Chess Film: Magnetic Chess Pieces

Problem:

During shooting on day two, the shot that took us the most amount of takes was the one we expected to be the quickest. Before a "dead body" is shown in the film, I envisioned a clip of a pawn rolling off the chess board. My idea was that seeing the pawn rolling off the board would foreshadow the death that was about to be shown. 

First photo export from video

Second photo export from video

As shown in the pictures above, whenever we attempted the shot of the chess piece rolling off the board (seemingly by itself), it sticks to another piece on the board. This is because the board I brought is magnetic, so the pieces stick to the board as well as to other pieces. We weren't really sure how to fix this problem, especially since it took us around 9 takes until we finally came up with a solution. 

Solution: 

When we first began taking the shot, we had our actor use his hand that was outside of the camera range to roll the piece off. This method wasn't working because it was making the pieces fly off the board or get stuck to another, instead of slowly rolling off. As cinematographer, I really wanted to achieve the look of a soft roll off the board to heighten the creepy/horror aspect which leads the audience to wonder what will happen next. Then, our sound designer offered the solution of blowing air onto the piece instead of flicking it off the board. We were a little skeptical at first because we didnt think it would actually move the piece. After a few shots of blowing the piece and getting it stuck, I finally got the perfect-unstuck shot that I was aiming for.  

Chess Film: Bee troubles

     When filming during day one and day two, we encountered a problem which set us back a little bit when filming. When we began shooting shots, sometimes a bee would come into the shot which scared our actors. This was a difficult problem to fix because it was kind of out of our range to do something. As cinematographer, it was important for me to make sure we were got all our shots before we ran out of time. Especially since I had all the shot ideas in my head (also on the story board) and I wanted to get every shot exactly how I imaged it before we would run out of time and have to rush to complete.

Image ONE taken during a shot when the bee flew around our actor 

Image TWO taken during a shot when the bee flew around our actor

Although this was pretty funny when it happened and we were able to capture it on camera, it did set us back a bit because it was pretty distracting when we were trying to shoot our shots in a timely manner. Two reasons we believe the bee was attracted to us was because our first location was set next to the agriculture garden, and also me and two other people involved in the film were all wearing floral perfume. We all decided on the third day of filming to not wear any perfume in order to keep the bees away. To fix this problem to the best of our ability, we decided it would also be best to get our other shots that were set at the other side of the patio first, and then moving back to the table by the garden after the bee had gone away. 

Chess Film: Color Symbolism

 In our film, we wanted to use the 'good is light' and 'dark is bad' metaphor to show the contrasting characters. These colors are used since the opening of our film, showing our killer. 

Opening shot

   

In the opening shot of our film, we intentionally had our killer wear brown in order to match the darker color chess piece, which his character symbolizes. Usually in film, the antagonist mainly wear dark colors like black, but since my chess board is brown and white instead of black and white, we decided wearing dark brown made more sense. This brown further connects the murderer to the game of chess. 

First shot where investigator is revealed

In this shot, the investigator role is established by him reading over the evidence of the murder which recently occurred. We told our actor to wear light colors, and he dressed accordingly. Although, I imagined the investigator to wear pure white, but I didn't communicate that clearly with my group. The color white is used to symbolize purity and innocence, which implies that our investigator is an innocent character throughout the film.

Murder shot

In this shot, the highly contrasting colors are heavily noticeable. This is shown by having the characters so close together in the shot. At first, the shot seems a bit eerie with our murderer standing behind the investigator who is unknown of anyone around. Then, our murderer pulls out a chess piece from his pocket which help viewers connect the dots that the investigator is about to be murdered. No frontality is shown in this scene in order to keep the murders identity a 'secret' although it can be solved very quickly.

Closing shot

The closing shot of our film shows both the chess piece and finally reveals the killers face. My idea as cinematographer was to have the chess piece mirror our actor. This is shown by matching the color of the piece to the color of the clothing worn by our actor. We also left the queen piece as the only one standing, with all the light colored chess pieces knocked down. This symbolizes all the killings done by the murderer; even the ones not shown. 

Chess Film: Pawn's Rule of Thirds Line

    As cinematographer in our horror genre chess film, I decided that in order to make our film as believable as possible, I didn't want to include any fully shown dead bodies. This is for two reasons: We're in high school and not really good actors (even when we're playing dead) and I want to keep the violence to a minimum and instead use filming techniques to imply a death. One particular shot to achieve this goal was extremely difficult for us to get. This shot is quickly flashed onto the screen after our murderer knocks a piece down, to imply that every time a piece is knocked down a death has occurred. 

