First Day of Filming

   A few days ago I completed my first day of filming. I got together with my older sister to complete shots 4 through 9. 

    In preparation, I watched this YouTube video to make sure I was using my camera software to its full potential. I also thought up some back-up alterations to the shot list incase anything didn't work out while filming.

    

    We started  off with shot 4, which I changed a bit to minimize the possibility of shaky movement and get a more emphasized focus pull. Instead of doing a backwards moving shot of my sister that would continue until she left the room, I opted for something I thought would look cleaner and probably more visually appealing. I began filming from the beginning and pulled out to reveal her at the desk. Then, I switched angles to where she was distinctly in the background and the important props were much closer in the foreground. I filmed her leaving the room, then achieved a more pronounced focus pull to the props after she had left the frame.

    Shots 5-9 would also have to be slightly altered because the situation had changed and I figured it wouldn't be a good idea for us to try to light a controlled fire unsupervised, so I improvised to create an *implication* of fire.

    

    I split shot 5 into separate shots because the steps into my backyard made it almost impossible to get smooth handheld movement all the way through. Instead, I did a tracking shot of my sister walking to the backyard door, inserted shot 8 to be from her walking out the door and beginning to light the lighter, then going into the closeup that would have been the end of shot 5.

    Shot 6 was omitted. To create the lighting in shot 7, I at first opted to play a fireplace YouTube video on my computer and hold it out of frame. However, while it was bright and pretty realistic-looking, it wasn't realistic enough for me. We ended up lighting a piece of paper on fire and holding it out of frame. Shot 9 remained the same.

    Overall, I was super happy with how this day turned out. We finished so quickly and every issue that arose met a swift fix because I had planned for several contingencies.