Filming Blog: Lighting in Darkness

Saturday, November 28th, is the day I started the filming part of my music video. I spent the day preparing for the location and set for filming the second part of my music video. I started with the second half rather than the first because the sun went down early. This meant that there was more time for darkness and nighttime which was crucial for the second half on my music video. I first began to pick out the proper outfit and props that I needed for the scenes, making sure that everything was planned out. The first two scenes went accordingly, however I did find trouble when shooting outside during the night. When shooting the shot of the girl walking outside the main door, the lighting was not in my favor. The lighting from inside the house mixed with the natural light form outside did not mix well. I had to play around with different lights that were on and off, inside and outside the house. The lighting was difficult to work with because I did not want the lighting to look artificial and fake while being outside. It was also difficult since there was a lack of light due to it being nighttime, which was expected. Next, there was a pan of the actor running down the street while holding a map. This took many takes because I could not decide which side or how close up was better. I took many takes so that I could have options. Then, I took an over the shoulder shot of the map the girl was holding while the actor was also holding a flashlight to it. This way the audience would be able to clearly see what was on the piece of paper and not hold any questions between the audience and video, there would be no room for interpretation. I then moved to a different location and set up the space necessary for the scene. I decided to film the shot by a metal fence, dirt, mud, and a truck, a complete opposite of what the girl is used to. The final shot of the music was of the girl lying on her back while the camera zoomed out. I decided last minute that after to zoom out, I would pan up to the sky full of stars to signify the end and leave the audience in wonder of what is to come next. This process took a little over 3 hours because of the need to change locations.