'NEVER LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS.'
-Bill Wong-
During the actual production, this phrase stuck to me like a leech on the forehead.
I'm glad it did because now that I look back, at least 85% of the shots I could say passed my conscience.
And the other 15%?
Honestly, could be MUCH MUCH BETTER!
(But nevertheless, I still love them.)
NO REGRETS.
Just room for improvement for the future!
P.s. I tried to shoot every shot we planned, unless we really, really, REALLY needed to 'COMBINE' them.
During the production, we encountered a lot of problems, such as time constrain and Ada's health. Sometimes, whatever shooting order we planned previously have to changed on the spot due to the lack of time. In the beginning, we were processing quite slow as it was still a warm up session and the fact that our actors Carolyn and Yian were not as familiar with each other at first made it quite difficult for them to work together. Most of the time we have to wait for them to rehearse a few times before we could roll the camera.
Besides that, since Ada and I normally have the shotlist ready before the shooting, we would try and shoot whatever we have planned, unless time is really running out and we have to chase the sunlight. We have a few day time scenes in which we have to shoot as fast as we could and make sure that the plan works because we had to turn the scene back into a night scene right after. That was the ORTV Broadcast scene where we saw Hiu Ching working in a environment and on another night as well. At first we shot the night scene first then we took the black papers off and shot the day scene until the sunset.
Another scene where we have to rush before the sun set was the paragliding scene. Since in the morning till afternoon we shot at Bethanie for the news reporting scene, at around 4pm, we rushed to Jordan Valley and shot the paragliding scene as quick as we could. As we shot, we moved from one patch of grass to another patch of grass because the sun was setting too quickly behind the mountains and we shot till the last drop of sunlight went off. Luckily, we could finish 95% of them and the 5% was rest of the cutaways.
Talking about the scene in Bethanie, we almost cut off the chroma key shot because we had no time to shoot it. As Ada and Benji were deciding behind my back while I shot Hiu Ching fainting, I heard that they decided to cut it. While Hiu Ching was getting ready, I suggested to Ada that we keep the chroma key shot as it is one of our major attempts in this film, that is to test the green screen effect. At last, we shot it and then made it to Jordan Valley right away. Though, I had a tough time dealing with Olivia about keeping this shot, but in the end, I think we did the right thing.
The toughest shoot of the day would be the support group scene, I suppose. This is because my director, Ada had eye infection and she couldn't see the monitor at all. First thing in the morning when she came, she told us that she has problems with her eyes and we were all discussing whether to continue shooting or not. Since it's the scene with the most extras and we didn't want to lose the HKD$3000 on the rental of the location we preferred, which was the WWF Yun Chow Chai Heritage Preservation Centre in Tai Po, as we also went through a tough time getting this place for our shooting. Lawrence, our assistant director recommended us to stop the shooting as our director couldn't see. However, based on the same concerns about the amount of extras we could get and the expenses of that day's shooting, we decided to take a risk. Ada, with her eyes barely able to see anything, continued to battle with that day's shooting as our assistant directors helped to control the situation. Since Ada couldn't see properly, I tried to follow the shots that we have planned and shot as fast as we could because the sun would set in the evening and we had a large number of shots. In the end, it is also because of the tight schedule, we were short of reaction shots of the support group members. Besides, the extras were also too still and quiet during the scene.
I have also tried to make the environment looks more cheerful by sticking the colored gels on the window panes. Since that scene was supposed to look as welcoming and warm as possible, I thought it would be appropriate to decorate the plain white window panes with gels that would help with the lighting as well.
One of the shots which I am satisfied with came from the scene where we see Hiu Ching's mother washing her hair. The close-up on Hiu Ching where she looks at her mother without her noticing was the shot in which I think the lighting helped a lot. Since the scene was supposed to be warm and emotional, I told Yang Fan to create a sunlight which resembled a warm sunset that was similar to the warmth felt by Hiu Ching towards her mother. As Hiu Ching's mother's touch was very important to Hiu Ching, we also used a longer track shot to cover the movements of the hands.
The interview scenes for Hiu Ching shot in APA were comparably easier than the rest as the space and time were good enough. Although it was the first day, but our schedule was still as tight.
The two-day shooting in Hiu Ching's house was one of the tighest schdeule of all. In the same house, we have a lot of scenes of Hiu Ching's daily lives. The kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom. Since we have two days that we could use for shooting, we carefully planned the sequence by ordering the daytime scenes where we see the windows, the night time scenes with parents (they are only available one of the days) and the next day, day time scenes, in the afternoon to shoot montage scenes nearby the house while waiting for the rest to stick black papers to block the windows for night scenes. It was better for some of us as we didn't have to return the equipment back to Bethanie on that day, so in the end, we get more rest on the second day.
The clinic was so tiny that only a few people could fit in. This slowed down the process of the filming as most of the time we have to keep calling for the people to come in and help with this and that. I also realized small locations do not mean the faster the shooting. This is because when the location is too small, the things are harder to move around.
Last but not least, the hospital scene. This is the scene where we had to rush like crazy as well. This was because we had to wait for the actors and we had to reshoot some shots as there was a small problem with the set. However, we managed to finish everything on time as well, thanks to the tight schedule of our 'father', he had to leave at a certain time on that day to rush to another place.
So far, the experience of the produciton was always about things not having enough time, not enough space or having the need to cut or combine shots. As a D.O.P, the last thing that I would want to do is to cut shots, this is because according to my experience, it's either the shots are normally not enough to cover to story or we haven't got enough films to shoot. Therefore, the lesson to learn during the execution would be to carry out a good pre-production plan, and be flexible on location. It is no use trying to look back at some of the things that were 'initially', instead, we should be more open-minded to find better solutions on the spot.
Sometimes, I understand that I may get frustrated by the reality of the limitations, however, I would try my to keep my expectations as high as I started so that I will not regret after the shooting. During this 10GP02 shooting, I kept reminding myself to remember to do what I think it's best for the film and that every shot must be able to pass my conscience at least.
Last year, I allowed my emotions to take control of the shooting instead of problem-solving. This year, I told myself that I have to focus on the solution rather than picking on mistakes again. I admit that I still have a long way to go till I could grasp the art of filming, but I believe one day I would come to realize that and from then on, I will continue to reach for the impossible!
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