FMP – Filming
I filmed the background footage first in the city center. Based on the test footage from my previous filming, I chose Piccadilly Circus and nearby streets. I brought a GoPro and Theta camera in case I needed to capture HDRI, but I couldn’t manage to get any HDRI shots. The area was too crowded, and I wasn’t sure it would be safe to use the Theta, as it requires some distance from the tripod and camera while taking 360-degree pictures. Fortunately, the sky was fairly clear without any clouds, and the lighting wasn’t too harsh. Even if I need to render 3D work later, it shouldn’t be too challenging (I hope).
I filmed all the scenes in two versions: with and without the protagonist. The footage with the protagonist will serve as a reference when I film the green screen scenes, helping to ensure proper angle, acting, and timing. The other version will be used as the background footage. For Scene 1, I thought it would be best to film on a sunny day to create a more dramatic contrast when the shutter closes and the colors outside the phone disappear. Hopefully, there will be at least one sunny day soon.
While reviewing the footage, I noticed a major issue with the billboard footage at Piccadilly. Filming with the GoPro was tricky, and I couldn’t monitor the shutter speed. I should have set it to less than 50 to avoid flickering, but it was set to auto, which caused flickering not only on the screen but also on the surrounding buildings. (Luckily, I caught this before filming the green screen footage, so it didn’t happen there.) Fortunately, I found a billboard-shaped building near Piccadilly, which I thought could be a good alternative, so I filmed that as well. Although it wasn’t a large screen, the footage might work better for the final scene. However, like with scene 1, it would be best to film on a sunny day to make the color change more vivid.
I’ve created Animatic Version 2 using the footage from the shoot, which is clearer than the previous version and better demonstrates how the shots will be composed.
Using the reference and background footage, I made comparisons to guide the green screen shooting. Thanks to Violette’s help, I was able to film both versions. Initially, she was supposed to play the actor in the video, but for some reason, I ended up doing it myself. To check if the shots were captured well, I transferred the data to Nuke, removed the green areas, and merged the footage. This is just a rough draft for checking, so the detailed keying and work on the screen area will be done later.
One problem I encountered was with the reflection in the green screen footage—it clearly shows that it was shot indoors. To fix this, I plan to film the phone screen’s reflection when I get the additional footage. If I capture the reflection on a black screen, I should be able to composite it onto the phone image. Additionally, since the footage was filmed indoors, there is some grain visible on my clothing, so denoising work will be necessary to ensure a consistent look.
Next tasks:
- Filming scene 1, scene 6, and the reflection
- Tracking experiment