Once deciding on the story and developing the script for the Digital Seance, the Seance itself had to be recorded. Due to the location’s lack of internet availability and the possible problems out-weighing the effectiveness of a live Seance, a pre-recorded option was opted for.
The first recording was shot on location. This was to make it as close to the surroundings as possible ready for the projection of the final piece. Ot was from this first recording session, that I realised changes to the script had to be made, These were tweaked on location, and the changes were present in later recordings in that session. It was from here that I also realised that it was difficult for the actor to conduct the entire script in one take, which is why transitions were tested off this original footage. To keep the dialogue solid and flowing, the actor read the script off the screen during the recording; this was not the most ideal method but time restraints prevented the actor from learning the script in it’s entirety. The lines that are to be spoken by myself in the exhibition were said during recording in order to give the correct timings in the final piece. These soundbites will be edited out of the recorded Seance.
After this first recording, I edited the piece together. This allowed me to test transitions, as well as practice with my timings of reading the other part of the script. Rehearsal time was important, in order to make the final delivery of the piece as successful as possible. With this final footage, I returned to the location to test it in context. However, once projected, the footage looked too different to the background to create the desired effect. Due to the brightness of the location, it was difficult to see the projection, and the light background would make it stand out too much against the darkness needed to make the projection more visible.
In order to mitigate these factors, I tried to remove the background completely, as this had previously been effective with the Ghost Arms. However, due to the lack of contrast between the background and actor, this was not possible. It was from here that a re-shoot was arranged, as the original footage was no longer usable for the exhibition.
This re-shoot was shot against a green screen, allowing for the background to be removed, leaving just the actor. This would look better against the dark wall that would be used in the exhibition. The scene was shot in the same way as the previous, as this the most effective method to do so. The script was positioned slightly to one side of the actor, meaning his eyes were off to one side whilst reading the script. This would relate to where myself and the audience will stand on the day of the exhibition, to make the ghost look more at us and more engaged in the conversation, as apposed to looking straight ahead.
It was from this second shoot the final footage for the exhibition was obtained. The choice photos were added in, and the ‘glitch’ effect was used to mask any other jumps. The opening and ending were created after refining the walking through walls effected that was previously tested. This footage was used for the rehearsals and for the final piece of the exhibition, and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/smUTmshgsVM