Atmosphere

In this exercise I've been asked to record two short scenes where I should create atmosphere by combining lighting, shade and colour. There were different choices to film and I finally went for the following two: 

A depressed person alone at home

Before I started, I could visualize in my mind a scene alighted with a very low source in terms of intensity. In this manner I thought that I was going to have a very dark scenario. Moreover, the source of light had to be cold, very cold. The idea was to convey a feeling of disturbance and, as consequence, make the audience willing to stop watching the sequence or, at least, to wish a change for another atmosphere, happier and more illuminated. So, to achieve that I believed that only one white light would be enough. As I did in previous exercises, I took my bike light and I recorded a person alone at home, doing nothing and alighted only by the cycling element. I didn't use any additional stuff. 

What I acieved was something scary but not depressing. I must confess that it was a little bit disappointing to see that. And having reflected on what happened, I can point three big mistakes. The first one is the lack of consistency in every single aspect that contributes to build up the climax. The light is different from one shot to another. But not only the light. The texture is also different. The first picutre is sharper than the other two. The second error was having filmed at night. It's clear to me now that the perfect location would have been a room where the blinds stop the light that comes through the windows. In all probability I wouldn't have needed any artificial sources - either reflectors or something lije that - because it seems that that would have been enough to create the atmosphere that I was looking for. There's nothing more depressed than a dark room when outdoors the sun is shining - or, it's daytime. And finally, there is no clue about the origin of the light in the first shot. In conclusion, I'm not happy with my final cut.  

Another mundane day at the office

My intention here was to capture all the essence of an office that is well represented for a very white light. In principle, it looked easy to do this. It was just a matter of going to my work and film. However, I considered another way of making it - among other things, because I don't work. Given that the corridor of my block is as dull as an office, I imagined a scene when the worker gets home after a long and boring day. That's another part of the routine. That is to say, the man comes off the lift, walks along the hallway, opens the door and walks into his house with a look of resignation. This means that the lights of the building were, in my opinion, enough to get the desired atmosphere. If I wasn't wrong, the colour and texture would be ideal to offer a sense of boringness. 

In this case, the result was optimum. It all worked as it was expected. And I didn't use anything else apart from the things that I had. In contrast with the depressed film, I achieved what I wanted to achieve.

Comparing techniques - looking at other student's works

As usual, I'd like to start by having a look at my colleague María from the "Warmer than here" blog. She explains to us that this was not her most succesful work. However, I do think that she did really well. Let's see how she achieved. She  recorded the romantic dinner scene and the beautiful day one. In the first scene she created a very warm atmosphere with a candle. Probably, it was the obvious choice but, what was not so obvious was the contrast between the setting alight with and without the candle. The texture and the colour change a lot. Actually, without the candle, the illumination is flat and dull. Once the candle is there, the feeling perceived is othe. You really want to be there, having dinner with her. Something similar happens to the second sequence. Just with the daylight. Raising a blind and the sense of being on a very beautifil day is achieved. Again, it could be said that this is basic. And it's true. But, likewise it was in the dinner, the transition from a dark room to a clear one, is significant and it has been acomplished. 

The other student blog I accesed was the "Rjdown" of Richard. He did the stalker and another video that I didn't understand very well. In fact, talking about the latter, I think that there was nothing to comment on it as there was no atmosphere at all created by the lighting. On the contrary, the other sequence worked well as the sense of discomfort that the author intended to show was defintely there. The stalker is in the middle of the night and we can see that clearly through the window. What is more, due to the lighting source outside, when the man put his face against the door, his eyes turned into a strange kind of alien eyes. Furthermore, there's a shade on his face because the light at the door comes from one side. This is a good technique. To sum up, I believe that this video was a aligned to the spirit of the instructions. Although I doubt if that was the intention or it was accidental.