Production Update, Part Deux

Saturday: Pre-production + playing around.

Sort-of shooting in front of green screen at, once again, Cyberjaya. Even in the same room we used on Thursday. No problem, we set up our stuff and we were ready. However, it was only a training exercise to get the lighting right for the green screen.

As I posted earlier, lighting is key. The shoot this time around is better in the sense that it's more controlled and we know what to light up with only 2 light source. Still, it's bad in post production.

Later that night, we had a discussion with Arina. She needed help in making a video for the MMU Next Top Ambassador competition which she joined. Plenty of ideas were thrown around and we ended up with 4.

The format is kinda like a promo-commercial, with all 4 segments lined up one after another. The first segment is a spoof of Rocky; the part where he was running up the stairs. The second segment is about the life of a girl who feels miserable and kills herself. I don't know how to explain this further as I didn't write the script. The third segment is a dance audition where Arina is auditioning using a disco song. The final segment is a promo of what Arina doesn't do.

Sunday: Production.

We met up at around 1pm, but pre-production continues. The script for segment 2 wasn't ready and no one except for Nicholas knows what it's all about. The shoot went on until 1am when Arina was totally exhausted.

Segment 1; completed. Shots were near-perfect. Post production was quick and fast; the desired effect achieved.

Segment 2; in progress. More than half the shots were under-exposed or over-exposed, no thanks to the wonderful LCD monitor. I did bring my tv along, but the cable wasn't there, so we had to play it by ear. Or eye, in this case.

Since Nicholas is the director for this segment, I don't know what kind of effect is he trying to achieve. Judging from what's been done so far in post, it is the typical short film style with lots of long establishing shots. I'm still waiting for a proper explanation of how it's supposed to be.

Segment 3; scrapped. The dance audition was scrapped for 2 reasons; one, Arina really can't dance and two, we took too much time shooting segment 2. Arina got tired so we had to cancel it. I was really disappointed in this, but I got over it when I redid segment 4. Sort of.

Segment 4; completed. The promo was supposed to be like this; first showing negative things that an ambassador would do e.g. smoking, and then a "Not Arina" stamp will appear on screen. I scrapped this and went for a different angle. We showed all the negative things first, and then pull a 180. I just hope the audience and judges are smart enough to understand this type of humor.

There is a clash of ideas when shooting this project. He wants the story to be set up proper, with ample time to explain things, while I wanted it to go straight to the point. It is NEVER a good idea to have more than one director, even for different segments. Sorry Nick, nothing personal, but we just can't work together creatively. Next time I'll just be the roadie for your production. :P