APA WAN CHAI
Since this is a huge scene, the preparation that we had to do beforehand was also important. We had a pre-light session the night before shooting and we had almost 80% of the lighting ready by the night. The other lights such as the 2K and additional KINO lights were done on the shooting day itself.
There were 5 main sectors in APA that needed lighting preparation:-
1. The 3 floors' corridors
2. The lifts
3. The puppet shadows on 3rd floor
4. The ground floor 1.2K
5. The 2K on 2nd floor (long track shot) and KINO
This is because the long track shot covered the entire view of APA from the corridors, to the walls and to the lifts.
1. 3 FLOORS' CORRIDORS
- The spotlights are alternately dimmed by sticking ND gels and black papers.
- The colors are warmer on the bottom floors and cooler on the top floors (as the lift elevates, to show the people's emotions getting colder)
- Even the lights outside the lifts had to be altered by pasting black papers to show the different gradient and amount of light we see on screen, so that it would look more dimensional compared to the one type of brightness.
2. THE LIFTS
- The 3 different lifts are divided into three different levels.
- The first lift on the left is yellow/tungsten spotlight.
- The second lift is the middle one where the big boss stood and others ramped in. These lights were the Chinese praying little lamps that are normally used for 'Kwan Yi Gor'.
- The third is the blue lift on the right where they shot some of the stressful beings stuck in the lift. These were some of the L.E.D lights that are in the shape of bars and are rechargeable. Those lights sometimes cause a fuss as we tried to save the battery by switching them off when they are not rehearsing, however, when it is out of battery, the whole thing had to be removed and replaced by a new one, therefore, that took time. We also kept the lights charging nearby just in case.
- The three lifts were different from each other but the level of 'seriousness' goes from left to right and then to the extreme middle. The middle one would turn from tungsten to blood red when the -being come in and the lift moved upwards.
3. THE SHADOWS ON 3rd FLOOR
- These puppets were made 'overnight' when we got to know that there were not enough extras but we still had to create the feeling of a lof of people standing upstairs, thus creating the spooky shadows on the wall seen on the oposite of the camera.
4. THE GROUND FLOOR 1.2K
- This is the base light of the lift building and it was supposed to highlight the biggest portion of the wall.
5. THE 2K ON 2nd FLOOR (long track shot) and KINO
- These were lit for all the characters standing in a row. Since there are also some overhead KINO lights, we just dimmed them by pasting black papers to create different brightness on the characters, depending who had actions highlighted (those who have to hold up their hands with the red strings)
- The 2K would be the main character's key light, creating a half-lit body with his left side totally in darkness. This contrast was a dramatic one as we needed to keep the dimension clear and to ensure things didn't look too flat. It was also a point for the character to stop and think, so it's like the light that made him realize something.
- There was also an overhead spotlight that was purposely left to go over-exposed when the main actor walked pass the rest. This is also a highlight of his journet and part of his 'realization' (after discussing with Yang Fan).
AS FOR OTHER OUTDOOR SCENES
1. Choi Yuen Village
- There was nothing much I could do except to create negative fill for some close-ups.
- We also used the huge flags to create shadows for our fellow crew mates and D.O.P. as they film under the hot sun.
2. Hok Chui
- Due to the transportation limitations, we could only bring a few items with us on the speedboat to Hok Chui, for instance the polystyrene, 1 flag and 3 reflectors (1 silver and 1 gold)
- We filled the close-ups whenever necessary and the other times, we waited for the right direction of the sunlight.
3. Broken bridge and the remaining outdoors (with lamb)
- We used the L.E.D. bar lights, reflector and flags throughout the whole shooting. Since there was a long track in and zoom in shot for the scene, there was a dificulty trying to hide the polystyrene that we needed to fill the main actor's face light that was coming from the windshield.
- We also used diffusion frames to make the lighting softer whenever necessary and the huge foldable reflector.
- One of the scenes where the lamb had to go back to the cage, we actually used the reflector to rebound the sunlight to highlight the texture of its fur.
The things that I've learnt from being the Gaffer of 10GP04 are that pre-production and light plans are very important. The freedom that Yang Fan has given me to try new things is very valuable, but I think I haven't been able to do justice to some of his concepts. Weather was a very important issue in this film and thank God, the weather was almost good throughout the whole shooting period.
I have to thank all the crewing and non-crewing helpers who helped out in the grip department as without them, the APA scene would have been hard to achieve. And thanks to Yang Fan's directions, I was able to try within my limitations and learnt how to use the materials wisely.
The shadow-puppets were also a very fun thing to do as it was a kind of innovation from our limitations. As conclusion, I think I have a big room for improvement and I will need to speed up so that I may learn more and to achieve another level of filming. I will also bear in mind the things that I have learnt from all Graduation Projects this year so that I may apply them in the future productions!
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