Our first shot idea (This was an export of the frame) 

    After shooting this five second tableau shot, we thought it looked perfect. The main struggle was getting our actress (not shown, only used for this scene) to position her body the correct way. When setting up for this shot, we first had our actress sitting down and just leaning over into a very awkward position. When she was leaned over, her shoulder was also included in the shot and it didn't make much sense because she was supposed to be dead- so how would she be sitting up? 

Our second shot idea (This is an export of the frame)

    This is an export of our final shot. After our instructor came over and saw how we we're attempting to get this difficult shot- he asked us how we could incorporate the rule of thirds lines into the frame. Once again, I was too busy focused on trying to get my actress into frame without looking like she was sitting up- that I forgot to line everything up in the rule of thirds lines. So, I first zoomed in a little bit with my camera, to get rid of the distracting concrete shown in the background. Then, I decided where the tri-pod would be and set up my actress in the lines. The idea was the have the chains lined up with the uppermost horizontal line, with the pawn and her hand in line with the upper right intersection (hotspot). To get rid of the awkward position for my actress, she had to completely lay on the floor. The reason we didn't do this in the first shot was because the floor at our filming spot was pretty muddy. To fix this problem, we laid down a bag that wasn't being used and our actress laid on that. After looking back and comparing the two shots, we decided to keep the second shot idea which incorporates the rule of thirds. 

Chess Film: Getting the 'Perfect' Shot

Our second day of filming went perfectly, which is what we hoped for. For starters, my group was able to capture all shots with our first actor (the investigator) on day one of filming which was the goal. This is because the actor was unable to make day two. This was a risky decision to make, but ultimately me and my group decided it would be worth the risk to have someone with more experience acting than us in the film. We also included the factor that since the film is only around one minute long, there wasn't many scenes with him in it anyways. One issue we encountered when filming was getting the perfect shot for our closing scene. Since this shot is what the viewers are left with, we wanted to make it a lasting and powerful impression. The shot begins with a few seconds showing the chess board with every piece knocked down but the queen. Then, it pans up to our actor, finalizing the fact that he is in fact the killer. Although this is assumed (because he is wearing the same sweater + distinctive hair), there is never a scene with his face directly in the camera until the closing shot. 

Behind the scenes look of getting the 'perfect' shot

In the picture shown, I tried a few methods in getting this shot. First, we set the smart phone rig on the tri-pod and shortened the legs all the way. We placed it onto the seat part of the bench and tried to zoom into the board, and then zooming out while panning up to the actor. This was a hard shot to film, and when looking back at the videos we decided to try another way since it didn't give the effect we were going for. The next shot we tried was taking it in multiple clips rather than one full clip. So, we started with a close up of the board, then panning up and cutting around the actors neck. Then, playing the clip again and finishing at his head. My editor wanted to try this idea so that he could edit it to be a jump cut, but we decided to scrap that idea also. Finally, we got the perfect shot which was my envision for the closing shot. This shot started with a close up to the chess board, then after a second slowly panning up and revealing the killer. Although it's a very simple shot, I think simple was the best way to go. One issue I faced while shooting this shot was what to do with my body. I wasn't sure how to get the close up of the board without hunching my body over, so I did the opposite and leaned my body back. To stabilize myself, I wrapped my both of my feet around the bench which allowed me to help keep still when filming. Overall, we loved this shot the most!

Chess Film: Production begins

 

The chess board used in our film

When we started production, at first we started filming our clips in order. For our opening shot, I decided on an over-the-shoulder shot which is used to highlight both the main character and the chess board shown. After we got the shot, we realized we needed to film all shots with our other actor (the investigator) because he would not be able to make the second day of production. So, I quickly snapped a picture of the chess board (shown above) to remember the correct placements of our pieces so we could pick up where we left off later. Shooting the shots out of order was a little bit confusing. This was because in the process of shooting, some of the shots I had planned out on my storyboard were disregarded or changed, which made it a little hard to keep track of what made sense to shoot next. 

