All home scenes were recored over the span of about two weeks. They were all also done at my house, since that was the only location to have the cats in. My house actually had two separate settings. The living room represented Kylie’s house, with lots of neutral colors representing want to blend in and be just like the rest of her friends. My room on the other hand was used as Charlotte’s room. They’re only there for a few seconds during the montage, but the bright colors of her room match her outfits and how Charlotte is willing to express herself no matter what, and that is especially true in the comfort of her own home.
The beginning and ending scenes were also shot at different times of day with different lighting. The intro has natural lighting, with the windows opened to try to mimic morning light. The ending on the other hand is lit only by artificial light, signaling it is evening or night. The beginning scene had to be done in the morning for storyline reasons, but why choose night specifically for the ending. Since it happens after a time skip, I could realistically choose any time I wanted for the scene to occur in. I ended up going with evening/night since its a more vulnerable time of day. There’s this concept that people will fake it during the day/in public, then once home when its late, their true selves will show. Since this is where Kylie actually gets to talk about her issues instead of letting them fester in her brain, I thought choosing a later time matched better. Being able to properly show those vulnerable moments are the main aspects of dramas of course.
To continue the showing of emotion, in the ending scene, most shots have the focus purely on the character’s expressions and body language. That way, emotions can be conveyed to the audience clearly in not just what they say, but in how they behave. Another perk of this is showing the contrasting body language between Kylie and Charlotte. Kylie is much more generally still, yet she still fidgets subtly to herself as she talks. Charlotte isn’t just loud in her words, but with her actions too. She’s very much one of those people who talk with their hands, and express every word.
Another important action that occurred during these days was voice over work. Audio quality at the mall was very poor with the wind blowing, music playing, and people talking, so all lines had to be rerecorded in order for them to be properly heard in the film. Another scene that had to be voiced over was the intro, since Emma/Rylie’s lines could not be heard from the phone. To do the voice work, I purchased a little microphone kit that attaches to the phone. Using my new tools, I met with my actors one on one, had them watch over their video clips, and had them repeat their lines into the microphone. When in editing, I can then extract the audio from each video and put them over the actual film.
And goodness, short film recording is over!
Comments
Post a Comment