Blog Post #42 - Recording a Montage (First Scene)

 In my script, I wrote about a montage consisting of Fern drinking coffee, fidgeting with a pen, and reading the news. Before that, in my Blog Post #37 - Montages, I wrote about what montages are generally used for, and how to accomplish the desired effect of the montage. My desired outcome for this montage is to convey the passing of time, make room for my titling sequence, to build Fern's personality as a character, and show the S.K.B.D. News articles. The montage must also end with Fern receiving a notification on his phone, and hearing a knock at the door.



To meet all of these requirements, I will need to shoot many shots that encapsulate these ideas and execute them well. 

I will need separate shots—

  • effectively showing Fern reading the news, and showing the news itself on the screen clearly. 
  • shots that serve the sole purpose of showing Fern
  • shots that show Fern drinking coffee
  • shots that show Fern playing with the pen, to build him into a more energetic character
  • a shot that shows Fern receiving a notification
  • a shot that ends with a whip pan, showing Fern hearing a noise at the door


Shots

News Shot


For this shot, I decided to record an over-the-shoulder-like shot and track it to the laptop while moving closer. This provides context for the laptop screen— compared to starting at a close-up of the laptop screen— and allows for a greater set of options for the previous shot, making it seem smoother.  However, this shot was not properly executed. This shot is shaky, moves in an odd curve shape, and does not show Fern moving the mouse cursor, something I had not planned but will be better than not. For now this shot works, but I would like to reshoot it in the future.

Ending Transition Scene

Wide shot of Fern checking his phone, followed by Fern quickly looking up at the door, followed by a whip pan left.


This shot was initially good, but there was a major communication error on my part. I had forgotten to tell Fernando (the guy playing Fern), to turn his head after he had gotten the notification. This led to Fernando keeping his eyes down, glued to the screen, instead of looking up. We had enough leniency with time in order to reshoot this scene, as seen below.


In this shot, Fern scrolls the news, checks a notification on his phone (sent by our mutual friend Ethan), and then looks fast towards the door, this is then swiftly followed up by a whip pan left. This attempt of the shot was executed perfectly, in my opinion. Although the shot needs to be trimmed, leaving the end in the middle of the blurred pan, to make the transition seem more smooth into the next shot, and to not see Ethan in the background behind us. I am confident that this shot will make it into my final cut.


Coffee Drinking


This scene will need to be rerecorded at a later date— with my other clips— as I have accidentally erased the clip from my storage device.

Shots Showing Fern

We did not have enough time during the day to get these shots done, and they will have to be done some other time, with the other shots.

Checklist

Out of my checklist for this montage, I have completed the filming of these shots and will record the rest soon when Fern's actor is available to—

  • effectively showing Fern reading the news, and showing the news itself on the screen clearly. 
  • shots that serve the sole purpose of showing Fern
    • shots that show Fern playing with the pen, to build him into a more energetic character
      • Several of these shots show Fern playing with the pen, although I would like one that just does this.
    • Shots that show Fern drinking coffee
  • a shot that shows Fern receiving a notification
  • a shot that ends with a whip pan, showing Fern hearing a noise at the door

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