Module Six: TELLING A STORY I – Mini Doc (Pre-Production)

Reading and Writing

Chapter 07 of The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video focuses on lighting. We all know how nice footage turns out when filming during “golden hour” or when the sun is about 45 degrees from the horizon. When light is directly overhead, it can cast weird shadows. The shadows cast by backlight and sidelight can be filled in (brightened) two ways: reflectors and fill lights. A reflector is anything that reflects the light. It normally comes as a board covered with silver paint or foil, but it can also be as simple as a white wall. Reflectors are used to bounce light into an area that needs lighting. A fill light is any additional lighting that can fill in the shadows.

But the sun as a light source isn’t always available and has a time limit. When lighting subjects indoors, focusing quartz, broads, and softlights are traditionally used.

The focusing quartz light is the production version of a theatrical spotlight. This is the most common and versatile light to use. The intensity and pattern of the light is a range of spot to flood.

1. Spot is small and concentrated; flood is spread out and less intense.

2. Floor lights are intense so be careful to look out for hotspots.

Broad lights are non-focused lights designed to project broad even light over a large area. These lights are less versatile and have no controls, you just turn them on and point them at what you’re trying to light.

Softlights are a permanent, portable bounce light. It kind of resembles the inside of an umbrella, usually white or silver, with a light mounted to face the inside of the umbrella. This way, the light bounces off the curved surface and onto the subject. Softlights are basically bounce lights that can be controlled with more accuracy with less set up. That being said, they will take up more space.

Setup

A basic three-point lighting set up consists of a key light, a fill light, and a back light. The key light is your main light, and no are in the setting should be lighter that the area lit by the key light. Positioned to the side of the camera and 45 degrees above the subject, the key light directs the viewer’s eye to the brightest area in the frame.

The fill light should offset the key light. The fill should be bright enough to partially fill in the shadows created by the key, leaving enough shadows to create depth.

The backlight should be positioned behind the subject, creating a rim of light that visually separates it from the background.

When placing lighting, be methodical. Envision what you want to accomplish, place your lights with purpose, and don’t be afraid to experiment!

Planning and Shooting a Sequence

When planning a shoot, the first thing is to decide what you want to end up with. What story are you telling? Who do you want it to resonate with? What do you want to highlight? Keep all this in mind while developing a production plan. Next, make a shooting plan. A good basic plan to follow for shorter sequences is to shoot everything wide, repeat with a medium shot, and then again in close up. Then shoot cutaways.

A slate is simply a way to identify a shot, whether you use a clapboard or a scrap of paper. Slating helps quickly differentiate shots in post by providing all the information at the top of the clip.

Research to Inform

Five Foot Two is a recent example of a documentary that I can think of that combines big budget production with the feeling of authentic intimacy. Throughout a lot of the doc, the shooting crew has to shoot in a lot of uncontrolled situations. There are points when Gaga is sitting on the ground smoking and taking, but the shot is still well composed, and the setting makes the situation feel more personal. The story of the toll fame takes on an artist is presented through an unfiltered, behind the scenes look at Gaga’s life.

Casting JonBenet is a documentary that I think did a really good job of taking an extensively covered true crime topic and putting a spin on it. The documentary focuses on casting reenactment actors for true crime productions and those actor’s thoughts and opinions on the case. The story is less about the case itself and more about the mythologies that arose from the sensationalized coverage of this case. There is a degree of thoughtfulness and introspection that the director applies to this story that I think is vital to good documentary production.

VICE is a good example of documentaries with topics I find interesting, but their production doesn’t allow me to fully enjoy the story. Their use of constant shakey cam and lack of any real framing in shots seem to want to convey how authentic this doc is, sort of implying this is all being captured off the cuff, but all it really does for me personally is make me very aware of the camera. I would rather a production focus on telling me a story than trying to prove how authentic it is. That being said I do think they capture very interesting stories, like the one above, and allow the subjects to tell them in their own terms.

Create

This week, I began planning a mini doc that will showcase my best friend Vanessa’s art and tell the story of her journey as an independent artist. Working as a screen printer at a major company by day, Vanessa spends her free time creating her own art and branching out into the community around her. I wanted to showcase some of her work while also discussing her thoughts and feelings on her career and her future.

You can view my pre production plan here.

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Photo by tyler hendy

#icm508 #preproduction