Filming Blog: Hannah's House

On the third day of editing, I filmed with Leila at my house. The filming took place in one of the bedrooms. The plan was to film all the scenes that included the Monitor, which is played by Leila. These scenes mainly consisted of the Monitor communicating with the spies through a headset, on her computers, and getting kidnapped. Before Leila arrived at my house, I wanted to create the set design. I cleared off a desk and then placed a few pencil cups and folders on it. I wanted to make the set design simple. I also removed any unwanted objects that may have ended up in frame if I didn't move them. After the set was mostly finished I took out the camera and practiced what shots and angles I wanted to film at. Once Leila arrived at my house I was able to finish the set; I placed my laptop and Leila's laptop on the desk. I then pulled out the storyboard, so I could look over it while I was filming. Doing this allowed me to make sure I wouldn't skip any scenes I needed to film.

Once again, my main role was to be the camerawoman. I have done most of the filming since the first filming day, which means I have gotten a lot of practice and I now know how to dodge mistakes I made previously. For example, some of the scenes I recorded were shaky, but I learned as long as I steady my arm on something, like a table, the camera will not shake as much. As the camerawoman, I filmed from many different shots and angles, so I would have a lot to edit with later. I would also let Leila know if she was in the frame, or if she was talking loud enough for the dialogue. A small issue I ran into was with the lighting. I wanted the lighting to be dark, but the problem was it was too dark, making it almost impossible to see Leila through the lens. I helped Leila figure out the lighting by turning off and on numerous lamps to see which worked best. In the end, we were able to find lighting that worked. Also, to make the lighting look better, I set the camera to night mode, so it would be easier to see everything in the shot.

Another role I had was to help direct Leila on what she should be doing in each scene. I told her to type on the computers for some scenes and for others I directed her to hold the phone. I world remind her what her lines were if she forgot them. Also, I would let her know if she was portraying the right emotion for the scene.

This is a picture of me figuring out the cameras setting for the scene.