Pick Up Shots

I have had to go out and film today because I had an idea that I thought would benefit my narrative greatly. Despite having a completed film, I decided that I would shoot a few pick up shots (filming that adds more to scenes already shot) to bring more clarity and closure to the epilogue scene. When reflecting on my footage, I thought that I could do more with the photograph we see Dylan holding in his car at the beginning of the film. 

In order to make it more obvious in the epilogue that the yellow flowers have been laid by Dylan, I thought that I could go and pin the photograph to the post above so that the audience can associate this memorial with him remembering his brother. The photo would also be more emotive from the perspective of the Father, seeing the brothers in their youth and deepening the regret he already feels. As a result me and my dad drove out to the roadside to re-shoot certain shots which show the wooden post in the frame, this time adding the photograph to the mise en scene. 

I shot almost 3 minutes of extra footage, the majority of which was spent on trying to perfect my final shot to include the photograph as well as the flowers in unison. 

The first and arguably most important shot to redo was the zoom out from the flowers to the Father's legs. My mum had kept the flowers for the house rather than throw them away so we were lucky enough to be able to use them again. The vibrancy of both the photograph and the flowers is striking even out of focus. Due to how colourful and recognisable this prop is I thought that it would be better left in the background of the shots rather than drawing specific focus to it, maintaining subtlety. 

This was the second shot I needed to re-shoot, again keeping the photo in the background as a haunting reminder. The blue from the photograph adds to the red and yellow of the flowers, creating a bright and positive image even though the subtext is relatively depressing. This contrast perfectly summarises my short film, in how there can be light found amid the darkness. 

The final shot was very difficult to master due to where the photograph was pinned up. Looking back on this footage I may stick to my original shot with just the flowers in the frame because the takes I have here are quite shaky and distracting. Nonetheless I am now content that I have everything I need to start editing later on this week.