atmosphere, and we were shown pictures of corridors with different sources of light in them.

This is an example,

We used 3 point lighting to explain the different kinds of lighting used in this picture.

3 Point lighting consists of 3 different directions of light. Front, Back, and Side.

You can see the different sources of light in this picture of this corridor.

We re-created a corrior shot with our class, using the artificial lighting we have in the media corridor.

First we filmed with the normal artificial lights that are kept on, on a day to day basis.

Then we changed the lights so we had one focusing on Jenna, and one on in the background.

After this, we learned about colour of light. We were told about the different filters, and the effect they have on a shot.

We learnt about Gels and Lens'. We use a red gel or filter for a warmer looking picture, and a blue gel or lens for a colder effect.

One short film that Becky has shown us is called 'That Old One'. In this, whenever the main character tells a lie, there shows a green light. This then uses colour to add effect to a scene in the film.

Another film which uses colour to add effect is Harry Potter.

So, in terms of our short film, we had to think how we could creatively use light to add effect to our scenes. We decided to use a blue filter when our character 'Grace' is at home, as this is when she is feeling the least happy, the blue filter will give off a cold and unhappy vibe.

We will also use the barn doors on 'Grace's Father', as we want him to be anonymous. This will then block the light on the father's face in the shot, so we can't see his features clearly.

Post 12: Advanced Production Skills Workshop 2

In our workshop lesson, we learnt how to fully understand lighting, and the different skills and tools needed for variety in lighting. In these workshops, we use the PD150 SONY, to get used to the more advanced camera, and to acheive a better quality in our experiments. After the camera was set up, we set the lighting up, and learnt all about the different tools that can be used. First, we learnt about diffusion. We were shown each slot, including a 1/4, 1/2, full and a little full. These were the different qualities in diffusions that we could use. A quarter was the thinnest, and full was the thickest, depending on how much light you want to block out. The little full was an insert that you could use so you could have a full and a 1/4, and so on. Following this, we learnt about direction of light. This was the result from this experiment:

The problems we found with direction was the positioning of the light, as wherever we seemed to place the light, it was seen in shot. For example at 0:16 the light was seen in shot, and we also had to re-film under with a 1/4 diffusion, as the light was far too harsh on Kelly's face. Throughout, the light seemed too harsh, so it could look to washed out with light, rather than being able to see the full effect of the direction in which the light was projected from. After learning the basics of direction, we learnt how to manipulate it, using barn doors. The function of a barn door is to shape light in any direction you want it to. In this we also learnt how to 'bounce' light. We bounced the light off the ceiling, tin foil, and paper. We experimented with this, and this is how it turned out:

We had a problem with the tin foil bounce, as it didn't seem to have much of an effect, so we used paper aswell. This seemed to work to our advantage. We also experimented with the light with diffusions, as we found the light was too over-powering for some of the shots. Apart from this problem, and the problem with the camera taking time to focus in on Zak after having the black sugar paper fully over the light at 0:17, this task, I felt, went reletivley well. The strength of this experiment was the visible changes you could see in the intensity of light when moving the sugar paper.

After we had got to grips with the lighting, with inspiration from some pictures shown to us on the slideshow, we tried to mimic a 'Vogue' pose. Charlotte placed her hands in front of her face in an attempt to create shadows on her face. Also, in this video, we experimented with 'spot and flood'. Spot is where you focus all the light on one object (i.e. Charlotte) and flood is where you spread the light across the whole frame.

This workshop has helped me to understand how to work the different directions of lighting and the variety of diffusions we can use. In the production of 'Bruises', I will use this knowledge when controlling the strengths of light in each shot, specifically the shots where we need to create chadows of Grace's Father on the walls.