The ORIGINAL idea for a death scene 

On my storyboard, I had an idea of including the shot of the investigators arm filmed on a tri-pod. My idea was that the stillness of the shot would help viewers focus on the chess piece falling off his hand and not have the camera movement being distracting.

The NEW idea for the death scene 

My team brought up an idea which we ended up deciding was a better idea. Instead of keeping the tri-pod set up, they wanted it to be a tracking shot moving from the top of the investigators arm (not including his face) down to the evidence folder with the chess piece falling on it. In order to shoot this and prevent shaky-ness, my editor assisted me. He held the front of the camera, as I stabilized the back and we tracked it down together. After watching it back, we decided this was a better idea and liked the execution better than the tri-pod shot. 

Chess Film: Greenlight!

Before beginning shooting for my groups chess film, we needed to get our pre-production proposal approved by our teacher. This proposal included the genre statement, cast list, script, call sheet, storyboard, shot list, editors log, recce report, risk assessment, and sound design statement. As cinematographer, I was responsible for the completion of the storyboard and shot list. When me and group initially read the packet with all information regarding the assignment, we felt a bit overwhelmed seeing all the work we had to do behind the scenes. But since the work was split up between 4 people in my group, we realized it wasn't as bad as we initially thought. Everyone in my group had everything ready the morning of pitching our proposal, except for my director. This is understandable since there is a lot of work for the director role, so we helped him complete the final documents before getting our production approved. As we did our proposal, my teacher gave me lot of valuable information regarding my shot list and story board. 

Camera Shot List

My Revised shot list, AFTER the proposal pitch

    Unfortunately I don't have a picture of my shot list prior to the pitch, but my teacher gave me tips on how to fix it. Prior, I had scenes and shots both filled out on the list. My instructor brought it to my attention that since the film is only around 1 minute long, it doesn't make much sense to have scenes since it will take up time we don't have. So, to revise I edited the list and deleted the scenes completed and only had shots. 

Storyboard 

My storyboard, PRIOR to the proposal pitch 

My story board, AFTER the proposal pitch

Prior to showing my storyboard to my instructor, I was very focused on including what I wanted into every shot and the action going on, that I completely disregarded the rule of thirds lines. By doing this, it made the story board shots look more unorganized and seemed like I randomly placed the people or objects in the shot. To fix this, I added the rule of thirds line with a pen and ruler over my previous penciled in drawings. Then, I used a red ink pen to go over my previous drawings and rearrange them to place characters onto the hot spots or lines that were appropriate for the shots. By doing this, my attention was immediately drawn more to the characters/objects. It made the drawings seem more intentionally placed. In productions in the future, I plan on adding the rule of thirds lines prior to drawing my story onto the board. After we presented our entire proposal, our instructor gave my group the "Greenlight" which allowed us to begin our production! 

Chess Film: Scouting Locations

     Before deciding on a location for our film, my team and I discussed important things to keep in mind before choosing our spots. As cinematographer, the main factors I considered was consistent lighting and a subtle background. For lighting, we wanted a more shady spot. This is because of the environment we live in which has extremely inconsistent weather patterns. On days were it might be super sunny the shade of the trees can cover it so our actors don't look like they're glowing. On rainy days, it wont be as significant of a change since we wanted our spot already shaded. The table we selected for our opening and closing shot is shaded well with minimal distracting background, which is exactly what we were looking for in order to hide any inconsistencies in the weather as well as having things or people in the background. 

Problem #1

Original Shot Idea 

    The first dilemma faced by our location was the fact that you could see other groups in the background. Although we were told this was most likely inevitable since we're all shooting on the same patio, we wanted to eliminate it as much as possible. Since the genre of our film is horror, it's very important for the audience to keep their attention to small details which may help further explain the plot. We also wanted the viewers to see the chess board that the main character has laid out, which cannot be seen in the original shot shown in the picture. To fix these problems, we changed the height and angle of the camera.

New Shot Idea

    This shot allows us to not only eliminate the background noise, but to also give watchers a better view of the chess board and the significance of the girl playing it. This also allows us to turn this shot into a tracking shot since we plan on not using the tri-pod, and instead filming by hand with the smartphone video rig for this scene. By having both hands manually moving the camera rig, it creates the shot to be more steady and appear as a true tracking shot as it gets closer to the actress.

