filming with Mercy

These are the screengrabs from 2 shoots in particular, one being the interrogation scene where I was unable to attend because I was already booked out that day with The Cell but I was able to run there and set up a basic 2 mic stationary stand.with the second image that is from the therapy scenes where we got closeups and over the shoulders of each shot, getting the sound for that days shoot was much easier because the frame wasn't as wide as before, allowing my closer access

This is from the crime scene shoot we did where we filmed a continousn shot of our actor pouting and then discovering a shirt and running off, the problems I had with this shoot in particular were the shadows I was casting but I soon came to the solution of stay behind the camera op at all times unless it is facing away from the sun. Getting the Foley for this scene was actually much easier than most others I've had to gather because not only was the actor directly there with the same raw passion but also he was suggesting sounds I had not considered.

These shots audio wise I did struggle with because of course I wasn't there and I had no idea about the levels, gain or peaks during any of it till I got to hear it for myself and I can't blame the director whom was in charge of it whilst I was gone because he is not a sound operator and it would be unfair to blame someone who wasn't prepared for a certain role. With the sound editing I can just boost the gain on the clips themselves but that itself has an issue, doing that makes the clips louder but it also makes them sound grainy, so I'd need to find the right balance between grain and intensity of volume.

These scenes in particular were a mixture of fun challenges and unexpected boosts of volume. Trying to balance 3 actors vocals cords when 1 is a live performer and the other 2 are singers is slightly more difficult then I first expected especially when George becomes louder and louder to the point of peaking. getting multiple takes and timing the dial turn when George was to yell was the main solution I found but obviously if we had more crew members it could have been easier.

The over the shoulder shots for the interrogation scenes were great visually but that left me with an issue because I didn't record this I couldn't have changed the dial settings before a loud noise. I can do that in post while sound mixing it just would have been nice to have the control over the sound that I normally have. Being able to edit and change the volume of certain clips is easy; the hard part is when you try that on a piece of audio that goes from whispering to bellowing screams within an instant.

The interior house scenes were fantastic to film with, there were some issues where I could hear the dolly going across the wooden floor and some phone vibrations here and there but once we got that all sorted it just worked like a breeze.

The main issue with the house scenes is a similar issue I had with the therapy scenes which is background noise, usually a server or faint buzzing that throws off the whole atmosphere.

The outdoor shots were fantastic to capture especially when the days we went were such beautiful days, we found a beautiful scenic spot which had a river and tweeting birds, which inly made the ambience and wildtracks even more precious to me. There was quite the issue with wind interference but I did expect there to be a catch when the beautiful location was experiencing such a beautiful and melodic day. It was all easily fixable and was more than just having fun while working, it helped me get a deeper feeling for my role.

These were the photos taken when we were filming the news reporter the first time, unfortunately no one took photos for when we re-filmed it with a different actor. We tried to keep the green screen as smooth and well light as possible to make it easier for the editor in the long run and during the tests she was running at the time.

We had issues with the actor here not because of his talent but because of the presence he had, we all felt like he seemed to immature and young to be the news reporter on a television broadcast telling the nation about a murderer.

For the replacement actor we got an older actor who even though he was on a tight schedule was able to spare 30 minutes to read through the lines and get it spot on for the editor to use in the final cut of the film.

The forest was a beautifully tranquil place to film, we had the babbling Brooke just to our left and birds singing all around and overhead. The only issues we had here were the odd dog walker or occasional plane going past but apart from that it was absolutely splendid considering I could shield my microphones from the harsh wind.

I threw together a concept for the Mercy poster because I liked the way that each of my screenshots looked separately so having them together was more of a visual test that turned out really well. Plus I thought sticking with the darker colours would not only make the Red pop more but also give it that gritty feel that I know the director was going for in the film.