Reel Works Fellows Reshoot of Senior Night

Senior Night is one of the two films that this year’s Fellows program worked on. On Saturday, November 3rd, 2018, the Senior Night crew came together again for a reshoot of a few scenes. Senior Night was the first major shoot that I had been on. By the time of the reshoot, the crew had worked together on numerous other projects before and we had all developed a working familiarity and style that enabled us to take this shoot to the next level. The days and weeks spent in pre-production was a whirlwind of activity. Reworking the script with the goal of ensuring a quality story that’d surpass what we had originally came up with was among the greatest roadblocks. Due to the constant shifting nature of the script, things like the shot list and call sheet were being drafted nearly blind. However, because of the history of collaboration that the crew had built up over the past few months, I believe we were able to come up with a production that can’t be described as anything other than awe-inducing. Working as the Director of Photography for this reshoot was almost a complete 180-degree experience to DPing for the original Senior Night shoot. I felt many times more prepared for this shoot and that enabled me to direct and collaborate with my crew with greater confidence and direction. The Gaffer on set was Dexter Dugar, who is not only talented but communicative. His work speaks for itself -- the lighting of the party scene for Senior Night this time around was stunning. Striking shades of red and steel blue casted the actors’ faces in a dramatic light which only added to the intensity of the scene. A soft magenta light illuminated the party -- tinted tendrils of hazy fog crowded the atmosphere and brought a surreal, magical vibe to the set and scene. My trust in Dexter’s abilities and extensive knowledge enabled me to fully focus my attention on composing the frame. Side by side with my Assistant Camera, Chao Xueming, I was able to find exactly where to put the camera in order to match the emotional tones of the actors. All of our individual and united growth is how this Senior Night reshoot came to be one of the high points of my filmmaking experience thus far. It was not only the final product that I can say I enjoyed -- the actual time I spent on a magical set with the best people I could have asked to work with will stay with me and only drives me to pursue that feeling again and again. This blog was written by Ian Chen, a Reel Works 2018 Fellow.