This shoot is one in which the ideas surrounding it have developed a bit as I’ve been doing some test shoots. I’ve decided to use dialogue and incorporate this with the use of the photo. I have decided that my actor will be talking on the phone while in the environment of an empty room. I’ve filmed this at night, and tried to replicate as much as I can for the real shoot. My actor (Pippa) will be in different parts of this room while in conversation with someone on the phone for the duration of it. The atmosphere I want to create is a sort of longing and nostalgic type feel. As if the character is leaving this home and we feel their nostalgia through the way the scene is shot.

The framing of the scene is in part based on a short film I’ve seen called This is She directed by Tarik Karam. The emptiness of the scene is something I want to focus on, and use the minimal props and features of the room as the basis of framing the shots.

(This is She 2015)

Shot List – Ideas for Framing

I really like the way the test shoot turned out. I’ve graded it to a black and white palette just as an experiment and I cant work out whether it adds to the aesthetic or not. The costume becomes less noticeable in black and white and the actor blends in with the surroundings more. The black and white definitely gives a more sombre mood to the scene. The sound quality isn’t the best but I mind too much as I’ll recorded better sound for the real shoot. The overlapping of sound works really well with each shot. I let the actor sort of improvise the dialogue as the script I had originally written felt a but stiff and not as natural when the actor had to read it. I also love that she sings and talks to herself, again they feel very natural. When shooting I got more shots from outside of the room and deeper within the empty house and I think they added something to the mood of the scene. A real “emptiness” was felt when filmed more of the house.