Visual Look
The overexposed, brightly-colored flashback scenes of Gina remembering Sarah are a great contrast with the overall dark tone of the film, as are the vivid colors at the funeral at the beginning. For a good part of the film, however, things were very difficult to see (due to poor lighting) and some of the lighting that was used was harsh and located in odd places.
It’s always difficult to get consistent lighting when shooting at night, and we ran into several such lighting problems on a film I worked on. However, here are a few suggestions based on some of the things we learned:
1.) Keep in mind where your lighting should be coming from, Part 1. Example: the dialogue in the car between Lucy and Gina before and after they pick up Sarah. Beforehand, the light seemed to be coming from somewhere outside the front windshield, and wasn’t illuminating both girls consistently. Afterward, the light was coming from somewhere in the very middle of the cabin, throwing strange and unflattering shadows on the actors. In a car, the light should usually be coming from the dashboard/console area, thus throwing a decent amount of soft light onto both actor’s faces. A great way to do this is to get one (or two?) 12” fluorescent bulb holders, a 25-watt rod, some colored gels, and an AC car adapter. Anchor the lights just out of sight around the console, cover the fluorescent lights with the gels, plug the lights into the adaptor, and plug the adaptor into the cigarette lighter. Voila!
2.) Keep in mind where your lighting should be coming from, Part 2. Example: when the car breaks down outside the house, and the exterior/interior of the house. The scene between Lucy and Gina in front of the car’s hood is very harshly lit from both sides. Instead, try mimicking a streetlight; get one or two powerful lights (500-watt work lights from Home Depot or an aluminum clamp light with a 200 watt bulb both work great), mount them up as high as you can, and cover them with an appropriate color gel for the streetlight look you want (e.g. a harsher whitish-blue tint or a warmer orange). If you have some reflectors, you can bounce the light back up onto the actor’s faces to reduce shadows. This will give both a softer and more realistic look over a wider area. When you show the exterior of the house (which was very dark and difficult to see on my screen), all you need to do is illuminate it with the “streetlight”. This light can also be used to shine through the windows, giving some awesome shadows on the characters. (The light would be more pronounced when used this way, and you can use things like blinds to make cool shadows!)
Use of Audio
ADR… we’ve kept saying it, and people are paying attention! This is a very good thing, and I’m glad that Richard Poche took the time and care to do it. However, there are still a few very noticeable problems with the audio that hinder the audience’s ability to understand what is happening.
The biggest problem is that in many scenes (especially the exchange between Lucy and Gina right before they come upon Sarah), the volume levels are drastically uneven. For example, Gina’s dialogue is clear and understandable, but Lucy’s is almost completely inaudible. And I can’t turn up the volume to hear what she’s saying, because I’d be deafened by Gina’s dialogue that follows and the piano music in the background. I don’t know if they needed to ADR Liz Di Prinzio (Lucy) and weren’t able to do it, or if her audio track just isn’t turned up as high. Either way, it’s a very frustrating hindrance for the audience.
