Aurelija's TV production blog

On this workshop we got to play around with DSLR cameras, which are made mainly for photography and that's why it's a bit more tricky to get everything in focus and the sound is awful, although you could get amazing effects with the said camera.  It's way lighter than the panasonic or sony cameras we used before, so it's a bit more comefortable to film handheld.  After doing our interviews we played around with ISO, which is something like gain on other cameras. You can see in the video that when ISO is set higher - the video gets more grainy.

This was our first lighting workshop in which we learned the importance of good lighting because it helps to set the mood of the scene and makes the view less flat. Even though for most of the workshop I was being blinded by the lights, I did take a lot from it. For starters, don't forget to focus the camera no matter how excited you get about finally positioning the lights right (Michael bits). Also, we got to see what a gel can do to tungsten lights. The second lighting workshop wasn't easier as we had to choose and recreate one of noir looks. We chose to  only illuminate the eyes, to achieve that look we tried shaping light with barn doors on the tungsten lights, but it wasn't working as well as we thought it would, then we tried using foil to shape the light and that didn't work as well so in the end we ended up using a flag which gave as the look we were going for. After that we decided to just play with the lights and see what the each ligh...

NOTES FROM CLASS Editing is unique to fimaking and is refered to as "invisible art" because if it's done well you won't notice it. The first layer of continuity editing is telling the continuis story, but that doesn't mean that every part of the scene needs to be in the final edit, just the bits that tell the story. The simple rule of less = more applies all the way through the editing process. The most creative layer of editing is creating drama of a scene through pacing. rhythm and emotion. The main thrust of pace is created through how quickly or slowly you cut from one shot/scene to the next. Ordinaraly, a scene starts wide and slow and then gets closer and quicker. Every cut must have a reason. Where you position your characters in a scene is crucial in editing - whose story is it? EDITS The first edit had to be the expansive version of the edits and include lots of cuts and given matirial. Personally, I think I'd rather have it ...

It was tough to choose the series I wanted to direct, mainly because there's too many to choose from. In the end I ended up thinking what I would love to re-watch and it was Suits! I chose this scene because I really liked how they introduced the characters and watching it I had a vague idea where I could film it. I know theres a lot of dialogue and not that much action in the second part of the scene, but I think I could find good actors for the scene and pull it off. This video isn't the full scene that I've chosen, but it's the best version that I could find online (that wasn't in illegal websites).

This time we were given a short script and told to shoot the scene two ways - one where the camera was inside the space between the characters and the second one where the camera was behind the characters (over the shoulder). Choosing the perspective (inside or outside) creates different feels. Being inside the space makes the viewer feel involved in the conversation. It also makes the conversation between the characters feel a bit more personal and intimate. Taking the outside perspective approach makes the viewer an observer and the whole situation less intimate. Next day we were handed the same script just told to film it on location instead of the studio we were filming before.  I decided to film it in the little kitchen we have in our baseroom. Maybe they're flatmates that don't really know each other well (let's ignore the writing on the cabnet). I wanted to show that they get more personal when they start talking about what person A (Je...

The magic 2  every director has to think about is: 1)  what's in front of the camera    2)  where's the camera positioned.  It's important to read the script and break it down to questions: How? - style, mise-en-scene, mood. Who? - cast, crew, collaborators. Where? - locations, set. What? - production, costume, sound design, editing. Key director moments: How you pesent the character. Where you set the story. How you position the light. How you edit the story (rhythm, tone, mood). For our first Directions unit lecture we had to get into groups and have a go at directing a short scene. I found it to be very difficult to direct my DP instead of handling it myself. I ended up with a lot of spare shots I didn't need or couldn't use (mainly because it was hard to get the ball of paper to land into the bin) but the end result didn't disappoint me.

Black Mirror [1] is set in near future where technology is even more advanced than today. Every episode shows a new completely different story line where the only thing uniting them is the dark twist at the second part of the episode. Almost every episode starts with introducing a viewer to some kind of new invention and/or the protagonist of the episode. In most cases the viewer starts thinking that it would be great to have that invention, for example, photographic memory [2] that enables you to rewatch your memories whenever you want to, or maybe block someone from your life entirely [3] . However, by the end of an episode, after seeing the dark twist, the viewer is kind of glad that none of that exists at the moment. The other dark side of the show is that it makes its viewers paranoid about the technology today. After watching few episodes the viewer starts wondering “what if this is being developed today? What if somebody is watching me right now through the camera in ...