Planning

Learning goal

You will be able to turn your capstone project's question into a concrete plan that can be followed in the field. You will gather the project's must-have frames and the areas you leave open to discovery in a shot list, and, by visiting each location in advance, mark in a light schedule at what hour the light comes from where. You will build a shooting schedule that divides the four to eight weeks into weeks, and put interim selection and return days in between. You will track in a release tracker from whom, when and in what form you will get the permission of everyone who will appear in the frame, and prepare a backup plan for setbacks such as weather, illness or access. While making the light plan you will also think in advance about how you will make the faces of people of different skin tones readable in a dark interior. You will see that the plan isn't a chain, but a map that can change in the field.

The question

The day after writing in the notebook the question of the project in which they will tell the hands that open the city in the mornings, your friend goes out into the street at five. The bakery's light is on, but the florist hasn't come yet, and the tea stall is closed. They go into the bakery; the master has already kneaded the dough, and they have missed the darkest moment. Camera in hand, they wander for an hour not knowing what to shoot and return home with a few scattered frames.

When they tell the older member, the older member hands them a calendar and a sheet of paper. Which location opens at what hour, in what light? Whose permission has been obtained, whose hasn't? How many times will each place be visited within four weeks? How do you get from a plan to a photograph?

Context

In the project planning lesson you learned to draw a project's scope, do scouting shoots and keep a project notebook (Lesson 23.4). In the workflow lesson you prepared a gear checklist before every shoot (Lesson 28.9). While preparing the release form, too, you gathered the parties, the scope of use and the signatures on a single page (Lesson 29.2).

The capstone project spreads these skills over a longer period and more locations. In a single shoot, lack of planning ends with a few missed frames; in a project of four to eight weeks, on the other hand, it can turn into scattered days, missing permissions and, in the end, an inconsistent series. This lesson draws up the project's map; but this map will be reread in the field every day.

Simple explanation

What, where and in what light will you shoot?

A shot list is the list that writes down in advance the situations, people, places and moments a project needs to tell, and guides you in the field. A good shot list consists of two parts: must-have frames, that is, those that must be shot to carry the answer to the project question, and areas open to discovery, that is, gaps that leave room for something unexpected met in the field. Among the must-have frames in your friend's project are the moment the dough is first kneaded in the bakery, the moment the florist takes the first bucket outside and the moment the first tea is brewed at the tea stall. The list isn't a rule but a reminder; if something stronger happens in the field, the list is changed.

A light schedule is the note showing at what hour, from which direction and with what quality the light comes at each of the project's locations. Each location is visited in advance on a scouting trip: before sunrise the inside of the bakery is lit only by the oven's mouth and a lamp on the ceiling, the florist's counter gets direct light half an hour after sunrise, and the tea stall's window lets in soft light from the side in the first hour of the morning. These notes decide which location to go to at what hour. As the season moves on and the sunrise time changes, the light schedule is also updated from week to week.

The light schedule also shows the need for extra light in advance. In the bakery's dark interior, in the orange light of the oven's mouth, the dark-skinned master's face can easily be lost in shadow; the light-skinned apprentice's face, on the other hand, can blow out more quickly in the same light. Solving this in the plan rather than noticing it in the field, that is, taking a small reflector or a soft extra light along and noting to meter the exposure for the faces, lets both faces be read in their own tone.

How are time and permissions managed?

A shooting schedule is the plan that divides the project's total period into weeks and days and writes each shooting day's location, hour and purpose. A four-week project can be arranged, for example, as a week opening with scouting and introductions, two weeks devoted to the main shoots, and a last week left for missing frames and returns. Adding interim selection days to the schedule, that is, looking at each week's frames at the end of that week and seeing what is missing, makes it possible to correct the project's course early. Returning to the same location several times lets people get used to the photographer and more natural moments emerge.

A release tracker is the table showing the name of every person and location that will appear in the project, from whom, when and in what form the permission was obtained, and any conditions. The bakery's owner gives permission for the location, the master and the apprentice for their own images, and the florist and the master at the tea stall for themselves, each separately. The tracker prevents forgetting a person's permission or overlooking a condition. Each of the people of different skin tones, ages and jobs is given the same explanation and offered the same form.

What is done about setbacks?

