Production Process for Bedroom Scenes
Hey everyone! I am back with new updates on the filming process for the bedroom scenes of the film opening. So, for a recap, I decided to get a head start on filing the bedroom scenes while my partner Natalia is working on location scouting for the theater scenes. I am pleased to say that I was able to shoot the bedroom scenes in under an hour.
I have to give credit for my shot list, as it made this process much faster and more time efficient for me to now focus on the next steps. However, like any production process, I ran through a few minor issues while filming, so I decided to share with you all how I dealt with them, or how I improvised. I will also be sharing a few minor changes in props and explain why I made those decisions. I will be focusing on the two major issues that I ran into. So, let's get started!
Inconvenience #1 [Tripod]
The first issue that I ran into was the tripod itself. When I began filming the top of the photo wall, I noticed that my tripod could not reach so high, which did not let me film what I needed to film. For reference, this is what my tripod looks like...
The first photo is of the tripod without extending it. The second photo is of the same tripod with the maximum extension (the difference is huge!).
So, even with that height that the tripod can reach, it was not enough for the shot I needed. Some of you might be thinking: "Hannah, why didn't you just move the photos from the photo wall a bit lower so that the tripod can reach?" To answer this question, I just didn't want to, it took a lot of time to set up the photo wall, so starting it over would remove so much of my time. For that reason, I put the tripod on top of a pile of my school's yearbooks (since they are very big), which then allowed the tripod to reach the area.
In other words, if your tripod ever fails to reach a certain height, just place it on top of an object (furniture, books, bed, etc.). That way, you won't have to change any plans and continue filming.
Inconvenience #2 [Lighting]
This next issue that I ran into I would say is more my fault, because lighting is something that you plan before filming, which is what I didn't do. Here's what happened, the spot I was filming was in front of a big window, which was perfect since I wanted the most natural daylight lighting in the scenes as possible.
However, near my window, I had a light in my room that was turned on, reflecting its light onto the photo wall. This made the photo wall blurry and almost blinding, as the light didn't allow the photos to be shown. Now some of you all may be thinking: "Hannah, why didn't you just turn off the light from the start?"
Honestly, I did not realize this issue until I was over halfway done with filming, so as soon as I realized this, I had to start over, which took so much time off of my hands. The lesson I learned from this is that I have to do a test run of what I am filming and make sure that everything component is just the way I need it to be. I always have to make sure that I check my surroundings and ensure that nothing will disturb the filming process.
Inconvenience #3 [Bed]
This issue that I ran into wasn't as much of a big deal as the others, as I found a solution to this quickly, but I still thought that I should share this in case some of you might need this tip. For the clip that is supposed to show Stella sleeping, I wasn't sure how to show that someone else is sleeping in the bed, since Natalia and my family were busy. I didn't want to be the one under the bed because I was already filming.
So, I decided to use stuffed animals and pillows under the covers of the med to mimic the figure of a person (which I thought came out pretty well). For reference, I have the photos of how it would look like in the film, versus how it was actually like.
Coming up with this idea reminded me that there is always a way to overcome a problem, so another tip I have for you all is that there is always a way to do things, so keep brainstorming new ideas until you find one that works for you (wow, so inspirational!).
Minor Changes with Props
While I did in fact dedicate an entire post towards props used in the production, I wanted to update you all on a few minor changes I made. I ended up removing the star lamp prop and just kept the normal lamp, because after trying to add the stars, it just looked very fake and last minute (even though I tried adding the stars for around 2 hours until I decided to remove the idea).
Which is why I replaced it with a jewelry stand. The reason why I incorporated a jewelry stand with lots of colorful jewelry because I wanted to emphasize the idea that Stella is very expressive with her clothing, through the use of bright colors. I added it to hint towards this idea before the actual film began. I also decided to not show Stella in these scenes, as I wanted the main focus to be on all of the props.
Anyways, those are all of the tips I have based on my own experiences, so I hope they will be useful for you all. Stay tuned for my next update on this journey!
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