Problem #2

    In order to make this a true horror film, my group wanted to include a murder mystery theme. With murder mystery comes death, which can be hard to appropriately show especially in an extremely short film. So, instead of showing someone getting murdered, I decided as cinematographer to instead use other visual cues such as camera angles and lighting to imply a characters death without directly showing it. One technique I plan on incorporating is low-angle shots when shooting a quick death. This shot makes the character appear small or vulnerable, which can help imply the power that the main killer has over them. Another technique that can be used to show the deaths is symbolism. After a victim is shown dead, there will be a chess piece found somewhere in the shot. This may be on the victim or around them. This symbolizes the characters cause of death is clearly due to the main women shown in the opening shot. Dark lighting can be used to show the death and disparity of the scene. This may be hard to achieve since the film is outside, but it is possible with editing and using filming software on low exposure.

    The purpose of this shot is to show the death of a character. As of right now, we didn't bring the chess pieces but we plan on including a pawn in the characters hand, as a clue left behind by the killer. This shot will be taken with a more dramatic low angle, but overall shows the idea to not include an entire body which is easy to look cheesy. 

Learning the Camera

 Tri-Pod Set-up

    Our groups were provided with a tri-pod in order to help our filming process go smooth. We learned how to correctly set up the tri-pod, and also how to attach the smartphone video rig. My group began practicing with the equipment to see how everything looked while it was filmed. we practiced lining up our grid lines to the horizonal line under the white board- which we slightly struggled with. When we tried to move the tri-pod down, we weren't able to do it without forcing it which made us realize we're probably doing it wrong. After playing with the equipment for a bit, we realized we had to unscrew a piece in order to get the camera to angle down wards. This was important for me to learn since I'm taking the role as cinematographer. Knowing angles and shots that I can use in order to get the mood and meaning of the scene across is extremely important- especially since our chess film wants to create a horror theme.

What app to use? 

Adobe Premiere Rush

 

Blackmagic

    As cinematographer, It's extremely important to decide what I want the film to be shot on. There were three apps I needed to choose from: Adobe Premiere Rush, Blackmagic, or the camera app already provided on our phones. After researching, I think our best option is the Adobe Premiere Rush app. This is because you can directly shoot on the app instead of transferring all videos from our camera rolls. In the app, there's an option between shooting pro or auto. Using the pro feature allows the app to open other tabs which you can adjust based on what you want to shoot. Exposure is one thing that can be edited while shooting, which may come in helpful since the theme of our film is horror, which is usually shot with lower lighting/exposure. Since we're filming outside, it might be hard to get a darker tone in the film which I was most worried about, but after further research I realized we can film with low exposure right away using Adobe Rush instead of having to edit it in.

Chess Film: Brainstorm

 

    During our first class period working on our chess films, we got into groups and began the brain storming process. Rolls were chosen as to what our jobs would be during production, and I chose cinematographer. I thought this would be an interesting roll to be, especially since I find camera angles and meanings behind different clips very cool to learn about. My group had a common genre in mind, that being horror. We started by taking some notes on things we wanted to include in our film as we discussed and landed on the idea of a killing spree with the murderer leaving chess pieces behind as evidence. As the murders are happening, the shots will continue to cut back to a piece getting knocked down by the girl on the chess board- signifying a death. This will happen continuously throughout the film as each person dies. Although we haven't decided all the details of the film like how people will die without it being too graphic, or how the killer will be portrayed in the film. One idea was to include a comedy aspect and have the killer try to investigate the murders pretending to be innocent, or to keep the killers identity a complete secret until the last few seconds of the film. 

Opening shot idea: OTS shot to connect main character (murderer) to the chess board 

    To open the film, I want to begin with an over the shoulder tracking shot. My idea was to have the murders back turned away from the camera, leaving the chess board to be seen over her shoulder. The purpose of this scene will show the connection that the murderer has with the chess board which helps set up the plot between the girl and board. By having the camera track closer to the girl, it gives viewers time to process what is happening and to leave them wondering why both the girl and board are relevant to the shot. 

Closing shot idea: Close up- Tableau

   

     Trying to figure out a way to close the film which will leave a lasting impression was hard. Going through my notes, I landed upon a tableau shot and the idea sounded perfect. After the deaths of all the characters (which represent pieces) I wanted to show the board after all the pieces were knocked down.  Closing the film with a shot that is completely still is the best way to not only show the amount of deaths in this quick film, but also leaves the viewers with a lasting impact that only one person stands- which is the murderer.