Production

SHOOTING DAY!!! Okay so I was really excited to start filming. I got out of school early, put in my car everything I needed (camera, memory card, charger, camera lenses, computer, tripod, storyboard) and went of to my friend's house in Wellington. I arrived and we immediately started to get ready to go to Fisherman Island, we decided to make a day out of it. We put everything in Cristobal's car and went on our way. When we got to the place we were supposed to kayak from, there were nets all over it saying that we couldn't cross and there were a lot of cars and policemen. We asked around an realized that we were near President Trump's house in West palm Beach so there was a lo of security. We decided to go the other way around and it was clear and perfect to go through. As soon as we got in the water there was a lot of mud and it was really difficult to get through so we kind of got stuck.

Soooooo I had to resort to plan B, even though I really wanted to shoot here. We got our stuff and went to a beach that was 10min away and it was beautiful. I got really lucky that the day was sunny and clear.

When we got to the beach we want as far as we could so we can get away from people since it was a public beach. I set up my camera and tripod and started to make marks on the sand instructing Cristobal on where he should stand.

I filmed I couple of shots to get a sense of what it would look like and half way through I realized that the angle of the camera was showing a lot of houses and people in the back, so I had to adjust it and start all over again. The second time was way better since it made the beach look more primitive and the focus would be on him now. 

I wanted most of my shots to be long shots in order to establish the vastness and the simplicity that goes accordingly with my story. The only close-ups are of the character. I did this in order to introduce him and establish intimacy with the character. Close-up of his bare hands, eyes, and face. Also the fact that he is working on his tools signifies that he is getting ready to keep going. The fact that he is sitting means that he is tired, but by working on his tool means that he is not giving up yet.

I thought it was going to take me two days to film, but I was able to get everything done in one. Such a relieve. Shooting was really fun, but also a learning experience. I usually use my camera for photographs and using it for video taught me a lot. I had to manage the natural light and what kind of lens to use in order to get the right shot, which was harder because when you take pictures you can just manually adjust the settings and arrange what kind of aperture and shutter speed you need, but with video it was harder to get the right view. I think today was a successful day!