final scene: reflection

DP: Brenna Empey

Director: Jase Van Meeteren

DP Reflection: The Neon Demon

I’m so grateful that I was able to be the DP for my final film, and I knew from the get-go that I would really have to challenge myself to make this assignment the best it could be. I chose a script that I would be able to stylize, particularly one with two different spaces that I could define with light. Light was one of the main things I wanted to experiment with in this scene and I think it turned out really well in that aspect. Primarily I used two different color schemes – blue and red for the exterior shots, and saturated tungsten for the interior shots, to set them apart from each other and make them feel distinctly different. I particularly loved how slimy the inside of the office felt because of how the lighting turned out, and we were lucky to end up with some awesome practicals to take advantage of in the office too.

We shot on the Ursa Mini 4.6k because of how it handles low light, something that was especially helpful when we were shooting outside in the dark. We also used vintage Nikon lenses because of how they handle bokeh and lens flare, making it look more natural and less intrusive than other lenses. I can’t think of any specific problems we ran into while we were shooting, other than there were a couple drunk people hanging around outside at the motel, talking and making noise. That made it hard for room tone to be clean for sound, and messed up a couple takes here and there. Also, my original plan to use green light in the exterior shots backfired because green simply isn’t bright enough. I ended up really liking the switch to blue light instead, because it made it look more like night, and contrasted better with the grimy feeling in the motel office.

Overall I really like how this project turned out. It was an interesting experience because I was doing most of the work that the director usually does, because that was the agreement, and I had to figure out how to communicate the emotions of the scene visually. Since I was also editing this, I had to think a lot about how things would cut together, and how to keep color and lighting consistent. Honestly, because I was thinking about this scene on a more emotional level than a technical one, it really helped the piece feel genuine. I enjoyed having Jase direct this scene, too, because it turned into a really enjoyable collaboration where we both contributed to the director’s side of things as well as the DP side of things. This is one of my favorite projects I’ve done in this class and I’m proud of how it turned out, but also really happy that I was able to work with my close friends to create it.