A backup plan is the alternative that decides in advance what will be done when the weather turns on a shooting day, a location is closed, a person doesn't come or the photographer falls ill. Options such as shooting inside the bakery instead of the florist if it rains, moving to another day if a person can't come that day, or continuing with the backup body if equipment fails are noted in the schedule. Leaving a few empty days in the schedule keeps setbacks from wrecking the project entirely.

The plan is constantly compared with the reality met in the field. If a location's light turns out different from what was expected the light schedule is corrected; if a person contributes more to the project than expected, new frames are added to the shot list. The aim of the plan isn't to fix everything in advance, but to know what to focus on in the field and to make room for unexpected opportunities.

Visual evidence

For a week your friend visits one location every morning and fills in the light schedule: the bakery opens at four and until five only the oven's mouth lights it; the florist comes at six, and the counter gets sun at seven; the tea stall opens at half past five. Because they saw the master's face disappear in the bakery's darkness, they add a small reflector and a soft extra light to their bag.

They build a four-week shooting schedule: the first week scouting and introductions, the middle two weeks the main shoots, the last week the missing pieces. They set aside every Friday evening for interim selection. In the release tracker they write the bakery's owner, the master, the apprentice, the florist and the master at the tea stall, and get each one's permission by the end of the first week.

In the middle of the second week it rains; the florist doesn't open the counter that day. Your friend applies their backup plan and spends that morning inside the bakery; that day, for the first time, they shoot the master's floury hands in the oven's light and the face opened up with the reflector just as they wanted.

Common mistakes

Summary

The capstone project's question is turned into a shot list containing must-have frames and areas open to discovery, a light schedule showing the hour and direction of the light at each location, and a shooting schedule that divides the period into weeks and adds interim selection days. The permission of every person and location is tracked in a release tracker, a backup plan is prepared for setbacks such as weather, illness and access, and extra light is planned in advance so that faces of different skin tones can be read in dark locations; the plan is a map reread in the field every day.

Mini assignment

At the end of this assignment you will have a map of your project ready to take into the field.

1. Write a shot list for your project question: at least ten must-have frames and at least three areas open to discovery.
2. Visit each location in your project once and prepare a light schedule: at what hour, from which direction, with what quality is there light; note whether extra light is needed for faces in dark locations.
3. Write a shooting schedule that divides your project's period into weeks; add an interim selection day at the end of each week.
4. Prepare a release tracker for every person and location that will appear in the project, and write a backup plan for at least three setbacks.

Check yourself

• Does your shot list contain both must-have frames and areas open to discovery?
• Does your light schedule show the hour and the need for extra light for each location?
• Is everyone who will appear in the project in your release tracker?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Which two parts does a good shot list consist of?

• A) Equipment and price
• B) Must-have frames and areas open to discovery
• C) Title and caption
• D) Color and black-and-white frames

2. Why is the light schedule updated from week to week?

• A) Because the sunrise time changes as the season moves on
• B) Because the camera settings change
• C) Because the permissions are renewed
• D) Because the backup plan is applied

3. What is the benefit of adding interim selection days to the shooting schedule?

• A) Shooting more frames
• B) Cancelling permissions
• C) Seeing what is missing early and correcting the project's course
• D) Deleting the light schedule

4. What can be done in the plan so that a dark-skinned master's face isn't lost in shadow in a dark bakery?

• A) Not shooting the master
• B) Lightening the face excessively in editing
• C) Turning off the oven's light
• D) Deciding the need for extra light or a reflector in advance in the light schedule

Answers

1. B — Must-have frames carry the answer to the question, areas open to discovery leave room for unexpected moments.
2. A — As the sunrise time changes, each location's light shifts to different hours too.
3. C — Seeing the frames at the end of each week makes missing pieces and changes of direction noticeable early.
4. D — Solving light in the plan rather than in the field lets each face be read in its own tone.

Summary card

• Shot list: must-haves and areas open to discovery.
• Light schedule: each location's hour, direction and quality.
• Shooting schedule: weeks, interim selection days, returns.
• Release tracker: everyone, with the same care.
• A backup plan; reread the plan in the field every day.

Bridge to the next lesson

Four weeks are over. When your friend opens their computer they find more than a thousand frames in the project's folder: the bakery's darkness, the florist's buckets, the tea stall's steam, dozens of almost identical moments. They know how to make a selection; but drawing a single consistent series out of so many frames and so many different locations, matching the colors and tones to each other and building the order looks like a mountain to them. How do you get from 1000 frames down to 12? The next lesson takes up selecting, sequencing and consistent editing in the capstone project.