Cinematography
Visual Style
Our documentary Shelf Space is centred on the community surrounding Desire Books & Records in Manly, New South Wales. Our film will document the community interactions based in and around the store, thus allowing the shop itself to develop into the main character of our story. As the cinematographer/director of photography, it is my job to bring a distinctive look to the film as well executing the technical responsibilities of filming.
It is important to envision the look before filming begins, often referred to as ‘previsualisation’ (Wheeler, 2001, p.9). In order to establish a look for the film, I must first analyse what key components constitute a characteristic look for film. There are several dichotomies that set out the tone of films, these include: sharp or soft, cold or warm, saturation or monochrome (Wheeler, 2001, p.9). These basic aspects of the film are paramount to creating the feeling of the setting and will be vital to the film’s lasting impression on the audience. Through production meetings, the team and I have decided that the setting and nature of the film lends itself to warm tones and close shots, further developing the feeling of community and togetherness. In order to achieve this, I will use techniques in filming and post-production by combining modern technology and traditional cinematography techniques (Keating, 2014, p.4). By using warm light sources based around 3200 kelvin and focal lengths of 35mm and narrower, it is not my job to make the shop look as big as possible, but rather to give it a sense of cosiness and community by using optical compression and wide open apertures.
References:
Keating, P. (2014). Cinematography. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, pp.1-10.
Wheeler, P. (2001). Digital Cinematography. Oxford: Focal Press, pp.1-19.
In order to find the most appropriate look and feel for the film, I needed to familiarise myself with the environment we needed to replicate on film. To do this, the team and I attended a ‘Bonfire Night’, what Desire Books call their monthly community open mic night. As we already knew this would play a crucial role in our film, it was essential I go to not only map out my shots for when we film, but to get a sense of the place in terms of colours and lighting. The tightly packed room cast lots of orange tones from the walls and the books acted as somewhat of an acoustic deadener. It will be essential that I dial in my white balance for filming otherwise the skin tones will not sit where they need to be and the few white walls in the location will appear orange.
After filming our second ever ‘Bonfire Night’ as part of our filming schedule, I found several nuances of the space develop. After scouting the location earlier, I knew it was paramount to utilise fast lenses to separate the performer from the crowd. By using an 85mm prime lens, I was able to shoot from the back of the room whilst maintaining a profile shot on any performers. This proved to be the best way of shooting as I did not want to intrude the space of any guests. I believe a shooting style similar to this will prove useful on our interview shoot dates as the characters will be interacting with social actors during filming and I will not want to intrude their personal space.
After shooting some time-lapses of the space with my own camera on the date, I have started brainstorming ideas for a final grade on the film. This has proved to be effective as it does not interfere with the editing process as I am getting ideas for how to match the look and feel of the cosy environment with post-production techniques.
