How to film?

You can shoot as much as you want.

If you ask a domestic director this question, I'm afraid you will get this answer, but it's more "complicated", "scratching your head", "going to die" and "funny".

In Happy Spirit's view, the process of filming is the simplest, "at the beginning, then, and then ......" can even refer to the primary school labor textbook "How to Origami Cranes".

Just like an origami crane, although simple, there are multiple folding processes.

From the very beginning of the preparation to the first shot shouting "action" is not an overnight process, there are multiple steps involved.

The first set of shots of "Central Station" is the middle-aged Ah Duo writing letters for people coming and going in the Central Gate bus station, and behind him are groups of pedestrians coming and going, always in a hurry to do their own things. In front of the camera, one by one the guests sat down and said their words with rich expressions of happiness, frustration, sadness, or hatred.

Ah Duo, played by Siqin Gaowa, is the recorder, the ballpoint pen in his hand is constantly writing, and the mechanical writing is unchanged......

Just this short piece of content, just a few minutes of scenes, is also full of stories.

Happy to understand their strengths and weaknesses, no matter how rich the theoretical knowledge is, for a rookie director who is in charge of the guide for the first time, there is no opportunity to personally understand and digest how much experience.

Therefore, Happy resolutely follows the procedure, does not engage in specialization, and must learn to walk before learning to run.

Maybe it's different from what you think, the first step is not to decorate, not to turn on the lights, but to play. It's the job of the director and the actors.

At this time, everyone should be on the scene, familiar with the plot of this clip, and familiar with every line. In this way, the camera can grasp a better angle, and the recording will know where the microphone is to follow the actor without missing every word.

Secondly, code points.

Actors who are acting for the first time will not know how to move around and how to face the camera after turning on the camera, and Happy must teach them this. Probably after the actor walked twice, the way of acting was fixed, and he adjusted some details. Then it is up to the field worker or camera assistant to start pasting the landmark, which is commonly referred to as the yard location.

The specific position of the yard is the point where the actor's performance starts, ends, and pauses in between. This is done by taping it with strong glue between the actor's feet in the standing position. The advantages of this are, firstly, to help the actor control the rhythm, and secondly, to assist the actor to achieve the same performance at different times, which is convenient for editing in different positions; The third is the camera group's follow focus (what the focus is, not explained).

Experienced actors may not need this, but in this film, this clumsy approach is perfectly suitable.

The third step is to set the composition and start walking.

Nowadays, more and more feature films don't draw storyboards anymore (well, they don't draw anything except for commercials), and that's when the director of photography does his job - of course, the director of photography either hires a good one, and then before he hires a master, he feels more comfortable that he is still working on his own.

By deciding on the composition early, the gaffers can light the scene and the props crew can set up the scene, because the image they see is the kind of camera image they see on the monitor, which is different from the human eye.

Follow the map.

If it's a moving shot, the shot needs to be set twice, i.e. the rise and fall amplitude.

Any photography that asks the lighting team to light before fixing the composition is a hooligan: "Hit you, hit you, what if you play a goof, are you responsible?" Do you want to move it again, who are you? "Bulky lights, recording equipment, bits and pieces can fit a big car. This thing is not good, and it really can't be played. If you don't have the right fit, it will become more and more chaotic.

In Hong Kong, the gaffer is known as the "lamp master", there is a jargon called "offend no one, don't offend the lamp master", in case he gives you a little dim when the light is lit, then it will be dark, and there will be no place for you to cry. Its importance is self-evident. But I feel that this is also related to the fact that the vast majority of Hong Kong films do not have standardized pre-composition, in that era of efficiency, even the script is freshly written, how can the gaffer work hard.

And at this time, the actor can rest, and it should be replaced by light.

This is not only something that needs to be paid attention to when shooting stars, no matter how small the crew is, at this time, the actors should not be allowed to stand in the picture as a reference for lighting, because the actors' feelings are easily affected by the lighting masters who are shouting and busy around them, and standing for a long time, the actors will be numb, which is not conducive to the performance. If you are baked by the light for a long time, you will be a little sluggish, and you will constantly have to touch up your makeup.

