For one of our shots Mel and I wanted to create the stereotypical superhero stance to represent power and authority within our character. These have been found in our research into other trailers, such as 'Kick Ass' at the beginning where we see the 'MS' of the character from behind. These shots are stereotypically taken as high angled 'CU', looking down to show the height which the character is positioned or shot from below looking up at superhero as a steep angled 'LS', this supports authority in the character making us look up to them or showing them looking down upon others represents their power. To support this the shot should consist of an authoritative stance and the full superhero costume to create impact and recognition for the audience.
What I like about these shots is the perception of height. Bella was very understanding and worked well with the direction we gave to her. I wanted her stance to be as powerful as possible which meant keeping her posture strong and her stereotypical superhero 'hands on hips' stance in full strength throughout the shoot.
We chose a four story high car park in our local town to shoot from, here we were sure to be safe at the height as we couldn't get past a waist high wall that had been placed around the edges. Working carefully and safely at this height we were able to position the camera high enough that we were able to create a downwards over view shot of the street below which also included Bella looking over the town in her heroic stance. I like how the shot turned out and the 'CU' of Bella flicking her hair then staring to the camera worked extremal well, her eye contact creates a true strength and connection with the audience.
0.00-0.05- 'MS' establishing height and the character in hand.
0.12-0.16- 'CU' moving to 'ECU' to capture the strength within the eye contact.
0.15-0.26- Camera panning down to then reveal the 'MS' I like this idea and the connection made with the 'MS' flows allot better making the overall shot stronger.
Another Idea we had was to slowly pan the camera down from the sky indicating that the fist thing we saw was the top of the church working well to create a feeling of great height. My favourite aspect about this shot was the depth of field change as the camera tilted downwards and everything came into focus. As the camera panned down it reviled the standard 'MS' we'd been working in then we smoothly zoomed into an 'ECU' to capture the strength of eye contact.
This was created between 0.26-0.47 and 0.48-1.04 we had to attempt this in a few takes as the wind wasn't on our side and kept blowing her hair across her eyes interfering with the eye contact.
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| Googles stereotype of a superhero stance, something the audience will recognise, understand and connect with. |
We chose a four story high car park in our local town to shoot from, here we were sure to be safe at the height as we couldn't get past a waist high wall that had been placed around the edges. Working carefully and safely at this height we were able to position the camera high enough that we were able to create a downwards over view shot of the street below which also included Bella looking over the town in her heroic stance. I like how the shot turned out and the 'CU' of Bella flicking her hair then staring to the camera worked extremal well, her eye contact creates a true strength and connection with the audience.
0.00-0.05- 'MS' establishing height and the character in hand.
0.12-0.16- 'CU' moving to 'ECU' to capture the strength within the eye contact.
0.15-0.26- Camera panning down to then reveal the 'MS' I like this idea and the connection made with the 'MS' flows allot better making the overall shot stronger.
Another Idea we had was to slowly pan the camera down from the sky indicating that the fist thing we saw was the top of the church working well to create a feeling of great height. My favourite aspect about this shot was the depth of field change as the camera tilted downwards and everything came into focus. As the camera panned down it reviled the standard 'MS' we'd been working in then we smoothly zoomed into an 'ECU' to capture the strength of eye contact.
This was created between 0.26-0.47 and 0.48-1.04 we had to attempt this in a few takes as the wind wasn't on our side and kept blowing her hair across her eyes interfering with the eye contact.
Problems and our solutions:
-Wind blew Bella's hair into her face, ruining the shot.
Tucking her hair into the back of the cape so that she could flick it out when appropriate
-The street below wasn't very busy not creating a powerful impact on the character.
Consider filming again another day or a different location.
-The tripod was on uneven ground, causing some of the shots to be shaky.
Find more stable ground or create an even stand for is to secure the tripod upon
Our next attempt to create height and authority was to capture the shots from below looking up, these had to be Long shots to really grasp the height of the car park we had Bella standing upon these did work rather well. Also some of the direction in this was for Bella to whip her hair and stare straight into the camera again to obtain her powerful characteristics, this did have a few takes as we needed to make sure not only the eye contact was correct but also her stance didn't lose strength which was noticeable in some of the takes we got.
These shots mainly consist of several takes leading from a low anlged 'LS' moving in to 'CU' to capture the facial expression on the character at the high angle.
Problems and our solutions:
-Cobbled pathing making the tripod shake, especially during 'CU' shots where the camera becomes harder to control.
Creating a smooth stand for the tripod to stand upon.
-Bella being so minuscule in the 'LS' shes not noticed as the centre of attention.
Creating extras to stand in and point towards her appearance more recognisable to the audience. (Shown between 1.28-1.45)
-Making Bella stand closer to the edge. (Health and safety)
Keeping her 1/2 meters away from the side at all time and having her near a wall she can hold onto, also making sure we filmed where there is a barrier around the ledge.
-Communicating with Bella from such a distance.
Having someone with her hidden behind the wall on the phone to us on the ground (like walkie-talkies)allowed us to communicate with her and give her appropriate direction as shoot was taking place.
-Public interfering with the action as we were filming. (This did only happen once)
A sign exclaiming that it was for our exam work and if they would be so kind not to cause un-natural behaviour blatantly into the camera.
Things I learnt from this shoot:
-I did find that we were a little trigger 'un-happy' Mel and I both made the mistake of leaving the camera rolling between takes which when we came to look through the footage later when we got back it took an awful long time to go through it and decide which shots will be useful to us and which wouldn't as we had to look for 5 second snippets of great footage within some shots up to 5 minuets long.
-Another flaw I obtain is using the zoom. Only after did I realise how much it ruins the good shots and I wasn't following one of the main rules of no zooms during a mid shot.
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