Abira Imran's Media Blog

Friday, 22 February 2013

Shooting Day 2: Scene 4.

Planned to do on the next day. Loadshedding didnt allow it. Did it after two days. The flashback in the shoot needed a third shooting. This third shooting couldn't take place owing to the unavailability of the actor, Hammad.
DAY 1
On the second day of our shoot, we decided to complete scene 3 with Hammad. It was to be shot in the dark so we scheduled for the late hours in the evening. however, our one major mistake was to decide on our location without any prior consultation with the location people. we needed a hay stack to shoot with Hammad as the hay stack was to serve as shelter for Hammad. When we went to the location, it turned out that the rain, the previous day had led to the shift of the hay to a dry place. Hence, we needed a back up and we needed it fast. So we decided on using Dua's backyard as our location. we used wooden planks to serve as poles for the house and two bedspreads to serve as shelter on top and below. The tree trunk at the back was used to signify a make-shift house, one's made by poor people in empty plots of housing schemes. Once the hut was made, we faced yet another obstacle. Of load-shedding. No light with the fact that it was dark, led to the postponement of our shoot to the next day.
The next day, we started on our shoot and successfully finished in due time. Our establishing shot required a focus shift which took alot of time and as it was a low angle shot, it was much troublesome to get it right. As the lighting for this scene was to be very minute, we required a manual handle on lighting which i was working on while Dua shot. Managing the candle and its flicker was another concern as it was a windy day and an almost outdoor shoot made it even more difficult. However, we did manage and got a very good shoot completed. However, we still had to shoot the flashback scenes which were to be shot in daylight. We decided on doing these two scenes after the exams. However, when we met up the next time, our actors were unavailable so we couldn't do the shoot. So we decided on another meet-up and this time our shoot went smoothly as we had the actors and we had the setting. However, as Hammad's father was an addition to this shoot, he had to be taught as to how he was to work with the belt without actually hitting Hammad and this required proper directions and proper test shots. I directed Hammad and his on-screen father on expressions and body language while Dua shot.

Dua painting blood-like effect

Me directing Dua

Me with the props, expressions, angles

Dua on the camera

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Shooting Day 1: Scene 2

The first day of our shoot was a very rainy Saturday and me and Dua were very uncertain about whether to shoot in this weather or not, considering that the location we'd be shooting in was a barely sheltered one-room house. As we were on a shooting schedule and our classes had resumed to give time for shooting, we decided to discuss this with our media teacher who told us that this weather was effective only if our shoot was outdoors. An indoor shoot with minimalistic light wouldn't be effected by this rain. Hence, despite a gloomy weather, we tromped off the back alley opposite Dua's house.

Upon reaching our location, we realised that the entire room had to be shifted so as to make sufficient space for around 8 people. That chaarpaai's therein had to be moved out. the lights had to switched off. The youngest of the family was sleeping; she had to be waked up. Bedspreads were then spread out over the floor so tour cast could sit on it. Our own lighting had to be put up in specific places so as to ensure sufficient lighting for our shooting. I assisted in the setting of the room while Dua adjusted the lighting to her own specifics. Meanwhile I directed the rest of the cast as to how we were to proceed with the shoot. When all was set, it was already quite late as we had little time left with the load-shedding and late hours of the night. We began on with our shoot. Dua was on the camera while I took the lighting and the rest of the cast in control so that all went right. We faced trouble with space and the lighting as both were very limited as per our scene's requirement.At first we tried using the tripod, yes, a very helpful tool it sure is but as we had less space, our handling of the equipment was largely perturbed, hence Dua decided to go without it and handheld the camera for the rest of the shoot.Space was quite an issue as roaming round for the confirmation of shots was very difficult however we did manage and got some really nice, effective shots with the right expressions and body language. Our establishing shot required a lot of nearness to our actor, Jamal. However lack of space hindered our mobility and we were restricted by many degrees. Our first shot, owing to no prior experience, took a lot of time and infinite takes and retakes. Yet, as we went home and rechecked all our sots, we realised that we had made a major blunder in of our major two-second shots, without which our shot wouldn't look good. Now, this was a major trouble as a two second shot would actually require so much work on set and location that we'd be wasting one entire hour. Doing it there and then was not a choice as it was a little too dark and I had an academy to go to. Hence, we decided upon doing all our major retakes, at the very end. One major problem we faced pre-production of our scene, was the working of an old lantern that Dua had dug up from somewhere. It required a wick and oil, however the lantern had rusted so much over the years that getting through inside the lantern was quite difficult. However, Dua's brother took it to the market and got it fixed in due time of the shoot and our issue was resolved.