AI and authorship, creativity and ownership | Blog post #24

Shooting a film during the night can be a challenging task, especially if you are dealing with a dark film tone. It requires a lot of planning and preparation to get the perfect shots, but what happens when you have noisy upstairs neighbours? This can be a major obstacle that can affect the quality of your project, especially when it comes to sound quality.

When shooting at night, the lack of natural light can be compensated for by using artificial light sources, such as street lamps, neon lights, or even candles. However, this can also amplify any external sounds that are present in the environment. This is where your noisy upstairs neighbours come into play. Their running around and causing literal earthquakes can be picked up by your microphone and ruin the quality of your sound recordings.

To minimise this problem, it is essential to have a good understanding of your filming location and the surrounding environment. If you know that your neighbours are particularly loud, it may be best to try to negotiate with them beforehand and ask them to keep the noise level down during your shoot. Alternatively, you could consider filming at a different time of day, when there is less likelihood of noise disturbances.

However, if you cannot avoid filming at night, there are some measures you can take to minimise the impact of external sounds on your recordings. For example, you could use a directional microphone that can focus on capturing the sounds that you want, while minimising background noise. You could also try to create a sound barrier between your microphone and the source of the noise, using sound blankets or acoustic foam.

In summary, shooting a film during the night can be a great creative choice, especially for achieving a dark and moody atmosphere. However, external noise disturbances can pose a significant challenge to the quality of your project, particularly when it comes to sound. With careful planning and the right equipment, you can minimise the impact of external sounds on your recordings and achieve the best possible outcome for your project.

Component 3 Project - UPDATED Screenplay | 01.03.2023

How to achieve the look from my original inspiration from my mood board | Blog post #23

Moon Knight - Episode 2 "Summon the Suit"

How would I come close to achieving that look and/or sound styling with the zero budget that I have

I plan to shoot this scene in my room, a controlled environment where I’m not limited by the time I’m able to access it. Since it’s very dark, it would be best to shoot at night, after 10 PM when it’s also very quiet so I won’t have to worry about other unnecessary sounds getting in my footage. I’ve bought some large black background fabrics that I hope would help make the background dark. Shutting off the lights and only using one light source from a lamp creates this feeling.

I think camera-wise, it’s going to be still because of the nature of that scene. It would be really simple because it's really just only focusing on the dialogue of the characters so it's going to just be simple cut shots from different angles.

Simple editing as the focus is on the dialogue. Of course for sound, there’s going to be dialogue. As well as sound effects and incidental music to set the tone and genre further.