Recording an improvised coverage shot (implementation)

Hello, reader. Welcome to my blog. In this post, I'll be discussing filming improvised sequences from a cinematographer's perspective. Let's begin.

Context:

As I mentioned before, we're filming our opening sequence in the school's media center. The problem is that it's an unsafe location, as it's not always available. In fact, we can only go during fourth period (study hall) on green days. This is because we have complicated schedules and can only be there after school on very specific days (when there's club).

Recently, the travel and tourism events began. Now the media center is more in demand than ever. This past week was packed with events, right during fourth period.

Since we were filming scene 1—which is in the back of the media center—we didn't have many problems, but there were a few, like these, that we managed to overcome:

Disorganized materials: The Travel crew left a lot of things in disarray, but we used it for mise-en-scène.

Interruptions: We were interrupted constantly, with people opening doors and things like that. But we used it to take a break or reshoot that take.

The problem:

The librarian thought we were the ones who left the mess and that we probably wouldn't be able to film there again. The issue is that we're short on footage, we need to finish scene 1, and film scenes 3 and 4. Also, the actor from scene 1 wasn't available that day.

The solution:

While we waited, our director had an idea: to film some coverage shots. This coverage shot was for the beginning of scene 1. In the script, there was a shot of the boy running before reaching the library, but we discarded it. We used that idea to include it in the scene, but since the actor wasn't there, we had to convert that tracking shot into a POV.

The challenge:

For this shot, I (the cinematographer) had to simulate jumping off a fence and running. All this while simulating the height of the actor (Sebastian) - 5'11" - while I'm 5'4". Compensating for a 20cm height difference wasn't easy. Basically, I had to jump and run with the camera mounted on the tripod with my arms outstretched. It was a difficult shot to film, to be honest. My director usually tells me the camera has to be steady, but this time he said no, so it was weird to film (since you never know how shaky enough is).

Coverage Shot take 3

Takeaway:

Definitely not everything goes as planned; the difference is how you approach it. We chose to improvise instead of staying still. For example: the mess, the change of location, and the interruptions.