Minor Issues

Despite its significance, our first day filming had its own set of difficulties. Choosing camera angles was one such problem. We had a certain shot in mind at first, but as we went along, we saw that more angles were required to effectively convey the subtle aspects of the situation (such as the scene where we had to add to the player realizing their stolen piece and getting up).  

One other minor issue was the fact that we didn't have a well-prepared order of the scenes we needed to take. I wanted to have the same angles for similar scenes, such as one scene at the and one near the end being similar in position, so due to our miscalculation, we had to redo all the scenes from the beginning.

(scene from the beginning where the red player moves their chess piece)

(scene when she took back the chess piece and was returning to keep the game)

The meticulous preparation of actor behaviors, especially hand gestures, presented another challenge.  These minor details are crucial in expressing feelings like success or anxiety.   We spoke about the intended effect of these movements for a long time, making sure they complemented the scene's general tone and atmosphere. The winning player's smile, for example, has to be perfectly timed to express both satisfaction and a tinge of arrogance.

Overall, the production time was useful in spite of these small obstacles. With our storyboard and shot list, the majority of the sequences were diligently prepared, although we had to improvise in some cases, as we didn't take into account the over-shoulder angle, we had to go with another angle.