Pre-Production - Steady-cam test 2 (14/02/17)

This week we had a second test for the house party scene in which we used the steady-cam for the second time. I recorded the results of the first test here on my blog. The initial findings were semi-successful, but as we shot the scene without lighting we had a limited understanding of how things would ultimately look in the final scene. This time around we set up our lighting plan around the location before we started the test shoot. In total we had three redheads within the scene and one cool lamp. I wanted the lights to act as part of the scene to give a colourful party vibe. We had two redheads placed within the corridor with a blue and red gel on each. This merges nicely into a purple that fills the corridor. The problem here being the final light at the end of the corridor. It is clear a light source is coming from infront of the harshness of the light on the wall. To avoid this I think we're going to place extras on that wall to absorb the light. The cool lamp is placed within the kitchen behind the main area of the scene where Alice has a conversation with Millie and Sam. This provided an ambient green light which fills the entire room. I really liked the effect this created as you could also see the light when Alice passes the end window. Green spills out of the room onto her face slightly which is a subtle way of introducing her to the party. 

At the very beginning of this scene, we found that in the dark we needed a light source to illuminate the path Alice was on slightly. To her right there are small LED lights placed every 5-10 metres. The light that these gave off wasn't enough to give a clear indication of what was happening. With the help of the redhead coming through the window, this time around we clearly establish what's happening. Alice passes around into the front garden. Unfortunately we weren't able to gather enough extras that day to place some around the railings etc. I decided to use the few spare hands we did have for the important parts of the scene. This worked out well because it was the first time I got to see the scene play out from start to finish with a body to fill each role. 

This time around we also recorded some dialogue to incorporate into the scene in post production. The last time we applied some music to the scene in post and it enhanced the scene greatly, but it was still without dialogue that was to take place in the scene. I also wanted the dialogue and the music to be balanced. If one was louder than the other it would be quite distracting. I looked at a few scenes from films and one I found done this very well is a scene I'm using for inspiration. This scene below is from 'The Guest'. Notice how the music and the dialogue do not cancel each other out. They seem to naturally beside each other within the scene. 

Below is a link to the second test shot which is uploaded to YouTube. Sometime soon I will be updating this post with a new version of the same test shot, but with both the soundtrack and digetic dialogue.