Lighting

On every shoot in our production I took full designated myself as the gaffer taking full responsibility for lighting each shot. As we had full control over the lighting of the market we used this to our benefit, the cinematographer wanted to shoot the whole film on an ISO no higher than 200 as the gain introduced in the higher F stops would ruin the polished look of the film. We also had to consider how dark we wanted the environment to be in the shots, we realised that if we shot on a low ISO 100 - 200 the lighting in the market when on wouldn't actually seem lit on the camera because of the low speed ISO which helped us as we then focused on lighting the actors face/movement as he walked through the market, this lighting on the actor would bring him forward from the background but posed a problem as he had to be lit without it looking to artificial. This was overcome by using the kino flow as is projected soft light on to the actor, when the camera showed that areas of the market were lit where the actor would move within the problem of unnoticeable lighting was diminished as we could argue that the light on him was cast from the lights previously seen in the shot, the photo beneath is an example of this, Adam moves forward towards a set of lights that we couldn't turn off and so when he got toward them in a shot that looked at his face it wasn't a problem concerning how bright our kino was, however as he moved toward from the darker area of the market to the lights fixed above to the ceiling we dimmed the kino as it wasn't need as much to light Adam.  

Setting up the Kino as high as it would get without hitting the ceiling it mimicked the strip lights fixed to above that I have previously mentioned. 

We did in fact shoot this scene again as on review of the footage we noticed wobbles in the track, dimness and the white balance being off, Tom Newsham kindly lent us a small lamp that attached to the hot shoe on top of the camera, this lights LED's could be dimmed accordingly complete with two light diffusers, the cinematographer agreed that this new light provided a much more effective source of light. We used this same lamp in later backwards tracking shots of the same type.    

Below is a still that shows the result of using this hot shoe lamp. 

Though you can notice the white reflection in his eyes has he walks toward the camera if feel this adds to the shot suggesting an uncertainty about his character.

Another scene that needed considered lighting was the conversation between John Greene over the counter where John wakes Adam after his encounter with Lily. As we would be using a simple shot reverse shot set up for the scene the lighting wouldn't have to be moved tremendously, we decided to run through the scene completely from one over the shoulder angle until happy with the takes then move to the other shoulder again until we were happy with what we had. 

This photo is taken from Adam's right hand shoulder, the Kino flow light on the outside of the room acts a key light to illuminate John Greene and pull him from the dark backdrop the softness of this Kino makes its presence disguised creating a natural imminence of light on John, the depth of field furthers this use of light.

The other Kino on Adams right hand shoulder was used for the same reason filling Adams right cheek and jacket focusing the attention on him rather than the background again the same depth of field aids this. A Dedo was also used to his left to fill the harsh shadow created by the Kino however this Dedo dimmed to a point where there is still shadow to accentuate his tired and troubled expressions.

This Dedo subsequently lights the back of his neck in the reverse shot to carry the continuity of the lighting so that both characters are lit throughout the scene. 

  

The scene where Adam makes direct contact with Lily was heavily lit and proved the most difficult to light. This was because we wanted to keep Lily's identity hidden from the viewer as this would disrupt the element of fear and anxiety carried through the film thus far furthermore suggesting that Adam is experiencing a fantasy of dream sequence which again justified the artificialness of the lighting. Shooting on an ISO of 100 privileged us with the ability to light very precise points of the scene, I had the idea that she would move through beans of light however this idea became un attainable with the amount of lights we had and my limited experience.  

The lighting on Adam was less of a challenge as he could be entirely lit, for this we used a Kino which flooded his back and a Dedo to light his face, drawing him from the black ibis that dwelled behind him. The angle breaks the rule of camera positioning as we place him in the left third the same as the reverse of Lily, this gives the illusion that he's not talking to anyone with the idea of vulnerability as he sits alone in darkness.  

As mentioned above Lily moves over to the left of the frame with the light catching features of her body and hair with the face concealed with darkness, this part of the scene works particularly well.

However in this shot not so well, as her face moves further into the light and her human form is confirmed.

From this two shot we see her move out of the shared light source and into the opaque dwelling in the right I feel this works well but seems too close in terms of camera framing. 

The scene involving old Bill was equally challenging due to the cramped space we had to work within which mean that there was a huge limitation on lights used, the Kino flow was the choice of light which was positioned behind a door to the left of Bill and Lily, light was flooded through this passageway and blocked off with the barn doors according to what the cinematographer wanted to see in his viewfinder. The shot fails in terms of what we expected to create, wanting to restrict the light that lit Lily but the limitation of using one light proved that this was an impossible task, however what we managed to create with such constraints was more than satisfactory, the light gives off a spotlighting effect on Bill sitting in the chair and the blocking of top light doesn't reveal her face, the reddish glare caused by the light does seem to create an opening or entrance to the left of Lily an unintentional effect nevertheless improves the scene. 

Improvisation

As stores don't provide the pull focus rig until third year productions I suggested we create our own using elastic bands, placing the bands around the focus ring the cinematographer could then draw on focusing increments in relation to the characters movement and geography as they move toward the camera. The cinematographer created separate focus points in which he pulled between in the long take scene where the camera moves parallel to John and Adam walking down an empty hallway and ending with a walk toward the camera to finish their conversation next to the lens.