Light substitution, that is, the height is about the same as the actor, the figure is similar, and the clothes of the same color are worn (different are fine, but not too different), whoever......

After figuring out the meaning of the composition, it is time for lighting and scenery.

Before lighting, the gaffer should have been standing in front of the monitor and starting to shape the light according to the picture set by the photographer.

But this is not a job that everyone can do, it should be noted that the lighting engineer must take into account all the actors that may be covered in this shot, walking, and performing, so as to prevent not taking on the scene; In the shooting of feature films, it is necessary to follow the same method of shooting from panorama to close-up; When shooting the same scene, such as shooting front and back with a single camera, be sure to shoot all the cameras under one light position first. Otherwise, no matter how accurate the memory is, it will be difficult to make the lighting completely consistent when reshooting shots in the same position; The direction of the main light and the light ratio must be fixed, and the number should be measured and recorded to prevent goofing......

Secondly, the placement of detailed props also requires happiness or photographer Zhao Xiaoding to personally command. Certain small props, such as the spinning top in Inception, are often the most important part of the language of the shot. The director has to put it in to serve the narrative. And what the photographer wants to put is for the sake of the picture to look good.

A qualified prop master will quickly take photos with the camera after putting it away, including this thing, the angle of visit, and the relationship with the surrounding props, the purpose is still to take the scene and not to wear gangs.

This was also done correctly, and it was the actor's turn to adjust the makeup and costumes.

The adjustment here is not just about changing a set of clothes, but whether there are reflective points on the actor's face? Do you need to make up the powder? Whether there is any extra dirt on the actor's clothes, whether the thread is needed or not, etc.

The actor is OK, okay, the director raised the microphone and shouted: "The recording microphone is in place!" ”

This profession, which requires strong arm strength, is starting to play. And professional microphone personnel should also follow the scene when they are in the scene, and try to record a sample first. Let the recording engineer know the weight of each sentence, every detail, where to avoid, and where to record clearly.

At this time, it is officially on the top~ If it is a sports lens, you have to communicate with the photographer, it is best for everyone to walk together to see if there is any goofs during the exercise.

The loudspeaker continued to shout: "Final inspection of the various departments! ”

The lighting team will see if this actor is beautiful enough.

The props team checked to see if there was anything missing.

The camera crew finally checked for goofs.

“…… All the people on the scene are immobilized and do not move. ”

Everyone on the scene, unrelated people can leave the scene, it is better to leave and go to the monitor to see the results. If you can't leave, stand still quickly, and it's best to crouch down, so as not to block the light, or the shadow movement will cause goofs.

Happy quickly ordered: "Rollcamera!" ”

Zhao Xiaoding, who operated the machine, shrank his head behind the lens barrel of the camera, did not raise his head, and shouted: "Turn on (Rolling)!" ”

“…… Rollsound! ”

The young man began to hold the board in front of the camera, reporting the scene number, the mirror number, the number of times, and the board: "The first scene, one shot, the first ......"

Then it was the turn of the exciting "Action!" ”

"Bang~!"

-- Filming officially began.

Different positions shout different words: recording start-up recording engineer shouts: Rollsound/Soundspeed/Rolling, camera boot camera director shouts: Camerarolling (Camerarolling) director shouts: start (Action).

After the first shot is taken, it needs to be played back.

All the above processes need to go through three coordinations, lifting, falling, and movement processes.

Happy to stick to the procedure, there is a reason for him.

He has always believed that a large part of the reason why Chinese crews have friction at work is because they don't follow this process. In fact, missing any step will cause panic in other departments.

There is no efficiency in shooting a shot, and there are always mistakes, which is the reason for the slow shooting, and the time wasted by doing the details is not wasted at all.

(Sorry: the community had a power outage for a day, and the call came in the evening.) I was dizzy from the heat, and I didn't know how to spend the day. I'm sorry that the update came so late! Let's do more today~! ）