Innovating in Crunch Time

Rolling!

On the first day of filming, the lighting outside could not have been brighter. Even though the reason behind choosing the location we did was for its shade, the sun shined through and lit up every shot we attempted. This worried me because the storyline could appear confusing if our other filming days had contrasting weather. But, I wanted my group to feel encouraged. The story in our film is meant to be comedic, so why not have the lighting change to create dramatic effects? When the 'chess expert' in the film begins to lose, those scenes could be recorded on another day when the weather is more cloudy. However, the brightness of the weather on this day was perfect for the 'winning scenes' because of the sun's association with positivity and new beginnings. So, we decided to shoot scenes out of order that would correspond with the weather.

Getting the hang of the switch between each scene took some time, as we struggled to decide what to start filming next and how to use the equipment. Up to this point, it was easy to visualize how we wanted the shots to appear, but doing them was a whole different story! The ground of our location was unleveled, so shooting in the lineup of the rule of thirds was tedious for our cinematographer at first. We tried different angles with the tripod and were able to get straightened shots. To ensure our expectations for each shot were being met, I had each member of my group take a turn to stand behind the camera and see a practice version of a scene. This allowed us to express any concerns we had for each shot immediately; such as any substantial background distractors, if the lighting was too strong, changes needed in actor facial expressions, and even whether the shot's placement was correct. By doing so, we were each able to be involved in the filmmaking process which better allowed for ideas to flow.

The perspective in which each member of my film crew had a turn to view and discuss for approval.

Exploring Weaknesses & Overcoming Awkward Hurdles

As an actress in the film myself, when it was my turn to pre-check our shots as director, we had a stand-in actor play out the scene for me. This experience gave me whole ideas of what was lacking overall, specifically from my friend and me as actors in the film. Comedies rely heavily on dramatic, absurd facial expressions and sound. Each time I saw the scenes played out, my ideas to improve their execution expanded. I had a hard time letting go of embarrassment when having to act, so I communicated this with my group and they helped make me more comfortable by instructing me very specifically on what they needed from me as the scenes went on. This helped me and our other main actor to focus on what the task was instead of any awkwardness and we ended up having so much fun!

An example of the creativity that blossomed from combatting our initial issues as a group was to have the opponents in the film show contrasting personalities as much as we could — even in their first impressions of one another. When leaning into a handshake, our chess expert is met with a fist bump from the opposing player humorously. Making big decisions like that is a part of being a director, as I oversee the production and present to my film crew what I think could fill in any gaps we have in the story or its presentation. Overall, our innovation as a group in unexpected situations grew the confidence I have in our film starting on day one. these details in scenes created room for our sound designer and editor to have several opportunities to add comedy.