IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT NOTES ON…
ON VISUAL CONSISTENCY DURING A FRAGMENTED PRODUCTION
PRESERVING THE emotional and visual continuity WAS A PRIORITY THROUGHOUT”
It Was Just an Accident takes place over roughly 35 to 40 hours in the lives of its characters, but the filming was completed in less than 30 shooting days (spread out over a much longer period). Midway through production, we were forced to halt for about 20 days due to the appearance of security forces. This interruption could have completely disrupted the emotional and visual continuity of the film – but preserving that was a priority throughout. The film begins with several nighttime scenes, followed by daytime sequences that make up a large portion of the story. This meant paying close attention to the We didn’t work with a dedicated lighting team on this production – a conscious decision shaped by our need to move quickly, quietly and without drawing attention. As a result, all lighting came from natural or available sources – sunlight, light filtering through a car window or whatever was already present on location – which was street lamps, ceiling fixtures and car headlights. That might sound limiting, but in reality, it created a visual tone that felt honest and grounded. Instead of creating light, we were discovering it. This mindset shaped everything: the framing, the camera’s position and even when we chose to shoot a particular scene. There were times when the shooting schedule for a scene wasn’t based on the production plan, but purely on the quality of light available at that moment. Of course, there were moments when lighting became technically unavoidable. But as I mentioned earlier, I always aimed to keep the lighting invisible. The goal was never to impose light onto a scene, but simply to reinforce what was already there – just enough to expose it correctly without disrupting the natural texture or mood of the space. ON LIGHTING WITHOUT A LIGHTING CREW – AND TRUSTING WHAT’S ALREADY THERE
continuity of natural light; brightness, sun angles and the position of shadows all had to remain consistent. Some scenes that appear continuous in the story were actually filmed on entirely different days, but the visual design was carefully constructed to avoid any break in the viewer’s experience. Continuity under these conditions came from careful observation, attention to detail and ultimately a strong commitment to the film’s visual logic. In a fragmented and often unpredictable production schedule, it demanded constant focus and follow- through at every stage of the shoot.
LIGHT THE WAY Letting natural light guide the frame led to braver camera choices
ON CAMERA, LENSES, GEAR – AND MINIMAL MOVEMENT
I recall a nighttime scene in which a car travels along a dirt road toward an off-grid location, the only light source being the vehicle’s headlights. In the two scenes that followed, we relied entirely on the red taillight of the van to illuminate both the environment and the actors. Deciding to shoot an entire scene – especially one consisting of a single, ten-minute shot with a fixed camera and an almost imperceptible movement – under that red light alone was a pretty scary choice. I wasn’t sure how it would sit next to the rest of the film visually. But in the end, that moment turned out to be one of the most unexpectedly powerful scenes of the whole project.
In the film, the choice of camera, lenses and gear wasn’t based on ideal conditions; it was shaped by constraints, narrative demands and a very specific visual style. From the start, we knew we needed a camera that offered good image quality while being agile, discreet and operable with minimal support. The answer was the RED KOMODO – a compact, lightweight, fully modular camera capable of shooting in Raw. The KOMODO allowed us to shoot comfortably in tight spaces,
65
DEFINITIONMAGS
Powered by FlippingBook