ONE SHOT SCENE

In Fridays lesson we looked at one shot scenes, mike showed us several videos illustrating the various ways directors have used the one shot scene. One very interesting approach was that of Michael Figgis whos film Time Code used four one shot scenes that ran simultaneously.

Mike demonstrated the various ways in which the camera can be mounted. From the use of a tripod for still shots, panning, zooming and tilts, to a monopod which can be very use full as its not only light and easy to carry but also very versatile and useful for very low shots and high shots that are difficult to get a position, but care is needed to keep the camera strait upright, a figrig was the other device shown to us and one that I have never seen before, designed by Michael Figgis for the purpose of keeping the camera hand held, steady and easily maneuverable.




Before setting out on this project I did some research and looked at many one scene shot videos on youtube. I was hoping to glean some inspiration and the scene below was my favorite and I feel it illustrates continuity as the scene plays out.



Our project for this week was to create a one shot scene, along with Edem, Ross, Simon and myself we decided to use the fig rig as we wanted to use a lot of movement within the scene. Each of us took turns in the different rolls of acting, camera handling and director giving us all a chance to use the fig rig and come to grips with camera handling and directing. First of all we blocked out the scene and decided how we wanted it to unfold and marked out where we wanted each person to stand. It proved to be quiet a difficult task as we encountered many problems such as weather changes and passers by walking into the scene. we shot the same scene ten times. In the end only two were worth using as the others all had very obvious problems that could not be used, even the final choice had errors but overall appeared to be the best.

scene 1 from mandybriggs on Vimeo.

This exercise highlighted some of the problems film makers encounter when shooting. The weather was our biggest problem as we had extremes of snow to bright low winter sun light, because we were filming a one minute shot that could not be edited, we were unable to alter the cameras settings when we changed directions and the light exposure dramatically changed, the auto function didn't take in the light readings very well either. We found that the footage taken during the snow where light levels remained the same was much better, although we did have a few problems with snow on the lens. For this type of shooting I think a cloudy day where light levels are the same is essential to this type of shooting.
This was a good exercise and I feel we worked well together as a team and came away from the experience having learned quiet a lot from an afternoon of shooting.