Art of the Real – Production (After the Shoot)

Shoot went well.

Got there a couple of minutes early, and Nina met me at the door to let me in. This was my first visit to her studio, so she showed me the different spaces that I could use. She had a large work area where she makes quilts and also a small display area where she showed off her artwork. The artwork made a great background and the space didn’t have any windows so it was easier to control the light. The downside was that it was a very small space.  I had already told the her that I needed a half hour to set up, so she let me set up while she continued to work. Set up went well. It was difficult to separate the interview lighting from the background, so it is a little flatter than I like, but it looked pretty good.

The background picture was a large quilt featuring the main character of her film. It was hung so high that it was difficult to frame it with a sitting interview in front. I think I hit a happy medium with the shot.

The second camera was positioned where I could not see or control it. I set it up first and then set up the primary camera. I moved the interview subject a little and did not rest the second camera, so it isn’t framed as well as I would have liked.

I am used to doing long PBS style interviews where the questions are very open and the subject can talk awhile to answer the question. That works well for longer pieces, but I am not sure it was the best style to use for short projects. I got some great info, but I’ll have to wait until I get to editing to see if I can cut it down to small clips. I might have to use some narration in order to cut it together.

Review of footage: Camera 1 looks good. Audio is good. Camera 2 framing is a little off and slightly over exposed in the highlights but can be saved for secondary use.